The Princess Bride (film)/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Adaptation Displacement: Many who can quote the movie from end-to-end don't even realize there is a book.
    • In the introduction to more recent printings of the book, William Goldman says flat-out that if you are picking it up for the first time, it's probably because you've seen the film.
    • It says quite a bit when on the wiki pages where this is mentioned, it usually goes under "Film" rather than "Literature".
  • Awesome Music: The ending song performed by Willy DeVille.
  • Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch: Many guys hear the title and instantly scoff, refusing to ever watch it. This attitude is actually matched by the initial attitude of the boy in the framing device.
  • Complete Monster: Sadistic, torture-loving psychopath Count Rugen, described in the book's blurb as "the evilest character of all," even more than Big Bad Humperdinck. You know you're dealing with a rotten customer when his greatest creation is a machine that literally sucks off years of your life in the most painful way imaginable.
  • Cult Classic
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: Inigo Monotya and Fezzik, the former being a badass swashbuckling Spaniard and the latter being one of fiction's most lovable examples of a gentle giant (And of course, it helps that he was portrayed by the late, great Andre the Giant). Also Miracle Max and his wife for providing what is widely considered to be the film's funniest scene by far.
  • Girl Show Ghetto: To compensate for the feminine-sounding title, some DVDs have a cover that puts the Dread Pirate Roberts in the front and center and emphasizes action in the synopsis.
  • Hate Sink: He may not be the a Torture Technician who murdered Inigo's father for no reason (like Rugan) but Humperdink is despised by fans even more. He forces Buttercup to marry him in exchange for Wesley's life, then breaks his word on it, and while Rugan is as much a Dirty Coward as he is, at least he eventually faces the consequenses of his actions - Humperdink doesn't even do that, pleading for his life rather than even try to fight Wesley. Ultimately, it's as easy for fans to agree with Wesley that the man is a pathetic phony.
  • Ho Yay: Humperdinck and Count Rugen anyone? And Inigo and Fezzik, though to a lesser extent.
  • It Was His Sled: The Man in Black has developed an immunity to iocane powder.
  • Magnificent Bastard: Westley demonstrates moments of being one, a particular example being his battle of wits with Vizzini (Who thinks he's this trope, but is more of a smug, insufferable blowhard.)
  • Mary Sue: Buttercup is described as such in the 25th anniversary issue of the book.

Buttercup... the princess bride, the most perfect, beautiful woman in the history of the world!

  • Memetic Mutation: Many!
  • Narm Charm: The entire goddamn film. Completely intentional, of course.
  • Nightmare Fuel:
    • The Pain Machine.
    • The old lady. Boooo!
  • Older Than They Think:
    • Parodied in the book, with an explanation that a scene with Fezzik and Inigo going on minor quests to save Westley was 'cut' because it seemed like a ripoff of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, even though the 'original version' came out first. (Unfortunately, the film cut out even a mention of the "deleted scene," which made Fezzik's possession of a holocaust cloak -- which he acquires for that scene -- seem very out-of-left-field.)
    • In the film he gets the cloak from Miracle Max.
    • Vizzini saying "All aboard!". The book notes that this was before trains, but the saying actually comes from carpenters loading lumber, and this was well after carpenters.
  • The Woobie: Fezzik. Not so much in the movie, but after learning that in the book his parents forced him into wrestling at the age of nine and threatened to leave him forever if he wouldn't fight, you start to feel sorry for him.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/The_Princess_Bride_(film)/YMMV?oldid=2052702"