Twinkle, Twinkle..... (Stardust (DVD))

Member Name: madmum71

Product:	Stardust (DVD)
Date:	05/04/08 (221 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great family film

Disadvantages: none yet

I have not written many movie reviews simply because there are plenty of people writing on here that do a really great job in this category and to be honest I really don't get the time to sit and watch many films. I mainly end up seeing films with the kids and having 2 boys aged 9 and 11 they are not really anything a women would really be into!

Last year there was a lot of films that my boys really wanted to see, 2007 seemed to be a really good year for kids films we had Shrek 3, Harry Potter, Transformers, The Simpson's movie and Pirates of the Caribbean. Lucky me I got to see them all! Then I saw adverts for this film and really fancied seeing it but as it looked more like a fairy tale the boys weren't that keen and by the time I got around to persuading them the film was gone from the cinema.

So I decided to get it on DVD and watch it on my own in peace and quiet, this has happened to me once before with the film Nanny Mcphee and It ended up with me starting to watch it and then having an audience, the boys suddenly decided that they really wanted to watch it and now that DVD is in their room never to be seen by me again! So did the same happen with this film or did I get to keep it to myself?

THE PLOT

The film starts with a narration from none other than Sir Ian Mckellan setting the scene, he explains about the mysterious and magical town of Stormhold and the English town of Wall that is next to it. The town of Wall has surprise surprise! a wall separating it from Stormhold, along this wall is a gap that is guarded 24 hours a day by a funny little man who keeps anyone curious away.

The story begins with a young man called Dunstan Thorn he decides to get through the gap in the wall and tricks the old man, having finally found Stormhold he encounters a young lady who tells him she is really a princesses enslaved by a witch, they have a brief encounter (you know what I mean!) and Dunston goes back to Wall a happy young man. That is until 9 months later the funny little old man turns up at his door and hands him a basket with a baby boy in it.

The story then goes forward and you then meet the baby who is now grown into a young man, his name is Tristan and the narrator explains that this story is how Tristan became a man. Tristan you begin to realise isn't the most popular 18 year old in the town and doesn't seem to have had much luck especially with the ladies, he has set his sights on the most popular girl Victoria but she has eyes for the more popular and arrogant Humphrey. The one thing Tristan has got going for him is he doesn't give up and a week before Victoria's birthday takes her for a champagne picnic, while there they see a shooting star and Tristan makes her a promise that he will bring the star to her as a birthday present, she agrees that if he succeeds she will marry him and not Humphrey.

After a failed attempt to cross the wall his father tells him about his journey over the wall and gives him a letter and a candle that his mother left for him in the basket, the candle is a magic candle and transports him straight to the star but all is not as it seems and the star turns out to be not what he expects in fact the star is a girl and a very pretty one at that, so begins the journey back to Wall with his star to give to Victoria for her birthday.

Meanwhile in Stormhold the king is dying and summons his remaining sons to sort out who will next be king, the king had 7 sons and 1 daughter but now only has 4 remaining living sons the other 3 sons have been killed by their brothers in the pursuit of the throne and the daughter has mysteriously disappeared. The king enchants a jewel on a chain and tells the remaining brothers that whoever finds the jewel and turns it red will be the king he then magically shoots it into the sky. Problem is it was this jewel that knocked the star out of the sky so she ends up wearing it, one of the brothers then finds out that if he has the heart of a star he will be immortal and rule forever so he obviously starts hunting the jewel and the star. Oh and just to let you know as the brothers die they become ghosts that follow the journey of the living brothers, these are quite comical at times and include David Walliams and Rupert Everett.

Another person to see the shooting star fall to earth is a witch called Lamia she gets very excited about this and informs her two sisters. The reason they are very excited is because they need the heart of a star to become young and beautiful again. They found the last star to fall to earth and took her heart but there is very little left so they have become old. These are dark witches and will do anything to get the star, Lamia sets off to get to the star and so the film becomes a sort of three way story all leading to the star.

I have give a special mention in this review to Robert De Nero who usually plays the tough sort of guy and I have loved ever since I saw the film Once upon a time in America, in this film it appears at first that his role is another tough guy role being that he is the captain of a sky pirate ship. Until we glimpse him away from his crew the tough image disappears and he becomes a bit on the feminine side complete with dresses and the can-can!

THE CAST

Charlie Cox as Tristan Thorn
Claire Danes as Yvaine ( the star )
Michelle Pfeiffer as Lamia
Robert De Niro as Captain Shakespeare
Mark Strong as Septimus
Nathaniel Parker as Dunstan Thorn
Kate Magowan as Una
Sienna Miller as Victoria Foresster
Peter O'Toole as King of Stormhold
Jason Flemyng as Primus
Joanna Scanlan as Mormo
Sarah Alexander as Empusa
Rupert Everett as Secundus
Ricky Gervais as Ferdy the Fence
Mark Heap as Tertius
Adam Buxton as Quintus
Julian Rhind-Tutt as Quartus
David Walliams as Sextus
Melanie Hill as Ditchwater Sal
Ben Barnes as Young Dunstan Thorn
David Kelly as Guard
Mark Williams as Billy
Dexter Fletcher as Skinny Pirate
Henry Cavill as Humphrey
Ian McKellen as Narrator
Jake Curran as Bernard

The best bit about this cast is the fact it has a very English film feel, As you can see from that list there is a few faces that you should recognize including Melanie Hill who was Avaline in Bread! Also Ricky Gervais to be honest he more or less played his part the same as most of his parts so can't say he stretched himself! But it really felt as if the film was mainly English.

I felt all the parts were acted well, I thought that Michelle Pfieffer was great and looked absolutely fantastic for her age and even though she played a evil witch I couldn't help but warm to her for some reason (maybe it's the witch in me!) I also enjoyed the performances of the main characters Claire Dane (little women & Romeo and Juliette) who played the star was feisty and not always the usual damsel in distress. Also Charlie Cox who I think this is his first big movie-leading role is also believable and has lots of personality and makes the transformation from clumsy young man to hero believable.

OTHER BITS

The film was originally a book written in 1998 by Neil Gaiman and was adapted into a screenplay by Matthew Vaughn (layer cake, lock stock and snatch) and Jane Goldman (wife of Johnathon Ross). I can't honestly say if the film stays true to the books, as I haven't read them.

Robert de Nero's role was either going to be offered to himself or Jack Nicolson and Claire Danes role was originally offered to Sarah Michelle Geller (her of Buffy fame!) but she turned it down.

The filming locations are mainly British including the Scottish highlands and the Isle of Skye and look stunning in the film.

Take That wrote the song Rule the world for the film, and this gave the film some extra hype.

The film lasts for 130mins but isn't bum numbing and once the action starts the time flies by! This has also been given a PG cert as there is some violence, but to be honest from what kids see today its quite tame.

The special effects are really good but nothing you haven't seen before if you have seen Harry Potter, there is a great sword-fighting scene near the end that really looked fantastic.

I just bought the cheaper version so sorry can't report on any DVD extras as there isn't any.

MY OPINION

You can proberly tell from this review that I did like this film actually I loved it! I really managed to lose myself in the film and laughed a lot. I felt all the actors enjoyed their parts and this seemed to show, I didn't even stop the film for a cuppa, which for me is a miracle! For me this is the perfect film for Sunday afternoons to curl up with the kids and enjoy a good family film.

I can also report that again I have lost this DVD to my boys as they really enjoyed it and actually had the nerve to question why I didn't take them to the pictures to see it! There was enough action to keep them interested and for them the lovey dovey bits were not over long so they could just about stand them!

Summary: A magical family fairy tale