You’ll be hard-pressed to find a swashbuckling tale as revered as The Princess Bride. Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, the movie is still an endearing reminder of everything good and wholesome about William Goldman’s story. The Blu-ray release exquisitely captures everything we love about sword fights, true love, revenge and pirates. More importantly, it has a 2-part featurette with the cast and crew as they reflect on the movie’s legacy.
The Princess Bride centers on Buttercup (Robin Wright) and her true love Westley (Cary Elwes). After Westley goes away and is presumed dead, Buttercup ends up in a loveless engagement to Prince Humperdinck. Westley returns to Buttercup prior to the marriage to kick-start one of the greatest quests ever to be captured on film.
Beyond the story, the film is loved and memed for its rich roster of supporting cast members. Personally, I can’t get enough of seeing Mandy Patinkin (Showtime’s Homeland) as Inigo Montoya quoting his famous line:
“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
And, who can forget Vizzini’s (Wallace Michael Shawn) mind numbing battle of wits with Westley or his remarkable use of the word “inconceivable”?
In addition to several pre-released bonus features, the 25th Anniversary Blu-ray edition comes with “True Love: The Princess Bride Phenomenon.” Anniversary releases often end up failing because the studio neglects to reunite the cast. Who cares about needless boxed trinkets?
Thankfully, the “True Love” featurette smartly gets the cast together one more time. The first part of the featurette is a sit down with Director Rob Reiner, Wright and Elwes. The second featurette includes new interviews with Mandy Patinkin, Billy Crystal, Chris Sarandon, and Christopher Guest. The cast members reflect on their time with Andre the Giant as well as the impact of the film on their careers. There’s also a great moment where Patinkin actually says his now famous line. 25 years later Patinkin can still nail the line perfectly.
The Princess Bride: 25th Anniversary Blu-ray release comes home just in time for the holiday season. This movie can be enjoyed by viewers of all ages.
Directed by: Rob Reiner
Writer: William Goldman
Studio: MGM
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Rating:
9 / 10
