The Princess Bride

[Asimovian]

I organized a group of folks to go see this on the big screen last night at the Arclight Cinemas in Sherman Oaks, CA (the chain tends to show a lot of old films on the big screen). I don't seem to get tired of seeing that film, but it was a blast to see it with a crowd. So many great quotes.

Cary Elwes was on-hand and did a Q&A session after the showing. He told a lot of great Andre the Giant stories, but what seemed to shock us all the most was the fact that he apparently had not watched the film since he'd gone to one of the premieres when it was first released. He's a very funny man, and the whole thing was just a lot of fun.

I have nothing more of substance to say, so treat this thread...as you wish.

[kaylasdad99]

Wait. Since when do you live in the Valley?

Inconceivable!

[Asimovian]

It's been nearly a year and a half. However, I do not think it means what you think it means!

[Wargamer]

I know something you don't. Cary Elwes is not left handed.

[Skammer]

Wait - is this a kissing book?

[Sailboat]

Cary Elwes was on-hand

That's some organizing you did there!

He told a lot of great Andre the Giant stories

Tell us! You will obey (http://www.google.com/imgres?q=obey+giant+logo&hl=en&safe=active&biw=1280&bih=870&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=S-GWtk-SB36UuM:&imgrefurl=http://www.bluntgraffix.com/guide/obey-giant.htm&docid=I8OHSVeWO4vJlM&imgurl=http://www.bluntgraffix.com/guide/images/obey-giant.jpg&w=150&h=235&ei=GGKMT6OjOcXg0QHQmtWzCQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=774&vpy=223&dur=1621&hovh=188&hovw=120&tx=88&ty=52&sig=114309174077203653184&page=1&tbnh=150&tbnw=96&start=0&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0,i:96).

[ministryman]

It was at the Arclight?

Where was MY invite?

[Dread Pirate Jimbo]

Oh, I would LOVE to see The Princess Bride on the big screen. I was one of the many who didn't discover the greatness of this film until it was out on VHS.

[tr0psn4j]

I organized a group of folks to go see this on the big screen last night at the Arclight Cinemas in Sherman Oaks, CA (the chain tends to show a lot of old films on the big screen). I don't seem to get tired of seeing that film, but it was a blast to see it with a crowd. So many great quotes.

Cary Elwes was on-hand and did a Q&A session after the showing. He told a lot of great Andre the Giant stories, but what seemed to shock us all the most was the fact that he apparently had not watched the film since he'd gone to one of the premieres when it was first released. He's a very funny man, and the whole thing was just a lot of fun.

I have nothing more of substance to say, so treat this thread...as you wish.

Would have made an awesome dopefest. :smack:

[eclectic wench]

Oh, COOL!!! Did everyone in the crowd recite the entire film along with the cast? Can you tell us some of the Andre the Giant stories? Are you on the Brute Squad? Anybody want a peanut?

[Asimovian]

That's some organizing you did there!OK, so what I *should* have said is that when tickets went on sale, I bought tickets for a group of people so we could attend together. My celebrity-fu is not quite that strong. :)


Tell us! You will obey (http://www.google.com/imgres?q=obey+giant+logo&hl=en&safe=active&biw=1280&bih=870&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=S-GWtk-SB36UuM:&imgrefurl=http://www.bluntgraffix.com/guide/obey-giant.htm&docid=I8OHSVeWO4vJlM&imgurl=http://www.bluntgraffix.com/guide/images/obey-giant.jpg&w=150&h=235&ei=GGKMT6OjOcXg0QHQmtWzCQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=774&vpy=223&dur=1621&hovh=188&hovw=120&tx=88&ty=52&sig=114309174077203653184&page=1&tbnh=150&tbnw=96&start=0&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0,i:96).I think my favorite might have been when he went out drinking with Andre at several different bars in NYC, and at some point, realized that there was someone following them from bar to bar. He said that when he observed this, he asked Andre if he'd noticed the same person. Andre ultimately explained that at some time prior, he'd gotten exceedingly drunk and had fallen on another bar patron (causing some injury, as you might imagine). Supposedly, after that incident, NYPD had been sending an off-duty cop to follow Andre around whenever he went out drinking to try to avoid any further incidents. :)

[Asimovian]

Oh, COOL!!! Did everyone in the crowd recite the entire film along with the cast? Can you tell us some of the Andre the Giant stories? Are you on the Brute Squad? Anybody want a peanut?The recitation wasn't as bad as I actually thought it was going to be (and I certainly had to resist some, myself), but it was funny how everyone would immediately start laughing when certain characters appeared on screen even before they'd spoken any lines (the reverend/minister being the most prominent of those, of course).

