Stardust (2007)

The story begins in the 19th-century village of Wall. But Wall isn't your average country village -it guards a low, stony wall between mundane England and the fantasy kingdom of Stormhold. No one crosses the wall -except for young Drustan Thorn, whose curiosity led him to an otherworldly market and a single night of passion with a captive gypsy -or princess -and nine months later he was given a son, Tristan, who was left for him by the wall.

Flash forward 18 years, and Tristan (Charlie Cox) hopes to win the heart of his beautiful but shallow love, Victoria (Sienna Miller), by recovering a star that fell somewhere beyond that wall. So Tristan sets forth on his own journey in Stormhold. Meanwhile in that magical land, the dying king (Peter O'Toole) has set his four surviving sons on a quest for the crown. And the witch Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer) is seeking the heart of the star for an entirely different purpose, one that probably will not turn out well for anyone else involved in the story.

Despite initial trepidations over seeing a favorite Neil Gaiman story converted to film, "Stardust" is all I could hope for. The settings and scenery are lush and beautiful. The effects are seamless and spectacular. The score by Ilan Eshkeri is dramatic. Narration by Ian McKellen is compelling. And the casting is exceptional, from Robert De Niro as the delightful sky pirate Captain Shakespeare to Pfeiffer as the sumptuously evil witch.

Claire Danes is absolutely radiant as Yvaine, who in one way or another holds the resolution of every quest. Poised, beautiful and sporting a great English country accent, Danes glows even without the benefit of special effects. And Tristan Thorn is a classic everyman hero, a simple young man who grows and flourishes on his journey; Cox captures the role perfectly. A relative newcomer to the screen, he's without question an actor to watch.

Gaiman is a brilliant writer, a man with an imagination like no other. Fortunately, director Matthew Vaughn bucked the Hollywood trend by respecting the source material, creating a splendid film, one that will surely become a classic for generations to come.

by Tom Knapp, Rambles.(NET) editor

Wall looks like just about every other English village, but it hides a secret. It's not jolly old England on the other side of the wall. Few mundane English travelers ever make it over the wall and back. Drustan (Nathaniel Parker-Ben Barnes) is one of the few--and nine months later, a son was delivered to him at his doorstep.

The son Tristan (Charlie Cox) grows to 19 and falls in love with Victoria (Sienna Miller) a woman well above his means. He fears his ability to capture her heart is failing, til they see a star fall on the other side of the wall--and Victoria tells him if he will seek out the star, she will be his.

Thus, begins Tristan's quest for true love. Instead of a star, he finds a maiden Yvaine (Clare Danes) who turns out to be the earth-bound embodiment of the star. Unfortunately, Victoria is not the only person who wants the star.

From here, we encounter a multiplicity of plot complications including a King (Peter O'Toole) who sets his sons against each other in a fight for succession to the throne, a pirate (Robert DeNiro) with an interesting secret) and a triad of witches who seek the star to extend their lives and (ahem) beauty.

I loved reading Neil Gaiman's story. STARDUST is one of his best, but the film is one of those rare instances where the book has been improved. The casting for STARDUST is some of the best I have seen.

This is one of the rare films that I paid full price for in the theatre and will purchase the DVD for later viewing. STARDUST is going to be a fantasy classic and a great addition to any fantasy fan's library.

WARNING: If you have very young children, please do not show this film without some advisory. We saw STARDUST in the theatre with a couple of young families close by and the littlest kids were crying at the rough parts and some families had to leave.

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The first time I saw this movie, I didn't have high expectations. The trailer looked silly and I had practically disregarded the movie. Lately, actors of the size of Robert De Niro (who now can do anything they want) have been doing some campy and really bad movies (like Meet the Parents), so not even the big names were enough to interest me.

But then I started reading some reviews on imdb a couple of weeks after the movie got out. A lot of them agreed that the trailer didn't do justice to the film, and that although still not taking itself seriously, the movie somehow shined far beyond expectations. So I decided to give it try, and now I'm glad I watched this movie in the big screen.

For those who haven't seen it yet, the trailer indeed falls short. Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro are great, along with everyone else in the cast. The music score is amazing, the special effects are great, and the most important thing of all, the story is funny and it really taps into the best of the best of the fantasy genre.

This movie didn't have the success it deserved on the box office, so please, give it a try. It's not your typical fantasy film, it feels original, fresh, and it really entertains. Since the movie doesn't take itself too seriously, some people might consider it campy at first, but the best way to enjoy this great film is not to expect a deep drama (like the Lord of the Rings), but an entertaining fresh film.

Paramount has gone HD DVD exclusive, and for that we now get Stardust released on both DVD and HD DVD. If you have an HD DVD player, Stardust is a must in High-Def. Anyone who saw this movie in the theaters should agree.

Simply put, the movie is a visual feast without compromising the story and it really deserves a chance. Some may find it a little weird film, but Stardust is a sleeper hit that hopefully will get the success it deserves on DVD and HD DVD.

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All discussion about the movie itself aside, I was disappointed by the quality of this disc. I have the DVD and have been slowly moving my collection of DVD's to Blu-ray versions. When I saw that Stardust had finally hit Blu-ray, I jumped at the chance to get better quality. Unfortunately, though, this Blu-ray doesn't look any better than the upscaled DVD. I fully believe there's some digital slight-of-hand going on here. I suppose you could lay down any type of video on a Blu-ray disc and call it, "Blu-ray," since you're referring to the media not the video. Anyway, this doesn't do 1080P justice. If you're upgrading your movie collection, don't bother with this one. If you've never seen the movie, you should really see it.

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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.