Stardust
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: August 10, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
SalonStephanie Zacharek
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. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
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. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
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. Read full review
83
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
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. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
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. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Stardust lights up the screen with a splendid tale of heroism and romance. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Unlike "Pirates," Stardust is anything but a wretched mess. It's a charming and smartly plotted fantasy. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
For audiences tired of summer sequels that grind through the familiar motions, Stardust provides a dizzying antidote. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
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. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
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. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
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. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
It's the closest the movies have come in a while to the nudgy, knowing fairy-tale enchantment of "The Princess Bride." Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Its sensibility stays true to Gaiman's style: heroic, wryly funny, but bloodthirsty as great fairy tales can often be. Read full review
75
PremiereGlenn Kenny
Stardust is an eye-poppingly elaborate fantasy that's shot through with action-movie adrenaline and attitude. Read full review
70
Film ThreatMichael Ferraro
Delivers on the action front, laughs, and some great visual splendor. The only real problem with this film is the running time. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterSura Wood
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. Read full review
70
VarietyJohn Anderson
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. Read full review
70
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Stardust has it all: sweetness, magic, lusty wenches, evil witches, tankards of mead, a gay pirate. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Michelle Pfeiffer is Lamia, as deliciously evil a witch as the movies have ever invented. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoanne Kaufman
Immensely winning and visually arresting adaptation of Gaiman's 1998 fantasy. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Stardust in a nutshell: hardly great shakes, but better and more satisfying than it first seems. Read full review
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
an overstuffed, overlong epic with a tongue-in-cheek approach. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Brings too much of EVERYTHING to the table: It's the cinema equivalent of a long, winding, run-on sentence. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It's a film you enjoy in pieces, but the jigsaw never gets solved. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
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. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
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. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
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. Read full review
50
NewsweekDavid Ansen
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. Read full review
50
Village VoiceRobert Wilonsky
This is just a silly movie about silly things starring famous people acting all silly. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
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. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
It's the big stuff that doesn't really work, at least well enough to be called special. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Ponderously plotted, poorly cast, visually undistinguished and devoid of any real verve or charm. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
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. Read full review
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