# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/121 "2026-01-05T19:29:16Z")
Next you’ll be telling me that S Morgenstern is not a real person and Florin is not a real country. Actually, I’d say that the framing device in the book is very different than in the movie. The author in the book is more the boy in the movie than the grandfather. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2026, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/122 "2026-01-05T19:59:50Z")
I didn’t mind the framing device in the book nearly as much. The whole father-son thing doesn’t really work for me, but the commentary on S. Morgenstern as an author was really enjoyable. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2026, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/123 "2026-01-05T20:35:45Z")
I think my favorite part of the book that didn’t make it into the movie was the comments about the time setting. It was before \_\_\_ but after \_\_\_. It was after stew, because everything was after stew. Etc. ---
**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 6, 2026, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/124 "2026-01-06T02:50:36Z")
I knew a guy once who _didn’t_ like the movie The Princess Bride. But he had six fingers. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/125 "2026-01-06T07:22:52Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > I’m considering reading it to my 10 year old daughter, who still likes a bed time story every now and then, but some of the introduction and asides would seem boring to her, not to mention pitched at someone a little older (comments on the starlet’s top-heaviness for example). Maybe I’ll just read her the good bits How does she feel about all the kissy stuff? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2026, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/126 "2026-01-06T15:59:14Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > How does she feel about all the kissy stuff? When my wife and I watch old films, ones that you don’t expect the main characters to start kissing (ie, not a romantic film) and then they do, we always say “Is this a kissing film!?” Yes, TPB has a quote for everything! ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/127 "2026-01-07T03:11:19Z")
^^^^^\* This! 🤠👍🏽 ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/128 "2026-01-08T07:40:16Z")
I always get leery about discussions about “endlessly quotable” movies. Generally that means I’m about to get hammered by a nonstop tidal wave of cliches. I don’t even like _doing_ that, much less being on the receiving end. I remember watching it once in grade school, maybe a couple times after that. I’d read (most of) the book before the second time, and the thing that really stuck out about the movie in comparison was how lightweight it was. The book was _epic._ Dozens of pages of background information before we even _get_ to the kidnapping, and then the full backstories of Inigo and Fezzik, even more chaos happens in the Fire Swamp, the rescue of Wesley is _much_ longer and more harrowing… just a way, way bigger world and story all around. (Pretty amazing given the increasingly ridiculous kayfabe act William Goldman apparently _will_ take to his grave regarding this version being a heavily abridged version of the work of a completely different author.) The book read like part of an ongoing anthology that would provide tons of thrills but never truly be finished. The movie played out like a breezy self-contained fairy tale with an obligatory happy ending. I’m not saying this is BAD, but I’m not about to put something as relentlessly conventional as this this on a pedestal. 7/10, I’ve seen it enough times, Spaceballs is _way_ funnier. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/129 "2026-01-08T08:07:04Z")
That’s adaptation for you. If there’s one thing that William Goldman understood it was how to construct a movie that works. It’s his book, and his screenplay. He famously said “nobody knows anything” but he knew what needed to be done to make it work as a self-contained movie. ---
**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 8, 2026, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/130 "2026-01-08T23:05:52Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > (Pretty amazing given the increasingly ridiculous kayfabe act William Goldman apparently _will_ take to his grave regarding this version being a heavily abridged version of the work of a completely different author.) Past-tense. Goldman died in 2018. Also, outside of the actual book itself, and maybe some jokes when talking about it in interviews, did Goldman ever put up a serious pretense that S. Morgenstern existed? ---
**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:** [January 8, 2026, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/131 "2026-01-08T23:22:51Z")
I mean, the book always contains a lot more than the movie. That’s just the nature of the two media. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2026, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/132 "2026-01-08T23:35:32Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > (Pretty amazing given the increasingly ridiculous kayfabe act William Goldman apparently _will_ take to his grave regarding this version being a heavily abridged version of the work of a completely different author.) Enjoyment of The Princess Bride requires that one have a sense of humour. I think we may have found the difficulty. ---
**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:** [January 8, 2026, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/133 "2026-01-08T23:46:29Z")
[Moderating] I can’t see any way to read that except as a personal insult. This is an official Warning. ---
