By Robyn Enns
Starring: Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, André the Giant, Peter Falk, Billy Crystal
OUR RATING: ★★★★★
Story:
Romantic fantasy adventure directed and co-produced by Rob Reiner, based on the novel of the same name by William Goldman, who also wrote the screenplay. The Princess Bride (1987) is presented as a book being read by a grandfather (Peter Falk) to his sick grandson (Fred Savage). The book tales the tale of about a farmhand named Westley (Cary Elwes), accompanied by befriended companions along the way, who must rescue his true love Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright) from the odious Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon).
Our Favorite Quote:
'Life is pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something.' - Westley (The Princess Bride) Click To Tweet
Best Quotes
The Grandson: A book?
Grandpa: That’s right. When I was your age, television was called books. And this is a special book. It was the book my father used to read to me when I was sick, and I used to read it to your father. And today I’m going to read it to you.
The Grandson: Has it got any sports in it?
Grandpa: Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles…
The Grandson: Doesn’t sound too bad. I’ll try to stay awake.
Grandpa: Oh, well, thank you very much. Very nice of you. Your vote of confidence is overwhelming.
Inigo Montoya: Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
Westley: Hear this now. I will always come for you.
Buttercup: But how can you be sure?
Westley: This is true love, you think this happens every day?
Westley: I told you I would always come for you. Why didn’t you wait for me?
Buttercup: Well, you were dead.
Westley: Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while.
Buttercup: I will never doubt again.
Westley: There will never be a need.
The King: [Buttercup kisses him] What was that for?
Buttercup: Because you have always been so kind to me, and I won’t be seeing you again since I’m killing myself once we reach the honeymoon suite.
The King: Won’t that be nice. She kissed me, ha, ha, ha!
Inigo Montoya: You are sure nobody’s following us?
Vizzini: As I told you, it would be absolutely, totally, and in all other ways inconceivable. No one in Guilder knows what we’ve done, and no one in Florin could have gotten here so fast. Out of curiosity, why do you ask?
Inigo Montoya: No reason. It’s only, I just happened to look behind us, and something is there.
Vizzini: What? Probably some local fisherman, out for a pleasure cruise, at night, in eel-infested waters.
Vizzini: [referring to The Dread Pirate Roberts] to He didn’t fall? Inconceivable!
Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Inigo Montoya: I donna suppose you could speed things up?
Westley: If you’re in such a hurry, you could lower a rope or a tree branch or find something useful to do.
Inigo Montoya: I could do that. I have some rope up here, but I do not think you would accept my help, since I am only waiting around to kill you.
Westley: That does put a damper on our relationship.
Inigo Montoya: You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you.
Westley: You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die.
Westley: Why won’t my arms move?
Fezzik: You’ve been mostly-dead all day.
Count Rugen: Ah. Are you coming down into the pit? Wesley’s got his strength back. I’m starting him on the machine tonight.
Prince Humperdinck: [sincerely] Tyrone, you know how much I love watching you work, but I’ve got my country’s 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it. I’m swamped.
Count Rugen: Get some rest. If you haven’t got your health, then you haven’t got anything.
Inigo Montoya: Who are you?
Westley: No one of consequence.
Inigo Montoya: I must know.
Westley: Get used to disappointment.
Inigo Montoya: Okay.
Westley: You guessed wrong.
Vizzini: You only think I guessed wrong! That’s what’s so funny! I switched glasses when your back was turned! Ha ha! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous of which is, “Never get involved in a land war in Asia.” But only slightly less well-known is this, “Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!
[starts laughing, suddenly stops, his smile frozen on his face, and falls to the ground dead]
Vizzini: I can’t compete with you physically, and you’re no match for my brains.
Westley: You’re that smart?
Vizzini: Let me put it this way. Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?
Westley: Yes.
Vizzini: Morons.
Buttercup: You mock my pain.
Westley: Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.
Buttercup: We’ll never survive.
Westley: Nonsense. You’re only saying that because no one ever has.
Buttercup: We’ll never succeed. We may as well die here.
Westley: No, no. We have already succeeded. I mean, what are the three terrors of the Fire Swamp? One, the flame spurt, no problem. There’s a popping sound preceding each; we can avoid that. Two, the lightning sand, which you were clever enough to discover what that looks like, so in the future we can avoid that too.
Buttercup: Westley, what about the R-O-U-S’s?
Westley: Rodents Of Unusual Size? I don’t think they exist.
[Immediately, an ROUS. attacks him]
Prince Humperdinck: Surrender.
Westley: You mean you wish to surrender to me? Very well, I accept.
Inigo Montoya: Are you the Miracle Max who worked for the king all those years?
Miracle Max: The King’s stinking son fired me, and thank you so much for bringing up such a painful subject. While you’re at it, why don’t you give me a nice paper cut and pour lemon juice on it? We’re closed.
