THE PRINCESS BRIDE — Strange Christmas Movies Round Two (#27 of 48)

Three years ago, the 24 days leading up to Christmas, Strangers and Aliens presented 24 Christmas movies that aren’t Christmas movies, but really kind of are, for various reasons. And now, we’re doing it again! Here’s 24 more Christmas movies that are set around Christmas or use Christmas to set tone or set up a theme . . . but weren’t made to be Christmas movies . . .

#27 — The Princess Bride

princess_brideWhat it’s supposed to be: A classic of fantasy cinema, the story of the world’s greatest love story. Little Fred Savage is sick, so Columbo tells him the story of the Dread Pirate Roberts.

Why it’s a Christmas movie: I never noticed it in the many times I’ve seen this movie over the years, but when Fred Savage’s grandfather brings him the book with the story he reads, it comes from a book that was a gift to the boy. A gift wrapped in paper that’s not like a birthday gift. No, it looks like a Christmas present. And on the wall is a homemade Santa Claus. And there are other Christmas looking decorations. The poor kid is sick over Christmas break.

But more importantly: this story is a Christmas present! I can’t believe i never really realized it, or maybe i DID and just never noticed… (Can you realize nothing and not notice? can you notice something and not realize?)

Thoughts: This movie has become a New Year’s Eve tradition for my family. We watch movies on New Year’s Eve, and this is the movie that we watch leading right up to midnight. It’s a fun tradition, but maybe I missed the right holiday for this one!

And what a great Christmas gift. Little Fred Savage is living a life of boredom and video games, sick in his room. And his grandfather brings him the greatest gift: the gift of story. He warms up to his grandfather’s present soon enough, and the boy grows in hearing the story. A little bit. In that he accepts romance as an okay part of a story. Not quite coming of age, but one of the baby steps.

Is It Naughty or Nice? This is a great movie. There’s really no question for me. It’s a story about stories. About what we love about stories. It’s funny. It’s clever. It’s fun. And again, what bette gift is there to give someone than the gift of story? Fairy story. Story that encourages heroic acts in the name of good and selfless acts in the name of love and humorous acts in the face of adversity.

Santa Ben’s Verdict: 

Nice

 

Your verdict? Let me know below in the comments!

Next: First Blood

Previous: Soldier

You can follow this series of posts by clicking here: Strange Christmas Movies

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One response to “THE PRINCESS BRIDE — Strange Christmas Movies Round Two (#27 of 48)”

  1. […] Princess Bride. Both are definitively Christmas movies (proof from the writer of Die Hard and supports the theory that The Princess Bride is a Christmas movie). But despite those glaring omissions, these lists are pretty danged […]

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