"The Princess Bride," Marriage Mayhem Week (Part 2)
In the second entry for our week of bride-related films, we finally get to talk about Rob Reiner's 1987 masterpiece, The Princess Bride.
For the past year or so, anyone and everyone that I've talked to about this film have told me only positive things about it. I'm not entirely sure why it took me so long to watch The Princess Bride, but if I had to take a guess, I'd say I was subconsciously afraid the film wouldn't live up to the high expectations my peers had set for it. So, after over a year of stalling and wondering if it would live up to the hype, I finally popped it in my DVD player and got my answer:
Every positive thing anyone has ever said to me about The Princess Bride was correct. It truly is a masterpiece of a film, and even though it came out 30 years ago as of last month, I really don't want to say too much about it because I want you to enjoy it in the same way I did. However, this is a blog about movies, so I have to talk about it. Therefore, consider this your spoiler warning. If you haven't seen The Princess Bride before, leave this page right now and don't come back until you've seen it for yourself, because we're going to enter Spoiler City as soon as this sentence is finished.
*SPOILERS BELOW! SPOILERS BELOW! SPOILERS BELOW! SPOILERS BELOW!*
Okay, so as I said before, a lot of friends and acquaintances of mine who have talked about this film have had almost exclusively positive things to say about it. Some people have even gone as far as calling it a "near-perfect" to "perfect film." Depending on the person, the definition can vary, but I think in the context of this movie, The Princess Bride can be considered a perfect film because it has something for everyone to enjoy.
If you're a fan of romance, then the story of true love between Buttercup (Robin Wright) and Westley (Cary Elwes) will suck you right in. If you're a fan of action, combat, swordplay, chivalry, and witty banter, then you will absolutely enjoy the battles between "The Man in Black" and the three outlaws: Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), Fezzik (Andre the Giant), and Vizzini (Wallace Shawn). If you like villains, tales of revenge, and power-hungry government rulers, then this film gives you Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon) and Count Tyrone Rugen (Christopher Guest). Action, adventure, comedy, drama, romance, combat, complex characters, a unique lore, twists and turns galore, this film truly does have it all.
With that in mind though, what does this film have that I specifically like? For starters, being the professional wrestling fan that I am, it was cool to see Andre the Giant in all his glory. I love characters that you think are going to act one way based on how they look, and then they completely act another way. Because Andre's a large man who has played both a babyface (good guy) and heel (bad guy) in his wrestling career, I wasn't sure whether his character of Fezzik would be portrayed as a menacing brute or a big teddy bear. I'm very glad he got to be a big teddy bear (one who can rhyme), because that gave Fezzik layers.
Why is Fezzik helping kidnap Buttercup and hanging out with a jerk like Vizzini? Because he's desperately in need of money, and much like in reality, desperate people will turn to crime if they have no options left. What does Fezzik like to do for fun? Freestyle poetry. Why does Fezzik purposely miss the Man in Black's head with the rock? Because he's a sportsman and would rather fight with honor, which is another reason why I love this film so much.
As a martial artist of 16 years, I've exchanged combat with people of all sizes, shapes, and backgrounds. Over the course of that 16-year period, I've discovered a lot of things about myself, including that fighting (when in a controlled environment) is really fun, and I usually have the most fun when I'm fighting someone I like and respect over someone that annoys and angers me.
When you fight someone you hate, ego and emotion take over as technique gets thrown out the window, and it becomes a contest to see who can inflict the most pain and damage. However, when you fight someone you like, it becomes a friendly competition of oneupmanship in which both competitors are focused on executing their technique and strategy better than the other. That "Hey buddy, let's go beat each other up and then hang out afterwards" brand of sportsmanship resonates with me, and is why the first interaction between Inigo Montoya and the Man in Black is one of my favorite parts of the film.
