The Princess Bride is a 1987 American fantasy romance movie. It was directed and co-produced by Rob Reiner. The movie stars Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, André the Giant, and Christopher Guest. It is based on the 1973 novel of the same name by William Goldman. The movie tells the story of a farmhand named Westley who must rescue his true love Princess Buttercup from the evil Prince Humperdinck. The movie keeps the narrative style of the book. It shows the story as a book being read by a grandfather (Peter Falk) to his sick grandson (Fred Savage).
The movie was first released in the United States on September 25, 1987. It was liked by critics at the time. The movie was only a small success at the box office. Over time, it became a cult movie. The Princess Bride is said to be one of the best movies of 1987. It is number 50 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies", number 88 on The American Film Institute's (AFI) "AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions" list of the 100 greatest movie love stories and number 46 on Channel 4's 50 Greatest Comedy Films list. In 2016, the movie was added to the National Film Registry/ It was said to be "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". It won the 1988 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.
Plot
A grandfather visits his grandson, who is sick and must stay at home. The grandfather reads him a story, and says it is full of fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, and miracles. The grandson does not believe it will be good but agrees to try and stay awake, and sometimes interrupts as his grandfather tells the story.
A beautiful young woman named Buttercup lives on a farm, in a land called Florin. Whenever she tells the farmhand Westley to do some work, he always does the work and his only answer is "As you wish." She eventually realizes that he truly means "I love you" and she realizes that she loves him too. He is poor and they do not have enough money to get married. He leaves to seek his fortune, but his ship is attacked by a famous pirate, the Dread Pirate Roberts, who is known for never taking prisoners, and Westley is believed dead.
Five years later, Buttercup is forced to marriage Prince Humperdinck, the prince of Florin. Before the wedding, she is kidnapped by three outlaws: a short Sicilian boss named Vizzini, a giant from Greenland named Fezzik, and a Spanish fencing master named Inigo Montoya, who seeks revenge against a six-fingered man who killed his father. Soon the outlaws are pursued by a masked man in black, and also by Prince Humperdinck and his soldiers.
The man in black catches up to the outlaws at the top of the Cliffs of Insanity. He defeats Inigo in a sword fight and knocks him unconscious. He wrestles the giant Fezzik, and put him to sleep using a choke hold. He outsmarts Vizzini, tricking him into drinking from a cup containing poison. He takes Buttercup prisoner and they flee. They stop to rest near the top of steep hill. Buttercup guesses that he is the famous Dread Pirate Roberts, and is angry with him for killing Westley. Buttercup sees Humperdinck and his soldier in the distance and pushes Roberts down the hill and wishes death upon him. As he tumbles down, he shouts, "As you wish!" Buttercup realizes Westley was pretending to be the Dread Pirate Roberts, and she throws herself down the hill after him and they are reunited. Westley explains the Dread Pirate Roberts is not one person, but a name passed on when the pirate wants to retire. They must pass through the dangerous Fire Swamp, and avoid hungry animals that live there. They survive the fires and the rodents of unusual size (ROUS), but are captured as they leave by prince Humperdinck and his cruel assistant Count Rugen, who has six fingers on each hand. Buttercup agrees to return with Humperdinck in exchange for Westley's release. Humperdinck secretly orders Rugen to lock Westley in his torture chamber, the Pit of Despair.