Directors: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Claire Danes, Charlie Cox, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Sienna Miller
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance
Rated: Rated PG-13 for some fantasy violence and risque humor.
Plot: Stardust is the story of young Tristan, who crosses the wall into the whimsical world of Stormhold to win the heart of his true love by bringing her a fallen star.

My Review: Stardust came out in August of 2007. I had wanted to catch it in the theaters but just never had a chance. It was released on DVD just before Christmas and I finally got around to renting it last weekend. Damn am I pissed. I cannot believe I slept on this movie. This movie is probably one of the best, most unique movies I have seen in years. We watched it Friday night, then again on Saturday, and then my kids watched it again on Sunday which I only caught a part of. I was amazed because each time I watched this movie I liked it even more. In fact I loved this movie so much that I intend to hit Amazon and pick up a copy this week. I’m also going to get a copy of the novel on which the movie was based.

Stardust is the story of young Tristan, who crosses the wall into the whimsical world of Stormhold to win the heart of his true love by bringing her a fallen star. Stardust is essentially a modern day fairy tale. It includes all of the elements of a classic fairy tale, a young innocent hero, his true love, a wicked witch, pirates princes, missing relatives, and a kingdom to be won. What more can you ask for. I don’t want to give you too much of a synopsis because I don’t want to spoil it. Here is the link to the official Stardust movie site in case you want more.

Robert De Niro plays the lightning pirate Captain Shakespeare. When I first saw him I couldn’t believe what a bad acting job De Niro did. It wasn’t until you find out a little more about the character of Captain Shakespeare that you realize that De Niro is in fact playing this part brilliantly. I have always been a fan of Michelle Pfeiffer. Here she does a great job as the evil witch. On the other hand I have never been a really big fan of Claire Danes, at least not until seeing Stardust. Charlie Cox who is a relative unknown actor is perfect in the role of the main character Tristan Thorn.

I have seen several people compare Stardust to the Princess Bride which is another movie that I love. Stardust and the Princess Bride do have somethings in common. Both are fairy tale-esque, take place in fantastical worlds, and deal with the pursuit of true love. While Stardust does have some over the top funny moments, it does not have the non-stop silliness which characterizes the Princess Bride.

Generally this is the part of the review when I discuss the things I didn’t like about a movie. I’m kind of having a hard time coming up with anything. Maybe I would have liked to know a little more background on the Kingdom of Stormhold. Stardust definitely left me wanting more but, in a good way. I didn’t want it to end. Unfortunately I think that if the tried to make a sequel they would just ruin it though. The only way they could make a sequel would be if they used the kingdom of Stormhold as the background for a whole new or tangential story using completely different main characters.

The PG-13 rating on this film was really unnecessary. This film should have been rated PG. Stardust was definitely not as violent or intense as Harry Potter OOTP or Revenge of the Sith. The risqué humor was pretty watered down and would be totally missed by most children.

If you slept on this movie too like I did, I highly recommend you see it; Move it to the top of your netflix queue, head over to Blockbuster or Amazon and get a copy.

Rating: 5/5 stars
High Point: When Tristan wins his true love.
Low Point: None.

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