A Short Review of Neil Gaiman's "Stardust"

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Hugh
Posts: 595
Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2000 6:01 am
Location: Virginia

A Short Review of Neil Gaiman's "Stardust"

Post by Hugh »

My wife and I saw "Stardust" last Saturday evening and it was superb. It took the basic plotline of the book but it differed in some details, mostly in the ending. But this is one of those rare occasions where the book and the film come out nearly equal. Yes, there is somewhat less detail in the film than in the book, but that is only natural for, as J. K. Rowling put it, having everything in one of her books in a film would mean the the film would be 8-9 hours or more long. But Gaiman was very much involved in the screenplay and it shows. His senses of whimsy, of wonder, and of ironic humor appear all throughout the film.

Michelle Pfeiffer turns in a bravura performance as Lamia, the evil witch. I love watching actors and actresses playing villains as they seem to really enjoy the roles and she truly does.

The cameo by Robert DeNiro as the captain of the sky-ship is a much expanded role from the book and it is a true highlight of the film. I suspect that it is also a send-up of Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow character from "The Pirates of the Caribbean." Also, my wife LOVED the special effects of the sky-ship sailing through thunderstorms.

The ending of the film is much more action-oriented and will appeal much more to the teenagers than would the ending in the book and it gives room for some truly spectacular special effects.

There were trailers for a couple of other films due out. One was Robert Zemeckis' "Beowulf" which looks really good in the trailers at least and the other was "The Golden Compass" which also looked ptetty good. The IMDB site for "Beowulf" shows Neil Gaiman as one of the screenwriters for the film and that is a very hopeful sign.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442933/fullc redits#wr...

And here is the IMDB site for "The Golden Compass":
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385752/
Trying to Walk in the Light, Hugh
1 John 1:5
JOHN THURSTON
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Thank you Hugh

Post by JOHN THURSTON »

Hi Sir Hugh:

I am sorry I could not get expanded pictures of the swords imbedded in this post. One was probably a Mycenaen Age "Xiphpos" such as one one have expected to see at Troy and the second is a picture of a Hanwei "medium priced "Gim" (double edged sword of the Chinese Aristocracy),

The Small pictures do neither justice and I will try again.



Image



Image


In any event, much as the swords you are getting are "must haves" the Movie reviewed seems like a "must see".

Moreover, I would be most interested in your analysis of the Arms, Armor and tactics of the Spartans in the movie the 300.

You might want to post it on a new thread sp that it gets a bit of readership.

To change the Subject back; the "Xiphos" shown was sent to me by Sensei Pantazi after a museum visit.

The Gim is my personal sword and is razor sharp. The Fittings are Bronze and the steel High Carbon Steel. Some might call this a Damascus Blade (or Toledo blade) because it was, I thnk, it these two cities under Islamic rule that smoths first started to equal the skill of their counterparts in the East.

Some might call it "Damascus" because of the unusual appearing patterening on the Blade, but this is simply a roduct of not polishing out the folds as might have been done on a folded steel Gim or Katana made in the Easi.

John
"All Enlightenment Gratefully Accepted"
Hugh
Posts: 595
Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2000 6:01 am
Location: Virginia

Post by Hugh »

Oh, and you do NOT want to get me started on that piece of bovine excrement calle "300"![/code]
Trying to Walk in the Light, Hugh
1 John 1:5
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