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20 Reasons to Love Stardust- feat. Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Danes, Robert De Niro & Charlie Cox

Posted on January 22, 2010 Written by ripitup

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Stardust starring Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro
Stardust starring Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro. Image via amazon.

Stardust is- hats off- one of the most entertaining, beautiful, fun and impressive movies I have ever seen. The story is based on a novel by Neil Gaiman. It is an advanced fairy-tale for adults which children can enjoy as well. It is complicated, original, life-like and lovely. Complete with witches, kings, throne-thirsty princes, stars, pirates…The whole works. Yes, I am extremely positively biased because I love absolutely everything about the movie. Hang around and see if you agree.

1. The Novel: Neil Gaiman

The story is based on Neil Gaiman’s novel.

2. The Story: Jane Goldman – Matthew Vaughn

Little English village Wall is bordering next to a magical kingdom called Stormhold. While Wall is a typical English town with typical humans, Stormhold has witches and weird stuff going on. Right now, the main question for the King and the remaining sons (3 sons have been murdered by their brothers) is who will own the crown. The king-to-be is supposed to acquire the jewel, which flies out the window and into the sky. The sons start chasing the star while trying to get rid of each other.

The jewel causes a massive reaction in the sky, causing a star (Yvaine) to fall down- in the form of Claire Danes, wearing the jewel.

Tristan Thorn is young man has to get the star to show to his beloved Victoria. Victoria is a spoiled young woman who is merely using him. Tristan and Yvaine have to start an unwilling alliance, since she needs Tristan’s magical candle to go back home. How Tristan came to possess the candle has a beautiful story of its own.

But of course things are more complicated: 3 sister witches need to get the star. One of them goes out to get it- they need to cut out the star’s heart and eat it, to restore beauty and youth. The journey is full of adventure, surprises, interesting characters, dangers, romance and fun.

3. Direction: Matthew Vaughn

Vaughn is a British director who previously directed Layer Cake with Daniel Craig. Haven’t seen it yet, but I fully intend to. Of course has nothing in common with Stardust, apart from Vaughn himself. But I don’t care if he doesn’t direct anything I like ever again. Stardust is perfect and Vaughn deserves a lot of credit for that.

4. The whole movie crew: Especially production, cinematography, effects and make-up.

Amazing. If you saw the movie, you know what I mean. If you haven’t, wait till I go over the cast members.

5. The Score:

Just right. Adds to the magic, action and romance.

 

THE CAST

 

6. Michelle Pfeiffer

Michelle Pfeiffer in Stardust
Michelle Pfeiffer in Stardust. No worries, we see both versions in the movie. Image credit: People.com

She is the witch out after our star. She is just breath-takingly beautiful and cunning. Michelle Pfeiffer is brilliant as the main villain. She has always been my favorite actresses and one of the women I find truly gorgeous. She is a woman to be envied and admired.

7. Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro in Stardust
Robert De Niro in Stardust. If you thought Jack Sparrow was interesting…

You have never seen him De Niro this. I watched tens of movies of him and I thought I had seen all his faces. I was wrong. His performance as the captain of a lightning- catching pirate ship (now, that sounds like a great job) is just hilarious. Without him, the movie would just not be half as good.

8. Charlie Cox

Charlie Cox in Stardust
Charlie plays Tristan. And I thought all the good looking men were born in the 60s…Shame on me.

Cox Plays our male lead Tristan. He makes a perfect transition from the naive boy to the smart guy- getting only more handsome with the captain’ touches to his image. He grows wiser but remains nice and romantic. The result? Eye candy and lovable character all in one. Cox is growing up nicely. I previously watched him in Casanova. Period pieces and swords just become him…

9. Claire Danes

Stardust- Claire Danes with Charlie Cox
Claire Danes is lovely as Yvaine.

She is just adorable as the star Yvaine. She shines (both literally & metaphorically) throughout the movie. She has the truest observations about mankind. She is pretty and I totally forgave her for boring me to bits in Romeo + Juliet (I dislike the movies as a whole, not just her as Juliet)

10. Ben Barnes

Ben Barnes has a small part as Tristan’s father’s youth. He conveys innocence, curiosity and fascination perfectly. I wish he had a bigger part but hey, the film-makers worldwide seemed to agree with me that Ben is a great actor so he went on to get leading parts in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Kasbian, as Prince Kasbian and Easy Virtue. They also seem to agree that Ben is just as beautiful as a man can get since they cast him as Dorian Gray in Dorian Gray.

11. Mark Strong

Mark Strong in Stardust
Mark strong rocks as the ambitious prince after the jewel.

I had first seen Mark Strong in Body of Lies starring Russell Crowe and Leonardo di Caprio. He played his accent so perfectly; I could swear he wasn’t a native English speaker. He is English however and he is a marvelous actor. He can make you forget you saw him in any other role. He truly becomes his character. He is perfect as the King’s smartest, most cunning and charismatic son. He also makes one badass villain in Sherlock Holmes.

12. Henry Cavill

Henry Cavill in Stardust
Henry Cavill in Stardust

When I found out that the guy playing Victoria (Sienna Miller)’s arrogant jerk of a boyfriend- who also seemed really awfully blond and stupid- was the same gorgeous Henry Cavill who stars in The Tudors next to Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Wow! Kudos to making department for making Henry repelling. That takes talent.

Henry Cavill in the Tudors
Henry in The Tudors. Now, that’s the Henry Cavill we are used to.

13. Sienna Miller

Sienna Miller in Stardust
Sienna Miller as Victoria. Tristan’s journey starts because of her.

I don’t know why people think she can’t act. I think she gives whatever the role requires. She plays the beautiful and superficial Victoria just right. I also loved her as Casanova’s true love in Casanova.