[SiXSwordS]

I read the book several years before the movie came out. When I saw that there was going to be a movie I shuddered--I was sure it would be one of those disasters that ruins the whole book.

Obviously I was wrong. I missed the scenes of Fezzik and Inigo entering the Zoo of Death, but somethings are better left out. I also missed the commentary on the author's wife and pork-chop son, but, again....

Anyway, that's my bit. You kids go on now. Have fun storming the castle.

ETA: BTW, great book, I recommend it. Most readers will finish it in a day or two and then read it again.

[Dread Pirate Jimbo]

I read the book several years before the movie came out. When I saw that there was going to be a movie I shuddered--I was sure it would be one of those disasters that ruins the whole book.

Obviously I was wrong. I missed the scenes of Fezzik and Inigo entering the Zoo of Death, but somethings are better left out. I also missed the commentary on the author's wife and pork-chop son, but, again....

Anyway, that's my bit. You kids go on now. Have fun storming the castle.

ETA: BTW, great book, I recommend it. Most readers will finish it in a day or two and then read it again.

One of my fave books of all time. :)

[Chronos]

One thing about the conversion from book to movie is that, in both cases, Inigo's lines to Rugen as he's killing him are excellent, but they're completely different. In the book, he first stabs left of Rugen's heart, then right, then above, and asks Rugen if he knows what he's doing. "You're cutting my heart out". "Yes, just like you cut my heart out years ago". In the movie, it's "Promise me wealth. Promise me power. Promise me anything I want." "Yes, of course!" "I want my father back, you son of a bitch!"

And I have to expect that it would have taken a heck of a lot of alcohol to get Andre the Giant drunk.

[bienville]

last night at the Arclight Cinemas in Sherman Oaks

AAAAAHHHHH!!! I COULD HAVE GONE TO THAT!!!!! :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack:

[Asimovian]

And I have to expect that it would have taken a heck of a lot of alcohol to get Andre the Giant drunk.Elwes said that Andre drank pitchers the way most us would drink pints.

[Hal Briston]

I knew we reached a new point in The Littlest Briston's life when we found a non-animated movie that would hold her interested repeatedly.

There's something wrongfully wonderful about surreptitiously seeing a six-year-old girl holding a yardstick up to a giant teddy bear and whispering "I want my father back, you son of a bitch".

[Asimovian]

It was at the Arclight?

Where was MY invite?

Would have made an awesome dopefest. :smack:

AAAAAHHHHH!!! I COULD HAVE GONE TO THAT!!!!! :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack:I cannot and will not be held responsible for my local brethren's lack of participation in Arclight's membership program, whereby one receives such announcements in email. :) And while I first saw the news about a month ago and was able to snag a bunch of tickets, the show was sold out by early last week.

[SiXSwordS]

One of my fave books of all time. :)

I never would have guessed. ;)

There's something wrongfully wonderful about surreptitiously seeing a six-year-old girl holding a yardstick up to a giant teddy bear and whispering "I want my father back, you son of a bitch".
If that's wrong, I don't want to be right!

[Robot Arm]

How I thought this sentence was going to end:

I think my favorite might have been when he went out drinking with Andre at several different bars,......at the same time.

[dngnb8]

I organized a group of folks to go see this on the big screen last night at the Arclight Cinemas in Sherman Oaks, CA (the chain tends to show a lot of old films on the big screen). I don't seem to get tired of seeing that film, but it was a blast to see it with a crowd. So many great quotes.

Cary Elwes was on-hand and did a Q&A session after the showing. He told a lot of great Andre the Giant stories, but what seemed to shock us all the most was the fact that he apparently had not watched the film since he'd gone to one of the premieres when it was first released. He's a very funny man, and the whole thing was just a lot of fun.

I have nothing more of substance to say, so treat this thread...as you wish.

I hope you

Max: Had fun stormin' the cinema!!!!

Valerie: Did they enjoy the flick?

Max: It would have taken a miracle.....

[dngnb8]

Did you wear a Holocaust cloak?

Did you order a MLT, where the mutton is nice and lean, and the tomato is ripe....... They're so perky. I love that.

