Parents need to know that The Princess Bride is a quirky, funny satire of a fairy tale that follows the story of Buttercup (Robin Wright) and her true love, Westley (Cary Elwes). The film has quite a bit of violence, including a torture machine, sword fights (one to the death, with blood shown), a death by poisoning, references to suicide, quicksand, fire pits, ROUSes (rodents of unusual size), and giant shrieking eels that attack main characters. But the movie's comedic and storybook tone lessens some of the impact of this violence. There's also drinking—in one scene, a drunken character passes out and has to be revived—and some kissing. Language includes "son of a bitch," and "Jesus!" as an exclamation, plus a reference to a character's "perfect breasts." The story is told by a grandfather to his grandson and includes sweet scenes between the two. Heroic characters show courage, perseverance, integrity, and teamwork, while others display cruelty, greed, and a thirst for vengeance.
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Violence & Scariness
a lot
The movie's comedic and fairy tale tone lessens some of the impact of the violent scenes. Impactful moments include a torture machine on which a character screams and convulses and is presumed dead. Physical fights, sword fights (one to the death), a death by poisoning, people sucked into quicksand, dangerous fire pits, shrieking eels with huge teeth that feed on human flesh, and menacing ROUSes (rodents of unusual size) that bite a character. The rodents are then set on fire and stabbed. People pass out after being hit on the head and strangled. A person is kidnapped and blindfolded with their wrists bound. A character makes a reference to taking her own life and holds a knife to her chest. Brief injury detail and scars. Blood is shown from stab wounds coming through clothes and on the hands and face. Description of past attacks and murders. A character says how he would mutilate another by cutting off various body parts. Death of a father mentioned. A man raises a hand to hit a woman, saying "where I come from there are penalties when a woman lies." Threat to tear off a person's arms.
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Occasional language includes "son of a bitch," "arse," and "sot." Also "my God" and "Jesus" as exclamations—once by a child. Name-calling includes "weakling," "silly girl," "warthog-faced buffoon," "pig," "miserable vomitous mess," and "hippopotamic landmass."
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Inigo appears drunk in a scene and there are references to his past drinking, including a time when he was "slobbering drunk." Other characters sometimes drink from goblets of wine. A person is poisoned with a fictional substance.
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Flirtation and a few kisses, one of which takes place on a bed, the characters fully clothed. Reference to Buttercup's "perfect breasts." True love is a core theme of the story.
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Chicago Bears sports jersey worn by character. Cheetos packet seen in background.
Positive Messages
some
Storytelling can bring families and generations together. Fairness and sportsmanship are important. Don't judge a book by its cover, and take time to understand others—you might find you have similar values. True love will triumph over adversity. Courage, integrity, perseverance, and teamwork are important character strengths. That said, the desire for vengeance can be all-consuming and satisfying if carried out. And women are often powerless, even if they maintain their inner strength and integrity.
Positive Role Models
some
Most characters prize true love and honor and generally hold fast to their ideals. Some compromise their beliefs in the pursuit of their goals, but they don't win in the end. Those who work as a team have the most success. Inigo is driven almost solely by vengeance, though his reason is understandable and close to his heart. The grandfather is kind and wise and has a loving relationship with his grandson, who gradually appreciates his storytelling. Buttercup shows integrity in not wanting to marry Prince Humperdinck and waiting for her true love Westley, but is fairly powerless in controlling the outcome. Westley shows courage and perseverance, though he's also sometimes arrogant and stubborn.
Diverse Representations
very little
Main cast members are all White. The female lead, Buttercup, is defined by men—first by the prince she's intended to marry, then by the man she's in love with. She's often shown helpless, such as being kidnapped and waiting to be rescued. But she does stand by her principles, makes attempts to escape, and sacrifices herself for another on one occasion. Actor André René Roussimoff had a disorder called acromegaly, which caused him to produce excess growth hormones. His character, Fezzik, is teased by others for his size on-screen, including name-calling such as "hippopotamic landmass," "giant," and "colossus." He's presumed to be unintelligent and aggressive, but proves himself kind and values fairness, which goes against stereotype. The word "crippled" is used to describe an off-screen character. A supporting character has a speech impediment, unable to pronounce their R's—it's played for laughs. A person called "The Albino" is portrayed by an actor who does not have albinism and wears exaggerated white, pasty make-up. A character is initially dismissive and snobbish toward a person who works on her family farm, referring to him as "farm boy."
