The Princess Bride (1987)

Buttercup is the princess bride of the title, and she gets less to do than the giant rats. She gets kidnapped, rescued, kidnapped again, and mostly waits around for men to finish dueling. Robin Wright makes the most of it, but the script hands all the good stuff to everybody else. And those Fire Swamp rodents look exactly like a guy in a rug. Doesn’t matter. Mandy Patinkin plays Inigo Montoya like revenge is a full-time job with dental. Wallace Shawn says inconceivable so many times you start to suspect it doesn’t mean what he thinks it means. André the Giant is the gentlest giant ever put on screen. The cliffside sword fight is still the best in any comedy, all inside 98 minutes. It made just $30.9 million domestic, wild for a movie every family knows by heart. A 9.2 because it juggles fairy tale, comedy and sword movie at once and never drops a plate. $45.93 says you answer the next favor someone asks with ’as you wish’ and they do not find it romantic.

What works: Mandy Patinkin’s Inigo, Wallace Shawn’s panic, André the Giant’s warmth, and a cliffside sword fight that’s funny and legit thrilling at the same time.

What doesn’t: Buttercup gets very little to do in her own story, and the Fire Swamp creatures look exactly like guys in costumes.

Who it’s for: Families who need one movie the grandparents and the kids will both quote, and anyone who has ever said ’as you wish’ as a joke.