I was surprised to find out the book was written before the movie because listening through the book (Audible is sadly the only reason I get through books anymore, I'm so much more auditory based than visual based) It's word for word in SO many parts, which is great! I found out from a quick google search that the author was involved in the movie scripting. I've read about a few remakes, but hope on all that is cough drops and maybe even chocolate powder that they don't ever make a big theater remake. Broadway is worthy, Hollywood? please may I never see the disaster! Okay I kid, but only kind of.
I have extremely fond memories watching the film as a kid. I'd rewind my grandmother's VHS over and over and over to replay the fencing duel, cover my eyes in the swamp, hold my breath while they were in the sand, and remember on more than one occasion kneeling to pray with a stick like toy in my hand begging the heavens "Father, guide my sword." when I couldn't find something that was lost. What, I wasn't even 10! Can you blame me? Haha, fortunately that kind of prayer never worked so I've graduated from that sort of prayer now, but to say this film/story was a key part of my childhood would be an understatement. Let's leave the best for last, I'll highlight the film favorites added beyond the book.
My favorite parts of the movie NOT in the book: (forgive the order I'm off the top of my head here)
- The "anybody want a peanut" joke. New, but wonderfully consistent with Fezzik and Indigo's relationship. Almost redeems Indgo for lying to his best friend in the book 14 years previous.
- "Rubbish. Filth. Slime. Muck. Boo! Boo!! Boo!!!"
- The eels always kind of freaked me out, but I must say they are much better than sharks. Had to have something to replace the snake right?
- "I do not envy the headache that you will have when you awake, but till then, sleep well and dream of large women."
- The sandpit. We used to try and hold our breath during that scene to see if we could last as long as Westley.
- "Hahahaha hahahaha, hahahaha hahahaha, hahAhaHA--"
- That moment when the albino clears his throat and his voice drops at least 3 octaves. Hahaha.
- "Everybody MOOOOOOOVE!" also often quoted as children.
- "I'm not a witch, I'm your wife, and after what you just said I'm not sure I'm that anymore!"
- I have to say MLT was pretty funny compared to a cough drop, though
- Have fun stormin’ da castle.
- "Mawage" Just, yes, that whole script!
- "She kISsed me!"
- “Since the invention of the kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind.” Sigh. Don't judge me! (it comes to my attention now that this is placed earlier, and in my opinion more appropriately placed in the book.)
Parts in the book I listened to that were disappointing:
- I'm not an expert, but with a quick search for a web text version I could search for some specific quotes for, for the purpose of this review and accuracy, I discovered there are large portions of story missing. A flashback of Indigo's story, but not of Fezik's which is apparently in some version of the book and tells of his father.
- Also a little more depth into Indigo's story.
- Some more details on how Humperdinck pretend wooed and showed affection for Buttercup. (guess I don't actually care there, I despise that crabby barrel sized man)
Oh the book:
- Okay, I'm going to show a little hidden hopeless romantic in me here, but this whole scene had me riveted. "And the words ripped out of her: 'Without one kiss?' They fell into each other's arms." Okay, let's rewind just a little bit.
- I literally laughed out loud here, as well as had my heart shattered for Buttercup, "He closed the door in her face." ... "I could kill my tongue." ... Followed by his ""Stop talking about the Countess! As a special favor. Before you drive me maaaaaaaad." and his because of you's paragraph" her ""If you're teasing me, Westley, I'm just going to kill you." followed by his immortal iconic explanation of "as you wish." Bah!!! Who let my inside teenage girl out? All i'm saying guys, is there's a really good reason that line is so perfect! Just... geek out with me, K? Whew! Sigh.
- In the movie, buttercup explain's Westley's eyes as "eyes like the sea, after a storm" then makes a cutting remark about it being on the high seas that the his ship attacked. After which attack Buttercup retreated to her room and emerged "a great deal wiser, and an ocean sadder." I can only pretend that the three are connected, and maybe at a bit of a stretch, but all the same don't over-analyze it, this is love, abstract, poetic. NEXT!
- I love how we get more of the story on the shallowness of prince Humperdinck, his obsession over hunting and the zoo of death (aka pit of despair). I especially enjoyed the visual of him being described as a barrel that walked like a crab. Hahaha.
- "I am your Prince and I'm not that bad how could you rather be dead than married to me?" Enough said!
- Just a few words on the Spaniard's flashback story. This made me love him that much more. Challenging the count at such a young age. The shrewd offer of 10 gold pieces only after creating that masterpiece, after become a true artist?! Oh my blood boils!
- Agrippa, Capo Ferro, Thibault. I never realized this was fencing style talk. They were totally geeking out over swordsmanship. So awesome! Click.
- Apparently there is a reuniting scene in some version of the book that was left out of the original, and certainly left out of the audio version I read. I'm quite anxious to read it as soon as I finish this review. I guess that's also where the quicksand comes into play in the movie, but is not in the book that I listened to. Uhg! I feel a little robbed! Not going to lie.
- Back story on the Dread Pirate Roberts and why they pass the name down. Reputation - no one cared unless you were dreaded. =) Enjoyed learning that tidbit.
- R.O.U.S. apparently attack each other when they themselves bleed. Awesome!
