Script vs Film: Princess Bride

Natalie Abraham

MDIA 1020

Script vs. Film: The Princess Bride

            From the very beginning there are only minor details that differ between the script and the film of 1987. As the movie opens all we see is a baseball video game with a few coughs from an off-screen sick child. The script describes the coughing more frequently than the film displays but even with the amount of coughs from the young boy the audience can tell he has a cold. There is not much reason to over exaggerate a cold, most people understand what a few coughs indicate. Once The Kid’s Mother comes into the room to check up on him she only kisses his forehead as she checks how his fever is doing. However, the script wanted the Mother to fluff pillows but there would be no point to that actin because throughout the whole movie The Kid never uses his pillows because he sits up while intrigued with the story from Grandfather. As the camera pans around the room we see plenty of posters and action figures that characterize the boy as an athlete or just someone who is very playful. As originally written the walls are grey and monochromatic with some liveliness brought in by The Kid’s decorations. Since the Grandfather has arrived both script and film go hand in hand until we get to the scene between the characters of Inigo and Westley (dressed as the Man In Black). This is the first time the two heroes meet and as Inigo swears on his father’s name that Westley will reach the top, he does not raise his hand high with blazing eyes. This may be a minimal change from the written story but as the movie continues Westley reaches the top of the Cliffs Of Insanity and sits on the closest rock near him instead of the giant one that still has left over rope wrapped around its base. A big difference between the script and film is as Inigo decides to tell the story of his father’s death and ask if Westley has six fingers on his right hand, Westley does show the camera and Inigo that he only has five his character never shows the normality within the script. This difference is interesting because we have to wonder that if the movie followed this detail would the audience never see his hand and then wonder if the Man In Black was also the six-fingered man. Another difference between the film and script is that during Inigo’s story he does not tell the audience of the theater that he was specifically scared by the special six-fingered sword that he now possess. As we move further into the whole work, Humperdinck is catching up to where Buttercup is within her route of capture. He is given a GREAT WHITE HORSE by William Goldman but in exchange Christopher Sarandon is given a dark brown horse to parade around on. One explanation for this change could be that the audience needed to take Humperdinck as a serious, powerful, and intelligent man instead of a pompous palace boy that is chasing his bride to be around the countryside. Towards the end there has not been differences between these two texts for quite some time until Westley returns for Buttercup. Goldman describes that as Buttercup makes the heart felt and memorial lines of her love bond with Westley, Humperdinck pulls her into her room by her hair. Although that would be a powerful presence brought by the prince, he strictly grabs her right arm and moves her down the hall with his strength. As the script has less words left to be and the film time is running out Buttercup is in the honeymoon suite after the wedding ceremony about to commit suicide. But as she pull the box holding the dagger we see that it is an old and plain wooden one unlike the jeweled one that contains a very deadly looking dagger. Most of the changes between the two texts are minor and that is because sometimes a movie cannot provide the emotions a book can, and sometimes a book cannot provide the visuals a movie can.