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"THE PRINCESS BRIDE" (1987) (Cary Elwes, Robin Wright) (PG) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Heavy Moderate Heavy *Heavy Heavy Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Heavy Minor Heavy None Minor Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Mild None Mild Moderate Heavy QUICK TAKE: Adventure/Comedy: The grandfather of a boy sick in bed reads him a fairy tale that includes true love, evil royalty, swordfights, a giant, a miracle maker, large rodents, torture, and still much more. PLOT: The grandfather (PETER FALK) of a sick boy (FRED SAVAGE) comes to visit, bringing with him a book called "The Princess Bride," sitting down to read it to the boy who at first doubts its value, but gets increasingly involved, even to the point of calling the grandfather on certain plot points that shouldn't happen. The story itself has at its center a girl named Buttercup (ROBIN WRIGHT) who enjoys ordering around the farm boy Westley (CARY ELWES), who accedes to her every command with a simple "As you wish." They fall in love and because he doesn't have enough wealth to marry her, Westley goes out on the seas to make some money and is kidnapped by the unseen Dread Pirate Roberts. Five years pass and Buttercup agrees to marry Prince Humperdinck (CHRIS SARANDON), royalty in the country of Florin, never giving up hope that her Westley is still alive. Amidst all this, Buttercup is kidnapped by a scheming man named Vizzini (WALLACE SHAWN) and his two cohorts, the vengeful Inigo (MANDY PATINKIN) and the enormous Fezzik (ANDRE THE GIANT), both of whom make up brains and strength, though not according to Vizzini. The story weaves and twists, as Vizzini and Fezzik contend separately with the mysterious, yet skilled and quick-moving Man in Black, and there's also the Cliffs of Insanity, the Fire Swamp, the Pit of Despair, and the usual spate of evil doings. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? A definite yes, as it contains plenty of comedy, action, adventure, and a giant man. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG No official reason is given, but it's likely for violence, sometimes bloody, and some potential moments of peril. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: CARY ELWES plays Westley, farmboy to Buttercup, who enjoys ordering him around, but soon falls in love with him and he with her. He goes out on the seas to earn enough money to marry her, but is kidnapped by the Dread Pirate Roberts. He returns to land with a different identity for a time, then reunites with Buttercup and is put through as much as she is, all in the name of true love between both of them. ROBIN WRIGHT plays Buttercup, a girl living on a wide swath of farm land who takes pleasure in bossing around Westley, the farmboy who looks after her horse and tends to the firewood, among other things, but she falls in love with him and the feeling is mutual. Five years pass after she learns of his kidnapping by the Dread Pirate Roberts, and she agrees to be married to Prince Humperdinck, royalty of the country of Florin. She firmly believes that Westley will come back for her, and does not wish to marry Humperdinck. WALLACE SHAWN plays Vizzini, who spearheads the kidnapping of Buttercup, with the plan to dispose of her body on the frontier of the country of Guilder, therefore causing Prince Humperdinck of Florin to declare war on Guilder, though there's more to it than just all that. He belittles Inigo and Fezzik, whom he's hired to work for him, and he believes himself to be smart enough to win a battle of wits against the Man in Black. MANDY PATINKIN plays Inigo Montoya, whose father was killed by a "six-fingered man" after he refused to sell the man a custom-made sword at a price far less than what was agreed to. For 20 years, he's practiced swordfighting, intending to find the six-fingered man and kill him with the blade of his own sword, the way the man killed his father. Inigo contends with the Man in Black as well, and also drinks and appears drunk. ANDRE THE GIANT plays Fezzik, enormous beyond all imagination. He works for Vizzini, then fights the Man in Black and loses. He finds Inigo, revives him from his drunkenness, and becomes a pillar of support in a band of three against Prince Humperdinck. CHRIS SARANDON plays Prince Humperdinck, who announces to his subjects his engagement to Buttercup. However, his engagement has underlying deviousness, which involves declaring a war against the country of Guilder. Twice, he lies to Buttercup after agreeing to demands she makes. CHRISTOPHER GUEST plays Count Rugen, the right-hand man to Prince Humperdinck, and a devotee of pain, as evidenced by him torturing Westley with a machine of his own creation, and asking Westley to describe to him how he feels during it so he can get it all down in a book. He's also whom Inigo is after. PETER FALK plays a grandfather who visits his sick grandson with a book to read to him, "The Princess Bride," which was read to him by his father when he was sick, and he read it to the boy's father when he was sick. FRED SAVAGE plays the grandson, at first wary of the book his grandfather plans to read him, but gets involved more and more, even to the point of not believing certain passages and demanding to know what happens to certain characters. