Blogs I read
Review: Stardust
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beth — Sat, Apr 19 2008
This is one of those rare instances where I saw the movie before I read the book. Normally, I'd probably prefer one over the other or pick out all the details that were different between them and tsk tsk appropriately. But in this case, the book and the movie are so different that they're really two different beasts.
Stardust by Neil Gaiman is a short novel (novela?) about a young man sent on a quest by his "true love" to retrieve a fallen star. The star happens to have fallen on the other side of the wall separating his village Wall from the fairy world. The star also happens to be a girl.
This story is very typical Neil Gaiman, with dark humor and lots of oddities, magic, and adventure. I really enjoyed reading it, although the two main characters felt a little underdeveloped. The resolution of the story is a lot quieter and longer than you'd expect, but the details of the characters they meet along the way are really what makes the book enchanting.
The movie Stardust is very loosely based on the plot of the book. They took the story and made it more in stride with Hollywood basics - more focus on the love story, less dark humor, a big swashbuckling finish. Purists might not like it, but I actually thought it was a smart move. The book is wonderful, but if it were turned into a movie with little change, I think it might make for a boring 90 minutes of theater time. The movie kept the themes and magic of the book intact while making it a much more fun time in the theater. Aside from the atrocious casting of Claire Danes as the star (and don't get me wrong, I normally love Claire Danes), the movie is a great fantasy film and hilarious. We saw the film at a free preview, or else I could never have talked my husband into seeing it, and even he left saying how much he enjoyed it and how much funnier it was than he expected.
I recommend both the book and the movie, but maybe not in the same season.
Stardust by Neil Gaiman is a short novel (novela?) about a young man sent on a quest by his "true love" to retrieve a fallen star. The star happens to have fallen on the other side of the wall separating his village Wall from the fairy world. The star also happens to be a girl.
This story is very typical Neil Gaiman, with dark humor and lots of oddities, magic, and adventure. I really enjoyed reading it, although the two main characters felt a little underdeveloped. The resolution of the story is a lot quieter and longer than you'd expect, but the details of the characters they meet along the way are really what makes the book enchanting.
The movie Stardust is very loosely based on the plot of the book. They took the story and made it more in stride with Hollywood basics - more focus on the love story, less dark humor, a big swashbuckling finish. Purists might not like it, but I actually thought it was a smart move. The book is wonderful, but if it were turned into a movie with little change, I think it might make for a boring 90 minutes of theater time. The movie kept the themes and magic of the book intact while making it a much more fun time in the theater. Aside from the atrocious casting of Claire Danes as the star (and don't get me wrong, I normally love Claire Danes), the movie is a great fantasy film and hilarious. We saw the film at a free preview, or else I could never have talked my husband into seeing it, and even he left saying how much he enjoyed it and how much funnier it was than he expected.
I recommend both the book and the movie, but maybe not in the same season.
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