Criterion Collection The Princess Bride 4K Review: As You Wish
Contrary to what people say, The Princess Bride wasn't a bomb when it was released, but it was a modest success, grossing $30 million against a $16 million budget. The problem should probably be bigger considering that nowadays people love it and consider it a classic. Rob Reiner blamed marketing in several interviews. Criterion's disc includes domestic and international footage, as well as some television spots to help viewers make up their minds.
Two things stand out. First, André the Giant, who went on to sweep Hulk Hogan in his final main event at WrestleMania III, was not widely known as one of the stars. (This is what brings young Luke to the film.) Music is another matter. Mark Knopfler's music is and always has been the weakest part of the film, playing on the sentimental superficiality that Fred Savage's character despises and which is initially unclear. And all the trailers use this. It thematically undermines the comedic moments they're trying to sell. Did anyone tell Knopfler this was supposed to be fun?
The trailer otherwise doesn't misrepresent information, but I get the impression that my wife had been rooting for this for about 13 years before she was able to declare that the movie was a stereotypical "little file" about work assignments. Avoid. After ten years of our marriage, he finally looked at everything and saw the light.
Dual function
The Criterion 4K Collection includes the same Blu-ray that was released in 2018. It's pretty complete, so it's an easy pick, but it might make those who already own it think twice about upgrading. The 4K disc itself contains just the film and the 1997 laserdisc commentary with Reiner, writer William Goldman, producer Andrew Shainman, Billy Crystal and Peter Falk. Unlike the actors on the commentary track for the Time Bandits track, Crystal and Falk are included in the entire scene, rather than simply narrating their scenes, although it is clear that each person recorded the commentary separately.
For those who don't yet have the Blu-ray, it includes a number of special features from 1997, 2007, 2012 and 2018 so you can watch the actors age before your eyes. Includes most of the extras from previous releases, except for the Rayner and Goldman solo songs recorded for DVD in 1999. Aside from the 1997 set, the only "commentary" is the audiobook version, narrated by Rob Reiner and cut to fit what we see. on the screen. Listening and watching like this emphasizes the film's fidelity to the book's source; As book readers know, the packaging/frame arrangement is slightly different.
A Blu-ray released in 2018, shortly before Goldman's death, adds edge to the short, featuring a special tapestry from the film hanging in his home, perhaps the last footage of him alive. What's less interesting is that the Columbia professor basically studied Goldman scenarios 101. If you've ever studied any aspect of screenwriting or read a book about it, none of this will be news to you.
Unimaginable negligence?
Features several interviews with most of the cast over the years, as well as behind-the-scenes footage with additional commentary. The only major actor missing was Wallace Shawn, who everyone assumed was very insecure about his performance at the time, although of course he was already aware that this film would be his most lasting contribution to pop culture. That's how you know The Princess Bride is a classic. Otherwise, most critics would mock it by calling it "My Dinner with André the Giant."
The interviews with swordsmen who didn't work on the film seem strange, while the interviews with art director Richard Holland make more sense. Given its length, some of the jokes are repetitive, and this is forgivable, but it does suggest that it is best not to watch all the extras at once.
The two albums are packaged in a storybook with pages and images, as well as two essays. The first, written by Sloane Crossley, is a slightly narcissistic first-person view of watching a film with her niece, although she also rightly undermines many of the pointless plot points by admitting that they don't make much sense. reason. . makes sense or very important. The second, written by Goldman, describes how he wrote the book and overcame writer's block by transitioning between scenes by simply pretending it was a condensed version of a much larger book with "good parts" that he could skip to when necessary. It's an adorable package that looks like a children's book, but not... too much like the movie itself.
Leaving all this aside, what about the film itself?
A long time ago...
As many people who spoke suggested, it was a great combination of sincerity and sarcasm, enough to keep them from taking each other for granted. Typically, only the Muppets maintain this balance. As Crossley and Goldman point out, most stories aren't worth paying much attention to, because plot points often involve crazy coincidences and sudden plot conveniences. Let's pay attention to a very obvious fact: Fezzik (Andre) accidentally finds four perfect horses at the end, one of which is big enough for him. Everything is everywhere. for example, the sudden confirmation that death can be changed when possible, or the “Holocaust cloak” that happens to be on hand. Other studio films plant the seeds of this concept early enough for it to become a reality, but Goldman happily ignores this rule.
And here is the problem. Nobody cared. Pope (Peter Faulk) may have taken poetic license or made up the story instead of reading it correctly. Although real world scenes follow real rules; While we forgive the fact that the He-Man character behind Fred Savage sometimes appears in different poses and locations, fairy tales can set their own rules and deviate from reality. his dialogue is incredibly witty. Every actor is perfect for capturing Goldman's prose, except Andre, although he's better here than ever in the WWE promotion. It is the dialogue in this scene that introduces the viewer to the fact that this is a low-budget fantasy. These RUSSIAN PEOPLE are actually little guys in suits.
He came, he saw...
It's hard to say that Cary Elwes was a great discovery because the actor comes from a family of film producers and will continue to be a discovery, but it's safe to say that he's never been better before or since. Robin Wright, on the other hand, was a soap opera star who could speak with the perfect accent of an English princess and keep up the pace that Elvis often carried.
If the film were made today, some would complain that Vizzini was not played by a Sicilian, Inigo by a Spaniard, and Fezika by a Turk, as in the book. (It is never mentioned that the film features both real and completely fictional countries.) This would be a real loss for posterity; Visini and Inigo are arguably Wallace Shawn and Mandy Patinkin's most famous roles. Andre's most famous role is Andre, and Fezzik is basically him.
Fun storm in the castle.
The 4K film, scanned from a camera negative, mastered with laser discs and green-lit by producer Steve Nicolaides, looks phenomenal. The deep focus scenes are crisp and clear, every seam on every suit and every piece of peach the elves missed while shaving, and the overly pink body colors in some of the earlier prints look normal again. This is the closest we'll get to seeing him on the big screen again.
Patinkin and Elvis fought with swords, studying all the previous fencing movies to make their fights as good as possible, while Andre had to dub the fight scenes because he was in too much pain to lift anything. The disk is so clean that you can see the trick being done. It's not that it breaks anything. As with Penn and Teller's program, half of the magic is discovering the tricks and seeing how much fun they are to do.
You probably don't need a recommendation for this movie if you're reading this, but let's just say it's complete.
Rating: 5/5