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this PG-rated adventure/comedy. Profanity consists of a brief expletive, while some colorful phrases are heard, and there's a brief reference to a woman's breasts. Some occasionally bloody violence is present (but is more adventure-based than realistic), and those scenes and moments of potential peril might be unsettling and/or suspenseful to some younger viewers. There is potentially imitative behavior present, as well as some disrespect and bad attitudes. Alcohol is present in a few scenes and one character appears drunk, while some tense family material is present. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Vizzini says to Inigo to shut him up, "When I found you, you were so slobbering drunk, you couldn't buy brandy!" Vizzini has two chalices on a cloth-draped rock as well as a bottle of wine. A few minutes later, the Man in Black tells Vizzini to pour the wine, and he does. We can see the red wine being poured into the second chalice, while the first one sits filled. The Man in Black takes both chalices out of view of Vizzini and pours iocane powder, an odorless, colorless poison, into the chalices for the battle of wits, for Vizzini to choose which chalice he thinks does not contain the poison. The Man in Black and Vizzini drink from their chalices, and then put them down. After Vizzini explains to the Man in Black that he switched the chalices when the man wasn't looking before, Vizzini falls to the side, dead. Inigo is seen drunk, sitting on the ground, and he drinks from a black bottle. Inigo gets up drunkenly and slashes at an enforcer with his sword. Inigo drunkenly makes a vibrating sound with his lips closed, and Fezzik reacts to his breath. Fezzik pats Inigo on the chest, and Inigo falls forward to the ground. The grandfather, reading from the book, refers to Inigo as "inebriated." At one point, while Fezzik is feeding Inigo, Inigo's eyes roll up into his head and his face lands in his soup. Fezzik dunks Inigo's head into a bucket of hot water, then cold water, then hot water again to revive him. Miracle Max puts a coat of chocolate on a pill designed to bring Westley back to life, which Inigo later puts into Westley's mouth long before facing the guards at the castle gate. BLOOD/GORE Inigo shows the Man in Black two permanent flesh-colored scars, one on each cheek that the six-fingered man gave him after a failed duel. Vizzini drops dead to the side offscreen because the iocane powder was in his chalice, yet it turns out that it was also in the Man in Black's chalice, but he has an immunity to it. Later, as Prince Humperdinck tracks down the Man in Black, he stops at the site of the battle of wits and Vizzini's body is seen, still where it landed. The Man in Black admits himself to be the Dread Pirate Roberts, asking Buttercup what he can do for her. She replies, "You can die slowly, cut into a thousand pieces." We see blood on the teeth of the Rodent of Unusual Size from biting Westley, as it's doing it. Westley tries to get his sword in order to defeat the R.O.U.S., and two thin lines of blood are seen briefly on his hand. Westley's right shoulder is bloody from the battle with the R.O.U.S. Westley and Buttercup stop in the forest after leaving the Fire Swamp, and Westley's injury is seen more clearly: A bad black bruise and dried blood around it. Westley lays tied to a table, his bloody wound seen and tended to by the Albino with a cloth. A closer shot is seen of the blood on the cloth as it is taken away. One of Yellin's enforcers, who tells him that there's a "Spaniard" causing trouble in the Thieves' Forest, has a diagonal scar running from near the top of his head to below his right eyebrow. Inigo announces, "There will be blood tonight!", in seeking out Count Rugen and fighting him. As Westley lies on the table, a circular dark brown bruise is seen near his right shoulder. Inigo asks Miracle Max if he's the one who worked for the king years ago and Miracle Max replies, "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?" As Inigo walks toward Count Rugen, his left shirt sleeve is seen, bloody. The right side of his vest is also very bloody, shiny from it, and dark. The bottom of Inigo's vest is also very bloody. The tip of Count Rugen's sword has blood on it. Inigo stabs Count Rugen in the right side of his chest and as he stabs the left, we see a spot of blood on the right. As Inigo points his sword at Count Rugen's face, blood is seen on it. With the sword, Inigo slashes both sides of Count Rugen's face, giving him the scars he gave Inigo. Blood is seen from both wounds, as well as two streams from the right-side facial wound. Inigo holds up a bloody hand as he says to Count Rugen, "Offer me everything I ask for." Blood is seen on the clothing at Count Rugen's stomach. After Count Rugen falls to the floor, there is much blood seen on Inigo's right sleeve. He also has more blood on his vest. After he opens one side of a window, Inigo puts his hand on the wall slightly below and his bloody sleeve and hand are seen. As Westley motions to Inigo to jump down next, we see more blood on Inigo's upper sleeve. