# Why is the Princess Bride (movie) held to such high esteem? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [January 2, 2026, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266 "2026-01-02T04:23:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/61 "2026-01-02T17:48:05Z")
From the same people who brought you Vlad the Impala. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/62 "2026-01-02T17:58:38Z")
I can’t explain any further than to say it made me laugh. It still makes me laugh. I can recite almost the entire movie, line for line, and it continues to make me laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/63 "2026-01-02T18:24:58Z")
I’m not the first to point out that _The Princess Bride_’s brand of comedy has strong roots in Jewish humor, though (Miracle Max aside) less overtly so than the work of Mel Brooks and the Zucker Brothers. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/64 "2026-01-02T18:37:26Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > I’m not the first to point out that _The Princess Bride_’s brand of comedy has strong roots in Jewish humor Which makes perfect sense, given that the writer of the novel (William Goldman) and the director of the movie (Rob Reiner) were both raised Jewish, and Reiner grew up in the television comedy writing/acting community of the 1950s and 1960s, which was also strongly Jewish. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeysBrother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@MonkeysBrother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeysBrother)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/65 "2026-01-02T18:40:30Z")
I loved the book (and still go back and reread it every couple of years). There’s a lot in the book that just doesn’t (and realistically, couldn’t) transfer to the screen. Still, the movie is probably the best adaptation possible. Not a great film, but certainly fun. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/66 "2026-01-02T18:41:50Z")
I love the film, but it’s got about the worst female representation since John Carpenter’s _The Thing_. There’s a grand total of three women with dialogue in the movie: Buttercup, Miracle Max’s wife, and the hag from Buttercup’s dream. Only one of them even has a name, and she’s a complete dishrag of a character whose only decisive action is falling down a hill. The movie even removed her one significant character trait from the books… which was “massively obsessed with her own looks.” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/67 "2026-01-02T18:43:56Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > the hag from Buttercup’s dream True story: I was at a screening of TPB where the projector broke down immediately after that character delivered her only lines. No points for guessing how the audience responded…. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/68 "2026-01-02T18:47:20Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > There’s a grand total of three women with dialogue in the movie: Buttercup, Miracle Max’s wife, and the hag from Buttercup’s dream. I thought Max’s wife’s named was Valerie, although that may have only been in the closing credits. Count Rugen has a first name, too, but it’s easy to miss it. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/69 "2026-01-02T19:16:14Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I thought Max’s wife’s named was Valerie, although that may have only been in the closing credits. She _is_ Valerie, but I agree, I don’t think her name is uttered in the film. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/70 "2026-01-02T20:13:21Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > I still think they could have done something more original than the old “officiant makes long drawn-out speech while the groom impatiently tells him to skip to the vows” cliché. That was part of the joke, I’m sure. I mean, I think it’s largely a victim of the “who pissed in your cornflakes?” crowd who tend to hold every movie/TV show to the same standard. Complaining that “The Princess Bride” is meh is about like complaining that good 2 am delicious drunk food isn’t up to the standards of the French Laundry or Le Bernardin. Of course it’s not; but it wasn’t ever meant to be. And nor would French Laundry food hit the spot at 2 am like a good doner kebab, plate of tacos, or whatever. Comparing TPB with Citizen Kane, Barry Lyndon, or The Godfather is kind of missing the point IMO. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/71 "2026-01-02T20:17:06Z")
Good thing I didn’t do that, then. Crisis averted! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/72 "2026-01-02T20:30:11Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > It’s one of a small handful of films (_Galaxy Quest_ is another) that is both a parody or sendup of a particular genre, and a good, faithful example of that genre that can be enjoyed on its own terms. It clicks the boxes of "funny/parody:, "romance’ and “action/adventure”. Also “Zorro the Gay Blade” does that, but it is not as popular. > [@Nyvaak](#): > > “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” > > “Mawwage is what bwings us togethah today.” > > “I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.” > > “He’s _mostly_ dead!” I use three of those lines. Add in a great cast, and the film is perfect. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/73 "2026-01-02T20:38:09Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Good thing I didn’t do that, then. Crisis averted! In fact none of us even came close to doing that. Literally all of us who didn’t like it said that it just wasn’t to our taste. Most of us conceded that it wasn’t an objectively bad movie. The comment you replied to was just bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Zoobi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/13edae/32.png) [@Zoobi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoobi)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/74 "2026-01-02T20:40:58Z")
I thought the movie was much better than the book, which has a bit of a nasty mean spiritedness to it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/75 "2026-01-02T21:10:22Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Found it schmaltzy. ‘The Grandson’ did too, at first. The Schmaltz was part of the joke. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/76 "2026-01-02T21:17:25Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’m with you. People tend to remember its many quotable lines years after the fact, and not its mediocre editing, inconsistent pacing, and general flatness. I guess that really depends on what you find enjoyable in a movie. If you are bothered by “mediocre editing”, then every time there is a bad edit, it’s going to stick with you. If you don’t notice editing, then it won’t bother you. You say “inconsistent pacing”; I can appreciate a slower spot after an intense scene. Tomato, tomato. The Princess Bride is not Citizen Kane. It is not intended to be a piece of cinematic history; it is meant to be light and fun. Lots of very quirky characters and actors; many quotable lines. No one would consider giving Andre the Giant an award for his acting, but everyone giggles at the “No more rhyming, and I mean it!” “Would anybody like a peanut?” exchange. > [@hajario](#): > > > [@JohnT](#): > > > > Good thing I didn’t do that, then. Crisis averted! > > In fact none of us even came close to doing that. Literally all of us who didn’t like it said that it just wasn’t to our taste. Most of us conceded that it wasn’t an objectively bad movie. The comment you replied to was just bizarre. See above. Complaining about editing sounds a hellovalot like “It’s not great cinema!” > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > It’s one of a small handful of films (_Galaxy Quest_ is another) that is both a parody or sendup of a particular genre, and a good, faithful example of that genre that can be enjoyed on its own terms. Similarly, _The Orvil_ is both a great parody of Space Operas like Star Trek, and works well as a Space Opera. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/77 "2026-01-02T21:28:45Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Good thing I didn’t do that, then. Crisis averted! I have a similar reaction to The Goonies. I was a kid when I saw it, I enjoyed it well enough, but I don’t really care about it one way or the other. “Meh” describes my feelings towards it, yet I know people who have very, very fond memories about that movie. Maybe I should watch it again, it’s been decades. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/78 "2026-01-02T21:29:29Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > See above. Complaining about editing sounds a hellovalot like “It’s not great cinema!” That was what they didn’t like about it. Just like I didn’t like the humor. Everyone knows that it was intended to be silly and irreverent. No movie that made that big of a cultural impact and still stands up today is objectively bad. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/79 "2026-01-02T21:33:11Z")
> [@Zoobi](#): > > I thought the movie was much better than the book, which has a bit of a nasty mean spiritedness to it. I thought the book was fantastic and wrote what I consider one of my all-time best posts based on the structure of it. Different folks, strokes, lol. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/80 "2026-01-02T21:44:57Z")
While the book is better than the movie, I very much enjoyed the movie. The characters are interesting, the dialogue is hilarious and the story evokes romance and nostalgia. Is it perfect? No. Parts are slow, corny, redundant, schlocky. Does it deserve its reputation? Yes. It still holds up. And though you can’t please all the people all the time, people love this movie and the Rotten Tomater ratings speak for themselves. Lots of movies are better, but few are more quotable or more whimsical. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266.md?page=5)