The Princess Bride (1987)

This is a terrific movie that has so many different editions of the DVD and now Blu-Ray discs that it gets very confusing as to what is in each version.

A search of the internet shows several reviews that describe the differences between the DVD versions. Basically the "Dread Pirate Roberts" edition and the "20th Anniversery" edition have different special features not in the other edition.

As of this writing, there are three versions of the Blu-ray the Blu-ray only edition, and the Blu-ray + DVD edition in either a Blu-Ray or the old style DVD case.

What makes it confusing is that Amazon and other sellers of this Blu-Ray only edition list this movie as a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, implying that it might be a different movie cut, while the other two Blu-ray editions are listed as 1.85:1 aspect ratio. No doubt this, together with the fact that the Blu-Ray + DVD edition has almost the same price, has hampered sales of this Blu-Ray only edition.

Well, I went ahead and got the Blu-Ray only edition, mainly because I thought that there might be a chance that the 1.33:1 ratio was because some older movies were filmed on 35mm film which has a natural 1.33:1 aspect ratio, and then were cropped top and bottom to a 1.85:1 ratio to give them a widescreen look. On the other hand, the very first DVD edition released for Princess Bride notoriously had a horrible pan-and-scan cropped to fullscreen 1.33:1 aspect ratio that showed less of the movie than the widescreen version, which is not what you want to see in a Blu-ray. I was hoping for the other possibility that the listed 1.33:1 for this Blu-ray edition meant that cropping had been removed from the widescreen version to show MORE of the movie as it was originally filmed.

However, on playing this Blu-ray, it was immediately obvious that this Blu-Ray only edition is the same 1.85:1 aspect ratio as the other Blu-Ray editions. So all those listed descriptions of this Blu-Ray as a 1.33:1 aspect ratio are just flat out wrong.

What are the other goodies on this Blu-Ray? The Special Features include:

Audio Commentary by Rob Reiner

Audio Commentary by William Goldman

The Art of Fencing

As You Wish, The Story of The Princess Bride

Cary Elwes, Video Diary

The Dread Pirate Roberts: Greatest Pirate of the Seven Seas

Fairy Tales and Folklore

Love is Like a Storybook

Miraculous Makeup

Original Theatrical Trailer

Princess Bride: The Untold Tales

So, this Blu-Ray contains essentially all the special features of the "Dread Pirate Roberts" edition and the "20th Anniversary Edition" except for the DVD games and the booklet. The special features are in their original DVD or lower quality video resolution, although it seems that some of the excerpts from the movie itself have been re-edited to use the higher Blu-Ray resolution.

The Blu-Ray quality is excellent, except for being a bit grainy in some parts tweaking the sharpness or edge enhancement helps, if you have this feature on your Blu-Ray player.

Finally, a few words about the movie it is an absolutely wonderful classic a warm, romantic, and humorous mythology, one of those perfect family movies that could be shown every year just like "A Christmas Story". It was known to be the late Andre the Giant's happiest experience in life, playing the role of Fezzik; he regularly watched the movie afterwards.

It belongs on the list of my favorite films of all time.

Here's what is new on the 20th Edition DVD:

"The Princess Bride: The Untold Tales"

"The Art of Fencing" Featurette

"Fairy Tales and Folklore" Featurette

"True Love and High Adventure: The Official The Princess Bride DVD Game

The Dread Pirate Roberts/Buttercup Editions include all of the Special Edition features plus:

French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround) Audio Track

"Dread Pirate Roberts: Greatest Legend of the Seven Seas" mockumentary

"Love is Like a Storybook Story" featurette

"Miraculous Make-up" featurette

Quotable "Battle of Wits" trivia game

Collective booklet: "Fezzik's Guide to Florin"

I prefer the Dread Pirate Robert's/Buttercup Edition, but there are three reasons why you might want to buy the new 20th edition:

1. You don't already own the movie (shame on you).

2. You collect all things Princess Bride.

3. The DVD cover art is fantastic!

Buy The Princess Bride (1987) Now

I remember when I first saw this movie, around age 13, I had no idea who the Man in Black was through the entirety of the first act. Sure, it's apparent now, given the benefit of hindsight, but because of the actor's anonymity at the time I never made the obvious connection. On top of that, most of the rest of the cast was unknown to me as well (except for the one non-actor, Monsieur Roussimoff, a.k.a. Andre the Giant). The sweeping anonymity of the company allowed the film to do two things: first, the audience isn't distracted by the presence of the Big Star; and second, unknown actors allow for no preconceived notions of their characters. Which in turn allows the filmmakers to subvert character types, and insert some true surprises into the story.

Which, to make a long point even longer, is the whole ethos of the film

William Goldman's book "The Princess Bride", on which this film is based, intended to tell only the 'good parts' version of the story of Westley and Buttercup. That is, it would leave in the high drama and action and romance, while curbing the back-stories and superfluous exposition. William Goldman, in his role as adaptor of the book into a screenplay, remains fiercely loyal to this proposition. He's constructed a framing device, wherein a grandfather is reading to his sick grandson, which allows him to make meta-fictional comments on the seemingly typical fairy tale being told. In doing so, however, he subverts the fairy tale's typicalness, making it much more surprising and revelatory. At one point the grandson worriedly asks about the fate of the villain: "Who kills Humperdinck?" The grandfather calmly answers, "No one. He lives." Which is not only a true statement, for that is exactly what happens, but it doesn't even come close to ruining the end of the story. On the contrary, it increases the suspense, and makes what does happen quite astonishing.

