Anyone else think that STARDUST was overall pretty bad?
 

I just rented STARDUST and was surprisingly disappointed with everything about the film:

1. For such a big-budget film, why were the special effects/CGI out of a mid-90s fantasy film? Was Uwe Boll the Special Effects Supervisor?

2. The make-up of the three witch sisters? Mid-90s again. Why were they made up done so poorly as if they were wearing Halloween costumes?

3. I read a lot of reviews summing up Claire Daines as "the beautiful, radiant shining Claire Daines". Are you kidding me? Damn, she is just butt-ugly now!

4. I'm all for wacky casting, but the casting was just awkward, especially with Ricky Gervais whom also looked like he threw on a non-fitting Halloween costume. Was any of his lines supposed to be funny?

5. The whole movie looked like obvious sets and big empty fields. It felt like it was trying to be epic by having those annoyingly running/traveling scenes on a big empty field to get to the next place. The scope of the film was totally poor and amateurish.

6. It's starting to get annoying with the trend of sticking McKellen or O'Toole in every epic-type fantasy films. It's a trend which is pushing it.


For such a big-budget blockbuster film, I had higher expectations. I did like seeing DeNiro and Phieffer. And the most entertaining scenes in the movie was with the goat man. But I'm now really fearing that this director is going to ruin THOR.

I thought it was without question one of the best films of the year.
Not all of the effects were great but the movie was so good I didn't care in the least. The effects were still better than in the Harry Potter movies, or Narnia, I am Legend etc. So i could honestly give a shit about the effects overall. If the story was fun and involving like this was I can certainly look past it. I would rather this be the case than having good special effects and nothing else remotely interesting about the film.

I really really liked the film. I don't really agree with any of those criticisms. The FX were all fine and never distracting, I'd say they fit the story well. Claire Danes was gorgeous. The casting was fun, and O'Toole's use was part of the joke.

It's fine you don't like it. I'm not sure why people are so suprised when they dislike a film that a lot of people like. It happens from time to time.

I'm pretty sure there was a Stardust thread already, so maybe your complaints can just be merged with that thread?

It lacked a certain level of flow. Certain subplots really didn't work too well. I didn't find our hero Tristan to be all that interesting (or maybe Charlie Cox just sucks as an actor). The two leads half the time just smiled awkwardly at people (i.e. Robert De Niro). I'm just amazed at how many people, especially on this board, really liked it. It was amusing at times, but I didn't find it all that funny, or romantic when it was supposed to be. That people actually compare this to the Princess Bride is pretty hilarious.

Incredible movie.

I usually love all the blockbuster films that people love, that's why i'm disappointed that I didn't get into this film. Just like Brack said, I felt like that the actors, scenes, CGI, did not mesh smoothly. I don't usually notice poor make-up jobs in films as well, but it was distractingly annoying in this film. This film was trying to hard to be The Princess Bride if anything...

What I really can't believe is how can anyone think that Claire Daines in beautiful in this? DROP, why? If you think she is hot, then what other actresses do you consider hot?

Yeah I thought it was just OK, and am a little surprised by how many people seem to like it around here.

I'm pretty sure you're crazy.

Made my top 10 (best) of 2007. And kind of just sounds like you're "being that guy". I mean, what does Claire Dane's being "butt-ugly" have to do with the quality of the film?

It's called taste and at its best it's hard to describe through technical means.

Other actresses I find beautiful are Jennifer Connelly, Winona Ryder, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johanson, Shannyn Sossamon. Less typical picks would be Tilda Swinton, Chloe Sevigny, Lauren Ambrose, Neve Campbell, Sigourney Weaver.

I typically prefer brunettes over blonds, but I really like Danes in this. Of course I thought Sienna Miller was incredibly attractive as well, and for different reasons. Danes was just very pleasant to look at, comforting in a way, but radiant. I liked her character (and her in general) and that also helps.

Drop,
hmmm..interesting, I'll agree with you with Connelly, Ryder, Portman...And i think that Tilda Swinton is attractive as well, eventhough she could be considered ugly...you are pretty generous for appreciating Danes.

You may have some points, but Claire Danes...ugly?! What?! Do you live your life surrounded by Victoria's Secret supermodels and have therefore developed some skewed version of reality? Seriously...I wanna know. Cause Claire is gorgeous, I'm sorry. You shot yourself in the foot there. ;)

I've loved Claire Danes ever since "My So-Called Life." Her character deserved a much better love interest.

I liked it but didn't think it was great. The story aspect was the best part and it only made me think how a great Neil Gaiman adaptation in the hands of a great director could be spectacular.

I thought it was average at best. It had too much of that "wink wink nudge nudge, aren't we so clever?" feeling behind it that kept taking me out of the story (which wasn't all that great to begin with). And I agree that Claire Danes is nothing to write home about. Would have preferred that they cast someone like Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan as the female lead.

Ditto. My favorite movie of the summer too.

It boggles my mind a film like this is polarizing. It's not a particularly risky, risque, or profound film. It's just a fun, less then serious, fantasy film. Fairly inoffensive overall. Same thing could be said of The Golden Compass.

I didn't think the film had much of any "wink wink nudge nudge, aren't we so clever?" bits. I think The Princess Bride has quite a bit more (which I would say is a better film). This film didn't take it's self that serious, but I never felt it really acknowledged it's silliness.

Yeah, but the jokes in The Princess Bride were clever and actually laugh out loud funny. And not just the occasional chuckle like with this one. I'm not saying Stardust should be The Princess Bride. But if you're going for comedic fantasy, do it right. Have your leads develop some real chemistry instead of just being the inevitable. Sorry, but I like to care a little bit about the characters I'm watching, and I couldn't care less about them. Some parts were amusing enough, like Robert De Niro. But it's not a good thing that I'm thinking "no, please don't go away, not with these two boring people." If they didn't bother you, that's great, but please don't tell me you gave a crap what happened to them. They didn't have any particular problems worth mentioning. The villains were a bore. And everything just sort of "happened," with no momentum. And the magic was boring too. How they made magic boring, I have no idea, but it was.

Are you kidding? I loved that movie

Ah, the complete disregard of another's opinions. I did care about Tristan and Yvaine. They had a sort of forbidden love, and Yvaine was always at risk of being found out and being killed. When she nearly crossed out of her world to become that fallen star, I felt worried. The film felt like it might actually go in that direction. Somehow this film managed to really make me think that bad things could happen, which doesn't even seem logical, not for this type of film.

My only real criticism is that it was off to a shaky start, the pacing took a while to hit a natural grove. I also was not anticipating DeNiro in the film, I knew what he would be doing and it sounded dumb, but it worked well.

you're in the minority toddly6666 - I enjoyed it immensly.

I would've felt worried for Yvaine if she actually appeared worried at all. She never did, so I never did.

It could have been better, plot was a bit forced, but overall enjoyed the movie.

Yeah, just watched it again to give it another chance, and I still had the same reaction to movie. Way too pedestrian for my tastes. The witches were a bore. The ghosts really were pointless and distracting. And too long. Not terrible, but certainly an example of what not to do with this sort of material.