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE While Prince Humperdinck's parents, the king and queen of Florin, are still alive, yet very old, all attention in the kingdom seems to be on him, especially when he announces his engagement to Buttercup, who has agreed to the arrangement five years removed from the disappearance of her beloved Westley. However, he has a dastardly plan in store, which he mentions to his right-hand henchman Count Rugen after he asks him if he wants to see him do his thing with torture: "Tyrone, you know 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 Gilder to blame for it. I'm swamped." At one point, he agrees to Buttercup's request not to hurt Westley and return him to his ship, but he tells Count Rugen quietly, "Once we're out of sight, take him back to Florin and throw him in the Pit of Despair." He also lies to Buttercup yet again when he agrees to send his four fastest ships on the seas to search for Westley, but she finds out that he's not done it. Count Rugen is just as black-hearted as Prince Humperdinck, but for different reasons. While Inigo allows the Man in Black to catch his breath before beginning their swordfight, he tells him the story of how Count Rugen, whom he knows as the "six-fingered man" killed his father, slashing him through the heart after he refused to sell a custom-made sword to Rugen at 1/10th the promised price. Inigo's lifelong goal has been to find Rugen and kill him for killing his father and it's been 20 years. When Inigo was a boy, Count Rugen, besides leaving Inigo without a father, also left him with two scars on his face, one on each cheek, after a failed duel. Besides all that, Rugen is also into torture, evidenced by him being interested in how Westley reacts to "the Machine," writing his observations in a book. Vizzini plans to kill Buttercup and leave her body on the Guilderian frontier, so that Prince Humperdinck will think that it was a hostile action by the country of Guilder against Florin, and enact a war against Guilder. It is learned later that Vizzini, whiny and unpleasant as he is, was hired by Prince Humperdinck for the task. Vizzini, upon hearing Fezzik say that he thinks killing isn't a good idea, says to him, "You weren't hired for your brains you hippopotamic land mass!" As Inigo gives his opinion, Vizzini announces, "The sot has spoken!" Vizzini calls Fezzik "friendless, brainless, helpless, hopeless!" Count Rugen tortures Westley with his machine that's designed to suck a year of life away, as Rugen first tests it. Later, Prince Humperdinck raises the machine's number to 50. Miracle Max says to Valerie, "Get back, witch!" Valerie fires back, "I'm not a witch, I'm your wife!" FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. A shrieking eel passes by Buttercup in the water and a minute later, bares its teeth at her. An eel swims at Buttercup and we see its teeth up close and hear its shriek before the grandfather appears again. In the Fire Swamp, plumes of fire shoot up from various places in the ground, such as near enough to Buttercup to set the bottom of her dress on fire, which Westley puts out. Buttercup suddenly falls into quicksand, and Westley slashes a thick vine, takes the end of it and dives into the quicksand. A few Rodents of Unusual Size growl at Westley and Buttercup. A Rodent of Unusual Size jumps at Westley from offscreen, knocking him to the ground, and he tries to get the R.O.U.S. off of him. The R.O.U.S. bites Westley on the arm and he screams. The R.O.U.S. bites Westley on the chest and he screams. We then hear the poppings of the fire spurts getting ready to erupt from the ground, and Westley rolls over to one of the popping sounds with the R.O.U.S. in tow, and the fire hits the creature and it screams, jerking about a bit. It gets up, smoking. Westley takes up his sword as the creature walks toward him, and he stabs the creature squarely in the back, then in the side near its hind leg and then a third time, though it's unknown where he's stabbed it. The creature drops to the ground, shakes a bit, and stops moving. Prince Humperdinck raises a torture machine's level of life-sucking capability to 50, and Westley screams loudly and jerks about. GUNS/WEAPONS Swords/Knives/Crossbows/Club/Whip: Carried and used to threaten, fend off, wound, attempt to wound, and kill others. See "Violence" for details. Vizzini takes out a knife and begins to cut a rope from its rock mooring in order to try to cause the Man in Black to fall from the side of the Cliffs of Insanity. Vizzini holds a long knife against Buttercup's chin. As the Man in Black walks closer, Vizzini moves the knife further in at the side of Buttercup's chin. Prince Humperdinck's soldiers aim their crossbows at Westley. Guards at the castle gate wield swords against Fezzik as the Dread Pirate Roberts. Count Rugen and soldiers behind him run down a hallway with swords at the ready. Count Rugen pulls a knife out of his boot. Inigo holds his sword at a tied-up Prince Humperdinck. