Stardust HD DVD Review
Posted by Adam Morgan on 12.19.2007
A slow build, but a truly satisfying finish.
Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake) - Director
Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn, screenplay adaptation of Neil Gaiman novel
Charlie Cox - Tristan Thorn
Claire Danes - Yvaine
Nathaniel Parker - Dunstan Thorn
Ben Barnes - Dunstan Thorn (youth)
Peter O'Toole - King
Mark Strong - Septimus
Michelle Pfeiffer - Lamia
Robert De Niro - Captain Shakespeare
Sienna Miller - Victoria
Henry Cavill - Humphrey
Ricky Gervais - Ferdy the Fence
Ian McKellen - Narrator
Audio: * English Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 * French Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 * Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 5.1
Subtitles: * English SDH * French * Spanish * Portuguese
The base storyline for Stardust revolves around Tristan Thorn (played well by Charlie Cox) as he sets out to capture the heart of Victoria (a shallow young thing played by Sienna Miller).
While Tristan's desire for Victoria is obvious, it's also obvious that the fickle girl will never love him back unless he becomes rich and perhaps famous as well. She prefers Humphrey (Cavill), who starts out the film with the advantage of being both rich and a bit more worldly than Tristan, who doesn't appear to have ever left the small town of Wall.
It's not like Tristan has a truly bland background however, as the movie's opening moments (with narrator Ian McKellen providing background) show the moments leading up to his conception. No, not those moments - the parts just before all the sweating and grunting take place.
You see, Tristan's father Dunstan (with younger version ably played by Ben Barnes, and the older version by Nathaniel Parker) has left Wall, crossing the long stone wall that gives the village its name (a wall guarded at a single, broken-down point by an old man with a stave) and into the magical land of Stormhold. There he meets a princess, serving as a slave girl to a witch, and...well then comes the sweating and grunting part.
Nine months later, a package is delivered to Dunstan. Apparently slave girls don't get to be mothers, a sad commentary on life in the middle ages. She leaves young Tristan with a single present: a candle.
It's not just any old candle, of course - this is a fantasy film and the fantasy (aside from Dunstan's early trip to Stormhold's marketplace and the things seen there) has been pretty light. It's a candle that will, when lit, take you to whatever place you think of - just the thing to have 18 years later when you need to get somewhere.
If you haven't caught it by now, this is one of those movies that's difficult to describe, but easy enough to follow along with. I'll give you the synopsis: Tristan goes on a quest to find a fallen star. The star (played by Claire Danes) has no intention of being a gift to Tristan's beloved, but is forced into going along with him by circumstance. They fight, with confrontation belying the sparks between them. Witches and an evil prince factor in, with a flying airship (that shows Teddy Ruxpin was full of crap, that thing looks dangerously unsafe to land) and a daring last-minute rescue attempt.
It really was one of the most interesting movies I've seen this year, with light comedy (the ghosts of the fallen princes provide excellent commentary and reactions) and a romance storyline that's touching, but not overdone. If there was ever a great date movie, this is it.
A cast this deep in talent can often overwhelm a movie, but instead it draws fantastic performances from every side. Even relative unknowns like Cox prove strong and memorable, while Ricky Gervais chimes in with a performance as a fence that seems eerily similar to a bumbling office manager named David Brent...
Presentation:
The 1080p transfer of Stardust is good, but not perfect.
Colors are good, with great pop on some of the brighter elements like Ditchwater Sal's hideous yellow wagon. There's a fair amount of film grain, especially in out-of-focus backgrounds. It adds a certain something to the presentation though, without distracting from the characters in the foreground. There's also a bit of grain during moments of overwhelming light (the story does deal with a star that's fallen to earth, after all) but all in all, there's little to complain about in terms of noise.
The film isn't one of the 'sharp as a tack' examples of high-definition, with an overall look that's a bit on the soft side. There are a few scenes that stand out, primarily wide shots outdoors, but generally this isn't one that you'll consider a visual showpiece. There are a few shots that are very soft, one shot early on when Dunstan is in the marketplace proved a bit of a distraction - enough that I rewound to see it again, though these are very much in the minority.
The special effects, though done fairly cheaply by modern standards, look good. They might not be top-drawer effects, but there's been an effort to make them fit into the film's visual style and they come off as fairly convincing. The aging of the witches (including one played by Michelle Pfeiffer) is particularly well done, as is a bird-to-girl, back-to-bird transformation sequence.
Audio
Stardust has a solid sound field, with the surrounds getting a workout from ambient noise pretty much through the course of the film. Despite this, you won't miss a word of the on-screen dialog thanks to great sound separation.
Given the time period that Stardust is set in, it's no real surprise that it lacks significant bass punch. While your subwoofer isn't going to get much work, Stardust remains a very solid film in terms of audio presentation.
Extras:
It's a bit disappointing that there are few extras included with the film. One 'making of' feature is done in HD, with deleted scenes and blooper reel presented in standard definition. This is a film that really cried out for more extras - something to dig into the backstory more, or point people towards the comics or novel perhaps. Missed opportunity, it seems.
The Film: 8.0/10.0
The Video: 7.0/10.0
The Audio: 8.0/10.0
The Extras: 5.0/10.0
The 411: Stardust did terrible business at the box office, and with fantasy movies doing well right now perhaps it was just ahead of its time. It really is a fantastic movie for those who enjoy fantasy; well-written and with a cast of characters that charm. De Niro and Pfeiffer's performances alone are worth the purchase.
