Stardust [HD DVD] [2007]

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Editorial reviews

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

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Customer reviews

review by: kiwipaul date: 2008-04-15 rating:
Great family entertainment !
This is one where you switch brain off and go for the fun ride. Beautiful actors ( well maybe not Sienna Miller ) beautiful sets and a great story. Also play spot the english comedy actor ( Green Wing , Smack the pony , Little Britain , Shrek etc ) and 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.

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review by: date: 2008-03-23 rating:
A fun ride which leaves you happy
Unlike many films Stardust really seems to do what I think a film should,, it left me feeling a feeling at the end, and on the way it also evoked emotions. Not being a big fan of cheesy moments i was slightly dubious as to this film, however all 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 and 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, expecially 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 all ages and tastes, have fun

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review by: date: 2008-03-11 rating:
Great flick actually...
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.

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review by: date: 2008-02-27 rating:
Modern Classic!!
An absolutely amazing film, thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish, a modern day Princess Bride. Stunning in High Definition!


review by: ea_solinas date: 2008-02-17 rating:
Sparkles like Stardust
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.

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Video . DVD & VHS . Categories . Science Fiction & Fantasy . All Science Fiction & Fantasy
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Video . DVD & VHS . Substores . Regular Stores . DVD Bargains . By Price . Up to 60% off Box Sets . Up to 60% off DVD Box Sets
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Format (binding_browse-bin) . HD DVD
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . BBFC Rating (intended_use_browse-bin) . 12
Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Editions (feature_two_browse-bin) . Standard Edition
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Video . DVD & VHS . Refinements . Release Date (feature_three_browse-bin) . 2000 and later

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