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "How's the sickie?" "You weren't hired for your brains you hippopotamic land mass!" "The sot has spoken!" "Beg your pardon," "Move it!" "Inconceivable!" "I'm waiting!" "You fool!" "Shut up," "My dulcet darling!" "Hello in there!" "Liar!" "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." "It's possible, pig," and "It's conceivable, you miserable vomitous mass." All of the swordplay, stunts and such may be tempting to imitate. The grandfather makes a grand entrance, banging the kid's door open, holding his arms up and exclaiming, "Hey!" The grandfather pinches the kid's cheek affectionately. Vizzini shouts in frustration as the boat sails on, and again when he finds out that neither Inigo nor Fezzik can swim. Inigo makes a clicking sound with his mouth when telling Vizzini that if he uses his right hand in a swordfight, it's over too quickly. Inigo briefly practices his footwork for the duel, before checking on the climbing progress of the Man in Black. After that, he practices with his sword. Inigo's accent may be tempting to imitate. The Albino's at-first raspy voice may be tempting to imitate. Inigo drunkenly makes a vibrating sound with his lips closed. Inigo's eyes roll up into his head and his head falls into his soup. Fezzik forcefully dunks Inigo's head into a bucket of hot water, then cold, then hot again to revive him. The Impressive Clergyman's manner of speaking (many "w's" and "r's" inserted into words) may be tempting to imitate. Inigo slams into a locked door repeatedly, trying to open it. Fezzik stops him from running into the door another time, and punches it down for him. JUMP SCENES From offscreen, Fezzik throws a large rock at a stone slab near the Man in Black, which smashes into pieces and surprises him. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A heavy amount of suspenseful and ominous music occurs in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None PROFANITY At least 1 S.O.B., and 1 use each of "My God" and "Jesus." SEX/NUDITY Westley is shirtless as he's being hooked up to the Machine. As Buttercup prepares to stab herself in the chest, Westley says from offscreen at first, "There's a shortage of perfect breasts in the world. It would be a pity to damage yours." Buttercup runs to Westley and gets on top of him, clothed, kissing him. SMOKING None TENSE FAMILY SCENES Inigo tells his story of the six-fingered man requesting a special sword, and his father taking the job. "He slaved a year before it was done." After showing the sword to the Man in Black, he continues: "The six-fingered man returned and demanded it, but at 1/10th his promised price. My father refused. Without a word, the six-fingered man slashed him through the heart." Accordingly, and throughout the film, Inigo is driven by his desire to avenge his father's death. Miracle Max and Valerie fight after she hears him misstate what Westley was saying, claiming that Westley said "To blave," instead of "True love." Valerie yells at him, trying to make him see that that's what Westley said and then tells Inigo and Fezzik that ever since Prince Humperdinck fired him, his confidence has been shattered. Miracle Max demands that she not say Humperdinck's name to him and she chases him around, saying it over and over. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The magic of fairytales and the characters contained within them, such as giants, miracle men, swordsmen, evil royalty, and lovers. Books and the worlds they can open up, just by words. Revenge. VIOLENCE Fezzik reaches a hand out to grasp Buttercup by the neck and makes her unconscious. Fezzik hits a shrieking eel with his hand and pulls Buttercup out of the water. Inigo tells his story of the six-fingered man requesting a special sword, and his father taking the job. "He slaved a year before it was done." After showing the sword to the Man in Black, he continues: "The six-fingered man returned and demanded it, but at 1/10th his promised price. My father refused. Without a word, the six-fingered man slashed him through the heart." Inigo and the Man in Black begin the swordfight. The Man in Black blocks Inigo's first jabs and then backs away from Inigo slashing the sword in front of his face. The Man in Black does the same to Inigo in the next movement, but naturally, Inigo backs away from the slashing sword motion. Swords clink and skilled footwork abounds, with the Man in Black jumping down from a rock ledge at one point. They also battle while walking up some stone slab steps. Inigo backs the Man in Black against a falling rock ledge, leaning into him and the Man in Black says to Inigo, "There's something I ought to tell you. I am not left-handed either," referencing Inigo's earlier remark of not being left-handed and then switching hands. Inigo and the Man in Black also demonstrate acrobatics in retrieving their swords. There's jumping and stealth ducking and clashing of