GREAT SELECTION: The Princess Bride (1987)

I scoff at fairy tales and fantasy. All make-believe. Just kidding about scoffing at those genre because truly pure imagination while reading or listening to somebody narrating the story can take over your mind and clearly think about the images or whatever you interpret as to what each character is doing in the story. Basically, director Rob Reiner is painting a picture of whatever is coming on-screen based on the main characters' chemistry and also the silliness in the "evil plot" which is quite refreshing.

It is unbelievable that while watching this movie over time, the story certainly holds up because the comedy gets both children's and adults' attention. What the movie has that certainly not many spoofs have is variety because what Reiner achieved is that he balanced all sorts of genres: action, adventure, romance, comedy and fantasy. And all five of those genres work within the whole structure of the movie because it is read by an adult and grasped by a child's imagination. This is a captivating movie that somehow brings back the fantasy genre in another light and delivers both excitement and laughs.

When a boy (Fred Savage) is sick, his grandfather (Peter Falk) reads him a story called The Princess Bride. Buttercup (Robin Wright) has grown up on a farm in Florin in the Renaissance Era. She meets a poor farm boy named Westley (Cary Elwes), who always replies, "As you wish", as he mercilessly helps Buttercup out and they are both smitten in love. Because he is so poor that he could not marry Buttercup, Westley leaves her to go seek a fortune so that they might marry. However, there were rumors that Westley's ship was attacked by the infamous Dread Pirate Roberts, infamous for not leaving anybody alive. He is presumed dead.

Five years later, Buttercup has agreed to marry Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon), the Crown Prince of Florin. However, she does not do it with love. But, before the wedding, she is kidnapped by a trio of bandits: Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), a Sicilian boss, Fezzik (Andre the Giant), a giant and Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), a Spanish master swordsman who is on his own mission seeking against the person who has killed his father. They are employed by Humperdinck to kill Buttercup to probably start a war.

The four are soon chased by a man dressed in black, and Vizzini order Inigo to kill him and then if he succeeds to defeat Inigo, he has to defeat Fezzik. He choke Fezzik unconscious and tricks Vizzini to drink a cup of wine mixed with poison, causing him to fall dead. Buttercup tries to escape from the man in black who believes to be the Dread Pirate Roberts but as he falls he says, "as you wish" as she now knows that it is Westley and they reunite. However, Humperdinck, Count Rugen (Christopher Guest) and their men capture them and take them back to Florin. But, they are separated as Westley goes to get tortured in a secret laboratory called the Pit of Despair.

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepared to die."

This is a subtle but funny film that does not push the envelope of hard-core fantasy spoof but gets the humor just right. There are some quirky dialogue especially by Vizzini, Inigo Montoya and also Count Rugen. But, there are some actions that is hilarious like a silly wedding scene and also when Inigo meets Count Rugen which Rugen just runs away instead of fighting him. But, also, the funniest scene is when Vizzini tries to tamper with Westley's mind with the cups of wine because it is handled with a bit of subtlety but also again spoofs fairy tales, most notably, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, with the apple.

There are a lot of themes besides true love. Family is one important aspect because the grandfather reading to his grandson is parallel to how truly generational this book is. It is also parallel because it ties up with revenge in which Inigo is truly obsessed to catch his father's killer that it was pretty much his sole purpose in life as he was training and avoid some obstacles to get to his killer. But, the dialogue is smart because Inigo wonders what he will do with his life now after killing his father's killer, Westley makes a wonderful suggestion as to he could make a solid Dread Pirate Roberts. But, the most important theme of all is class because the story starts as class divides Westley's and Buttercup's path to marriage as he has to improve his life. But, also, that Prince Humperdinck is solely above the commoners in some scenes that he does not walk among the commoners. But, also, if you look at the climax from another angle in which Fezzik, Inigo and Westley attempts to rescue Buttercup from the Prince, it is like a tale of Robin Hood. My point is that the lower-class people had the guts to go against the upper-class and snotty prince.

What's so refreshing about Reiner's film is that when you sense a scene of action coming, it takes its time in which before Inigo and Westley fight for the first time, they have a conversation about themselves and their training during the fight. Even though they are bitter opponents, they respect each other in the end, even with Fezzik. With, Vizzini, not so much. I can argue against the supposedly bad production design in the movie but again, it is a spoof of a fairy tale so it can tie up to like a Mel Brooks movie in which comedy is everything as it balances that genre with the romance, fantasy and action. It is a truly dreamlike and captivating movie that about everybody, young and old, can enjoy because it is nearly impossible to dislike the movie.