[Kimballkid]

I knew we reached a new point in The Littlest Briston's life when we found a non-animated movie that would hold her interested repeatedly.

There's something wrongfully wonderful about surreptitiously seeing a six-year-old girl holding a yardstick up to a giant teddy bear and whispering "I want my father back, you son of a bitch".

Propel water in the nose is not a fun sensation. :)

[gaffa]

In the movie, it's "Promise me wealth. Promise me power. Promise me anything I want." "Yes, of course!" "I want my father back, you son of a bitch!"
I can't imagine the film without that line. Mandy Patinkin's delivery was so powerful. From what I understand, his father died of cancer, and he spoke to Count Rugen as he would cancer.

I know where he's coming from. My dad died of lung cancer when I was 16, and that line chokes me up every time I see it.

[Feyrat]

I'm so jealous!!! Loved that movie since I was a wee thing, probably watched it over 100 times by the time I was 12 and worn out some VHS tapes.

Funny thing was, when I picked up the novel, it drove me nuts. Because I HATE abridged books, and I went crazy trying to find the original S. Morganstern book. Goldman talks all through the book about the boring and nutty things he's taken out, and I wanted to read them SO badly.

I didn't find out the "abridgement" was a joke until a few years later...

[Sister Vigilante]

One thing about the conversion from book to movie is that, in both cases, Inigo's lines to Rugen as he's killing him are excellent, but they're completely different. In the book, he first stabs left of Rugen's heart, then right, then above, and asks Rugen if he knows what he's doing. "You're cutting my heart out". "Yes, just like you cut my heart out years ago". In the movie, it's "Promise me wealth. Promise me power. Promise me anything I want." "Yes, of course!" "I want my father back, you son of a bitch!"

And I have to expect that it would have taken a heck of a lot of alcohol to get Andre the Giant drunk.

It did. They regularly had to put up with the other actors so hungover the next day they could hardly act.

Found this on failblog:

Fact: to get properly drunk, Andre “The Giant” Roussimoff required 3-4 cases of beer and a few bottles of wine. Typically 7000 calories worth of alcohol. If you call yourself a “heavyweight,” I do not think it means what you think it means.

[SticksAndString]

I would die to see PB on the big screen..IIRC, my parents thought I was "too little" to go to the movies when it came out unless there was something they ABSOLUTELY had to see (which is why I got dragged to "The Empire Strikes Back", "Gremlins" and one of the Rocky films).

Slim doesn't care for PB..every time it's on and I make him watch it, he asks if we HAVE to watch it.

And of course I say YES we have to! IT"S A LAW! Whenever PB is on TV (my VHS tape is worn out and my TV and my VCR are refusing to speak each other's language), we MUST watch it. If I had to sit through eleventyfourthousand viewings of "Cars", the Toy Story trilogy AND Ponyo then you must sit through PB every time it's on TV.

[Anamorphic]

I love the series the Arclight has going on right now. I would have loved to have seen this one, but I did go see Raiders of the Lost Ark in Pasadena on Sunday night. So much fun seeing it on the big screen in front of an enthusiastic audience!

[Invisible Chimp]

I don't remember seeing it in theaters. I was only eight when it came out. However, I recently discovered something from 1987 and my favorite movie was listed as "The Princess Bride." I had good taste from an early age.

[Andy L]

One thing about the conversion from book to movie is that, in both cases, Inigo's lines to Rugen as he's killing him are excellent, but they're completely different. In the book, he first stabs left of Rugen's heart, then right, then above, and asks Rugen if he knows what he's doing. "You're cutting my heart out". "Yes, just like you cut my heart out years ago". In the movie, it's "Promise me wealth. Promise me power. Promise me anything I want." "Yes, of course!" "I want my father back, you son of a bitch!"

However, in the movie, Westley nitpicks the wedding, by saying that it didn't count because Buttercup didn't say "I do." In the book, when Buttercup bemoans the fact that the she's actually married to Humperdinck, Westley merely points out that "Widows happen every day" which I think is a significantly cooler line.

[Bosstone]

However, in the movie, Westley nitpicks the wedding, by saying that it didn't count because Buttercup didn't say "I do." In the book, when Buttercup bemoans the fact that the she's actually married to Humperdinck, Westley merely points out that "Widows happen every day" which I think is a significantly cooler line.It is, but given that Westley leaves Humperdink alive at the end of the movie (I can't remember how it happened in the book), that particular line would open up a plot hole.

