The Princess Bride is a fantasy comedy family film that released in 1987. It was based on the book of the same name by William Goldman, who was greatly involved with the film version and was the person responsible for adapting it into a screenplay.
Despite not performing particularly well at the box office, The Princess Bride has gone on to become a cult classic and is a firm favorite when it comes to films from the ’80s. There are plenty of awesome anecdotes and interesting trivia about the making of the film that many fans probably aren’t aware of. What are some interesting things about The Princess Bride that most people don’t know?
10 Troubled Start
The film adaptation of The Princess Bride almost never happened, as it had been attempted multiple times and never worked out properly before director Rob Reiner had his chance to adapt it. In fact, when Reiner went to Paramount Pictures to pitch the adaptation, they told him it wasn’t possible based on the previous failed attempts.
Originally, 20th Century Fox had paid William Goldman, the author of the book, for the film rights in 1973 with Richard Lester as the director. The movie was almost made then, but when the head of production at Fox was fired, the project went on hiatus. Goldman eventually bought back the film rights to his own novel using his own money. Numerous other directors tried and failed to adapt the book, including Robert Redford, Norman Jewison, and François Truffaut.
9 Poster Inspiration
The film poster for the release of The Princess Bride took inspiration from a 1922 painting titled “Daybreak” by Maxfield Parrish. The influence that the painting had on the poster is very clear from the scenery surrounding the two title characters, which is almost identical to Daybreak’s composition.
The Princess Bride wasn’t the only one to emulate this famous painting, as it has influenced other pop culture media too. For example, in Michael Jackson’s “You Are Not Alone” video, he and his then-wife Lisa Marie Presley emulate the composition of Daybreak also.
8 The Machine
The Machine is a torture device used in the film, which apparently sucks away a year of life from the person based on the number of levels that the machine is set to. When Westley has The Machine used on him, it is put all the way to level 50, leaving him “mostly dead,” as Miracle Max explains.
Interestingly, The Machine originated in another film entirely — the 1983 James Bond film Never Say Never Again. The art director Richard Holland, who worked on Never Say Never Again, explained in an interview that the original torture device meant for James Bond was constructed, but ultimately scrapped. This left the idea open to be re-used in The Princess Bride.
7 Up to 11
Christopher Guest plays the role of Count Rugen in the film, also known as the six-fingered man, meaning that he has 11 digits in total. The director of The Princess Bride, Rob Reiner, had previously directed the 1984 film This Is Spinal Tap.
Interestingly, Christopher Guest also features in This Is Spinal Tap as Nigel Tufnel, whose amp goes up to “11” rather than the normal “10.” The six-fingered man already existed in the novel version of The Princess Bride, so this wasn’t included as just as a nod to This Is Spinal Tap, but it’s a nice coincidence.
6 Real-World References
The Princess Bride is set in a fantastical world, specifically in the fictional kingdom of Florin. However, despite its fantastical setting, the film actually contains quite a few real-world references. For example, there is a reference to criminals being sent to Australia, meaning that the film must be set after 1788.
Another example is that Buttercup describes her lover’s eyes as “sea after a storm,” which is a nod to Francis Darby’s painting of the same name, which makes some viewers believe that the film must also be set after 1824 (when Sea After a Storm was painted).
5 Count Rugen
It is revealed in the film that Count Tyrone Rugen, the six-fingered man, is responsible for killing Inigo Montoya’s father and leaving the scars on Inigo’s face after he had failed to best Rugen in a duel following his father’s murder. Inigo searches for the six-fingered man for twenty years in order to avenge his father.
This implies that Count Rugen must have been at least a young adult when Inigo was a boy (when his father was murdered), but in real-life, Christopher Guest who plays Rugen is only four years older than Mandy Patinkin who plays Inigo.
4 R.O.U.S
Most fans remember the fearsome Rodents of Unusual Size that featured in the film, referred to as “R.O.U.S’s” by Buttercup. However, what many people don’t know is that director Rob Reiner did the voice acting for these rodents. Furthermore, these rodents have been referenced in games such as Fallout: New Vegas, Borderlands 2, and World of Warcraft: Legion.
Additionally, there was some drama on set involving the actor in the rat suit; when it came to shooting the scene where Westley wrestles one of the rats, the lead actor meant to be in the rat suit was missing. In an interview with HuffPost, director Rob Reiner explained that it turned out that the actor was in jail, and they had to bail him out to get him back on set.
3 The Shrieking Eels
There is a point in the film where Buttercup attempts to escape from her captors (Vizzini and Fezzik) by jumping into the sea to swim away, however, the carnivorous shrieking eels arrive as their favorite food is human flesh. Luckily, Fezzik thumps one of the eels on the head and pulls Buttercup back to safety.
However, in the original The Princess Bride novel, there are no such eels. Instead, when Buttercup jumps overboard, Vizzini tells her that there are sharks nearby, before putting some of his own blood in the water to attract them so that Buttercup will return to the ship.
2 Dread Pirate Roberts
Dread Pirates Robert is the identity used by more than one character in The Princess Bride. Westley inherits it from the previous captain named Ryan, with Inigo Montoya presumably taking on the mantle of Dread Pirates Roberts when Westley retires.
However, there really was a Dread Pirates Robert — Bartholomew Roberts, also known as Black Bart. He was a Welsh pirate that is considered to be one of the most successful pirates during the Golden Age of Piracy based on the number of ships he captured and treasure claimed.
1 Ambigram
The Princess Bride was re-released as part of its 20th anniversary and a special edition DVD was released to commemorate this. These DVDs featured awesome covers that presented the film’s title as an ambigram.
This means that “The Princess Bride” can be read both upright and upside down. When coupled with the two images of Westley and Buttercup, one where they are younger and one where they are older, the effort that has gone into this has created a rather cool DVD cover.
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