Metascore
66 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 33 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 33
  2. Negative: 1 out of 33
  1. 90
    Imaginative and intricate, but it's also joyfully casual, maybe to the point of being a little messy in places. But even its flaws work in its favor.
  2. 90
    Floating in on an airy breeze of dreams and true love, the lively adventure-romance Stardust offers that elusive quality summer movies are supposed to possess but rarely do -- total escape.
  3. While it won't rival the Harry Potter movies as a cultural milestone, the luminous, irresistible Stardust is no less industrious at scavenging myths and legends and making something altogether new from the familiar pickings.
  4. 83
    If you have an ounce of romance in you, you'll sense your own inner Captain Blood emerge when Captain Shakespeare turns him into a dashing figure with a dangerous sword.
  5. Danes doesn't quite fit into the mindscape – she's too bland for a human star – but Cox comes of age quite convincingly, De Niro is a hoot, as is Ricky Gervais as a slimy tradesman. Pfeiffer has a field day.
  6. 75
    Perhaps the most surprising thing about Stardust is that its most winning element is neither its delightful story nor its special effects but its sly sense of humor.
  7. Unlike "Pirates," Stardust is anything but a wretched mess. It's a charming and smartly plotted fantasy.
  8. Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    75
    Stardust lights up the screen with a splendid tale of heroism and romance.
  9. 75
    There's less whimsy to be found here than in "The Princess Bride," but the film is likely to appeal to the same group of older children and adults that appreciated Rob Reiner's classic.
  10. Reviewed by: Glenn Kenny
    75
    Stardust is an eye-poppingly elaborate fantasy that's shot through with action-movie adrenaline and attitude.
  11. For audiences tired of summer sequels that grind through the familiar motions, Stardust provides a dizzying antidote.
  12. Its sensibility stays true to Gaiman's style: heroic, wryly funny, but bloodthirsty as great fairy tales can often be.
  13. It's the closest the movies have come in a while to the nudgy, knowing fairy-tale enchantment of "The Princess Bride."
  14. 75
    The film's merry, enthusiastic tone--set largely by Robert De Niro, playing a giddy transvestite sky-pirate to the hilt--is hard to beat.
  15. Reviewed by: Sura Wood
    70
    Diverting and pleasurable to watch, Stardust, a tongue-in-cheek sword-and-sorcerers romp bolstered by a top-flight cast, is most adroit when it plays the fantasy straight rather than sending up the genre.
  16. Reviewed by: Michael Ferraro
    70
    Delivers on the action front, laughs, and some great visual splendor. The only real problem with this film is the running time.
  17. Michelle Pfeiffer is Lamia, as deliciously evil a witch as the movies have ever invented.
  18. Reviewed by: John Anderson
    70
    Sprinkled with tongue-in-cheek humor, fairly adult jokes and some well-known faces acting very silly, this adventure story should have particular appeal to fans of "The Princess Bride," but in any event will never be mistaken for a strictly-for-kids movie.
  19. Reviewed by: Joanne Kaufman
    70
    Immensely winning and visually arresting adaptation of Gaiman's 1998 fantasy.
  20. 70
    Stardust has it all: sweetness, magic, lusty wenches, evil witches, tankards of mead, a gay pirate.
  21. 67
    Stardust in a nutshell: hardly great shakes, but better and more satisfying than it first seems.
  22. 63
    It's a film you enjoy in pieces, but the jigsaw never gets solved.
  23. 63
    an overstuffed, overlong epic with a tongue-in-cheek approach.
  24. Brings too much of EVERYTHING to the table: It's the cinema equivalent of a long, winding, run-on sentence.
  25. 63
    Thank goodness for Pfeiffer's Lamia, a harridan who's lived long enough to get the face she deserves and will do anything to hide it. She's a wicked delight.
  26. It's puffed up in obvious ways but disarmingly puckish in others. As that capering pirate, De Niro is god-awful--yet his gung-ho spirit wins him Brownie points.
  27. It's the big stuff that doesn't really work, at least well enough to be called special.
  28. 50
    Stardust has lost a good amount of its magic in the transformation from page to screen. It's the cinematic equivalent of getting a punch in the mind's eye by a bunch of faeries wearing the coolest Doc Martens this side of Florin.
  29. Ponderously plotted, poorly cast, visually undistinguished and devoid of any real verve or charm.
  30. Reviewed by: Robert Wilonsky
    50
    This is just a silly movie about silly things starring famous people acting all silly.
  31. Reviewed by: David Ansen
    50
    Aims for a "Princess Bride" mix of whimsy and wonderment, the sardonic and the romantic, with only sporadic success. Both visually and narratively cluttered, the film diverts more than it enchants.
  32. I'm a sucker for fantasies, but this one is so undistinguished and arbitrary that it left few traces in my consciousness, apart from the impression that the filmmakers resort to cruelty whenever they run out of ideas, which is often.
  33. 38
    Stardust certainly could have gone somewhere fun. But the magic and zip you need to get a blimp like this off the ground is scarce.
User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 149 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 77 out of 84
  2. Negative: 5 out of 84
  1. 10
    Favorite movie by far. There is a twist around every corner that makes you laugh or move to the edge of you seat. The kind of movie you could watch over, and over, and over. Full Review »
  2. 10
    What a treat! I walked into the theater expecting to see one of the worst movies of all time, but I was delighted to find that the movie was filled with stars who portrayed their roles perfectly, a wonderfully original, comical and surprisingly cohesive story. The story is an interesting mixture of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Titanic, but it all comes together quite well to tell an adorable tale of adventure and love with a perfectly simple yet tear-jerking ending. The acting was marvelous. Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro were especially fun to watch, but every character shines at one point or another. I'm still a little confused because it was so perfectly random and unexpected, but it's one of the first movies I've seen in a long time where I haven't noticed or cared about the length. It's a legitimately fun move to watch and well worth seeing. Full Review »
  3. bankrobber
    9
    Fantastic movie. The ideal setting to watch it would be with your girlfriend in an open air cinema, but even if you are solo in your parents basement its still a great film! Full Review »