Amazon.co.uk Review
Stardust settles over the viewer like a twinkly cloak. The film, which captures the magic and vision of author Neil Gaiman's fantasy graphic fable, is a transportive journey into a world of true enchantment, which fans of the Harry Potter books will enjoy as well as will adults looking for the perfect date movie. The tale is a not-so-simple love story and adventure, set in 19th century England, and an alternate universe of witches, spells and stars that turn human--and hold the key to eternal life. Young Tristan (played with wide-eyed vigour by Charlie Cox) vows to retrieve a fallen star for the most beautiful girl in the village, the shallow Victoria (Sienna Miller), and in his quest finds his true love--in a true "meet-cute" moment (by Babylon-candle-speeding into the just-crashed human incarnation of the star, Claire Danes). Much of the film involves the duo's journey back home--though home for Tristan is his village, and home for the celestial Yvaine is, of course, in the heavens. There are villains, notably Michelle Pfeiffer as the vain witch who seeks the fountain of youth a fallen star can give, and the seven venal sons of the dying king of the mythical realm, backstabbing, grasping, and hilarious--even in death as a ghostly Greek chorus. While the sparks of love between Tristan and Yvaine are resonant and touching, Stardust truly succeeds as a brilliant fantasy yarn--and as a comedy with more than its share of belly laughs. Much of the humour belongs to Robert De Niro, who plays a notoriously wicked air pirate who is secretly a bit light in his swashbucklers. Ricky Gervais has a small but memorable role essentially channeling his character from Extras, including his catchphrase, "Are you having a laugh?!" The special effects are all that any fan of Gaiman would wish for. Catch a bit of Stardust and you'll feel enchanted for a good long while. --A.T. Hurley
Customer Reviews:
Great flick actually..........2008-03-11
Most enjoyable watch... had suspicion was JUST for kids but gave it whirl anyway, and was glad i did. May it join my collection of great family films. Do view if you liked either Willow or Princess bride. Good stuff.
Modern Classic!!.......2008-02-27
An absolutely amazing film, thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, a modern day Princess Bride. Stunning in High Definition!
Sparkles like Stardust.......2008-02-17
Fantasy is hard to find in the movies -- for every "Lord of the Rings," there's only a handful of bad sword'n'sorcery tales for kids ("Eragon," "The Seeker"). As for fairy tales, forget it.
But one little fairy tale HAS made its way into theatres -- an enchanting little story loosely based on a Neil Gaiman novel. And "Stardust's" charm is its lack of pretension, and its willingness to be silly, romantic, fantastical, sparkling and most importantly, tongue-in-cheek. And it has pirates too.
A wall separates our world from the world of magic -- and one night, Dunstan Thorn went over it, and had a brief tryst with a beautiful princess, who is imprisoned by a witch. Nine months later, baby Tristan is left on his doorstep.
Nineteen years later, a dying king magically flings a ruby into the sky, and says that the prince who finds it will be the new king. The two remaining princes -- and the ghosts of their dead brothers -- et off to find it. But that ruby dislodged a star, and it plummets to the ground across the Wall -- attracting the attention of three ancient witches, who use the hearts of stars to restore their spent youth.
Still with me?
Tristan (Charlie Cox) also sees the star, and the snotty girl he adores (Sienna Miller) says that she will marry him if he gets her the star before her birthday. Tristan does manage to find and entrap the beautiful star, Yvaine (Claire Danes), and they start off on a magical adventure of air pirates, unicorns, evil witches, and true love.
"Stardust" has pretty much all the requirements for a fantasy and/or fairy tale movie -- magic, love, an evil villain, and lots of odd characters to round out the cast, and flesh out the story. Not much is actually new. But like the original Gaiman tale, the movie winks affectionately at you as the story unfolds.
In fact, the movie only really stumbles when it stops to ruminate on true love and how precious it is, etc. Cute, but boring -- especially since the romantic leanings of the leads are pretty clear. Director Matthew Vaughn really shines when he's focusing on airships, goat-men, and the occasional magical sword-fight with an dead man.
Despite the scattered nature of the plot, Vaughn directs with a smooth, sure hand, and he sprinkles plenty of comic relief through it -- Captain Shakespeare dancing in drag, or the Greek chorus of murdered princes. And the dialogue avoids fantastical pomposity by being just as tongue-in-cheek ("Nothing says "romance" like a kidnapped injured woman!")
Cox makes an excellent wide-eyed, slightly blinkered country boy, who turns from a bumbling suitor to a strong young hero. Danes isn't quite as ethereal as one would expect Yvain to be, but she gives a solid performance, and Miller is perfect as the snotty, shallow Victoria.
