The Princess Bride (album)
| The Princess Bride | ||||
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| Soundtrack album by Mark Knopfler | ||||
| Released | 12 November 1987 | |||
| Recorded | 1987 | |||
| Genre | Film music, pop | |||
| Length | 39:25 | |||
| Label |
Vertigo Warner Bros. (USA) |
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| Producer | Mark Knopfler | |||
| Mark Knopfler chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |
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| Filmtracks |
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The Princess Bride is a soundtrack album by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler, released on 12 November 1987 by Vertigo Records internationally, and by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album contains music composed for the 1987 film The Princess Bride, directed by Rob Reiner. The album features the song "Storybook Love", written and performed by Willy DeVille and arranged by Mark Knopfler. In 1988, the song received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
In his audio commentary of the film on the Special Edition DVD, director Rob Reiner said that only Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits could create a soundtrack to capture the film's quirky yet romantic nature. Reiner was an admirer of Knopfler's work but did not know him before working on the film. He sent the script to him hoping he would agree to score the film. Knopfler agreed on one condition: that somewhere in the film Reiner would include the USS Coral Sea (CV-43) baseball cap (modified to say USS Ooral Sea) he wore as Marty DiBergi in the film This is Spinal Tap. Reiner was unable to produce the original cap, but did include a similar cap in the grandson's room. Later Knopfler said he was only joking about the hat.
In his review for AllMusic, Johnny Loftus gave the album four and a half out of five stars, praising Knopfler's ability to capture the varied dramatic elements of the film in the music.
Mark Knopfler's original music for The Princess Bride utilizes dreamy washes of synthesizers overlayed with warm acoustic instruments and hints of percussion. It's a great formula, often drifting through a gauze befitting a film that plays like a fairy tale. At the same time, songs like "Cliffs of Insanity" and "The Fireswamp and the Rodents of Unusual Size" cleverly acknowledge the movie's quirky humor even as they advance the plot with urgent notes or shimmering synth trills. "The Friends' Song"'s gently plucked acoustic guitar and whistle suggests the bardic tradition, while the main theme "Once Upon a Time...Storybook Love" is as romantic and pastoral as the film itself.
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Wikipedia