14. Kate Magowan

Kate Magowan in Stardust
Kate Magowan in Stardust

Well, Tristan owes his existence to her. Literally. She is one of the key characters. I can’t imagine anyone else for the part. She is pretty, strong and determined.

WITH

15. Peter O’ Toole

He has only about 5 minutes as the king but who cares? He is Peter O’Toole and we love to see him on the screen.

16. Rupert Everett

Same 5 minutes goes for Rupert, but he really is good for an idiotic prince.

17. Nathaniel Parker

He play’s Tristan’ s father. Aside from the best father figure one can have, I think he is a good choice for Ben Barnes’ grown-up version. However I can’t see Ben turning into him in 18 years. Maybe 36? But hey- I guess it was tough being a single dad during those times…

18. Ricky Gervais

Always funny to see him. I especially enjoyed his part this time I saw Stardust- having recently watched The Invention of Lying and Ghost Town.

19. Ian McKellen

How is that for a narrator?

20. Seriously? You need more reasons? You have got to be kidding me!!!

7.9 from IMDB, voted by over 87.000 people. Not bad, but I voted it a 9, just for the record. What are you waiting for? Let the magic begin. I think I saw it 4 times already. And no, I am not done with the movie yet.

The trailer is below.

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6_gBg4XjWk[/pro-player]

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: adventure, Ben Barnes, Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, fantasy, Henry Cavill, Mark Strong, matthew vaughn, Michelle Pfeiffer, movies, Robert De Niro, romance, Sienna Miller, Stardust

Comments

  1. Menezes (dione) says

    January 22, 2010 at 15:32

    this is a great movie
    i liked all the cast ,they were really amazing
    i strongly recommend this movie to everyone that hevent seen it…you wont regret 😀

  2. zoey says

    January 22, 2010 at 17:09

    I know, I never get tired of seeing it. ; )

    But if I have to choose the absolute best performance, I’d have to say De Niro.

    Thanks for the comment.

  3. Okan says

    January 22, 2010 at 17:19

    Ash to ash…stardust to stardust…

  4. Muge says

    January 22, 2010 at 21:12

    I don’t think I will ever get tired of seeing this movie. It is extremely inspiring. My favorite scene is where De Niro dances in women’s clothes, no wonder why he’s such a great actor.

  5. zoey says

    January 22, 2010 at 22:00

    Robert rocks. The casting just couldn’t have gotten any better! The movie is just as entertaining as a movie can ever get!!!

  6. pelin says

    January 23, 2010 at 21:14

    bu filmi izlemek istiyorum !!!! :))))

  7. Avaxier says

    January 26, 2010 at 14:44

    Thanks for the review. I’ve never heard about this movie before, I must have missed its release date. Now I’m going to watch it on DVD because it sounds so interesting.

  8. zoey says

    January 27, 2010 at 17:37

    Thanks for the comment, Avaxier. I really like the movie. It has all the essentials: good story, good direction, great cast, right music…It is a must see. No, it won’t be a life-altering experience but it sure will help you have a good time. : )

  9. pina says

    April 10, 2010 at 21:41

    great movie great post! well sienna miller can’t act indeed, so they give her the roles that she doesn’t need to act:)

  10. stella says

    April 11, 2010 at 04:31

    well i love the movie, im glad you love it too.
    its like whenever i go stardust is great, people give me a blank look like they never watched this movie before. i love claire danes, shes beautiful! haha

    hey in this case do you like Big Fish? i think its somewhat similar and i love ewan mcgregor!

  11. zoey says

    April 11, 2010 at 10:18

    @ Pina: I adore this movie. I don’t know, Sienna isn’t that bad. Or maybe you are right. They just give her those kind of roles.:)

  12. zoey says

    April 11, 2010 at 11:37

    @ Stella: I love Big Fish. I am not necessarily a Tim Burton fan, but Big Fish is so touching and magical in all the right places. Thanks for reminding me- I should just rewatch it and do a review.
    I have seen Stardust like 4 times and I have the DVD. Even my mother adores this movie and she just hates supernatural stuff that deals with magic. But Starbucks is something else all together:)

  13. Erika Caton says

    May 20, 2010 at 04:40

    I own Stardust and have watched it multiple times myself. The kicker is that my husband and sons LOVE this movie too! They are also huge fans of the Princess Bride 🙂 I love my men! I really enjoy my soundtracks and this one is a keeper, the music stays with you a long time after the movie is over. Yes, Robert DeNiro and Mark Strong rock their parts and I think are the reason my men love the movie so.

  14. zoey says

    May 20, 2010 at 17:12

    Yeah, Mark Strong is awesome. It is so funny how his charismatic character ends up just like his brother:)
    I love everything about this movie. Entertaining and magical. The cast is amazing and it is a truly unisex movie.
    But, Robert just cracked me up!

  15. Dawn says

    October 9, 2010 at 19:41

    This movie IS a great one, but the graphic novel is even better! Gaiman (the author) is amazing. Love the costume designs and actors’ performances in this picture. And to Stella, BIG FISH is Burton at his best! But I AM a Burton fan.:)

  16. zoey says

    October 9, 2010 at 21:45

    @Dawn: I love everything about the film but just limited the count to 20 to make it easier to write the piece;) I should give reading Gaiman a shot. He has one hell of an imagination:)
    I am not a Burton fan but I really love Big Fish.

  17. Kristine says

    December 30, 2010 at 17:45

    I got smitten with Charlie Cox in the film, especially after his make over with Capt. Shakespeare.

  18. zoey says

    January 1, 2011 at 13:01

    Yep, the make-over was really well-done. He looked cute yet harmless before. After, he looked gorgeous.:)

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