The Princess Bride

Revealing mistake: When Inigo and Westley are duelling, they are making athletic jumps. One does it after the other and when they land you can see the mat wrinkle under the "dirt" on the ground.

Revealing mistake: When Fezzik is about to climb the rope going up the Cliffs of Insanity with Inigo, Vizzini and Buttercup all harnessed to him, Buttercup is the most visibly seen (besides Fezzik) in the camera. When Fezzik starts to ascend the rope, it is clearly obvious that Buttercup is a stuffed dummy because her head is flopped completely back.

Revealing mistake: When Fezzik is pulling everyone up the Cliffs of Insanity, look closely and you will see the cable that is pulling HIM up.

Revealing mistake: When Humperdink and the six-fingered man are on horseback near the coast, discussing strategy, you can tell that the ocean is a matte painting, as the waves and whitecaps never move.

wizard_of_gore

Revealing mistake: In the scene before the climb of the Cliffs of Insanity, after they get off Vizzini's ship, the end of the back of the ship suddenly jiggles back and forth like it's made of rubber.

Revealing mistake: In the duel between Inigo and Count Rugen, Inigo stabs the count in the right arm. But you can tell the sword is shorter, and it obviously wasn't stuck in the count's arm when he pulls it away.

Revealing mistake: When Fezzik is using the holocaust cloak, the long shots of him are a dummy due to the bobbing around (and the fact that they cover up the face). It's only Fezzik in the close-ups, where the hood is pulled back making his face more visible than it is in the medium shots.

Revealing mistake: When Fezzik puts the "almost dead" Westley down on the castle wall where they look out to the gate door, the wall moves. In fact, inside the castle when Fezzik breaks down the door for Inigo, the wall moves then too.

Revealing mistake: In the shot where Fezzik is putting on the harness in preparation for climbing the Cliffs of Insanity, you see the boat start to drift away. As it does, the figurehead catches on the rocks and wobbles, as if made of rubber. (00:13:25)

Revealing mistake: In the scene where they ride out of the castle on horses, it's obviously a smaller double for Fezzik.

Revealing mistake: When Buttercup's dress catches fire in the fire swamp, Westley quickly puts it out. Light is shining through the skirt, and you can see a shadow of a hand reach out and hold the skirt so he can do so.

The Princess Bride mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: After Wesley sets the ROUS on fire, as the ROUS is writhing on the ground, you can see a crew member (fire safety?) walk into view beneath one of the roots of the trees on the right-hand side. (00:47:35)

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Trivia: When Count Rugen knocks Westley out to put him in the Pit of Despair, Cary Elwes wanted the scene done properly, so he told Chris Guest to hit him for real with the sword butt. Guest did, and accidentally hit him hard enough that production had to be shut down for a day while Elwes was taken to the hospital.

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Question: When Buttercup confronts a masked Westley, she says that she loved more deeply than a killer like him ever dreamed. Westley's response is to raise a hand as if to hit her, but he stops and says that was a warning and that where he comes from, there are penalties when a woman lies. In what way was Buttercup lying?

Answer: Westley comes back from the sea, only to find that his one true love is engaged to another man. He feels her love for him wasn't true if she could even think of getting married again, at least so soon.

Brian Katcher

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