Pretty good mix of fantasy and reality

Rating: 6/10 (1 April 2016)

"The Princess Bride" is an American Oscar-nominated movie from almost 30 years ago that runs for slightly under 100 minutes. It features a couple names in the cast that are still very well-known today, such as Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Peter Falk, Cary Elwes, Wallace Shawn, Chris Sarandon, Fred Savage and Billy Crystal. Being an avid Columbo fan, I was mostly curious about Peter Falk here and he did not disappoint. Very likable performance and presence as an old man who tells his grandson a fantastic story. However, I must say I wished that those parts with him and the boy could have been written slightly better, then I would have wished for more scenes between the two. It was a bit repetitive, still it was cute to watch the boy warm up to the story and even the protagonists' kissing.
The main part, however, is the tale Falk's character presents us and his grandson. It is a story about love, revenge, friendship and many other important issues. I personally was surprised to find many references in here used later in the popular video game King's Quest. But back to the movie: It was an enjoyable watch and I managed to warm up to the characters, even if I am not the greatest Cary Elwes or Robin Wright fan. Maybe that is why I did not manage to appreciate their love story as much as I hoped I would. If you like them more than I do, then this is almost a must-see. Still I felt that their story is still more interesting and worth watching as the one about Mandy Patinkin's character, who almost becomes a lead character the longer the film goes. I must say I was a bit surprised about that, even if I liked the actor. I guess I would have been fine with keeping his story minimal, even if the film then maybe would only have went on for 80 or 85 minutes max. It is not bad at all and also brings some solid writing, but I personally felt that it distracted a bit from the core story about the princess, her beloved and the evil prince. This movie has pretty good and memorable supporting characters. As a whole, I would say top250 best films of all time (as IMDb users voted it) is a bit too much, but it was still a pretty decent watch and I recommend checking it out. Thumbs up.