Revisiting Cult Classic Movies

Revisiting: “The Princess Bride” (1987)…

Did you “have fun storming the castle”?

Cary Elwes as Westley/the Dread Pirate Roberts and Robin Wright as Princess Buttercup. 20th Century Fox / Interaccess Film Distribution

The Princess Bride (1987), directed and co-produced by Rob Reiner, is arguably one of the best comedy-adventure-fantasy movies ever made. Next year, 2027, will mark the 40th anniversary of this cult classic movie. Calling The Princess Bride a cult classic, relatively speaking, is possibly the understatement of the century.

Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, André the Giant, Robin Wright, Peter Falk, and Billy Crystal, the main cast, brought something seriously special to the big screen. Anyone who says otherwise either never saw the movie or doesn’t know what they’re talking about.

[embed]Walt Disney Studios Canada

The Princess Bride, based on William Goldman’s 1973 published fantasy romance novel of the same title, is more than just a cult classic. Several directors, including Matthew Vaughn, Taika Waititi, Ryan Reynolds & David Leitch, have pointed to The Princess Bride as being inspirational.

Vaughn, possibly best known for Stardust and Kingsman, has openly credited The Princess Bride as a significant influence. When watching Stardust (2007), anyone with a modicum of intelligence will understand what is meant by significant influence.

Cary Elwes as Westley/the Dread Pirate Roberts and Robin Wright as Princess Buttercup. 20th Century Fox / Interaccess Film Distribution

I was 14 years old when The Princess Bride was released. My then so-called friends, and there weren’t all that many, didn’t have any interest in watching The Princess Bride. Unlike my friends, possibly because I was bored, I read Goldman’s The Princess Bride. Personally, noting how I knew the source material, I thought seeing the movie was a logical next step.

Bloomsbury / Original Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich

“I’ve gotten more responses on The Princess Bride than on everything else I’ve done put together — all kinds of strange outpouring letters,” Goldman said. “Something in The Princess Bride affects people.”

The source material is every bit as much a cult classic as Reiner’s movie. It is what it is. Fans of the novel understand what I mean. Many great movies, including The Princess Bride, wouldn’t exist without exceptionally well-written source material.

One of the most memorable lines from the movie, delivered by Billy Crystal, is “Have fun storming the castle”. “Have fun storming the castle”, while it initially felt like a throwaway line, has remained hugely popular with fans of the movie.

Crystal, guest-starring in a ninth-season episode of Modern Family as himself, used the now iconic line to great effect. The line was also used in the Adventure Time episode “Ghost Princess”, the Legends of Tomorrow second-season episode “Invasion!”, The Flash fourth-season episode “Elongated Journey Into Night”, and an episode of Orange Is the New Black.

Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya, Cary Elwes as Westley/the Dread Pirate Roberts, and André the Giant as Fezzik. 20th Century Fox / Interaccess Film Distribution

The Princess Bride, while it was critically acclaimed upon release, was not what you might call a major box-office success. My friends took great delight in pointing this out to me on numerous occasions. The Princess Bride, against a $16 million budget, earned roughly $30.8 million.

Marketing, or rather how bad it was, played a significant part in the moderate box-office returns. Production studios, even today, have great difficulty marketing movies that don’t perfectly fit a set model.

The Princess Bride, in more ways than one, is the perfect combination of comedy, fantasy, romance, and satire. There is no one-size-fits-all. Multi-genre productions, when the right marketing strategy isn’t in sight, leave studio executives struggling.

20th Century Fox / Interaccess Film Distribution

The audience that The Princess Bride gained, not initially on the big screen, was achieved after Reiner’s movie came to VHS home video. Younger generations, not familiar with The Princess Bride, experienced the movie when it was televised.

My friends argued that the breaks in the story, having a grandfather reading The Princess Bride to his sick grandson, are distracting. At various parts, early in the story, aren’t to the child’s liking. The grandson’s attitude towards characters kissing is understandable. The framing, eliminating certain narrative pacing issues, is genius. The commentary on clichés, rather than distracting us, offers the audience valuable insight.

[embed]Vintage Vault TV

Other directors have attempted to parody fairy tale tropes. While it may not have worked in other productions, considering how The Princess Bride unfolds, Reiner taught upcoming generations of directors that a well-made movie can be equally self-aware and hilarious. The emotional heart of The Princess Bride, unquestionably, remains intact.

Some people might not like Reiner’s approach to bringing The Princess Bride to the big screen. That is really on them. My likes and dislikes, as I’ve always said, aren’t based on a popularity contest. The movie, something that didn’t surprise me, was an instant home video hit.

[embed]Lionsgate Films UK

Almost three decades after The Princess Bride hit the big screen, better late than never, the Library of Congress finally recognised the importance of this great movie. The Library of Congress selected The Princess Bride for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. The Princess Bride is unquestionably “culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant”.