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Alyssa and I recently read the book by William Goldman and reading it made me want to watch the movie again--badly. So the minute we finished the book we put in the movie. I had forgotten how fun and well made this movie was. It stands up to repeated watchings again and again.

Here's one difference from the book that I need to mention. In the book, the relationship between Westley and Buttercup seems really shallow (probably on purpose). The movie doesn't capture this quite as well because it leaves "unseen possibilities" for their relationship to have grown in. It the book we see almost every vapid detail. I think that through it, the book explores a side of fairy tales that is often taken for granted, that the characters are really in love--when anyone who has truly been in love would know that it doesn't come about by a few glances and a dance in the forest. By not including that, the movie becomes a stereotype of itself, and falls into the same patterns that it's satirizing. Oh well, it's Hollywood, what can you expect?

In the special features, someone said that The Princess Bride was "The Wizard of Oz for our generation." Meaning that it wasn't well-promoted or well-received when it was first released, but later turned into a classic. I agree.