Thesis: The Princess Bride breaks several of the laws of physics, usually for comedic effect. It pokes fun at fairy tale conventions, and doesn't take itself too seriously, and so similarly, it pokes fun at physics, which is bent if it furthers the plot or the comedy.
Action/reaction mismatch
· 1) in the beginning, the two ships have the same orientation and approximate size/mass, yet one ship goes significantly faster.
o "is he using the same wind we are using?"
o wind direction stays fairly consistent according to their hair/sail, yet waves go in different directions in many of the shots
· 2) Buttercup jumps out of the window several stories up, and lands in Fezzik’s arms without knocking him to the ground. Intangible amount of squash.
o When falling, air resistance is working in her favor for the first part (dress and hair are flying up), then in the second shot, wind is blowing her dress and hair downward for some reason, which means that air is traveling the opposite way, yet her orientation in space has stayed the same as the shot is looking up at her towards the night sky, so air is forcing her downward
· 3) during Fezzik’s fight with Wesley, his slowness is emphazised and wesley’s agility is highlighted. This makes sense as a larger mass is more affected by inertia.
o Later in the film, Inigo, a normal man, runs and throws his whole weight against the door several times and it doesn’t budge, yet when Fezzik punches the door once, fairly slowly, it is knocked down. More momentum and larger mass vs. smaller mass, slower speed
off-center of gravity
· Fezzik the giant
o during the ascent on a rope, the center of gravity makes sense, as the character’s body shifts to compensate for the weight of the others.
o However, later on, the center of gravity ignored when Fezzik holds a “heavy” rock, yet doesn’t compensate by shifting his weight in the other direction.
o Also later on, Fezzik holds up Wesley (who can’t support his own weight as he is extremely weak) by one arm, straight up and does not shift to compensate for the extra weight.
o He could be possibly quite dense and heavy, since he is a giant, but according to the wrestling scenes, he isn’t quite heavy enough, as he would have crushed Westley completely in a few parts.
· Falling for comedic effect
o Vincini falls sideways, even though at the moment he loses muscle control he is leaning forwards outside his base of support(comedic affect)
o every other time a character falls, it is in the same direction they are leaning (outside their base of support)
§ westley, when he is unable to support his weight
§ Inigo when he is drunk/unconscious
This is good! 10 points
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