The Princess Bride
20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition
Directed by Rob Reiner
On sale: Nov. 13, 2007

Anyone who doesn’t already own this movie, needs to get this DVD immediately. While it is, at heart, a true-love fairy tale adventure, it’s also so much more than that. Directed by Rob Reiner (Spinal Tap) and written by William Goldman (based on his novel of the same name), The Princess Bride combines said fairy tale romance with action, adventure, wit, and most importantly, humor.

Released in 1987, the film starred the then-relatively unknown actress Robin Wright (now Robin Wright Penn) as Buttercup, a beautiful young farm girl who falls in love with the farm boy Westley (played by a young, handsome, and also then-unknown Cary Elwes, best known now for his starring role in the first Saw movie).

So that the couple can eventually marry, Westley leaves the farm to seek his fortune, but he’s then killed at sea by the Dread Pirate Roberts. Buttercup vows never to love again.

This is where the adventure — and laughter — truly begins. As we see in the movie, the story of The Princess Bride is being told to a little boy (played by a very young Fred Savage from The Wonder Years) by his grandfather (Peter Falk). Like most little boys would assume, Savage’s character at this point thinks this tale will be a mushy “kissing book.” But as his grandfather reads on, we’re introduced to Buttercup’s new betrothed, the deceptive Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon). As part of his plan to wage war with a neighboring country, The Prince, along with his evil sidekick Count Tyrone Rugen (Christopher Guest), hires kidnappers to abduct, then kill Buttercup and make it seem like the neighboring country did it.

These kidnappers are hilariously portrayed by André the Giant as Fezzik the Brute who just happens to be lovable too; Mandy Patinkin as Inigo, who’s on a personal quest to avenge his father’s death (… prepare to die!); and Wallace Shawn as the mastermind Vizzini, who thinks everything is “inconceivable.” I don’t want to give it all away, so I’ll cease the story description now except to say that the kidnapping gets out of hand, a mysterious figure in black appears, new alliances are formed, and the grandson hearing the story has a change of heart as he’s drawn in deeper and deeper into the tale — just like you’ll be.

For this 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition DVD, a few new bonus features have been added that were not in the previous DVD release. Aside from the True Love and High Adventure: The Official Princess Bride DVD Game — which was quite juvenile and a big time waster — I’d say the special features were a great addition to the package. Too bad they weren’t long enough.

The Princess Bride: The Untold Tales featurette contains present day interviews with Robin Wright Penn, [the now adult] Fred Savage, Christopher Guest, Chris Sarandon, and Mandy Patinkin, all of whom recount their wonderful experiences making the film and how they knew that they were part of creating something truly special. They all reveal their most memorable quotes from the movie (of which there are many) and about what is was like to work with André the Giant, who passed away in 1993.

Fairy Tales and Folklore has more interviews with the cast. The actors talk about how iconic the film and an expert on fairy tales discusses The Princess Bride’s place in fairy tale history and explores how its told in the film by a grandfather to his grandson.

There’s also The Art of Fencing featurette, where an expert fencer discusses the techniques used in the movie. The special features are topped off with A Twice Told Tale, a reversible storybook with two versions of The Princess Bride story contained in the DVD booklet. (Also, turn the DVD cover upside down to see the “alternate” cover.)

Like I mentioned before, the problem with these bonus features are that they just aren’t long enough. The interviews are short and there’s no interviews with the director. There’s also no extra scenes. Most notibly absent from this DVD is a commentary track — which would have made this edition a MUST-HAVE. Instead, you’re just left wanting more, but there is none. The previous DVD contained even less features, so if you don’t already own a copy of the movie, then grab the 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition. That way, at least you’ll get those added bonus features, which are definitely worth seeing, even if they do feel like a tease.