Screenwriter
William Goldman and director Rob Reiner’s beloved fairy tale adventure
is one of those rare movies of whimsy that appeals across gender lines,
and in near-equal fashion. Full of well-choreographed swashbuckling,
lively character interplay and pithy, irreverent dialogue, it’s an
adventurous treat, plain and simple. Satire can so frequently seem
malicious and kind of jaded because there’s no lively appreciation of
the genre(s) being aped, but 1987’s The Princess Bride, is
lovingly framed as a rousing bedtime story, and wears its affection —
and thus its emotional honesty — refreshingly on its sleeve.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men)
brings his shrewd eye for detail and ear for whipsmart dialogue to bear
on this eminently quotable (to this day, “Have fun storming the castle”
ranks as my all-time favorite flippantly pleasant tiding of futility)
adaptation of his own cult tome, but the movie is just as notable for
its discernment in casting. Billy Crystal and Carol Kane are perfect as
Miracle Max and Valerie, and Peter Falk anchors the movie’s wraparound
segments as the kindly grandfather relating the story to his grandson
(a wee Fred Savage).

Released concurrently in “Dread Pirate” and “Buttercup” editions, which might best be described as his-and-hers versions, The Princess Bride
is presented here in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that
preserves the aspect ratio of its theatrical distribution and is billed
as a high-definition re-mastering. For those already owning the movie’s
previous special edition release, though, the difference is negligible,
with perhaps slightly more attention paid to color consistency in
cinematographer Adrian Biddle’s backgrounds.

Spread out over two discs in a regular Amray case with snap-in tray,
the film imports all the previous, vintage featurettes and
mini-documentaries from the aforementioned release, including separate
audio-commentary tracks from Goldman and Reiner. Among the bits new to
this release are a 10-minute mockumentary on the “real” Dread Pirate
Roberts, with historian’s recollections and other edifying information;
a make-up featurette that nicely showcases Crystal’s transformation via
new footage and interview information; a trivia game; and more.
Rounding things out are a mock-tour booklet (“Fezzik’s Guide to Florin”
— now, with the location of the Pit of Despair!) which offers up some
fun for diehard fans of the film. Don’t allow neophytes to do more than
flip quickly through it before watching the film, though, lest spoilers
dampen their enjoyment of the main attraction. A- (Movie) A- (Disc)