Throwback Thursday: Romano Reviews

Due to my enduring love of movies, I decided to exploit common internet traditions and nostalgia, in the hopes that more people will visit our website. This has led me to create “Throwback Thursday: Romano Reviews”. Every Thursday I will review an older movie applying the same rules I do to normal reviews. This week I have chosen the cult classic “The Princess Bride”. S. Morgenstern’s classic tale of true love and high adventure has been a fan favorite for years, so without further ado: Romano Reviews the Princess Bride (the movie not the book). Because these movies are old, I will not be worrying about spoilers.

All of my reviews follow a similar format. I will present three things I liked about the movie, three things that were total garbage, and then give it a completely irrelevant, arbitrary, and ambiguous rating. So let's start.

The Good

1. “My name is Inigo Montoya. You Killed my Father. Prepare to die”

This is the best line in the entire movie (and even the book), and Inigo Montoya is also the best character. The entire scene, where Inigo chases Rugen through the castle and eventually kills him, is just awesome. Manny Patinkin is great in this role, and should be praised for it.

2. It’s a good parody that doesn’t sacrifice the plot

We have all seen parody movies like “Scary Movie” that just make fun of a specific genre, but kind of suck because there isn’t any story to it. This movie does a great job of making fun of the classic adventure novel tropes, but still manages to tell a really fun story.

3. It’s pretty funny

Listen, this isn’t a movie that is going to have you rolling on the floor, but there are some moments that will make you chuckle, like whenever Andre the Giant is rhyming.

The Total Garbage

1. Buttercup is annoying

I get the point; she is supposed to be the stereotypical damsel in distress/love interest. But did anyone else find her really annoying. Her character is ultimately useless, and can’t do anything to help herself. She basically boils down to a plot device.

2. It wasn’t as developed as the book

The novel is a decent length and provides a plethora of plot and character development. They provide full background stories for Fezzik and Inigo, and also develops the prince and the count to be much more disturbing and able villains. The book was ultimately a more compelling adventure.

3. It’s really short

It is definitely a nice, fun, short movie. The characters are substantial enough and the plot is still good. But running at around an hour and a half, you have to wonder if the run time could have been extended to incorporate more development. At two hours long, there could have potentially been around 20 minutes more to flesh out the story.

Definitive Ranking: 84 Rodents of Unusual Size