- My heart broke for Fezik when he woke up and couldn't find his friend. D'=
- Let's skip ahead. Can I just say that the Zoo of Death was kind of favorite. For me it was reminiscent of challenges three Hogwarts student's encountered during their first year. More on this in detail at the end of this post. But let's face it, the zoo of death was better cause it was first. Okay, okay, the hobbit and LotR take the cake if we're really counting, but I have also regrettably not read those yet either. They're next on my list! I'm SO excited!
- Indigo and Fezik's falling apart in the zoo then "they were fine again" interwoven story through the levels is... well... I kind of love that. Makes my heart happy to hear them rhyming again.
- Cough Drops and powdered chocolate.
- "I have no key, ...I swear on the grave of my parents; may my mother's soul forever sizzle in torment if I am lying." Que. Tear/Rip his arms off.
- The repeated back and forth story changing and cowardliness of Prince Humperdink when he volleys back and forth in his conviction as to whether the man in black is "bluffing".
- Fezik bouncing up and down on his heels and thinking for himself.
- Buttercup pulling the queen card.
Let talk about the similarities between the Zoo of Death and the Seven Challenges or Rowling's Rite of Passage. I'll categorize them as follows for the sake of parallel. Granted there were 7 challenges in Harry Potter and only 5 levels to the Zoo of Death, but if we stretch our perspective a little, they all fit rather nicely!
1.) Something that Barks
2.) Something that Strangles
3.) Something Swift & Something Winged
4.) Somewhere so dark that one cannot see.
5.) Something poisonous. (Also elements wine and of moving forward & back
6.) Creatures of vast strength.
7.) A perplexing final challenge, much simpler than anticipated.
1.) Fluffy the tree-headed dog while the first level had wild dogs.
2.) Devil's snare nearly strangled its strugglers until they took an unconventional approach to resolve their dilemma. Indigo was almost crushed by the snake's coils before he took an unconventional approach to resolve his dilemma. "My only friend in all my life turns out to be a liar." (More significance here for Fezik if you read his back story, the feels!)
3.) Keys with wings. Yes there is mention of "swift things" such as cheetahs and humming birds (however those ended up in the "zoo of death" I'll probably never know...) I think we're both probably thinking more about the rabid king bats who "six-fingered sword drove through like butter."
4.) Enter the chess challenge, "The next chamber was so dark that they could not see anything at all." Let's forget for a moment that it soon flooded with light and focus on the darkness aspect for the purpose of this point. From the Princess Bride "and as the door closed behind them, two things happened: (1) The door, quite clearly, locked. (2) Out went the candles on the high walls. 'DON'T BE FRIGHTENED!' Inigo screamed. 'I'M NOT, I'M NOT!' Fezzik screamed right back." (You know, It's these silly character elements of the book that I absolutely love in these two when contrasted to the movie. I kind of get why the zoo of death scenes were not played out in the movie, but I'm really glad to have experienced them in the book.)
5.) There were, of course 3 of the 7 potions that were poisonous. Two of wine. And one forward and one back potion.
Wits aside, in the princess bride, just before they ventured into the zoo of death, indigo was drunk out of his mind with wine, having a long history of alcohol abuse, numbing against the loss of his father and his hopeless quest to find the other 6 fingered man.
Preceeding Indigo's clever lie to raise Fezik's fighting spirits, they got into a fight over rhyming where Indigo threatened "Really! If you can't maintain control, I'm going to send you right back up and you can just wait there all by yourself." (Yeah, yeah, I know that one is almost as big of a stretch as the wine, but whatever, just let me be pretend it's a clever coincidence and let's get on to the poison since that's the main point I'm trying to make here.)
Just after the crushing snake they entered the fourth level and hurried "past the poisoners, the spitting cobras and Gaboon vipers and, perhaps the most quickly lethal of all, the lovely tropical stonefish from the ocean outside India." There you have it, something poisonous.
6.) The Mountain Troll - Enemies of Strength. Yes this has to do with the giant snake, but don't forget the "great baying hippos and a twenty-foot alligator thrashing angrily in shallow water." =)
7.) The mirror of Erised gave up the stone, one might say, as quickly as a giant bolting through a door, or simply as a spaniard might crush a spider with his boot, and find what he most desired lying "nearly dead" in a giant cage.
Oh, and let's not forget the common threaded theme that love or "true love" get the better of death in both instances. Or nearly dead, isn't that what Voldimort was? Nearly dead?
Well, that's it folks! There's much more I absolutely love about this book from Fezik's desire to also challenge the Sicilian's knowledge of the word inconceivable involving silly rhymes. Okay, okay let's just revisit that real quick. It might actually be my favorite moment: "Conceivable believable, the giant thought. Only he didn't dare say it out loud. Not to the Sicilian. He might have whispered it to Inigo late at night, but that was before Inigo was dead. He also might have whispered heavable thievable weavable but that was as far as he got before the Sicilian started talking again, and that always meant he had to pay very strict attention." To the subtle moment's of irony and humor, like cutting out the Count's heart and how "glorious" the count's death was "If you like that kind of thing. I mean... "Indigo love it." but just all too much to fit into one review. One last thought.
I do kind of like that the author didn't end the story with just "and they lived happily ever after." His final touch of "I really do think that love is the best thing in the world, except for cough drops. But I also have to say, for the umpty-umpth time, that life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all." is a perfect ending, and cleverly true to life.
If you had a favorite part you'd like to share that I haven't covered, please PLEASE lets geek out in the comments section together!