When these two meet for the very first time, the Man in Black is free-climbing a large cliff, Inigo Montoya is supposed to kill the Man in Black as soon as he gets to the top of the cliff, and yet these two are somehow having a friendly and reasonable conversation. Inigo literally asks the Man in Black if he could speed things up, then offers him a rope and swears on his father's life that he won't cut the rope, the Man in Black accepts, makes it to the top, and Inigo gives the Man in Black a moment to catch his breath. Then after Inigo tells the Man in Black of his quest to avenge his father's death at the hands of the Six-Fingered Man, the Man in Black wishes Inigo well, and then they compliment and wise-crack each other nonstop as they fence to the death! By the end of the fight, they are so in awe of one another, that the Man in Black decides it would be a crime against humanity if one of them were to die, and thunks Inigo on the head with the winning blow, sparing Inigo in the process!
As crazy as it may sound, a lot of the things listed in the previous paragraph is part of my dream scenario. From age 10 to the end of high school (up until a bad sparring session gave me PTSD for a year), it was my dream to one day become the best fighter in the world, meet my equal in combat, and to have one of the friendliest rivalries in the history of combat sports. Inigo Montoya and the Man in Black got to have my dream sports entertainment scenario, which is appropriate because they are as sports entertainment as two characters can get and have as much charm as two sports entertainers can have.
Professional wrestling is a unique interpretation of life, full of twists (swerves), turns, and complex characters with certain qualities that drive their motivations and determine how they interact with others. Professional wrestling takes those elements of life, puts them into the wrestling ring where they exchange words (promos) and pinfalls, and gives them stories of various lengths that eventually conclude with them meeting defeat or accomplishing their goal. Under that context, The Princess Bride is professional wrestling, and Westley is the top babyface.
Westley's storyline is his quest to put himself in a position in which he can one day marry Buttercup (his love and his motivation). He leaves his farm to find higher-paying work (much like a lot of wrestlers starting out leave home to pursue their training), but his ship was captured by pirates and he was presumed dead (swerve). Five years later, his love Buttercup is kidnapped, and her kidnappers are being pursued by the infamous Dread Pirate Roberts, the Man in Black. The pirate scales a rock wall to chase after them, and then has what would be known in wrestling as a "3 Stages Of Hell" Match with Buttercup's kidnappers, with the first stage being a sword fight with Inigo, the second being a "Last Man Standing" Match with Fezzik, and the third stage being a battle of wits with Vizzini. The pirate wins all three stages, frees Buttercup and unmasks himself to be Westley (another swerve)! And after a having to deal with Prince Humperdinck's attempts to thwart him (much like every wrestling storyline ever in which the top babyface has to fight a management figure), Westley cuts the promo of his life, defeats Humperdinck in a championship manner, and he and Buttercup run off together on four white horses to have their WrestleMania moment.
In the effort of giving Inigo Montoya a wrestling based comparison, his long-awaited duel with the Six-Fingered Man, Count Tyrone Rugen, near the end of the film has the best "comeback spot" a wrestler could have in a match. Inigo suffers a dagger to the stomach, and it looks like he's about to perish from the pain. He takes blows to both arms, yet as Rugen is about to land the killing blow, Inigo parries and begins to recite his catchphrase repeatedly. "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." The more he says it, the more it resembles Hulk Hogan in his prime, "Hulking Up" with every additional punch he absorbs. Inigo hulks up, goes on the offensive, and lands his finisher to get the win he had waited two decades for.
The most unique storyline being told in this movie however is that of the Grandson (Fred Savage), because his perspective is also our perspective. The Grandson is reacting to the events of the story as his Grandpa (Peter Falk) reads to him, just as we the viewers are reacting to the events of the story as they play out on screen. Just like the Grandson, we're not sure what to expect from the story, yet we get sucked in more and more as the Grandpa keeps reading. Just like the Grandson, our spirits sink when we hear that we may not get the happy ending we're expecting. And just like the Grandson, when we do get that happy ending, we want to revisit the story again tomorrow.
