The Most Underrated Fantasy Movie Of The 2000s Just Got A New 4K Blu-Ray
Keep watching the skies.
Between Good Omens “Season” 3 arriving next month and the Harry Potter reboot no one but HBO’s accountants asked for continuing forward, it’s as difficult as it’s ever been to separate inspiring creations from their less-than-inspiring creators. With J.K. Rowling serving as executive producer on the new Potter series, and with some of her extensive royalties being funneled into anti-trans rights campaigns, giving the show a pass certainly seems like an easy piece of moral calculus.
Neil Gaiman, meanwhile, stepped away from Good Omens in the wake of sexual assault allegations from nine women, complicating the fandom’s relationship with the franchise. That the show will enjoy a heavily truncated third season is more than Gaiman’s other projects got: a Graveyard Book movie, a new Coraline musical, and an Anansi Boys TV show were among the many productions axed, despite the latter two being pretty much set to go. But what do we do with the creations that already exist?
Movies, after all, are the product of many people’s hard work, even if one infamous name dominates the credits. Even so, can you love a love story written by someone so unlovable? That’s for you to decide, but maybe it’s fitting that Stardust, released in theaters in 2007 and now just re-released on 4K UHD Blu-ray by Paramount, is about a young man who thinks he’s found his true love, only to realize that she was actually rather awful, and that his real interests lie elsewhere.
More prosaically, Gaiman had little to do with the adaptation of his 1999 novel, and the film made several changes from its source material for the sake of good cinema. Directed by Matthew Vaughn, and co-written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman, Stardust, as a movie, is very much its own strange and charming thing.
How Was Stardust Received Upon Release?
Positively, for the most part, with critics split on its pacing and efficacy as an overall package, but most finding at least something to enjoy in its parade of fantasy whimsy. The story of Tristan Thorn (Charlie Cox) venturing out from his mundane English village to the fantasy kingdom of Stormhold in search of a fallen star to present to his crush is certainly an eventful one; not only does the star turn out to be Claire Danes, but several other players — including ruthless witch Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer) and equally ruthless prince Septimus (Mark Strong) — all have their own reasons for wanting to get their hands on her.
This left Vaughn juggling a lot of side stories and diversions, and as plots and motivations collide, Stardust can almost feel like a fairy tale take on the interwoven, Pulp Fiction-style crime caper. Whether that sounds appealing is up to your personal tastes, but its distinct blend of romance, action, and humor mostly worked for most viewers.
Pfeiffer’s vain and conniving performance was considered a particular highlight, while critics were very split on Robert de Niro as Captain Shakespeare, a villainous airship pirate hiding a campy secret (and, in ahead-of-their-time feedback, at least a few critics found Ricky Gervais annoying). Empire summing it up as, “Patchy but great fun, peppering plenty of black humour into a sweet if silly fairy-tale romance” was fair in 2007 and remains fair now.
Tristian and Septimus wear their morality on their sleeve.
Why Is Stardust Important To See Now?
Because it feels both timely and timeless. It’s fun to see baby Charlie Cox be allowed to smile and make eye contact with people as Daredevil: Born Again airs another season, and it’s also nice to be reminded that Matthew Vaughn used to know how to direct movies before he caught Argylle Madness. Stardust, in fact, was just Vaughn’s second directorial project (following the underrated gangster flick Layer Cake), and the flair he demonstrated here earned him a well-deserved crack at franchises like X-Men and Kingsman. It’s especially interesting to go back and see Vaughn apply his talent for action and humor in a PG-13 setting, a realm he seems unlikely to visit again anytime soon.
And, as the romantasy genre threatens to conquer fantasy fiction, an upcoming wave of movie and TV adaptations, and possibly all of pop culture as we know it, it’s nice to watch a movie with the ethos of an old-fashioned fairy tale rather than a collection of TV Tropes pages carefully assembled to achieve maximum marketability. Shamelessly and uncomplicatedly romantic, Stardust feels something like The Princess Bride given a quarter-turn towards the even more ridiculous. There’s a reason it’s not an all-time classic like Rob Reiner’s film, but there’s also a reason it works more than well enough to give you a charming night in.
Michelle Pfeiffer and her witchy sisters are a highlight.
What New Features Does The Stardust 4K Blu-Ray Have?
Technically, none of the 4K’s special features are new, although with the 2024 4K release being a limited-edition Steelbook and the Blu-ray release before that dating back to 2010, the package’s legacy features are still likely to be new to the average viewer. Those include:
- Commentary by director Matthew Vaughn and writer Jane Goldman
- Crossing the wall: The making of Stardust
- Behind-the-scenes featurettes
- Deleted scenes
- Blooper reel
- Theatrical trailer
