Delightful family film based on Neil Gaiman's book

DVDs:


	• Stardust (Widescreen Edition) Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro Paramount, 2007 average customer review:based on 288 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

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Delightful family film based on Neil Gaiman's book

Many excellent books have been turned into disappointing films, and 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, and they worked with an all-star cast including Michelle Pfeiffer, Clare Danes, Charlie Cox, Robert De Niro, Sienna Miller, Ian McKellern, Peter O'Toole, and Ricky Gervais to produce a marvellous famly adventure.

After a brief reference to a letter arriving at the Royal Society which places the action in the 19th century, the story begins in the sleepy English village of Wall, a quiet and totally normal place except for the structure from which it takes its name, which is a wall between our world and Faerie. Most of the time the villagers maintain a watch on the one gap in that wall to stop people passing through in 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, and 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 and she gives him a glass flower as a gift before he returns to wall: nine months later he gets another present in 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 and hopelessly in 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, and 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, and 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, and 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, and she is also pursued by the evil and 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 is in great danger ...

Where the book is bit dark and adult in places, the film is a delightful story which will suit adults and children alike - there are a few scary bits but nothing which most small children will be unable to handle, and there is a lot of humour, some pitched at adults and some aimed at everyone but all of it in 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 and Dunstan find themselves in the sky and are rescued by a flying ship which is collecting lightning bolts. In the book this is a relatively short interlude, but in this film this has been developed into a marvellous sub-story in 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 both in reading the book and 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 and Clare Danes who were both very successful as the main lead characters, while Michelle Pfieffer and Mark Strong were both superb as two of the most sinister villains in 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 and children alike and I strongly recommend it.

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the weird thing is that I hated the book

I pretty much bought this DVD the first available moment. This is due to the fact that friends had to drag me into the theatre to watch this movie. My high school boyfriend had Neil Gaimond's novel as his favorite book, so I went ahead and read it back then. All I remember is I hated it.

So it's indeed strange that I loved this movie as much as I did. (Perhaps because some change was made with the storyline, sorry fans). It's whimsical, pretty, and full of princess bride-esque humor. This is classic fairy tale in all its glory, hit with a mit of modern humor and subtle sexiness.

Should be appreciated by all fantasy fans.

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I loved this movie!

I've never read the book, so I've no idea how it compares. But this movie positively dazzled me. I found myself sitting here on the edge of my seat biting my nails when it was a tight spot and clapping my hands when I was delighted with how something turned out. If you love magical tales with great characters and romance alongside, please watch this movie! I'm going to try to read the book now. Because surely if I thought the movie was so good, the book must be ten times better!

Fairy Tale for Adults

This movie is family friendly but also great entertainment for an adult. Truly, who doesn't love a pirate in a dress?

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Escape into the enchanted world of chivalry and romance in Stardust an epic tale starring Claire Danes with Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro. In hopes of wooing a beautiful girl (Sienna Miller) Tristan (Charlie Cox) promises to bring her a falling star. But he s in for the adventure of his life when he discovers the star is actually a celestial beauty named Yvaine (Danes) When an old witch Lamia (Pfeiffer) attempts to steal Yvaine s youth Tristan must protect her at all costs in this magical family adventure that will make you fall in love over and over again.DVD Features: Other: Good Omens: The Making of Stardust Additional Scenes: Deleted Scenes: Additional Scenes: 1.Candlight Small Talk Additional Scenes: 2. Lift the Stone Additional Scenes: 3. Carriage Game Additional Scenes: 4. Goat Man Additional Scenes: 5. The Next Ruler of Stormhold Bloopers: Blooper Reel Trailers: Theatrical TrailerSystem Requirements:Running Time: 127 MinsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY/FANTASY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 097363475644 Manufacturer No: 347564

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