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The Movie:
"The Princess Bride" is director Rob Reiner's popular comic fable, made years before recent lackluster fare like "The Story Of Us". The story is a relatively simple one, but the details in the dialogue and situations are what make the film fun.
"The Princess Bride" starts off as a grandfather is telling his nephew a story about a princess named Buttercup(Robin Wright) who falls in love with a farm boy named Westley(Cary Elwes). Of course, she is kidnapped by evil, and he is not far behind. But the film doesn't end there, and reveals itself as a fun parody of these kind of movies. Westley faces many villians, and in the middle of their battles, they chat humorously about their predictaments, almost making fun of the situations with smart and witty dialogue.
That smart dialogue is what keeps the talky film from becoming slow - the film is written by William Goldman, who has adapted it from his own novel. Reiner's direction as well as the performances have a perfect idea of how to play the material, and the result is a film that's both exciting and hilarious.
The DVD
VIDEO: As many know by now, anything with "Bond" not in the title doesn't recieve the very best treatment from MGM. A huge dissapointment to fans of the film when it was announced as being non-anamorphic, "The Princess Bride" actually doesn't look too bad. There are some flaws on this transfer, but they are not major enough to be distracting. Sharpness is varied; although many scenes look good, there are a couple that start to look slightly soft. Detail is good, and clarity is also never really lacking. Colors are wonderful, looking bright, warm and well-saturated as well as nicely solid throughout the film. Flesh tones are natural, as well.
Although the 1.85:1 transfer doesn't suffer from pixelation or shimmering, there are a number of small marks and scratches on the print used. These are noticable, but don't really take away from the enjoyment of the movie. A little bit of grain is visible here and there, but this isn't a problem. Still, although this is certainly a passable looking effort, a better job could have been done by MGM. A pan&scan version is offer on the flip side.Cinematography is by Adrian Biddle, who went on to film such recent films as "The Mummy" and "The World Is Not Enough". His work can also be found on the upcoming sequel to "The Mummy".
SOUND: Although this is Dolby Digital 5.1, the sound is really quite minimal; the score sounds impressively clear and clean, but other than the score and dialogue, there isn't a whole lot going on. Surround use is pretty minimal at most, and for the most part, the surrounds remain silent. Dialogue is clear and easily understood. The general quality of the audio is pleasing, but don't expect anything agressive.
MENUS:: Some nicely animated menus with the music from the film in the background.
EXTRAS:: The trailer.
Final Thoughts: The DVD is recommended on the fact that the film itself is great, and the price is rather nice(some online stores offer the DVD for around $13.99 or so), but there's no question that this could have been a stronger effort from MGM for such a hugely popular title.
Film Grade
The Film A
DVD Grades
Video 85/B = (340/400 possible points)
Audio: 83/B = (332/400 possible points)
Extras: 70/C- = (210/300 possible points)
Menus: 80/B- = (160/200 possible points)
Value: 82/B = (246/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1337/1600
DVD GRADE:B-/80%
FILM GRADE: A
DVD GRADE: B-
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