I keep trying to find great movies to watch with my 8 and 5-year-old sons that are fun for all of us. The Princess Bride is one of the best. It’s a great movie for adults and it even has Peter Falk as the narrator grandfather to keep the kids engaged.
For the Adults
It has great writing from William Goldman and a superb cast including Wallace Shawn, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, and Andre the Giant. You also might remember some great lines like:
- VIZZINI: Inconceivable!
INIGO MONTOYA: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. - INIGO MONTOYA: My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!
- PRINCE HUMPERDINCK: Please consider me as an alternative to suicide.
- MIRACLE MAX AND VALERIE: Have fun stormin’ da castle.
Explanations for the Kids
Most of the time when watching a movie with kids you have to answer questions like “Is this going to be a BORING MOVIE” from your kids. However, in The Princess Bride, the movie has included the characters Grandfather (Peter Falk) and Kid (Fred Savage) to step in for you and your kid and answer any questions, like…
Starting the Movie
GRANDFATHER: I brought you a special present.
KID: A book?
GRANDFATHER: That’s right. When I was your age, television was called books. And this is a special book. It was the book my father used to read to me when I was sick, and I used to read it to your father. And today, I’m gonna read it to you.
KID: Does it got any sports in it?
GRANDFATHER: Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles…
When Kissing Appears
KID: — Hold it, hold it— What is this? Are you trying to
trick me? — Where’s the sports? — Is this a kissing book?
GRANDFATHER: — Wait, just wait —
KID: Well, when does it get good?
GRANDFATHER: Keep your shirt on. Let me read.
At the Scary Part when the Giant Eel Attacks
GRANDFATHER: She doesn’t get eaten by the eels at this time.
KID: What?
GRANDFATHER: The eel doesn’t get her. Now, I’m explaining to you because you look nervous.
KID: I wasn’t nervous. Well, maybe I was a little bit concerned, but that’s not the same thing.
As You Wish
And if you’re looking for more, Wesley (Cary Elwes) wrote a wonderful behind the scenes tribute to the movie called As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride (with audio that he narrates). This is literally a love letter to the movie. In the movie, “As You Wish” means “I Love You.” It’s a special movie as Cary writes in the introduction:
Over the past three decades, I’ve appeared in nearly a hundred movies and television shows. I’ve been a leading man and a supporting actor and worked in almost every genre. But whatever else I’ve done or whatever else I might do, The Princess Bride will always be the work with which I am most closely associated; and Wesley, with his wisp of a mustache and ponytail, the character with whom I will be forever linked.