Der Sternwanderer

10 August 2007. Except for an awkward scene, this refreshing fairy tale fantasy has a fun and delightful undercurrent of adult cynical wit that charms its way into the audience as well as a soundtrack that powerfully moves this fairy epic along. Except for one of the Robert DeNiro scenes that doesn't come across smooth and appears out of sync with the tone of the rest of the movie, this luscious romantic fairy tail has a great storytelling feel and the strong magic and the fine balance between serious adventure scenes and the lighter spiritual humor is well done. In the updated tradition of THE PRINCESS BRIDE this contemporary presentation of magic and love is captivating. Eight out of Ten Stars.

I went into this film with modest hopes, the director had pedigree, I had seen Charlie Cox in Casanova and was impressed, and literally EVERYONE had been raving about it. As the story started to unfold I was introduced to Victorian England on one side of a mysterious Wall, and on the other a magical land, Stormhold. The actual plot weaves together many strands and I don't want to ruin the surprises for anyone, but at the barest it is the simple tale of a young man (Charlie Cox) in love with the village beauty (Sienna Miller). To win her love he tells her he will fetch back a fallen star from the other side of the Wall. Howver when he arrives at the star he finds not a lump of astral metal as he expected but a beautiful woman (Claire Danes). As the two journey back to the wall they find themselves in the adventure of a lifetime. The visuals are brilliant, England looks stunning, in a similar fashion to New Zealand in LOTR, and it s full of wonderful little flourishes, such as the way that the star shines when she is happy, a very simple effect, but one that looks radiant. As well as this the acting good, especially from the leads and Robert DeNiro, whose turn as the captain of an airship is incredibly memorable. This film is THE perfect date movie, it is romantic without being a "chick flick", funny and full of wonderful action pieces that will satisfy any action film fan. All in all it is a truly magical experience from beginning to end, and I now Im raving about it to EVERYONE!

This movie is a lot of fun. The actors really make the movie go the distance though. Without giving away the plot, I would describe it as a new Princess Bride cult favorite that should stand the test of time. You get to see a whole different side to Robert DeNiro in this movie! (Worth the price of admission just for that!) All the elements are there from adventure to romance, and well placed comedy.

People of all ages will enjoy it. (My parents even did!) Good special effects, may be scary for the little ones. Good date movie. Great for some escapism.

Deserves an A. (Hope it does well at the box office)

I went to a small advance screening of this movie on July 19th, knowing no more than the names of a few of the actors and that it was a fantasy/adventure quest of some sort.

The plot line really is nothing like I have seen, and a unique story is certainly appreciated with everything else that is currently in or coming soon to theaters. In spite of what first impressions may give, it isn't cheesy, corny, tacky, or ridiculous, and is actually highly entertaining and funny. The flow is quite well done, nothing seems rushed or dragged out. The soundtrack, for lack of better words, is magical and adds much to the film, as opposed to simply filling the silence as often happens in movies or TV. And even though I might have known what was coming at points, I still couldn't bear to stop watching the screen; to my knowledge, not a single person left the theater during the entire movie.

My one gripe is that there seems to be almost no marketing for this film, and as brilliant as it is I can't figure out why.

Surprised at how much I enjoyed this. The characters were really well developed, the world building was fantastic and the action was really enjoyable. Mark Strong is great as ever as the villain, but it has to be Robert DeNiro who just steals the film in the weirdest role I could think of for him. The story is genuinely intriguing, but it's the world building that really did it for me. I really felt immersed in this fantasy world, and the exposition was delivered really naturally. As much as I have gripes with some of Matthew Vaughn's films, the actual direction is never the issue, and it's quite good here too. Now my main issue is that the film is trying to juggle quite a lot of storylines, and it feels a bit rushed as a result. You could probably cut Michelle Pfieffer's plotline down quite a bit in order to concentrate on the main storyline more. But overall, this is a surprisingly fun film that I would definitely recommend