User Reviews

I was one of about 200 people that was lucky enough to see an early sneak of this film.

Stardust follows Tristan a young man on a quest to find a fallen star and bring it back to the woman he loves in order to prove his love for her. The only catch is that the star has fallen on the other side of the wall, a doorway between England and a magical kingdom known as Stormhold.

This film was just a joy to watch, it has something in it for everyone, all of the action scenes are played out beautifully and the comedy is spread out through the film making it funny without being corny. If I had to compare the likes to another film it would probably have to be The Princess Bride, a classic.

All the performances are outstanding, the beautiful Claire Danes makes you love her in her portrayal of Yvaine the trusting naive star and under rated Michelle Pfeiffer delivers a stellar over the top performance as Larnia...but the performance to talk about is Robert De Niro...In every scene that he is in hands down he steals the show...

If you are in the mood for a funny fantasy love story this is the film. Guys don't get turned off by the description there is enough action comedy and not to mention lots of eye candy with Claire Danes and Michelle Pfeiffer to keep you entertained throughout. The cinematography is dead on and keeps with the feel of the film...nothing about the film seems forced.

This movie has everything a fantasy movie should have, romance, clever witticisms, great acting and a fair dose of magic.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and was drawn to its original plot (based on the Neil Gaiman novel which I am now looking to read) and colorful characters.

One of the most striking things to me actually was how self contained the story is. Unlike so many sci-fi fantasy movies out there right now which leave open-endings and such this was a pure fairy-tale, satisfying in and of itself with no need for a sequel.

Original. Fun. Feel-good Fantasy.

I came in to this movie not expecting a faithful translation of the book, but a solid movie that kept the spirit and basic plot outline of Neil Gaiman's fantastic fairy tale, Stardust.

I was disappointed on both counts.

What I loved most about the book (and what made it stand out from other fantasy adventure novels) was the subtlety of the majority of the plot and the human nature of the characters.

In the book, the "good" guys were not pure; they made mistakes that were more malicious than clumsy, yet were still likable. Tristran's mother was not pure and good; she wanted an heir, and she got one out of Dunstan. After that, her son was on his own. Yet, even when it does show these moral failures, it doesn't quite show the characters making up for it. Tristran is impossibly blinded by his "love" for Victoria Forester (who wants nothing more than the hand of Tristran's forty-something employer) and captures an innocent and very human star for his own ends. He is redeemed because he trusts her and lets go of the chain himself. This short and simple fact is left out.

Subtlety and irony run throughout the story, yet the movie plot is blunt and again, lacks the grace that made the book so wonderful and satisfying. The queen cannot get Yvaine's heart because she has already given it to Tristran, and the elderly witch stops. Tristran's mother's chain is broken when the moon loses her daughter in a week when two Mondays come together, not when Ditchwater Sal is killed.

As a movie, it was passable and generally likable. But even so, it was disjointed; the modern-ish concepts such as a cross-dressing captain and various comments throughout the movie seem out of place in a period fantasy piece such as this.

Stardust is a 2007 Fantasy Adventure movie starring Claire Danes,Charlie Cox,Sienna Miller, Robert De Niro and Michelle Pieffer and tells the story of a young man named Tristan(Charlie Cox) who's in love with a woman called Victoria(Sienna Miller) who already has another suitor called Humprey(played by an unreconisable Henry Cavil). In order to win Victoria's heart,Tristian goes on a quest to retrieve the fallen star as Victoria spotted it while Tristian and her were on a date.

But when Tristian does go and find the star,it takes on a human form into a beautiful woman called Yvainne(Claire Danes) and at first the two don't get along but romance blossoms between them. When an evil witch(Michelle Pieffer)is looking for Yvainne,it's up to Tristian to protect her from the witch who wants her for eternal youth?

Overall I really enjoyed this film as I used to have it on DVD and I bought it again as I hadn't seen it in over 10 years and had it forgotten. The movie is very dark and the story is dark too yet I thought the acting was good and the chemistry between Charlie Cox and Claire Danes was believable.

Also stars Shazam star Mark Strong as one of the heirs of Stormhold and narration from X-Men star Ian McKellan.

7/10

Forget the Hollywood hype. Stardust is no Princess Bride. Having read and immensely enjoyed the novel, Stardust, by Neil Gaiman, I can sum up the film in just two simple words; magic lost.

It's hard for me to imagine that Neil Gaiman had anything to do with this film—let alone the fact that he was a producer. I must admit that I was angry during the beginning of the film and found myself slowly accepting the reality that the film's narrative was failing to stay true to its literary counterpart.