Rob Reiner, in only his third time out in the director's chair, does a wonderful job of translating Goldman's script to the screen. He utilizes elements, whether by choice or by budgetary restraints, that would at first appear incongruous, but work as a whole to keep the audience off-balance, and thus more receptive to the surprises the movie has in store for them.

The acting is, stylistically, all over the place. It ranges from the unabashed over-the-top passion of Mandy Patinkin (Inigo Montoya), to the bumbling buffoonery of Wallace Shawn (Vizzini), to the gentle anti-acting of Andre the Giant (Fezzik), to the unsubtle Snidely Whiplash villainy of Chris Sarandon (Prince Humperdinck), to the Borscht Belt mugging of Billy Crystal (Miracle Max), to the icy malice of Christopher Guest (Count Rugen), and the stark realism of Robin Wright (Buttercup, the title character). No two actors take the same road, but they all somehow arrive at the same location. Cary Elwes, playing the hero, is the only one who falls easily into all these styles, as the situation demands it. He is menacing, suave, cool, funny, athletic, simple, sweet, fierce, etc., etc., etc. Elwes and Patinkin are the standouts for me -their swordfight atop the Cliffs of Insanity is technically brilliant, literate, and extremely entertaining -but the entire cast effective. Even the smaller roles (British comedians Mel Smith and Peter Cook each have brief but memorable one-joke cameos) make their mark.

The film's musical score, composed by 'Dire Straits' frontman Mark Knoplfer, swings and sways from moment to moment. In one, he uses stark, bouncy lines to underscore a simple scene of Fezzik and Inigo trading rhymes. In the next, he layers synthesized strings to call up the gravity of the Man in Black's chase. My only problem with the music is the song written for the closing credits: it's weepy and melodramatic, without the sense of subversive fun that had prevailed up until that point.

The sets and scenery switch back and forth between real and obviously fake. Filmed in and around the English countryside, most of the outdoor locations (the severe valley, the woods) breathe reality and beauty into the story. Others, such as the Fire Swamp, the Pit of Despair, and the plateau above the Cliffs of Insanity, have the phony feel of a Hollywood soundstage. Again, the film keeps the audience on their toes.

So now that I am 27 instead of 13, and know back-to-front the filmmographies of all the actors involved, and have seen the film more than a dozen times, and can quote lines from it at the drop of a hat, do I find it any less appealing than on that first viewing? Of course not. Goldman and Reiner's film rewards multiple viewings, with its wit, its playfulness, and most importantly, its subversiveness. Will there ever be a time when I tire of watching it? A time like that is right now, as Vizzini might say, "inconceivable".

Read Best Reviews of The Princess Bride (1987) Here

I am a great lover of the Princess Bride, so when the 20th Anniversary Edition came out, I pre-ordered it and eagerly awaited it's arrival. Well, I got it on Saturday, popped it into the DVD player and fully expected to be dazzled by all of the new extras. There's one new featurette on the movie, which does not feature Cary Elwes. There's an intro to the new PB game that's out. And a featurette about how this compares to other fairy tales. The rest of the features that were so awesome in the special edition, like Cary Elwes' video diary? Nothing else is included. I was very disappointed, and wish I had not wasted my money. The movie is awesome, and if you do not own it, by all means, buy whichever version you please. But my own personal preference is for the Special Edition. It sounds like the Buttercup/Dread Pirate versions are cool too. Just wanted to warn you all so you don't make the same mistake. Thanks!

Want The Princess Bride (1987) Discount?

The MOVIE: at first glance, this is your basic fairy-tale-fantasy-love-story between Princess Buttercup and her dashing lover Wesley. Mix in some pirates, giants, swashbuckling Spaniards, evil geniuses, dungeons w/ torture devices and six-fingered men, and you have possibly the best non-animated family classic of the 1980s. It's also the favorite (and usually most-quoted) movie of many of my friends. In sum, words cannot do justice to this movie, so please rent it.

The DVD: I absolutely refused to buy the first DVD release of this movie, as it was non-anamorphic (i.e., will not fit on widescreen TVs) and was sorely lacking in extras. This SPECIAL edition is well worth the wait. First of all, you have two high-quality featurettes from 1987, each roughly 10 minutes long. The first one is a look behind the making of the movie and includes on-location interviews of the actors between shots. The second featurettes is more of the same, although it focuses more on providing unique insight into the decisions behind the casting of every major character in the movie. Also included is a 5-minute video diary by Cary Elwes, which is basically Cary with a camcorder filming himself and other members of the production at various points (e.g., practicing with his fencing teacher, the crew eating meals, etc.). Cary and Robin Wright provide voice-over commentary.

However, the true gem of this disc is the 30-minute "As You Wish" Documentary, in which all the principals (Cary, Robin, Rob Reiner, Billy Crystal, Fred Savage, William Goldman, Mandy Patinkin, etc.) look back from 2001 at the entire history of The Princess Bride, from the reasons as to why Goldman wrote the original book in 1973, to his decade-long attempt to get it put on film, to the choice of Rob Reiner and its subsequent filming, and to the legacy the movie has left in the 15 years since its release. In covering almost every aspect of The Princess Bride, this documentary is often funny, sometimes sentimental (especially when the actors reminisce on their memories of Andre the Giant), and always fascinating.

Lastly, the DVD contains two audio commentaries, one by Rob Reiner and a separate one by William Goldman, with each providing their respective insight into the various parts of the story and its filming. (I will say, however, that Rob Reiner's commentary is much better than the sparse one he gave in the DVD for "When Harry Met Sally").

In sum, this is the consummate DVD for any true fan of the movie. I can't imagine too much more that could have been added to this DVD which would have made it too much better. A truly, can't-miss DVD. If you own the first release, you won't regret trading it in for this one.

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