10 Foolproof Movie Methods For Murdering Your Spouse

2. Keep Your Eyes On The Prize (The Princess Bride, 1987)

Focus. Focus. Always keep focused. Remember, the plan is not sacred: when things go wrong, adapt and improve, but always focus on the endgame. In The Princess Bride, horrendous, smarmy Prince Humperdinck is determined to start a war with the neighbouring country of Guilder to expand his kingdom in the event that his doddering old father finally snuffs it and provides him with his inheritance. However, he needs a pretext for war, something that will unite his country of Florin behind him - and becomes engaged to Buttercup, a Florinese commoner of surpassing beauty, someone the people will fall instantly in love with. Then he arranges to have her kidnapped and killed, and Guilderian soldiers framed for the deed. There€™s only one snag, really: he doesn€™t count upon the fact that Buttercup€™s ex-boyfriend is a pirate king, the Dread Pirate Roberts (aka farmboy Westley), who foils the kidnapping and rescues her. But Humperdinck isn€™t so easily foiled: he€™s a hunter by inclination, and he has his eye on the prize. When he manages to recover Buttercup from Westley, he sneakily has his rival killed in secret and goes ahead with the wedding after all, determining that he€™ll simply strangle her on their wedding night and frame Guilder that way. It€™s admirable, in a twisted, evil way. Humperdinck doesn€™t hate Buttercup: she€™s simply a means to an end, and he redraws his plan to accommodate the new circumstances her finds himself in. He isn€™t to know that Westley has been brought back to life, or that he€™ll still be pursuing the love of his life...