|
If that intro doesn't whet your appetite then how about the
fact that The Princess Bride has one of the greatest
swordfights ever filmed and is a perfect blend of action,
comedy and romance.
It begins with a sick boy (Fred Savage) who is visited by
his granddad (Peter Falk) who - horrors - begins to read him
- horrors - a book.
It is the tale of Buttercup (Robin Wright), her true love
Westley (Cary Elwes) and how he sails off to make his fortune
only to be captured and killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts.
After five years Buttercup unhappily agrees to give up on
her true love and marry the too-good-looking-for-words Prince
Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon).
The problem is that she is kidnapped by a nasty Sicilian,
Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), who is out to start a war between
her country and its neighbour, and his helpers Inigo Montoya
(Mandy Patinkin) and Fezzik (Andre the Giant).
After much excellent battling and crossing of wits, Buttercup
is freed by the Dread Pirate Roberts himself - and that's
when the fun really starts.
Oh there's death, well, mostly death anyway, miracles, revenge,
hatred and the all-encompassing true love.
The genius of The Princess Bride comes in the light
directing touch from Rob Reiner, the fact the entire cast
plays it straight - with the exception of Billy Crystal (Miracle
Max) - and a style of humour that kids will enjoy, but adults
will adore.
Elwes is fantastic - as is Patinkin (his best role ever)
- and then the cast drops its performance to just being excellent.
The video transfer is, unfortunately, a bit ordinary with
more spots and speckles than I have seen in quite a while.
However, it is still a marvellous looking movie. The sound
is very good with the all-important dialogue easy to hear
and understand.
The Princess Bride is, however, a must, must, must
have.
Conclusion: Movie 95%, Extras 30%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
|