And whether it be tomorrow, next week, or some other time, the day I do revisit The Princess Bride, I'm turning on the subtitles so I can better understand Fezzik's dialogue through his thick accent.
For the past year or so, anyone and everyone that I've talked to about this film have told me only positive things about it. I'm not entirely sure why it took me so long to watch The Princess Bride, but if I had to take a guess, I'd say I was subconsciously afraid the film wouldn't live up to the high expectations my peers had set for it. So, after over a year of stalling and wondering if it would live up to the hype, I finally popped it in my DVD player and got my answer:
Every positive thing anyone has ever said to me about The Princess Bride was correct. It truly is a masterpiece of a film, and even though it came out 30 years ago as of last month, I really don't want to say too much about it because I want you to enjoy it in the same way I did. However, this is a blog about movies, so I have to talk about it. Therefore, consider this your spoiler warning. If you haven't seen The Princess Bride before, leave this page right now and don't come back until you've seen it for yourself, because we're going to enter Spoiler City as soon as this sentence is finished.
*SPOILERS BELOW! SPOILERS BELOW! SPOILERS BELOW! SPOILERS BELOW!*
Okay, so as I said before, a lot of friends and acquaintances of mine who have talked about this film have had almost exclusively positive things to say about it. Some people have even gone as far as calling it a "near-perfect" to "perfect film." Depending on the person, the definition can vary, but I think in the context of this movie, The Princess Bride can be considered a perfect film because it has something for everyone to enjoy.
If you're a fan of romance, then the story of true love between Buttercup (Robin Wright) and Westley (Cary Elwes) will suck you right in. If you're a fan of action, combat, swordplay, chivalry, and witty banter, then you will absolutely enjoy the battles between "The Man in Black" and the three outlaws: Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), Fezzik (Andre the Giant), and Vizzini (Wallace Shawn). If you like villains, tales of revenge, and power-hungry government rulers, then this film gives you Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon) and Count Tyrone Rugen (Christopher Guest). Action, adventure, comedy, drama, romance, combat, complex characters, a unique lore, twists and turns galore, this film truly does have it all.
With that in mind though, what does this film have that I specifically like? For starters, being the professional wrestling fan that I am, it was cool to see Andre the Giant in all his glory. I love characters that you think are going to act one way based on how they look, and then they completely act another way. Because Andre's a large man who has played both a babyface (good guy) and heel (bad guy) in his wrestling career, I wasn't sure whether his character of Fezzik would be portrayed as a menacing brute or a big teddy bear. I'm very glad he got to be a big teddy bear (one who can rhyme), because that gave Fezzik layers.
Why is Fezzik helping kidnap Buttercup and hanging out with a jerk like Vizzini? Because he's desperately in need of money, and much like in reality, desperate people will turn to crime if they have no options left. What does Fezzik like to do for fun? Freestyle poetry. Why does Fezzik purposely miss the Man in Black's head with the rock? Because he's a sportsman and would rather fight with honor, which is another reason why I love this film so much.
As a martial artist of 16 years, I've exchanged combat with people of all sizes, shapes, and backgrounds. Over the course of that 16-year period, I've discovered a lot of things about myself, including that fighting (when in a controlled environment) is really fun, and I usually have the most fun when I'm fighting someone I like and respect over someone that annoys and angers me.
When you fight someone you hate, ego and emotion take over as technique gets thrown out the window, and it becomes a contest to see who can inflict the most pain and damage. However, when you fight someone you like, it becomes a friendly competition of oneupmanship in which both competitors are focused on executing their technique and strategy better than the other. That "Hey buddy, let's go beat each other up and then hang out afterwards" brand of sportsmanship resonates with me, and is why the first interaction between Inigo Montoya and the Man in Black is one of my favorite parts of the film.
