The Princess Bride

Writing in VL-9/00 about the initial DVD release, Steven Craig Sickles said: "The fresh-scrubbed and breathtakingly beautiful Robin Wright shines in her film debut as a poor farm girl drawn into a fairy tale adventure full of magic, derring-do, and 'twue love.' Director Rob Reiner and screenwriter William Goldman have fashioned a thoroughly enchanting tale that will touch the heart, stir the spirit, and regale the viewer with laughter, making this popular 1987 favorite an excellent entertainment choice for the entire family. Our highest recommendation." Now, a year later, MGM has released the "Special Edition," with two new audio commentaries (Reiner and Goldman); a wonderfully entertaining new "tribute" doc, As You Wish, with Reiner, Goldman, Wright, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon and Christopher Guest; a pair of brief featurettes; and a video diary by Elwes. If you don't already own this (inconceivable!), the "Special Edition" is the one to buy, and if you do, then the upgrade is worth considering. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman) [DVD Review—May 30, 2006—MGM, 2 discs, 98 min., PG, $24.98—Making its third appearance on DVD, 1987's The Princess Bride (Dread Pirate Edition or Buttercup Edition) features a great transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. DVD extras new to this two-disc release include a 17-minute 'Love is Like a Storybook Story' featurette on fairytales, a 'Dread Pirate Roberts: Greatest Legend of the Seven Seas' mockumentary featurette (11 min.), the 11-minute 'Miraculous Make-Up' featurette featuring costar Billy Crystal, 'The Quotable Battle of Wits' trivia game, 'Fezzik's Guide to Florin' collectible booklet, and trailers. Bottom line: yes, the few new extra features are nice, but these new editions are verging on collectible-cereal-box-covers territory. If you have the 'special edition' already, you don't need to add this.] [DVD Review—Nov. 13, 2007—MGM, 98 min., PG, $19.98—Making its fourth appearance on DVD, 1987's The Princess Bride (20th Anniversary Collector's Edition) boasts an excellent transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. DVD extras include a 10-minute 'The Untold Tales' featurette with interviews of cast members (such as Christopher Guest, Robin Wright Penn, and Mandy Patinkin, but Cary Elwes is notably missing), a nine-minute 'Fairytales and Folklore' featurette, 'The Art of Fencing' (7 min.) on the film's weaponry, a 'True Love and High Adventure' DVD game, 'A Twice Told Tale' reversible booklet with two versions of the story, and trailers. Bottom line: since all of the fine extras from the last two editions are missing here, this is a pointless fourth release. Stick with one of the earlier versions.] [Blu-ray Review—Apr. 14, 2009—MGM, 2 discs, 98 min., PG, $34.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1987's The Princess Bride features a great transfer and a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack. Blu-ray extras are carried over from previous standard DVD releases, including two audio commentaries (the first with director Rob Reiner; the second with screenwriter William Goldman), the near-half-hour 'tribute' doc 'As You Wish' (with Reiner, Goldman, and costars Robin Wright Penn, Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, and Christopher Guest), a 17-minute 'Love is Like a Storybook Story' featurette on fairy tales, the 11-minute 'Miraculous Make-Up' featurette with costar Billy Crystal, a 'Dread Pirate Roberts: Greatest Legend of the Seven Seas' mockumentary featurette (11 min.), a 10-minute 'The Untold Tales' featurette with interviews of cast members (including Guest, Penn, and Patinkin, although Elwes is notably missing), a nine-minute 'Fairytales and Folklore' featurette, 'The Art of Fencing' (7 min.) on the film's weaponry, a brief video diary by Elwes, and trailers. Also included is a bonus DVD version of the film. Bottom line: a welcome Blu-ray release of a contemporary classic, supplemented by a solid array of bonus features.] [Blu-ray/DVD Review—Nov. 13, 2018—Criterion, 98 min., PG, DVD: $29.95, Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and Blu-ray, 1987’s The Princess Bride features an excellent transfer with a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include a 1997 audio commentary by director Rob Reiner, screenwriter William Goldman, producer Andrew Scheinman, and costars Billy Crystal and Peter Falk, an 'As You Wish' production history featurette (28 min.), behind-the-scenes featurettes (20 min.), the 'making-of' featurettes 'The Princess Bride' (19 min.), 'Pure Enchantment' (18 min.), 'True Love' (15 min.), 'Fairy-Tale Reality' (12 min.), 'Miraculous Makeup' (12 min.), 'Fairy Tales & Folklore' (10 min.), 'The Art of Fencing' (8 min.), and 'The Tapestry' (8 min.), excerpts from the audiobook read by Reiner, publicity materials, and a booklet featuring an essay by Sloane Crosley and Goldman’s introduction to his script. Bottom line: a contemporary classic gets the Criterion red carpet treatment.]