DVD Review: Stardust

At the tail end of summer, a movie called "Stardust" hit the theatres. To say the ad campaign didn't motivate me to see the movie is a huge understatement. The ad campaign convinced me that the movie had two attributes: Harry Potter ripoff and Lord of the Rings ripoff. I didn't go see it.

Last week, John Campea at the Movie Blog was waxing on about the best movies of the year. He listed Stardust and specifically mentioned that the ad campaign was terrible. His description of the movie piqued my interest, so, we rented and watched it last week.

When a movie is well-written, there comes a time, generally within the first five minutes, that the dialogue demonstrates the intelligence behind the script. I always smile when this happens and settle back for a good time. I was very pleased when Stardust had such a moment. The story by Neil Gaiman is not a ripoff of either HP or LOTR, but does have fun with the standard fantasy elements. The cast includes Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Peter O'Toole, Ricky Gervais, and Ian McKellen.

Holy cow was this a fun movie. The most obvious comparison is "The Princess Bride" and I think if you like that classic, you'll like Stardust. Stardust has loads of humor, most notably a Greek Chorus of ghostly princes watching and waiting for the winner of the battle of succession. The romance is charming, the special effects work for the story, and the tweaking of genre elements is welcome.

If you want a good rental that may become one of those movies you'll watch again and again, check out Stardust. And make sure you check out the deleted scenes for more ghostly-prince goodness.