[BrainGlutton]

AAAAAHHHHH!!! I COULD HAVE GONE TO THAT!!!!! :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack: :smack:

Could you please expand on your pain? Remember, this is for posterity.

[Sister Vigilante]

In the book, Buttercup is dumb as a box of hammers. Westley knew it, and tolerated it, smiling bemusedly at her stupidity. That was one thing I didn't like about it.

I have to watch the movie every time it's on though.

[Asimovian]

For those of you who have read the book and seen the movie, is there any point in going back to read the book? I've seen the movie a dozen times, but never really had an interest in the book.

[Robot Arm]

For those of you who have read the book and seen the movie, is there any point in going back to read the book? I've seen the movie a dozen times, but never really had an interest in the book.The difference between the book and the movie is the difference between satire and parody. They're both great, and they both have the sense of being done by people with a great fondness for fairy tales. But they also both acknowledge that fairy tales have limitations, and the way they do that is where the difference lies. The book is a satire, the movie is a parody.

[BrainGlutton]

In the book, Buttercup is dumb as a box of hammers. Westley knew it, and tolerated it, smiling bemusedly at her stupidity. That was one thing I didn't like about it.

I have to watch the movie every time it's on though.

Of course, smart or stupid makes no difference here; the story, book or movie, doesn't give Buttercup very many chances to actually do anything or make any decisions; she is simply a prize to be won or a thing to be used -- either way, simply tossed about by events.

Which is precisely the job of a fairy-tale princess, Sister.

[Chimera]

One of the very first things I bought when I got my iPad last month was The Princess Bride. HD version of course.

So I can put it on my iPad and carry it around just knowing it is there and I can watch it (or even a part of it) at any time.

One of the things I was struck by on rewatching it was the scene where Inigo helps Wesley/DPR up the rope and then....gasp..not only tells him a story, but actually hands the man his sword. Even after telling him "I'm only waiting around to kill you".

[Lamia]

One thing about the conversion from book to movie is that, in both cases, Inigo's lines to Rugen as he's killing him are excellent, but they're completely different. In the book, he first stabs left of Rugen's heart, then right, then above, and asks Rugen if he knows what he's doing. "You're cutting my heart out". "Yes, just like you cut my heart out years ago". In the movie, it's "Promise me wealth. Promise me power. Promise me anything I want." "Yes, of course!" "I want my father back, you son of a bitch!"To clarify for those who haven't read the book, the "son of a bitch" exchange from the movie is in the book, it's just not the very last thing Inigo says to Count Rugen.

Of course, smart or stupid makes no difference here; the story, book or movie, doesn't give Buttercup very many chances to actually do anything or make any decisions; she is simply a prize to be won or a thing to be used -- either way, simply tossed about by events.

Which is precisely the job of a fairy-tale princess, Sister.Buttercup does get one badass moment at the end of the novel, where she assists in the escape from the castle in an effective but ladylike manner.
A group of guards is standing outside the gate, but Buttercup orders them to go inside. When the head guard says the men will do what he says because he's the head guard, Buttercup says the head guard will do what she says because "I AM THE QUEEEEEEN!" And she's beautiful and regal enough that this works.

A moment later she admits to Westley that she told a lie, she's not actually the queen since Humperdink was not yet king, but "I am the princess!" didn't seem intimidating enough.That would have been nice to have in the movie, but some things have to go in any adaptation.

[not what you'd expect]

I love this movie. It took me two years to convince my husband and son to watch it back in the 80's. Now they love it too.

There were about four people at my last job who had never seen it. I was shocked! After I told them about it, my boss bought it and watched with her son and husband. She said they didn't like it. I knew I didn't like her.

[Sister Vigilante]

Of course, smart or stupid makes no difference here; the story, book or movie, doesn't give Buttercup very many chances to actually do anything or make any decisions; she is simply a prize to be won or a thing to be used -- either way, simply tossed about by events.

Which is precisely the job of a fairy-tale princess, Sister.

Oh I understand completely, but misunderstanding the meanings of words, and Westley not even correcting her, just looking at her like "aww bless your heart" takes it quite a little too far for me. Back then (whenever "then" was), it was the norm for women to essentially not have any control over her own life. But how can he love someone so incredibly dumb?