Customer Reviews
Add to your collection. - By: S. Thomson, 03 Oct 2008 
New fairytales are surely dangerous territory for big film studio's to venture into. Stardust has overcome that hurdle by recruiting an 'A' list cast.
Having taken that leap of faith, a production of great merit is the result. The triumph of which must be the understated, tonguein cheek delivery by the principles, even the Americans. Robert De Niro way out of his comfort zone does a particulaly good job.
Its like a 'Princess Bride', with a big budget. Andin that league as well. Enjoy.
Boring - By: Billy Bishop, 26 Sep 2008 
I was given this movie to watch while I was recoveringin hospital. It was boring as hell. I didn't get it so I tried watching it again. It still makes no sense to me.
Don't waste your money on this garbage.
Dazzling - By: H, 18 Sep 2008 
Quite frankly, I adore this movie. I adore it. I love it. I have not enough words to sing its praises. Adults & children alike will love it.
Neil Gaiman is a fantastic & inventive story teller & his imaginative tales lend themselves well to the big screen - so long as handled correctly. Happily, this film not only handles it correctly but I feelin places even adds to the book. The screen writers have done that rare thing - they have successfully made alterations to a book to make it fit for the big screen while still absolutely capturing the essence & joy of the story. I don't think anybody who's read the book can complain about how the movie's been realised even though they have departed from the storyin various places.
Captain Shakespeare is a particularly perfect addition - Robert DeNiro can do comedy just as well as drama & is probably the funniest characterin the film. Fresh face Charlie Cox makes a winning & instantly likable hero, Claire Danes as ever putsin a great turn, & Michelle Pfeiffer makes an absolutely fabulous villain. The whole cast are clearly having a ball & everything from the sets to the costumes is on point - the whole thing is beautifully shot. The jokes are swift & funny, the story compelling, & as per the tag line this is definitely the fairy tale that won't behave.
Quite frankly, I can't see it would be possible to dislike this movie. It's great family fun but with a lot for the adults too - even people who don't have kids will enjoy watching this
Delightful family film based on Neil Gaiman's book - By: Marshall Lord, 15 Sep 2008 Many excellent books have been turned into disappointing films, & quite a few into good films which equal or come close to matching the book. But I can count on the fingers of one hand the films based on books as good as Neil Gaiman's "Stardust" which actually surpass the book. This is one of them.
Neil Gaiman himself was joint Producer with Director/screenwriter Matthew Vaughn, & they worked with an all-star cast including Michelle Pfeiffer, Clare Danes, Charlie Cox, Robert De Niro, Sienna Miller, Ian McKellern, Peter O'Toole, & Ricky Gervais to produce a marvellous famly adventure.
After a brief reference to a letter arriving at the Royal Society which places the actionin the 19th century, the story beginsin the sleepy English village of Wall, a quiet & totally normal place except for the structure from which it takes its name, which is a wall between our world & Faerie. Most of the time the villagers maintain a watch on the one gapin that wall to stop people passing throughin either direction, but once a year there is a carnival just inside Faerie which people from our side are allowed to attend.
Ben Barnes plays the young Dunstan Thorn, a villager who visits that fair, & on one of the stalls he meets a beautiful girl (Kate Magowan) who has been enslaved by an evil gypsy magician. They spend some time together & she gives him a glass flower as a gift before he returns to wall: nine months later he gets another presentin the form of a basket containing their newborn baby, the infant Tristan Thorn.
About twenty years later, Tristan has grown into a handsome lad, played by Charlie Cox, who is something of a daydreamer & hopelesslyin love with a beautiful village girl called Victoria (Sienna Miller).
Tristan is one of two rival suitors for Victoria's hand. After they watch a shooting star fall to earth on the far side of the wall, Tristan tries to demonstrate his devotion by promising to fetch it for her. He tricks his way past the guard at the wall, & heads after the fallen star.
However, the fallen star was knocked out of the sky for a particular reason. In Faerie a dying king (Peter O'Toole) has summoned his four surviving sons (Jason Flemyng, Mark Heap, Rupert Everett, & Mark Strong) to decide who will succeed him. So he throws the jewel which denotes the rightful ruler of Stormhold into the sky, where it brings down a star, advises his sons that whichever son of the line of Stormhold retrieves the star will be his successor.
When the star falls to earth, she appears as a beautiful woman called Yvaine (Clare Danes) with the royal jewel of Stormhold round her neck, & there are several people searching for her. Dunstan wants to take her to his sweetheart, the surviving sons of the old king want the jewel, & she is also pursued by the evil & very powerful witch, Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer). Lamia is running out of life force/magical energy which she can renew if she cuts out the heart of a living star. So Yvaine isin great danger ...
Where the book is bit dark & adultin places, the film is a delightful story which will suit adults & children alike - there are a few scary bits but nothing which most small children will be unable to handle, & there is a lot of humour, some pitched at adults & some aimed at everyone but all of itin good taste.
In general the film is very true to the book, but a few things have been added. There is a scene where Yvaine & Dunstan find themselvesin the sky & are rescued by a flying ship which is collecting lightning bolts. In the book this is a relatively short interlude, butin this film this has been developed into a marvellous sub-storyin which the master of the flying ship, Captain Shakespeare, played brilliantly by Robert de Niro, pretends to be a ruthless pirate but has a secret. Ricky Gervase has an amusing cameo just after this as "Ferdy the Fence."
The ending has also been completely reworked from Neil Gaiman's original novel, with a very dramatic climax which will come as a "surprise ending" for anyone who has read the book. If you are interested bothin reading the book & watching the film, I would advise you to tackle the book first: the ending of the book may seem anticlimatic if you have previously seen the film.
Acting is excellent throughout, particularly Charlie Cox & Clare Danes who were both very successful as the main lead characters, while Michelle Pfieffer & Mark Strong were both superb as two of the most sinister villainsin the film. Rupert Everitt was rather wasted as a prince who is murdered almost immediately after being introduced.
Special effects were magnificent. There is a good section on many versions of this DVD about how they were made.
Overall this was a fantastic film enjoyable for adults & children alike & I strongly recommend it.
tremendous special effects,battleaxe witches,sword fights,chases on horseback,a pirate ship flying through the air - a must see! - By: dan the fan, 02 Sep 2008 
From the point of view of an adult this film has lots of flaws - perhaps too long & the humour wasn't so great & the love story a bit unconvincing.But for children it is something of a wonder with tremendous special effects,battleaxe witches,sword fights,chases on horseback,a pirate ship that flies through the air,palaces & cities built on towering mountain peaks ( much of the scenery is scottish), & mystery & mayhem all over the place.
The last twenty minutes or so is great whatever your age:one of the best fight sequences I've ever seen on film.
