As You Wish...

After yesterday's squickathon, I thought we could with something a bit more light-hearted and fun. So, buckle your seatbelts for a review of Princess Bride.

This is considered by some to be the most quotable film ever. To illustrate, here is a list of quotes from the film you may have heard:
* "As you wish." -- Westley, declaring his love for Buttercup
* "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." -- Inigo Montoya's revenge boast
* "INCONCEIVABLE!" -- Vizzini, whenever something happens that he can't believe.
* "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." -- Inigo on Vizzini's catchphrase
* "I am not left-handed." -- Inigo, during his fight with Westley
* "I suppose you think you're brave, don't you?" -- Vizzini, taunting Buttercup
* "Only compared to some." -- Buttercup's retort
* "We'll never survive." -- Buttercup on entering the Fire Swamp
* "Nonsense. You're only saying that because no one ever has." -- Westley's retort
* "There are a shortage of perfect breasts in the world. It would be a pity to damage yours." -- Westley on Buttercup's suicide attempt

And my personal favorite:

* "You only think I guessed wrong, that's what's so funny! I switched glasses when you're back was turned, HAHA you fool!! You've fallen victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is 'never get involved in a land-war in Asia,' but only slightly less well-known is THIS; NEVER GO UP AGAINST A SICILIAN, WHEN DEATH IS ON THE LINE!! AHAHAHAHAHA-HAHAHAHAHA-HAHAHA." -- Vizzini's last words

I could probably end this review here, since the above quotes are pretty indicative of the general tone and enjoyability of the film. But that would be a cop-out, so read on if you dare.

The film is an adaptation of a book, and in fact the context of the film is the book being read to a sick child by his grandfather. I'm personally not a fan of the context, but this format does lend itself well to feeling like a fantasy story, even though the story get's interrupted to have a little tiff between the grandfather and the kid. Plus, there are a few missing reels when the kid decides he doesn't want to hear the sappy bits.. whether or not that's a good thing is up to the viewer.

Anyway, the film's two major selling points: 1.) it has the best fencing sequence ever filmed. No, really, fencing. As in, Errol Flynn of the silent film era swashbuckling variety. And it's better than any action set-pieces in any of Michael Bay's films. 2.) Billy Crystal. I'll leave it at that.

There are a few flaws, however, aside from the structure of the format. The film's plot is kind of all over the place. It start's with the love story and moves on quickly to the loverboy getting killed by pirates and girl getting all depressed. But wait: he wasn't killed by pirates and they're reunited! And then they're separated again... You have to watch it a few times to really understand what's going on.

Also, one of the major criticisms of the film is this:

That's a pretty legitimate criticism...

Still, the film is a lot of fun and for all it's initial viewing fail, it stand up well on repeat viewing. My father has a habit of watching something once, either liking or hating, and then either way not watching it again. This film is the only film he's seen more than four times, and he watches it over and over again. There isn't much in the way of symbolism or point to the film, it's just a damn fun film to watch, and then quote.

And that's really all I can say. What? Ginsengaddict wrote a short post?  INCONCEIVABLE!