Whatever happened to Tristran's one ear that was pointy and elfish as well as the reasons behind it? Why didn't we get to see how he was treated differently by his peers in Wall? Why didn't we learn the reason why Tristran's father, Dunstan, purchased the snowdrop (glass flower) from the gypsy girl who was the witch's slave? Why weren't we treated to the delicate love scene (as far as PG-13 will allow), between Dunstan and the gypsy girl, which resulted in the birth of Tristran? Why weren't we treated to the wonderful and mysterious goings on at the Faerie Market by all of the vendors and spectators who traveled so far to be there? In the book, vendors shouted, "Eyes, eyes! New eyes for old!", "Instruments of music from a hundred lands!", "Try your luck! Step right up!", "Everlasting lavender!", "Bottled dreams, a shilling a bottle!", "Swords of fortune!" and "Wands of power!" Inarguably, this would have lent such a magical feel and sense of wonder to the Faerie Market. Why weren't we told that this very special Faerie Market only took place every nine years? Most importantly, why didn't we get to see the reason why Tristran was granted entrance into the land of Faerie? Finally, why did the filmmakers leave out the hairy little elfin man who helped Tristran get around in the land of Faerie as well as the little faerie folk? Instead of the beautifully crafted narrative in the novel (which so eloquently and effectively establishes a fantastical yet very romantic time and place during the Victorian era), the film speeds past important story elements—thus, leaving us with contrivance and an empty feeling which makes us not care so deeply for the main characters.

Let's face it, Stardust will never reach a very high "rewatchability factor" that The Princess Bride has earned. There were no magic moments in Stardust to remember endearingly and no witty lines of dialogue to repeat over and over with friends like, "As you wish.", "Inconceivable!" and "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." The Stardust script was a mess and simply could not hold a candle to that of The Princess Bride. Undoubtedly, William Goldman is a true genius and an extremely gifted writer. Both his novel, The Princess Bride, and his screenplay adaptation, are far beyond compare. In the novel, and the film, The Princess Bride, one is captivated by the rich characters and their motivations. In addition, the comedic elements in The Princess Bride are priceless with several laugh out loud moments. None of this can be said of Stardust. In fact, Stardust fails miserably in the comedic department. (Honestly, a cross-dressing gay sky pirate?) The comedic elements seemed to have been thrown in haphazardly and were ill-timed at that. Perhaps more comedy would have been inspired if Rupert Everett's character wasn't killed off so suddenly.

Even the characters of time and place were not fully developed as in The Princess Bride. One never feels a connection to Wall or to Stormhold like we are of Florin and Guilder in The Princess Bride. In addition, other wonderful characters of Stardust were either small caricatures or just plain eliminated from the film! The mother who raised Tristran as her own was non-existent in the film. Even Tristran's father's character, Dunstan, was pretty much left in the dust. Even the way Tristran first encounters Yvaine, the fallen star, is ridiculous to say the least! Tristran's entire journey to reach the fallen star was skipped over completely. Instead of a rough, perilous journey, Tristran is suddenly 'beamed' to the star's landing spot via…CGI! What a rip. At least in The Princess Bride, we were treated to the journey as well as the narrow escapes of the Eels, Cliffs of Insanity, the Fire Swamp, Quick Sand and the triumph over the R.O.U.S.'s (Rodents of Unusual Size).

Is there anything redeeming about the film? Michele Pfeiffer makes a darn good wicked witch. That's it, really. Robert De Niro was OK in his role. He was the only real comedic relief in the film and, even here, his lines of dialogue were mediocre at best. Charlie Cox was no Westley and Claire Danes was no Princess Buttercup.

The film was choppy and, for the most part, the characters were like 'walking stick figures'. The make-up and costume departments did a fine job. However, the special effects were not that spectacular and did not compensate for the lack of development for either the characters or storyline. At many points, the film's score was so over the top and dramatic that it didn't fit the scene.

In the end, the mistake was putting two novices on this project—the director, Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake), and first-time screenwriter, Jane Goldman. And, it showed. (Let's face it, they hired the wrong Goldman!) I blame Paramount and Neil Gaiman, equally, for not choosing a better team. Rob Reiner (The Princess Bride), Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings) or Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands) would have been infinitely superior choices for director. (Neil, you should have adapted your own screenplay like William Goldman did!) Even Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer could not save this film. I truly believe that the studio knew Stardust was in trouble to some degree. The August release date of the film is rather telling. Paramount only wishes Stardust were the next Princess Bride.