Miracle Max: Get back, witch.
Valerie: I’m not a witch, I’m your wife. But after what you just said, I’m not even sure I want to be that any more!
Miracle Max: Have fun storming the castle.
Valerie: Think it’ll work?
Miracle Max: It would take a miracle.
Westley: Give us the gate key.
Yellin: I have no gate key.
Inigo Montoya: Fezzik, tear his arms off.
Yellin: Oh, you mean this gate key.
Westley: There’s a shortage of perfect breasts in this world. It would be a pity to damage yours.
The Ancient Booer: Boo. Boo. Boo.
Buttercup: Why do you do this?
The Ancient Booer: Because you had love in your hands, and you gave it up.
Buttercup: But they would have killed Westley if I hadn’t done it.
The Ancient Booer: Your true love lives. And you marry another. True Love saved her in the Fire Swamp, and she treated it like garbage. And that’s what she is, the Queen of Refuse. So bow down to her if you want, bow to her. Bow to the Queen of Slime, the Queen of Filth, the Queen of Putrescence. Boo. Boo. Rubbish. Filth. Slime. Muck. Boo. Boo. Boo.
The Impressive Clergyman: Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam. And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva. So tweasure your wuv.
Prince Humperdinck: Skip to the end.
The Impressive Clergyman: Have you the wing?
Buttercup: You’re the Dread Pirate Roberts, admit it.
Westley: With pride. What can I do for you?
Buttercup: You can die slowly, cut into a thousand pieces.
Westley: Tsk, tsk. That’s hardly complementary Highness. Why loose your venom on me?
Buttercup: You killed my love.
Westley: It’s possible. I kill a lot of people.
Fezzik: Why do you wear a mask? Were you burned by acid, or something like that?
Westley: Oh, no. It’s just that they’re terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future.
Count Rugen: You must be that little Spanish brat I taught a lesson to all those years ago. You’ve been chasing me your whole life only to fail now? I think that’s about the worst thing I’ve ever heard. How marvelous.
Inigo Montoya: He’s dead. He can’t talk.
Miracle Max: Whoo-hoo-hoo, look who knows so much. It just so happens that your friend here is only mostly dead. There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there’s usually only one thing you can do.
Inigo Montoya: What’s that?
Miracle Max: Go through his clothes and look for loose change.
Westley: I do not envy you the headache you will have when you awake. But for now, rest well and dream of large women.
Inigo Montoya: Kill me quickly.
Westley: I would sooner destroy a stained glass window than an artist like yourself. However, since I can’t have you follow me either.
Westley: [knocks him out] Please understand, I hold you in the highest respect.
Fezzik: You just shook your head. Doesn’t that make you happy?
Westley: My brains, his steel, and your strength against sixty men, and you think a little head-jiggle is supposed to make me happy?
Westley: So it’s to be torture?
Westley: [as the Albino nods enthusiastically] I can cope with torture.
Westley: [the Albino shakes head enthusiastically] Don’t believe me?
The Albino: You survived the Fire Swamp, so you must be very brave, but no one withstands The Machine.
Grandpa: It was ten days to the wedding. The King still lived, but Buttercup’s nightmares were growing steadily worse.
The Grandson: See didn’t I tell you she’d never marry that rotten Humperdinck.
Grandpa: Yes, you’re very smart. Shut up.
Prince Humperdinck: First things first. To the death.
Westley: No. To the pain.
Prince Humperdinck: I don’t think I’m quite familiar with that phrase.
Westley: I’ll explain and I’ll use small words so that you’ll be sure to understand, you warthog faced buffoon.
Prince Humperdinck: That may be the first time in my life a man has dared insult me.
Westley: It won’t be the last. To the pain means the first thing you will lose will be your feet below the ankles. Then your hands at the wrists. Next your nose.
Prince Humperdinck: And then my tongue I suppose, I killed you too quickly the last time. A mistake I don’t mean to duplicate tonight.
Westley: I wasn’t finished. The next thing you will lose will be your left eye followed by your right.
Prince Humperdinck: And then my ears, I understand let’s get on with it.
Westley: Wrong! Your ears you keep and I’ll tell you why. So that every shriek of every child at seeing your hideousness will be yours to cherish. Every babe that weeps at your approach, every woman who cries out, “Dear God! What is that thing,” will echo in your perfect ears. That is what to the pain means. It means I leave you in anguish, wallowing in freakish misery forever.
Prince Humperdinck: I think you’re bluffing.
Westley: It’s possible, Pig, I might be bluffing. It’s conceivable, you miserable, vomitous mass, that I’m only lying here because I lack the strength to stand. But, then again… perhaps I have the strength after all.
Westley: [slowly rises and points sword directly at the prince] Drop your sword!
[Humperdinck’s mouth hangs open, drops sword to floor]
Grandpa: Since the invention of the kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind. The End.
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