Stardust (Blu-ray)

Though worshipped like royalty within the comic book world, thanks mainly to his stunning modern masterpiece that is the ‘Sandman’ series, Neil Gaiman’s work on celluloid has generated disappointing results thus far, having penned both Beowulf (boring) and MirrorMask (pretty, but just as boring). However, Gaimnan’s adapted work, namely Coraline and Stardust, have achieved far more success, which suggests that, while Gaiman might not yet have found his own voice in Hollywood, his work has the potential to generate at least some cinematic magic.

Like a cross between Terry Gilliam and The Princess Bride, Stardust is the first and most promising feature from the mind of Neil Gaiman, boasting both a deranged sense of fun and a big warm heart that makes it the ideal fairytale for children and adults alike.

The story follows Tristan (Cox), a lowly shop boy with big ambitions. In order to win the heart of the beautiful Victoria (Miller), Tristan travels beyond the boundaries of the town wall to retrieve a falling star as a testament and symbol of his love. However, when he discovers the star is actually the beautiful and feisty Yvaine (Danes), matters become complicated. Making Tristan’s quest even more problematic is a powerful witch named Lamia (Pfeiffer) and the dastardly son of a king, Septimus (Strong), who both seek the fallen star for their own wicked means.

With an exceptional cast, a who’s who list of comedic supporting talent and Robert De Niro doing the can-can in drag, Stardust is a fun-filled if slightly overlong excursion into fantastical lunacy with enough imagination and colourful characters to fuel at least three worthwhile spin-offs.

The hi-def presentation on Paramount’s Blu-ray release is far more impressive than the previously released HD-DVD version. The colours are far more vibrant and distinct, the picture is generally cleaner and sharper, especially during the darker scenes, and it doesn’t suffer from as much softness as the previous HD release.

With plenty going on in the soundtrack, the DTS audio is kept busy throughout and presents an exciting surround sound experience, with plenty of rear-speaker action and a rich and vibrant blend of special effects and music.

The making of documentary, which is made up of five short featurettes (presented in hi-def), presents a worthwhile look behind the scenes, and there is further interesting on-set discussions with Neil Gaiman on the ‘Nothing Is True’ featurette.

Overall Verdict: An entertaining if overlong fairytale fantasy for both adults and children, and it looks and sounds even more magical on the Blu-ray format.

Special Features:
Audio Commentary By Director Matthew Vaughn and Co-Writer Jane Goldman
‘Making Of’
‘Nothing Is True’ Featurette
Deleted Scenes
Blooper Reel
Trailer

Reviewer: Lee Griffiths