Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageStardust (2007)
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Synopsis
Based on the best-selling graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess, 'Stardust' begins in a village in England and ends up in places that exist in an imaginary world. A young man named Tristan (Charlie Cox) tries to win the heart of Victoria (Sienna Miller), the beautiful but cold object of his desire, by going on a quest to retrieve a fallen star. His journey takes him to a mysterious and forbidden land beyond the walls of his village. On his odyssey, Tristan finds the star, which has transformed into a striking girl named Yvaine (Claire Danes). However, Tristan is not the only one seeking the star. A king’s (Peter O’Toole) four living sons – not to mention the ghosts of their three dead brothers – all need the star as they vie for the throne. Tristan must also overcome the evil witch, Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), who needs the star to make her young again. As Tristan battles to survive these threats, encountering a pirate named Captain Shakespeare (Robert De Niro) and a shady trader named Ferdy the Fence (Ricky Gervais) along the way, his quest changes. He must now win the heart of the star for himself as he discovers the meaning of true love.
Movie review
From Time Out London
There’s a lot of seductive qualities in this knowing, pomo, digitally assisted, widescreen, family oriented fairy tale.
It’s adapted with roistering glee by Matthew ‘Layer Cake’ Vaughn from Neil Gaiman’s cult comic-strip, a time-travelling fantasia with princely rivalry, piratical villains, chivalric romances, marvels, magical spells, mythical struggles and Hovis-ad English villages. It plays like a live-action riposte to ‘Shrek’. As if to compensate for carrying human baggage – sorry, actors – Vaughn throws everything at the screen he can. Castles in the sky and hovels on the ground come hurtling towards you courtesy of combined computer and visual effects. Before you settle into its amusingly generic ‘Victorian’ England setting (and the comforts of Ian McKellen’s velvety voice-over), you’re rocketed off on Google Earth-style journeys to the magical, mock-medieval, manically overdesigned virtual world of ‘Stormhold’, then back again to its teeming, independent microcosmics satellite hidden behind the olde village’s guarded stone wall. Like Gulliver’s puny captors or the ropes on Munchausen’s balloon-ship (which is quoted here), the film’s cast has the task of tethering its chaotic flights of fancy.
Charlie Cox, in naturalist register, makes a fist of the young, cambric-shirted hero – Tristan , charged with bringing back a fallen ‘star’ (which turns into an annoying Claire Danes) by his hiss-ably haughty love (tressed-to-kill Sienna Miller). But the rest – O’Toole, Pfeiffer, Gervais et al – wisely camp it up, with Robert De Niro out-camping everyone in a film-stealing turn as buckleswashing Captain Shakespeare. You could call it a cousin of ‘Time Bandits’ or ‘The Princess Bride’, but it lacks the former’s originality and the latter’s heart. No matter, little kids will like the miniature elephants herding in specimen bottles; this writer liked the futuristic gifts – plastic flowers!
Author: Wally Hammond
Time Out London Issue 1939: October 17-23 2007
User reviews of this film
-
- Cathy said...
-
Posted on Aug 08 2008 21:34
This is the best film ever! And the novel which this film is decended from is by my favourite author Neil Gaiman. I loved this film and it is so oringinal with many twists in the plot. It is one of those rare gems that everyone will enjoy!
However I think it is unsutiable for anyone under the age of 13 due to the violence and sexual inuendo that is contained in this film. Eventhough it is a PG it should really be a 12a. Again, fantastic film! - Report as inappropriate
-
- masterchief-117 said...
- Posted on May 11 2008 18:27 word count=231
- Report as inappropriate
-
- john said...
- Posted on May 11 2008 18:27 this is the best review ever!!! should get a 7!!!!! the film is bad, the review is great!!!
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Nour said...
- Posted on Apr 12 2008 08:51 i loved the movie to bits. it was awsome, and i don't think that this reviw gave it the amount of attention it deserves.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Maria said...
- Posted on Mar 27 2008 17:25 For god sake-anyone that found this too cheesy is surely heartless!!! It was lovely! Have watched 5 times and im still not fed up!
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Hannah said...
- Posted on Mar 18 2008 15:23 A great film for all the family!
- Report as inappropriate
-
- LSP lord said...
-
Posted on Mar 07 2008 17:36
Fairly good film. Good Acting and great storyline, but if you're over about 13ish and under about 18, then don't bother. You'll come out thinking you're back in Year 4. Still, good film, with a few nice little twists. All i can say is Ricky Gervais wasn't used enough. He's a funny bloke, but only turned up in a couple of scenes. Oh, and you'll never see Robert de Niro the same way ever ever again. Great ideas. Whoever wrote it has the imagination of my dreams.
Thanks, LSP lord. - Report as inappropriate
-
- Kimmi said...
- Posted on Mar 03 2008 01:03 Brilliant.loved every minute.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Susan said...
- Posted on Jan 28 2008 23:22 Loved it. Bit of a slow start but then what a wonderful, warming, heartfelt, lovely, film. Love the title track too, practically brings tears to the eyes!
- Report as inappropriate
-
- bill said...
- Posted on Jan 02 2008 01:30 great flick
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Cameron said...
- Posted on Jan 01 2008 16:55 realy realy realy realy realy realy great!!!
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Amy said...
- Posted on Jan 01 2008 16:51 Deffinitly up my street and I realy enjoyed it.
- Report as inappropriate
-
- irka said...
- Posted on Jan 01 2008 15:13 Another fantastic film. It has everything in it, great effects. Great moral values another fairy tale mmde modern. I will go and see this one again, love it , love it!!
- Report as inappropriate
-
- Carlotta said...
-
Posted on Dec 30 2007 20:07
AMAZING i love this film
Michelle Pfeiffer was definitely the best, that woman is amazing, i met her once, she is so sweet and kind anyway i am reccomending this to anyone over the age of 7 xxx - Report as inappropriate
-
- Becky S said...
- Posted on Dec 27 2007 12:49 It is the best film ever, I have seen it three times at the cinema. Its so enchanting and magical that you escape into your own little world while watching it.
- Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Cast: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Sienna Miller, Peter O'Toole, Jason Flemyng, Rupert Everett, Ricky Gervais, Ian McKellen full cast
Genre(s): Action/Adventure, Fantasy, Romance
Rated: PG
Duration: 130 mins
UK Release: Oct 19 2007
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Jim Jarmusch on 'The Limits of Control'
Jim Jarmusch has followed ‘Broken Flowers’ with an esoteric crime mystery. Dave Calhoun speaks to him from his New York office
Richard Linklater on 'Me and Orson Welles'
Dave Calhoun meets the 49-year-old, Houston-born filmmaker Richard Linklater to discuss his new comedy
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now