Stardust (2007)
Directed by Matthew Vaughn
In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he'll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm. His journey takes him into a world beyond his wildest dreams and reveals his true identity.
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28 films that influenced Stardust
What critics say influenced Stardust
It can be unfavorably compared with Rob Reiner's far more joyous and playful "The Princess Bride."
Stardust has been compared to Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride (1987)—even the studio shills pretending to be “just folks” posting barely literate “reviews” on the Internet Movie Database are pushing this idea—but I can scarcely think of a less apt comparison.
Like its nearest predecessor The Princess Bride, it borrows liberally from centuries of tall tales, tumbling out like a bedtime story made up on the spot by a grandfather � or, in this case, by Neil Gaiman, the hipster dream-weaver who crossed over from comic books to bestseller lists.
Films like Excalibur, The Dark Crystal, The Princess Bride and especially Labyrinth rank as four of my all-time favorites, and any fantasy spectacular echoing them even slightly automatically raises my eyebrows to their maximum breaking point.
This folly was apparently made in homage to The Princess Bride, making it a peculiar pastiche of a pastiche.
Stardust is the most gleefully silly fantasy tale in years; a whimsical experience in the vein of The Princess Bride.
The film I was most reminded of, I think, was Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits , all starts and stops without any particular elegance.
But then again, Gilliam's "Time Bandits," which Stardust pays homage to, was also exhaustingly imaginative.
Think of "The Princess Bride" on an even bigger scale or "Shrek" in live action or Terry Gilliam's "Time Bandits" or "The Brothers Grimm" with similar laughs.
Ambitious and entertaining, this twisted fairy tale is like The Princess Bride meets Time Bandits with its quirky humour and unashamedly romantic plot.
Hes cribbing from William Goldman (The Princess Bride) and some lesser sword and sorcery efforts (Stardust frequently feels like Krull combined with the worst elements of George Lucas labored Willow) to brace his otherwise stiff English lip.
In a way it’s a throwback to what fantasy movies were before Peter Jackson, reminiscent of now rather dated work like Willow, Legend, or The Dark Crystal.
Although witches and unicorns living in a magical realm may conjure up images of Willow or Labyrinth, Stardust actually owes an equal debt to The Princess Bride.
Films like Excalibur, The Dark Crystal, The Princess Bride and especially Labyrinth rank as four of my all-time favorites, and any fantasy spectacular echoing them even slightly automatically raises my eyebrows to their maximum breaking point.
In a way it’s a throwback to what fantasy movies were before Peter Jackson, reminiscent of now rather dated work like Willow, Legend, or The Dark Crystal.
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If I had to compare Stardust to something, it would be Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988).
Pfeiffer, playing her second shrew of the season, looks like she's enjoying herself in a part that shows off her severe beauty and her comedic prowess, but the role is a dud that seems borrowed from that Bette Midler Halloween turkey "Hocus Pocus."
As an aside, Danes reminds me of Karen Allen, who perfectly captured our hearts as Marion Ravenwood in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
The irony should not be lost on the fact that David Fincher's Mank, a dramatized feature about the writing of one of Orson Welles's greatest films, Citizen Kane (1941), is being released by the streaming giant Netflix.
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Think of "The Princess Bride" on an even bigger scale or "Shrek" in live action or Terry Gilliam's "Time Bandits" or "The Brothers Grimm" with similar laughs.
There's romance too, of course, and it's nice even if it brings no surprises if you've seen any Shrek movie.
Then another part of the film wants to be a parody of fairy tales, along the lines of The Princess Bride or Shrek.
Kind of like a “Shrek” movie, only funny, and with a much higher IQ.
Razzle Dazzle, a mockumentary set in the world of Australia’s apparently thriving world of dance schools, in effect Best in Show fused with Strictly Ballroom with a dash of Little Miss Sunshine, isn’t quite up there in the Christopher Guest league but has some hilarious moments, almost all of them courtesy of Ben Miller as a gauche teacher specialising in politically themed dance spectaculars.