Solid Family Fantasy: Swords, Romance, Thrills, and Laughs
Eminently quotable and filled with laughs and excitement, "The Princess Bride" is the kind of film that doesn't get made often but when it does it proves to be a true "something for people of all ages" affair. Joined by true love Westley and Buttercup overcome great hardships in a quasi-magical fantasy land, and the depth of their love is tested. Content here comes down to some light fantasy violence (there is a tiny bit of blood at the conclusion) and a few bits of innuendo that are sure to fly over kid's heads. One character utters "sonofabitch". There are truly few more perfect family movies out there that are sure to entertain all audiences. Today I find myself watching it just wishing we had 5-10 more minutes to restore elements that Goldman himself trimmed from the film's story. But it's still good as it stands.
Trigger warning: this movie includes a brief but quickly diverted attempted suicide, which is referenced three times.
This is a classic movie I looked forward to sharing with my kids once they were old enough to understand what concepts this movie mocks (especially medieval Europe), and that all of it is intentionally over-the-top (rodents of unusual size, for instance). For my kids, that mean age 8-10.
It provides some excellent conversation starters, from gender roles to vengeance and grudges, smarts vs wisdom, the value of diversity, substance abuse, abuse of power, and corruption. For the most part, this is presented in a light hearted way and provides a great segway to talk about these things.
However, I didn't remember that there is an attempted suicide. A character deems that suicide is their only way out of a tough situation. This isn't addressed in a way that psychologists today recommend: normalizing the feelings but addressing the concerns and helping the individual have hope for the future. Instead, the support person in the movie fixes the situation the character feels doomed by. So I don't think they handled it well. If this is a challenge your family faces, it could be a trigger and counter-productive to the conversation you are having, or alternatively it could be a conversation starter. I just thought caregivers should be aware of this content, as it's not noted in the summary.
What's the Story?
In THE PRINCESS BRIDE, the most beautiful woman in the world, Buttercup (Robin Wright), gets engaged to the cruel Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon) after she hears that her true love, Westley (Cary Elwes), was killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts. But before the wedding, Buttercup is kidnapped by a huge man with enormous strength (André René Roussimoff), a master swordsman (Mandy Patinkin), and an evil genius (Wallace Shawn). A mysterious masked man must defeat them all and then escape with Buttercup through the treacherous Fire Swamp. When they're both captured by the prince and his six-fingered henchman, Count Rugen (Christopher Guest), they discover that not even death can get in the way of true love.
This witty fairy tale by William Goldman (screenwriter of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President's Men) is resoundingly satisfying. As directed for the screen by Rob Reiner (Stand by Me, When Harry Met Sally), The Princess Bride was nominated for an Oscar on its original release and has gone on to become a lasting family favorite. The motley cast of storybook characters is consistently hilarious, right down to the supporting parts featuring the likes of Carol Kane and Billy Crystal as a bickering witch and wizard and Peter Cook as the Impressive Clergyman.
Simply put, The Princess Bride is stuffed full of every thrilling element of a classic romantic adventure—princes, villains and evil geniuses, giant creatures, sword fights, revenge, kidnapping, and a rescue on white horses—and it treats them all with delicious humor.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what makes for a really good adventure/love story like The Princess Bride. Is it sword fights? Scary creatures? Romantic leading men and ladies? What are the most important elements for you?
How does this movie poke fun at some of the standard fairy tale elements?
How are women portrayed in the film? Is Buttercup a role model? What else could she have done other than wait for Westley to rescue her? How is their relationship portrayed? Do you think it's healthy/realistic?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
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