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The Princess Bride

Special Edition


Starring:

Robin Wright, Cary Elwes, Billy Crystal, Peter Falk, Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Guest, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, Andre the Giant
Director: Rob Reiner
MPAA rating: PG
Genre: Romance - Adventure - Comedy
Studio: MGM Home Entertainment

Movie: A Video: A- Audio: B+ Extras: B+


Summary: Buttercup is running a small farm with the help of a devoted "farm boy" Westley.  Through time Buttercup realizes that she loves Westley as much as he has always loved her.   Soon after Westley departs to seek his fortune to marry his true love, Buttercup receives news that Westley has been captured and killed by the notorious pirate Roberts.  Within weeks, Prince Humperdinck chooses Buttercup to be his future bride.  And this is where the hilarious adventures begin.  With a new anamorphic widescreen video transfer and more bonus features, this Special Edition re-release gives us even more reasons to like this very lovable title than before.  I recommend adding "The Princess Bride" Special Edition DVD to your collection since it is a classic high adventure and romantic fairytale that you and your family will enjoy for many years to come.  (And you're supposed to say, "As you wish...").
 



The Story

A grandfather (Peter Falk) comes over to visit a sick grandson (Fred Savage) and reads to him "The Princess Bride" book that had been passed down through generations.  The story takes place at a cottage where Buttercup (Robin Wright) is running a small farm with the help of a devoted "farm boy" Westley (Cary Elwes).  Through time Buttercup realizes that she loves Westley as much as he has always loved her.   Soon Westley departs to seek his fortune in order to marry his true love.  Buttercup eventually receives news that Westley has been captured and killed by the notorious pirate Roberts.  Within weeks, Prince Humperdinck chooses Buttercup to be his future bride.  

 

From this point on, I continue to laugh as Buttercup and Westley experience one adventure after another.  The rhyming giant Fezzik (Andre the Giant), the "inconceivable" self-centered Vizzini, and the good swordsman Inigo Montoya have great comedic chemistry among themselves and with Westley.  My young fellow audience and I particularly enjoyed the scenes at the Cliff of Insanity where Montoya and Westley engage in a wonderful word-play and sword duel.  The comedic fantasy continues through many more belly-busting comedic adventures that I will leave for you to enjoy.

The Extras

In this re-release as a Special Edition DVD, "The Princess Bride" comes with the following bonus features:

  • "As You Wish" documentary featuring all new interviews with Cary Elwes, Robin Wright Penn, Billy Crystal, Mandy Patinkin and more

  • New audio commentary by director Rob Reiner

  • New audio commentary by author William Goldman

  • Exclusive footage shot by Cary Elwes during the making of the movie

  • Collectible booklet

  • Theatrical trailer

Video & Audio

The image quality of this anamorphic widescreen DVD is very good, considerably better than the original non-anamorphic, letterbox widescreen format due to the increased resolution.  The colors are accurate and saturated, while shadow detail is very good.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is well balanced and has a clear dialogue track.

Conclusion

I watched this movie when it was first released fourteen years ago and it left a wonderful impression.  "The Princess Bride" Special Edition DVD pays tribute to that impression.  It is a wonderful, heart-warming, comedic, action and adventure movie that will delight audiences of all ages.  I would recommend this DVD for your collection because this is a life-long treasure that can be enjoyed by many generations to come.

 

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Associated equipment used in evaluation: Sony DVP-S7700 reference DVD player, Sony KP-61V45 61" rear projection TV (4:3 screen aspect ratio), Sony ES STR-V444ES A/V receiver, four B&W CDM 9NTs as left/right main speakers and left/right surrounds, B&W CDM CNT center channel speaker, Monster Cable M-series S-Video cable MSV-500, Monster Cable Interlink LightSpeed 100 (Toslink) optical cable, Monster Cable Interlink 400 MKII interconnects, Monster Cable Original speaker cables in bi-wire configuration with Monster Cable twist-on gold-plated banana plug connectors, Lovan Sovereign T HiFi audio rack, and Sony MDR-V600 studio monitor headphones.  Our home theater equipment was calibrated with the Video Essentials DVD.

Be sure to check out our Top 10 DVDs of the year 2001 and our list of this year's Oscar winners on DVD.

 

 

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Specifications:

- DVD-Video

- Double sided

- Single layer

- Region 1

- Run time: approx. 98 minutes

- Subtitle: English, French, Spanish

- Package: Keep case

 

Video Features:

- Anamorphic Widescreen, in 1.85:1 aspect ratio

 

Audio Features:

- English: Dolby Digital 5.1

- Spanish: mono 

 

Release Dates:

Theatrical Release:
1987

DVD Release:
09/04/2001

Review Date:
09/7/2001

 

List price:
$ 29.98

On-line price:
$ 22.49

Pre-order price was:
$ 20.49

 

 


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