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Stardust

DigificWriter

DigificWriter

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Hi all. I was bored earlier this week, and decided to borrow and watch my sister's DVD copy of the 2007 fantasy film Stardust, which I'd previously never heard of. I really enjoyed it, and thought I'd start a topic detailing my impressions of the film and asking if anyone else here has seen the movie and what they thought of it.

It definitely has overtones of The Princess Bride, with a dose of Willow and Shrek thrown in, and, although not really as quotable as TPB, is still a pretty fun and funny movie, IMO. Clare Danes' Yvaine and Charlie Cox's Tristan really have great chemistry, and their interactions, particularly in the early part of the film, are great. I also really enjoyed Michelle Pfeifer's portrayal of the witch Lamia; she really reminded me of the titular witches from Road Dahl's The Witches, as well as the Sanderson sisters from Disney's Hocus Pocus (the latter of which is one of my favorite films of all time).

The characters of Captain Shakespeare (Robert DeNiro) and Ferdy the Fence (Ricky Gervais) are also pretty neat, and provide some funny moments of comedy throughout the film.
 
I enjoyed the movie, though I haven't seen it since it came out. Overall, I seem to recall preferring the book.
 
I haven't read the book either, but the film definitely got my attention, and had me laughing in several parts. I was a little bit surprised that they were able to get away with characterizing Captain Shakespeare the way that they did, especially since the film is very much in the same vein as The Princess Bride and is fairly 'family friendly', but, as noted, I got a big kick out of his character, as he wasn't anything like I was expecting him to be.

I also liked the princes of Stormhold, as the running gag of them all dying and showing up as ghosts also provided some funny bits of comedy.

As noted, the film isn't as quotable as The Princess Bride, but it does contain some pretty funny dialogue, most notably the initial exchange/argument between Tristan and Yvaine (I absolutely love that she refers to him as a 'magical flying moron').
 
I barely wanted to see the movie but I was surprised at how enjoyable it was. Definitely recommended.
 
I liked it. It's a bit unfair to compare it to Princess Bride, because - let's face it - Princess Bride is da shiznit.
 
JarodRussell said:
I liked it. It's a bit unfair to compare it to Princess Bride, because - let's face it - Princess Bride is da shiznit.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's necessarily 'unfair' to compare Stardust to TPB, although there definitely seems to be a popularity and exposure difference between the two films.
 
I love Stardust as well. It's a really great adventure story with a great cast. And I only recently realized that new Superman Henry Cavill played Humphrey. The music score is also very good.

I've also read the book, which is also good, and quite different in parts. For example, I found that Capt. Shakespeare was barely in the book compared to the movie.
 
Anybody have a favorite quote or two from the movie? I've already mentioned one of mine in passing, but I'll post it here:

Tristan: Oh, excuse me, madam, sorry, this may see strange but, have you seen a fallen star anywhere?
Yvaine: You're funny.
Tristan: No, really. We're in a crater, this must be where it fell.
Yvaine: Yeah, this where it fell. It is, or if you want to be really specific, up there is where this weird bloody necklace came out of nowhere and knocked it out of the heavens where it was minding its own business. And over there is where it landed. And right here, *this* is where it got hit by a magical flying MORON!

I also like Yvaine's declaration of her love for Tristan while he's a mouse:
Yvaine: You know when I said I knew little about love? That wasn't true. I know a lot about love. I've seen it, centuries and centuries of it, and it was the only thing that made watching your world bearable. All those wars. Pain, lies, hate... It made me want to turn away and never look down again. But when I see the way that mankind loves... You could search to the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful. So yes, I know that love is unconditional. But I also know that it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and strangely easy to mistake for loathing, and... What I'm trying to say, Tristan is... I think I love you. Is this love, Tristan? I never imagined I'd know it for myself. My heart... It feels like my chest can barely contain it. Like it's trying to escape because it doesn't belong to me any more. It belongs to you. And if you wanted it, I'd wish for nothing in exchange - no gifts. No goods. No demonstrations of devotion. Nothing but knowing you loved me too. Just your heart, in exchange for mine.
 
Great, fun movie. Saw it 3 times in the theatre (which I rarely ever see the same movie more than once) and bought the DVD when it came out.
 
Picked it up as a blind rental a few years back and was pleasantly surprised. I mean DeNiro playing a cabaret dancing, cross-dressing, whoopsie sky-pirate captain? What's not to like?! O'Toole was a lot of fun too and Mark Heap was in there too and he's always funny. Actually, now that I think about it that film had a surprisingly strong cast.
 
Terrible terrible marketing around this movie. I didn't talk to a single person who thought this movie looked good, if they were even aware of it all when it was released.

Somehow I got dragged to seeing it, and not only was it good... it was one of the best fantasy movies of the last 20 years (!)
 
^ The Princess Bride wasn't well-received in its theatrical run either, so mainstream press and box-office success aren't the only indicators of a film's quality.
 
I'm also a fan of Stardust.

I guess the movie must have had really weak marketing, because I don't even remember the movie being in theaters! I ended up discovering it when it was first available for rental and found it to be a pleasant surprise. A fun light hearted adventure, that at times was dark, but not angst filled like so many movies are these days.

Speaking of The Princess Pride, Claire Danes (Yvaine), and Mandy Patinkin (Inigo Montoya) are going to be starring in a new TV series together. You can see one of their scenes together here:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyFmS3wRPCQ[/yt]
 
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