# Inconceivable! My brother & his family have not seen The Princess Bride! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214 "2015-02-09T14:12:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/1 "2015-02-09T14:12:03Z")
I am shocked. I expect to be remedying this sad state of affairs this weekend. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/2 "2015-02-09T14:38:53Z")
I work with a guy who hasn’t seen it either. He is 49 years old. Right in the demographic where he should have seen it. I’ve told him he is dead to me until he has seen it and can tell why a wheel barrow should be listed as an asset. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/3 "2015-02-09T15:38:32Z")
You need to reassure them that it’s not a Kissing Movie. ---
**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/4 "2015-02-09T15:44:09Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > I work with a guy who hasn’t seen it either. He is 49 years old. Right in the demographic where he should have seen it. I’ve told him he is dead to me until he has seen it and can tell why a wheel barrow should be listed as an asset. At 49, he was college-aged when this came out, so I’m not sure why he would have seen it. It’s a smart kids movie, after all. Put me in the camp of this being a cute movie, but way overrrated - I remember seeing it in the theater when it came out and being underwhelmed. But I still enjoyed sharing it with my kids. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/5 "2015-02-09T17:45:41Z")
I only just saw it this Monday, after having just read the book last week. I have to say I was underwhelmed and I can only assume that most of the people who love the movie haven’t read the book, because it’s a pale imitation that trims too much stuff to the bone or leaves it out entirely (no Zoo of Death? No bald princess? Pshaw.) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/6 "2015-02-09T19:45:14Z")
> [@CGav8r](#): > > At 49, he was college-aged when this came out, so I’m not sure why he would have seen it. It’s a smart kids movie, after all. Actually, I first saw it _in_ college. (There was a movie club affiliated with the student union that showed movies on Friday and Saturday evenings.) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/7 "2015-02-09T19:50:12Z")
I’m a movie fan and I’ve a huge crush on Robin Wright but I’ve never seen it. Tried once but just couldn’t get into it. At all. I think it’s the fantasy aspect, just have trouble divorcing myself from reality. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/8 "2015-02-09T20:05:30Z")
Is there fantasy in the film?? I’m blanking. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/9 "2015-02-09T20:05:59Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I’m a movie fan and I’ve a huge crush on Robin Wright but I’ve never seen it. Tried once but just couldn’t get into it. At all. I think it’s the fantasy aspect, just have trouble divorcing myself from reality. The great S. Morgenstern would no doubt be appalled by your description of his classic tale as “fantasy”. It is a completely accurate description of life as it was, somewhere between Sweden and Germany, in the time after Paris, before Europe, just after America, before emergency rooms, after doctors but before they took over the broken-bone trade from milkmen, after jealousy, before glamour, and long after blue jeans (which are much older than previously suspected). ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/10 "2015-02-09T20:07:58Z")
I’ve never seen it. You could probably have a whole web site dedicated to things I’ve managed to miss out on. One of these days I will … I hear it’s good. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/11 "2015-02-09T20:09:10Z")
I am truly surprised when folks do not like it. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/12 "2015-02-09T20:10:47Z")
From wiki… _The Princess Bride is a 1973 fantasy romance novel written by William Goldman. The book combines elements of comedy, adventure, fantasy, romantic love, romance, and fairy tale._ I’ll take your work for it. The little I saw just didn’t appeal to me. Sorry. I know a lot of folks think highly of it. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/13 "2015-02-09T20:30:16Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The great S. Morgenstern would no doubt be appalled by your description of his classic tale as “fantasy”. > > It is a completely accurate description of life as it was, somewhere between Sweden and Germany, in the time after Paris, before Europe, just after America, before emergency rooms, after doctors but before they took over the broken-bone trade from milkmen, after jealousy, before glamour, and long after blue jeans (which are much older than previously suspected). And that’s even if you’re just working from the “good parts” version. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/14 "2015-02-09T20:33:21Z")
The ROUSs (even if you think they probably don’t exist) and the fire swamp probably qualify it as fantasy. Also the Machine and the miracle pill. If you loved the movie, you should read Cary Elwes’s fantastic memoir _As You Wish_. It’s funny, touching, and very very sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/15 "2015-02-09T22:25:38Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I have to say I was underwhelmed and I can only assume that most of the people who love the movie haven’t read the book, because it’s a pale imitation that trims too much stuff to the bone or leaves it out entirely (no Zoo of Death? No bald princess? Pshaw.) My friends and I both consider this as one of the rare times that the movie was actually better than the book. ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/16 "2015-02-09T22:28:15Z")
How to Duel With Class: Watch the Man in Black and Inigo test their skills at the top of the Cliffs of Insanity. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/17 "2015-02-09T22:38:03Z")
I wish Rob Reiner, at some point in the future, would pay to have a decent orchestral version of the score recorded. The _MegaCheese 2000_ synth score dates the movie tragically. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/18 "2015-02-09T23:09:36Z")
**Smapti** , don’t forget that it’s also after stew (but then, so is everything). And both the book and the movie are good. Well, at least, Goldman’s abridgement. It’s probably fair to say, though, that most of the fans of the movie have never read the entire Morganstern work. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/19 "2015-02-09T23:20:05Z")
I liked how in the book Buttercup was portrayed as being without imagination. She named her horse Horse. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214/20 "2015-02-09T23:35:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And both the book and the movie are good. Well, at least, Goldman’s abridgement. It’s probably fair to say, though, that most of the fans of the movie have never read the entire Morganstern work. I found the unabridged, annotated version at an estate sale in five volumes. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inconceivable-my-brother-his-family-have-not-seen-the-princess-bride/712214.md?page=2)