But while the younger performers are solid, the veterans are absolutely brilliant. Pfeiffer is hilarious, chilling and pouty as the constantly frustrated witch, and De Niro steals the show as a cuddly, twinkly-eyed gay pirate who pretends to be brutal. And Peter O'Toole and David Kelly have brief but brilliant appearances.
"Stardust" is exactly what the title suggests -- sparkling, funny, wry, and just deep enough to be entertaining. A solid, sweet little fantasy movie.
Good movie.......2008-01-16
Enjoyed watching it in the cinema anyway. Intend getting this when it comes out. Pity the sequel is apparently unlikely due to religious issues.
Customer Reviews:
Michelle Pfeiffer will put a spell on you........2007-12-24
A young man looking for adventure and what ever comes his way breaches The Wall to find a magical kingdom. He is seduced by a beautiful woman who claims to be a captive princess. Later he finds a little gift at his doorstep. Yep the little tyke looks like its father.
Well Young Dunstan Thorn is unaware of his heritage and has a soft spot in his heart for a local girl, Victoria (Sienna Miller). He would do anything for her, even bring back a fallen star; this quest will take him to the other side of The Wall and we will go with him on the quest.
This quest reminds you of "The Walrus and The Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll, as we dive into adventure with the fallen star Yvaine (Claire Danes), a witchy woman (Michelle Pfeiffer), a flying pirate (Robert De Niro), and several loving "yeah right" brothers, who are prince's and would love to get their hands on their father's (Peter O'Toole) throne.
Unlike many stories of this type we dive in so fast that we have no time to acquaint ourselves with the shock of the other world. They may have been in a tad too much of a hurry to tell the story. However it had its moments. It had style. It was the best show in town.
One double plus part of the film was the narration by Ian McKellen which takes up about tow thirds of the story. Ian is excellent; however being a fairy tail it might have sounded better with the late Edward Everett Horton Fractured Fairy Tales narrator (12 episodes, 1959-1960)
A magical, deep but also lighthearted journey.......2007-11-20
I was really looking forward to seeing Stardust, the movie adaptation of Neil Gaiman's story, and really wasn't disappointed. This is a magical film and not just for young people as some reviews have suggested. It's a classic tale of evil, the quest for power and how true love can win in the end. It has a decidedly English feel to the film, which is a really nice thing.
All of the characters are really great, including Ricky Gervais as a sly salesman, but the highlight for me was Robert De Nero's absolutely masterful performance of a "mean and violent pirate". I'm a huge fan of De Nero, but his work is absolutely stunning, and on more than one occasion, brought a tear to my eye. Keep an eye out for the wink in the last scene - a really lovely touch..
That's not to say the rest of the cast aren't brilliant also, and with performances from Charlie Cox, Clare Danes,
Michelle Pfeiffer and so many more - it really is an all-star cast, and with Ian McKellen's fantastic voice as narrator, it's definitely the film for Christmas.
Why not cross the wall and find your star?
You will love this film!.......2007-11-18
This is the best film i have seen all year. Stardust is amazing. I have been raving to everyone i know to urge them to see it as it doesnt disappoint.
It honestly keeps you engaged from start to finish. The storyline is well thought out and the acting is superb. I was mesmerised and very pleased that it works both for adults and children.
When it it out on DVD to buy???
Twinkle, twinkle..........2007-11-18
We have just been to see this film and I thought it was one of the best films we have both enjoyed for a long time.
Not once was it boring or turgid. It kept the pace going, made the audience laugh, had a very likeable cast, excellent action - FANTASTIC score, good special effects without there being too much CGI all the time and has a good internal logic to the plot without sacrificing the character development. The whole thing just had the right amount of charm without making me want to barf and also avoided the terrible stilted English of films like Lord of the Rings where everyone talks so seriously, their speeches filled with lots of drama and gravity...
And it made me happy to watch it. This is going to become a Christmas holiday classic! It definitely deserves to be in the top 250. It's a film that everyone can enjoy. And for the genre it's in, which is a light, romantic fantasy, it really hits most of the right notes. For once, you have an adventure story that is not utterly predictable or unintelligible. I thought the ideas were imaginative and didn't contrive to talk down to the audience. For a PG, it tackled some quite big themes and did them really well.
For those who want to compare it to Citizen Kane, oh, do grow up. It's not trying to be a technical masterpiece. It's good entertainment...one of the best this decade, in fact.
Magical classic fairytale for all ages.......2007-11-15
I went to see this film with my two children aged 6 and 8. From the moment the film began we were all transfixed. It was lovely to see something that we could all enjoy. A classic fairytale story for all the family which includes all the features you would expect from a Brothers Grimm tale but with some great additional twists especially provided by Mr De Niro which gave it a wonderfully up-to-date mix. Great Movie, cannot wait for the DVD!
DVD Review:
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