The 80's was an exciting time for films because I was a kid and we didn't have streaming services or internet even. Instead we had word of mouth and television previews that would get us excited about upcoming films. I was too young to really focus too much on directors or even specific actors but certain films got me more excited than others. The Princess Bride remains one of my favorite films of all time and I return to watch it every now and then. The problem with re-visiting films of your youth for people who grew up in the 80's is that the lack of technology that existed at the time can sometimes ruin the experience when you are watching them with adult, 2020's eyes. I have ruined a lot of great childhood memories by revisiting films I thought were amazing way back when but for various reasons, The Princess Bride still holds up in today's time.
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There are many reasons why I feel this is the case but I think one of the main things that makes it ok in today's time is the fact that they weren't really going for hyper-realism in most of the scenes. The scenery was obviously fake way back when the film was made and therefore there is no opportunity for it to look fake by today's standards. They were never trying to make it look real-to-life in the first place.
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Take the famous "I am not left-handed" sword fight scene for example or even the rope climb that lead up to it. This is clearly not a real place and even to my pre-teenage eyes this was obviously a movie set and the bricks were not real and neither was the cliff. It didn't matter though because aside from some outdoor scenes most of the film is clearly not at a real location.
There is almost nothing in the way of CGI in the film and this is a good thing because had there been, it would look incredibly fake by today's standards just like it does in many other fantasy films of the time including both Conan films. We simply didn't have the tech at the time and smart directors didn't try to do it.
Another example would be the R.O.U.S creatures in the swamp that Buttercup and Wesley encounter. They were almost comically fake and this is what made them so much fun.
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There has been some chatter about remaking this film and I sincerely hope it doesn't happen specifically because of scenes like this. I fear that they would do like they did with Clash of the Titans and make the scene completely with CGI like they did with the fight with Medusa. It was supposed to be visually appealing because it was so realistic-looking but for those of us familiar with the original it was simply an eye-rolling experience.
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There's a fantastic article written about how 3D effects ruin remakes of films and you can read it here. Some things are better left in the past and I would rather Hollywood just keep cranking out rubbish superhero films than try to go back and remake all my favorite films from the 80's.
Getting back to The Princess Bride another strength that it has that it is first and foremost a subtle comedy complete with a bit of a love story and some rather absurd characters. If this had been a serious film, I think it would have lost a great deal of its appeal, if not all of it. Everything from the villains turning good to the fact that no one knows that "The Man in Black" is Westley despite the fact that he is only wearing a zoro mask being one of them. Even the love of his life, Buttercup, can't tell that it is him until they fall down the hill and he loses his mask and shouts out "as you wish!"
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On a personal note I kind of found it ironic, later in life, that the sick boy who is being read the story is uncomfortable with romance throughout the story and that basically embodied me and all my friends at the time as well. I think this is part of the reason why it resonated with me so well.
For the most part, I think that revisiting your childhood favorite films can be a mistake as I have ruined a lot of my memories and questioned what I ever saw in these films in the first place due to the fact that we were dealing with limited technology in the 80's. I believe that The Princess Bride decision to not use this, whether it was intentional or not, is a big part of the reason why this movies is still very good to this day and it is something that I can watch from start to finish still. I have done so dozens of times and since I have spent so much time talking about it here today it is something I may end up doing this afternoon again.
If you are younger, there is a good chance that you have never seen this gem and if that is the case I highly suggest you change that as soon as possible.
