Magical

Rating: 10/10 (17 July 2007)

I first saw this film as a teenage girl and was instantly enchanted. Occasionally, things just GEL -writing, direction, music, casting- in a way that words cannot really describe. This was one of those movies.
Goldman does a brilliant job of giving us a satirical fairy-tale that is not so heavy on "satire" that is steals the enchantment and romance. The swordfighting scenes are probably among the best that have ever been captured on film. The romance is beautiful (between two beautiful people; Mr. Elwes and Ms. Wright (now Wright-Penn) are, as director Rob Reiner describes them in his commentary, "two of the better-looking people on the planet"). And, leaving aside our maturity and independence, what woman was not once a girl who daydreamed about falling in love with and being saved by a dashing hero and being given a kiss like the ones shared by our couple in this film? There are classics "for their time", and there are classics of all-time; this belongs in the all-time category.