I've seen the movie about ... ∞ times, and read the book once. So it may be for that reason that I like the movie better. But you're right, they actually are a good combination -- complementary, not contradictory -- which is very rare IME.

A couple of years ago I happened to be visiting my parents while my mom was teaching a six-week English immersion course (which she has done every May and June since I was very small); she was looking for an English-language movie for her (beginner) class to watch, one they would enjoy and appreciate and not have too much trouble understanding, and from which she could generate some good related activities. DH had packed our brand-new special-edition DVD of The Princess Bride. Poof! By the next day we had come up with a whole list of activities, discussion questions and writing topics (which of course required watching the movie a couple of times ::shifty::). The class LOVED it.

The Princess Bride as adult-ed curriculum ... soon it will conquer university-level math, too ...