The 80s Beloved Fan Favorite Classic That’s Actually Better Than The Book

The Princess Bride is a film based on a book by William Goldman with the long-winded title: The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure, The “Good Parts” Version, written in 1973. 

The movie features two stories in one. A young boy is sick in bed, so his grandfather comes to tell him a story to pass the time. The child is initially not interested but ends up getting swept away in the story, just like the audience. 

The story his grandfather reads becomes the main story the movie covers and is what gives the movie its name The Princess Bride. It focuses on a young woman named Buttercup, who is young and pretty. On the farm she lives on, there is a farmhand whose name is Westley, and he’s eager to do anything she says. 

Unfortunately, Westley goes to improve his fortunes by traveling overseas and ends up going missing after the boat is attacked by the Dread Pirate Roberts. Later, Buttercup is forced into an engagement with Prince Humperdinck. She ends up kidnapped by outlaws, but someone is following the trio, intent on capturing Buttercup all for himself. 

Overall, the movie follows the book fairly well, including much of the dialogue being said exactly the same in both versions. There are of course some differences big and small, but overall the story doesn’t change. 

One of the main reasons that the book isn’t as good is that it’s confusing. Those jumping into reading the book without any knowledge about it may be confused about who actually wrote the novel. Though The Princess Bride novel was written by William Goldman, the book appears to be an adaptation of a novel by someone called S. Morgenstern. 

The book, and S. Morgenstern himself, don’t exist. They were made up by William Goldman and Morgenstern is a much a character in his novel as Buttercup.

Unfortunately, I found the areas where Goldman stops the plot to discuss how he adapted the non-existent book to be pointless and annoying, which made the movie much better for me. 

It helps that the movie was heavily guided by William Goldman. He not only wrote the novel, but the screenplay too. While the movie isn’t a perfect adaptation, it is pretty faithful, and there are no annoying bits about the original writer, though there are some scenes with the grandfather and grandson as they read the story. 

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Another reason the Princess Bride movie stands out from the book is because of the actors. The casting for the film is amazing, with people like Cary Elwes (Saw), Mandy Patinkin (Criminal Minds), Andre the Giant (WrestleMania III), Wallace Shawn (Young Sheldon), and Robin Wright (Forrest Gump) among others. 

The Princess Bride is a hit among many who watch the movie. On Rotten Tomatoes, critics gave the movie an average score of 96 percent while the audience member’s average score is 94 percent. If you haven’t seen this 1987 film yet, or you want to relive the nostalgia, The Princess Bride is available on Disney+.