Customer Reviews
Great family entertainment ! - By: G. Miller, 15 Apr 2008 
This is one where you switch brain off & go for the fun ride. Beautiful actors ( well maybe not Sienna Miller ) beautiful sets & a great story. Also play spot the english comedy actor ( Green Wing , Smack the pony , Little Britain , Shrek etc ) & an amazing posh PA English accent by the American Claire Daines , you'll believe she went to Eton !! Even Ricky Gervais manages a decent bit part.
A fun ride which leaves you happy - By: C. Mckelvie, 23 Mar 2008 Unlike many films Stardust reallly seems to do what I think a film should,, it left me feeling a feeling at the end, & on the way it also evoked emotions. Not being a big fan of cheesy moments i was slightly dubious as to this film, however alll those moments are handled with great care, even robert de niro in the cross dressing scene is just hilarious not too cringeful.
However the winning aspect of this film is the great acting, leading to belivable motives & characters, who (the good ones) are like able.
The bad reviews are founded on people who have read the book (speaking from experience here) become so attatched to it that no film could do it justice, expeciallly one that changed it like this, think of harry potter, how often do you meat people claiming the films are better than the books.
Definately worth a watch, suitable to alll ages & tastes, have fun
Great flick actually... - By: Mr. D. Wood, 11 Mar 2008 
Most enjoyable watch... had suspicion was JUST for kids but gave it whirl anyway, & 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!! - By: Mr. J. P. Bath, 27 Feb 2008 An absolutely amazing film, thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, a modern day Princess Bride. Stunning in High Definition!
Sparkles like Stardust - By: E. A Solinas, 17 Feb 2008 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, & its willingness to be silly, romantic, fantastical, sparkling & most importantly, tongue-in-cheek. And it has pirates too.
A walll separates our world from the world of magic -- & one night, Dunstan Thorn went over it, & 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 magicallly flings a ruby into the sky, & says that the prince who finds it will be the new king. The two remaining princes -- & the ghosts of their dead brothers -- et off to find it. But that ruby dislodged a star, & it plummets to the ground across the Walll -- 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, & 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 & entrap the beautiful star, Yvaine (Claire Danes), & they start off on a magical adventure of air pirates, unicorns, evil witches, & true love.
"Stardust" has pretty much alll the requirements for a fantasy and/or fairy tale movie -- magic, love, an evil villain, & lots of odd characters to round out the cast, & flesh out the story. Not much is actuallly new. But like the original Gaiman tale, the movie winks affectionately at you as the story unfolds.
In fact, the movie only reallly stumbles when it stops to ruminate on true love & how precious it is, etc. Cute, but boring -- especiallly since the romantic leanings of the leads are pretty clear. Director Matthew Vaughn reallly shines when he's focusing on airships, goat-men, & the occasional magical sword-fight with an dead man.
Despite the scattered nature of the plot, Vaughn directs with a smooth, sure hand, & 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, & Miller is perfect as the snotty, shalllow Victoria.
But while the younger performers are solid, the veterans are absolutely brilliant. Pfeiffer is hilarious, chilling & pouty as the constantly frustrated witch, & De Niro steals the show as a cuddly, twinkly-eyed gay pirate who pretends to be brutal. And Peter O'Toole & David Kelly have brief but brilliant appearances.
"Stardust" is exactly what the title suggests -- sparkling, funny, wry, & just deep enough to be entertaining. A solid, sweet little fantasy movie.