swords, and then the Man in Black slashes at Inigo's hair and knocks the sword out of his hand with his sword. After the duel, because the Man in Black cannot have Inigo following him, he clocks Inigo on the head with his fist holding the butt of his sword, knocking him out, and he falls forward. From offscreen, Fezzik throws a large rock at a stone slab near the Man in Black, which smashes into pieces and surprises him. The Man in Black runs at Fezzik, hitting his chest, which makes a strong thumping sound, and he groans. The Man in Black backs up, runs at Fezzik again, wraps his arms around his waist, and squeezes unsuccessfully. Fezzik grabs at the Man in Black, but he ducks through his legs, rolling out the other way. Fezzik then throws two punches, and the Man in Black ducks both times. Upon the third punch, the Man in Black ducks, runs onto a rock behind Fezzik, and then jumps onto his back. He wraps his arms around Fezzik's neck and Fezzik reaches behind, tries to grab him, and backs quickly into two rocks at different intervals. Eventually, Fezzik drops to his knees and is out cold. After Buttercup tells the Man in Black that "I have loved more deeply than a killer like yourself could ever dream," he raises a hand to her, but does not strike, telling her that that was a warning. "The next time, my hand flies on its own." Buttercup pushes the Man in Black from behind down a steep hill and when she realizes that the man is actually Westley, she rolls down the hill as well, head over everything else, over and over. A Rodent of Unusual Size jumps at Westley from offscreen, knocking him to the ground and he tries to get the R.O.U.S. off him. The R.O.U.S. bites Westley on the arm and he screams. He punches the R.O.U.S. in the side of the head and it rolls over. He tries to get his sword in order to defeat the R.O.U.S., but it overpowers him. He holds its eager mouth open, and rolls over on top of it, and then it back on him. Westley throws the R.O.U.S. backward over his head and gets up. The R.O.U.S. crawls away, but Westley grabs the creature's tail and climbs partway on it. Buttercup picks up a club and hits the R.O.U.S. on its snout as it bites at her dress. She falls and then the R.O.U.S. has her foot in its mouth. Buttercup hits the R.O.U.S. on the side of its snout with the club and stands up as Westley struggles with it. The R.O.U.S. then bites Westley on the chest and he screams. We then hear the poppings of the plumes of fire getting ready to shoot upward, and Westley rolls over to one of the sounds with the R.O.U.S. in tow and the fire hits the creature and it screams, jerking about a bit. It gets up, smoking. Westley takes up his sword as the creature walks toward him, and he stabs the creature squarely in the back, then in the side near its hind leg, and a third time, though it's not certain that time where he's stabbed the creature. The R.O.U.S. drops to the ground, shakes a bit, and then stops moving. Count Rugen knocks Westley out with the butt of his sword. Westley grunts from the pain a torture machine causes. A soldier whips one of the prisoners walking behind the horse-drawn prison transport. Fezzik sweeps his fist upward and punches an enforcer. Fezzik pats Inigo on the chest and Inigo falls face-first to the floor. Humperdinck raises the life-sucking machine's level to 50 and Westley screams and jerks about while restrained. Fezzik pounds his fist once on top of the Albino's head, and the Albino falls forward. Four soldiers run at Inigo. Inigo hits the first one in the shoulder as he runs by, hits the second in the stomach with his sword (he falls down), hits the third one in the chest with his sword and runs the fourth one through in the stomach, and that one falls in pain. Inigo slams himself into a locked door repeatedly, trying to open it. Fezzik comes around, stops Inigo from running into the door another time, and punches it down for him. Count Rugen throws a knife at Inigo, and it lands in his stomach. Inigo staggers backward to the wall behind him, holding the knife while sliding down to the floor. As Buttercup continues kissing him, Westley exclaims, "Gently!" and his head slams on the headboard of the bed. Inigo takes out the knife and holds his wound as he gets up. He then staggers back to the wall. Count Rugen tries to stab Inigo with his sword, but Inigo's sword keeps getting in the way instinctually, without him really paying attention. Every move that Count Rugen angrily makes is blocked by Inigo, and one movement sends Rugen sprinting toward a banquet table, knocking over a candelabra. Inigo stabs Count Rugen on the right and left sides of his chest. He also slashes both sides of his face, giving him the same scars he gave Inigo. Count Rugen knocks Inigo's sword blade to the side and as he tries to bring his sword down on Inigo, Inigo stabs him in the stomach. As Inigo holds the sword there, he says to Count Rugen, "I want my father back, you son of a bitch," and pushes the sword in deeper. Inigo kicks Count Rugen at a banquet table with one foot and Rugen knocks down a fruit bowl. Reviewed off DVD / Posted May 13, 2009