The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride is the classic adventure film directed by Rob Reiner and is based off a novel of the same name written by William Goldman. It's told by an omnipresent narrator that we can all relate to. Although the content of the plot is simple and predictable, the uniqueness and likeableness of the characters kept my interest. I'm not saying it's simplicity was a downside. It added a classic feel that made me feel comfortable, appreciative, and almost nostalgic: as if viewing this film brought out a childlike interest that had been lying dormant for a long time. This may also be due to the fact that the omnipresent narrator I referred to earlier was a classic grandfather figure reading the tale to his sick grandson. Without this aspect of the film, I'm not sure it would've had the same affect on me.

For me, the themes are love, honor, good triumphing evil, and all that good stuff. It's a classic rescue the girl movie. Some characters, such as swordsman Inigo Montoya, start off appearing to be against our rescuer, but by the end of the film all of the hero types come out on top. The rescuer's name is Wesley and the girl's is Buttercup. They grew up on a farm together and fell in love, but while Wesley was still young he goes off to sea in search of treasure where he dies (but not really). He grew up and took the place of the Dread Pirate Roberts. In the meantime Buttercup grew up to be a princess and is arranged to marry a typical noble asshole named Humperdinck. The obnoxious (yet somehow likable) wise guy/theif, Vizzinni, creates a three man gang with a giant and Inigo Montoya. They kidnap the princess in an attempt to hold her for ransom.  Dread Pirate Roberts hears wind of this and chases after them. After overcoming all three gang members through skill, strength, and wit, the pirate (Wesley) wins back Buttercup and they now have to escape her fiancé's search party. However, they're both captured. Buttercup is taken back to the castle to marry Humperdinck, and Wesley is tortured. Luckily, the swordsman and giant hear his cries, and with Vizzinni now being dead, they come to his rescue. Inigo needs to get into the castle to kill the man who killed his father, Wesley to rescue Buttercup. So that's what the three of them do, and they all live happily ever after.

This heroic adventure has a few abrupt interruptions when the grandson asks his grandfather questions about the story. He has familiar traits of young boys, complaining about the love scenes, wanting to skip to the end to see how it all turns out. So if the classic story isn't enough, the characters of the grandfather and grandson should make you feel right at home. Also, the quality of the film and editing is definitely good for 1987 and the scenes flowed smoothly. To this date, this film has proved to be timeless, and I don't see that changing any time soon.