Nope, ciao. Even with your instruction and with Javascript enabled, no way of finding who has rated ...
Nope, ciao. Even with your instruction and with Javascript enabled, no way of finding who has rated me. I can do it with other people's reviews, but not mine. Once again, computer says 'No!'
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This star-studded family movie has been tagged as the 'The Fairy Tale That Won't Behave'. It performed excellently at the box office, and has recently been released on DVD, where it is performing well again. It is a fantasy tale of adventure and magic , directed with flair, acted with fun and accompanied by great music. It is the ultimate in 'feel-good' films - a modern day treat for any who watch it, young and old.
The Plot
The film is set in a world of fantasy. Tristan Thorn is in love with the beautiful Victoria, who promises to wed him if he brings her a star by her birthday. In searching for the star, Tristan has to travel into a part of the country it is forbidden to enter. He thus embarks on a marvellous adventure full of magical beings, stars, witches and power-hungry princes. It is a wonderfully crafted and created world and a magical adventure, when Tristan discovers the star he is searching for is actually the form of a beautiful young woman named Yvaine. Intent on fulfilling his promise and wedding his love, Tristan
perseveres, unaware that hot on their heels is a witch named Lamia, desperate to capture the star and ensure everlasting youth and beauty.
I dislike giving away too much of the plot, so I will not expand any more. Indeed, I have not mentioned any more than can be found in the blurb on the DVD or in the trailers you can see in abundance all over following the release of such a magical film. The plot continues on its way, and with the tagline mentioned above, the viewer is constantly kept in wonderment as to whether we are to keep to a fairy tale trend and have our happy ending or not.
The Cast
This film is brilliantly cast, and in areas you would never expect. The virtually unknown Charlie Cox plays Tristan, the lead of the film, and heads an all star cast that must have made him extremely nervous. Yet this does not show. He portrays a young man bursting with exuberance in fulfilling his quest, and determined to let nothing dissuade him. The acting is very natural and believable, and you feel as if you are Tristan for half the film (that is, if you are a man!!). Claire Danes plays Yvaine, and does so with such angelic grace that you could not imagine anyone else doing a better job. Michelle Pfeiffer virtually steals the show with a delightfully wicked performance as Lamia the witch. Cameos from international greats such as Robert De Niro playing Captain Shakespeare and Peter O'Toole playing the King of the land, as well as stellar performances from British TV actors too numerous to mention all, but including Ricky Gervais and David Walliams, make this film strong and thorough throughout.
A brilliant cast, even if the sight of Robert De Niro wearing leggings and singing a sea shanty fills you with bewilderment.
My Opinion
My wife and I went to the cinema to watch this. We had built ourselves up for a while, having seen trailers and heard reviews from all over, and we couldn't wait. We were bursting with excitement, and sat through the entire 122 minutes of the film with smiles on our faces, yes, even at the parts with evil characters, such is the pleasure gleaned from the acting. If anything, the plot lets the cast down as opposed to the other way round. The film is adapted from a novel which is quite graphic, dark and sexual, and the producers and director Matthew Vaughn wanted to tone this down in the transition form paper to screen in order to attract wider audiences and to produce a brighter, more feel-good film. Thus, the plotline remains quite dark in places, whereas the way it is dealt with in the tale does not. It is essentially a simple storyline going from A to B, with a couple of subplots that do end up intertwining with the main tale, but nothing to have to make the viewer really think about what they're watching.
The CGI does detract from the film from time to time. It seemed to me to be quite weak, but it did fit with the style of the film, and the looseness of the magic. Things just tended to happen quite easily, and again, this is very much in keeping with the description of a misbehaving fairy tale. It seems then fitting that the most comedic parts of the show come from a bunch of princely ghosts!!!!
My Conclusion
I love this film. My son bought it for my wife for Mother's Day, and we have just watched it. The extras, which include a complete run of the film but with commentary from Director Matthew Vaughn and Writer Jane Goldman are very informative and equally as fun as the film!!! I rate it at 4 stars out of 5, dropped from the maximum only due to a lack of CGI and a simple plot. In terms of enjoyment, it ranks up with the top films in my view, but it is too early to really rank it properly.
I am delighted that we own this, and I am positive that today will not be the first time we go 'Ah, yeah! Let's watch Stardust!'
The DVD is available to buy brand new now from Tesco for only £9, a very good price for a brand new release.
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Thanks for reading.
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Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Advantages: it is so different from other films of its genre! story is just so unique. Disadvantages: can be easy to miss something if you arent watching.
ellynora 16.05.2008 ·
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Review of Stardust (DVD)
![Stardust [DVD] [2007]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/77919104.jpg "Stardust [DVD] [2007]")
Mar 2nd, 2008
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