When these two meet for the very first time, the Man in Black is free-climbing a large cliff, Inigo Montoya is supposed to kill the Man in Black as soon as he gets to the top of the cliff, and yet these two are somehow having a friendly and reasonable conversation. Inigo literally asks the Man in Black if he could speed things up, then offers him a rope and swears on his father's life that he won't cut the rope, the Man in Black accepts, makes it to the top, and Inigo gives the Man in Black a moment to catch his breath. Then after Inigo tells the Man in Black of his quest to avenge his father's death at the hands of the Six-Fingered Man, the Man in Black wishes Inigo well, and then they compliment and wise-crack each other nonstop as they fence to the death! By the end of the fight, they are so in awe of one another, that the Man in Black decides it would be a crime against humanity if one of them were to die, and thunks Inigo on the head with the winning blow, sparing Inigo in the process!
As crazy as it may sound, a lot of the things listed in the previous paragraph is part of my dream scenario. From age 10 to the end of high school (up until a bad sparring session gave me PTSD for a year), it was my dream to one day become the best fighter in the world, meet my equal in combat, and to have one of the friendliest rivalries in the history of combat sports. Inigo Montoya and the Man in Black got to have my dream sports entertainment scenario, which is appropriate because they are as sports entertainment as two characters can get and have as much charm as two sports entertainers can have.
Professional wrestling is a unique interpretation of life, full of twists (swerves), turns, and complex characters with certain qualities that drive their motivations and determine how they interact with others. Professional wrestling takes those elements of life, puts them into the wrestling ring where they exchange words (promos) and pinfalls, and gives them stories of various lengths that eventually conclude with them meeting defeat or accomplishing their goal. Under that context, The Princess Bride is professional wrestling, and Westley is the top babyface.
Westley's storyline is his quest to put himself in a position in which he can one day marry Buttercup (his love and his motivation). He leaves his farm to find higher-paying work (much like a lot of wrestlers starting out leave home to pursue their training), but his ship was captured by pirates and he was presumed dead (swerve). Five years later, his love Buttercup is kidnapped, and her kidnappers are being pursued by the infamous Dread Pirate Roberts, the Man in Black. The pirate scales a rock wall to chase after them, and then has what would be known in wrestling as a "3 Stages Of Hell" Match with Buttercup's kidnappers, with the first stage being a sword fight with Inigo, the second being a "Last Man Standing" Match with Fezzik, and the third stage being a battle of wits with Vizzini. The pirate wins all three stages, frees Buttercup and unmasks himself to be Westley (another swerve)! And after a having to deal with Prince Humperdinck's attempts to thwart him (much like every wrestling storyline ever in which the top babyface has to fight a management figure), Westley cuts the promo of his life, defeats Humperdinck in a championship manner, and he and Buttercup run off together on four white horses to have their WrestleMania moment.
In the effort of giving Inigo Montoya a wrestling based comparison, his long-awaited duel with the Six-Fingered Man, Count Tyrone Rugen, near the end of the film has the best "comeback spot" a wrestler could have in a match. Inigo suffers a dagger to the stomach, and it looks like he's about to perish from the pain. He takes blows to both arms, yet as Rugen is about to land the killing blow, Inigo parries and begins to recite his catchphrase repeatedly. "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." The more he says it, the more it resembles Hulk Hogan in his prime, "Hulking Up" with every additional punch he absorbs. Inigo hulks up, goes on the offensive, and lands his finisher to get the win he had waited two decades for.
The most unique storyline being told in this movie however is that of the Grandson (Fred Savage), because his perspective is also our perspective. The Grandson is reacting to the events of the story as his Grandpa (Peter Falk) reads to him, just as we the viewers are reacting to the events of the story as they play out on screen. Just like the Grandson, we're not sure what to expect from the story, yet we get sucked in more and more as the Grandpa keeps reading. Just like the Grandson, our spirits sink when we hear that we may not get the happy ending we're expecting. And just like the Grandson, when we do get that happy ending, we want to revisit the story again tomorrow.
And whether it be tomorrow, next week, or some other time, the day I do revisit The Princess Bride, I'm turning on the subtitles so I can better understand Fezzik's dialogue through his thick accent.
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