**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 8, 2026, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/134 "2026-01-08T23:46:39Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > (Pretty amazing given the increasingly ridiculous kayfabe act William Goldman apparently _will_ take to his grave regarding this version being a heavily abridged version of the work of a completely different author.) Hey, Peter Schickele made a good living that way… ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2026, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/135 "2026-01-09T04:13:13Z")
GuanoLad - Oh, of course. And a fantasy adventure movie with an ambiguous ending would get (rightfully) blasted. I get that. Just didn’t give the movie staying power. I would’ve _loved_ a book-faithful miniseries, especially if it managed to tie up everything after “Buttercup’s Baby”, but I’m not sure there’d be much demand for it. Miller - In every one of his writings I’ve seen (including the expanded novel which included “Buttercup’s Baby”), he was _absolutely adamant_ about not being the author. Yes, anyone with half a brain knew that there wasn’t anyone named “Simon Morgenstern” or any kingdom named “Florin”, but he _never_ broke kayfabe even once. If there was a reason for it, I’m unaware of it; I suspect it’s in the same category as all the stuff about “Cecil Adams”. If you have a link to any article, video, or post where he comes clean (or at least appears to), I’d be glad to give it a look. I honestly completely forgot that he died. Must’ve been that _other_ thread, which I will _not_ be linking to. 😠 ---
**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:** [January 9, 2026, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/136 "2026-01-09T04:25:40Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > the commentary on S. Morgenstern as an author was really enjoyable. I laughed way too hard at the segment where “Morgenstern” starts complaining about his wife, and Goldman cuts in to clarify for the reader that this is completely unrelated to his own complaining about his wife. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2026, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/137 "2026-01-09T05:52:46Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > anyone with half a brain knew that there wasn’t anyone named “Simon Morgenstern” or any kingdom named “Florin” Hey! I believed it when I first read the book (in high school). I did wise up on my own fairly shortly, but I did try to find the “original” to read at first. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/138 "2026-01-12T01:06:20Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > The book was _epic._ Well, you’ve certainly sold me on it! ETA: Free on Kindle Unlimited. Score! ---
**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 13, 2026, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/139 "2026-01-13T19:37:38Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > If you have a link to any article, video, or post where he comes clean (or at least appears to), I’d be glad to give it a look. Okay, I looked around a bit. There’s [this interview](https://nofilmschool.com/2013/06/william-goldman-inconceivable-writing-career) where, around the 1:10:00 mark, he talks about how the book was inspired from talking to his daughters about what stories they’d like to hear. Also, this quote: “I [don’t] like my writing. I wrote a movie called _Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid_ and I wrote a novel called _The Princess Bride_ and those are the only two things I’ve ever written, not that I’m proud of, but that I can look at without humiliation.” From an interview with _Ain’t it Cool News:_ "I asked if [_Buttercup’s Baby_] was going to be the total of the sequel, a sort of gentle fib like the framework of the novel itself, or if he’d actually finish the book. “‘I don’t know if I’m going to write it. I have that much written, and I feel pretty neat about it. That’s the only thing I’ve ever written, you have to understand, that I really liked. Of all the books that I’ve written, that’s the one that I care for.’” Also, lots of quotes like, “I’ve gotten more responses on _The Princess Bride_ than on everything else I’ve done put together — all kinds of strange outpouring letters. Something in _The Princess Bride_ affects people.” where he _could_ be referring to redacting Morgenstern’s book, or he _could_ be talking about his own writing process, but it feels like a bit of a stretch for it to be the former. Mostly, though, what I _couldn’t_ find is any quotes of him actively engaging in the kayfabe. I’m sure he kept it up in anything that was actually published in the novel, since that’s part of the metafiction, but I couldn’t find anything outside of that where he claims that S. Morgenstern was real, or that anyone else was responsible for writing the novel. So, I don’t think he really committed to the bit at all, outside of the novel itself, and a few related publicity stunts, like being able to write his publisher and ask for the “deleted” reunion scene between Wesley and Buttercup. ---
**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 13, 2026, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266/140 "2026-01-13T23:43:28Z")
After having seen the movie, I wanted to read the book. I mentioned that to a friend and he suggested I find an old copy printed before the movie came out. The author’s asides within the text were red in those early printings, and italicized in later ones. So, next time I was at Powell’s I looked, found an early printing, and bought it. After reading it, I discovered another difference. The address to get the reunion scene had changed. I sent a letter to the address in my copy, and it came back as undeliverable. And that was probably about 30 years ago. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-princess-bride-movie-held-to-such-high-esteem/1026266.md?page=8)