SCIENCE FICTION LIBRARY
INFINITY REVIEWS
Anton van Beek and John Martin cast a critical eye over the very latest in cinema, 4K UHD, Blu-ray and streaming releases, and home video extras too!
Review Ratings
★★★★★
= Excellent
★★
★★
= Good
★★
★
= Average
★★
= Below Average
★
= Abysmal
STARDUST: LIMITED EDITION STEELBOOK (2007)
4K UHD & Blu-ray Out now, Paramount. Cert: 12
The quaint Victorian village of Wall takes its name from a nearby stone wall the villagers are forbidden to cross at any cost. However, when the adventurous 18-year-old Tristan Thorne (Charlie Cox) sees a star fall to earth on the other side of the wall, he is convinced that its remnants would make the perfect engagement gift for the love of his life, disinterested village beauty Victoria (Sienna Miller).
Managing to evade the village’s guard and cross the wall, Tristan finds himself in the magical kingdom of Stormhold, where he meets the human personification of the fallen star: the enigmatic Yvaine (Claire Danes). However, Tristan isn’t the only one looking for Yvaine, with a wicked witch (Michelle Pfeiffer) and two rival heirs to the kingdom’s throne (Mark Strong and Jason Flemyng) willing to do whatever it takes to get their hands on her.
Adapted from an illustrated fantasy story by Neil Gaiman and artist Charles Vess, Stardust remains a delightful outlier in the career of Matthew Vaughn, a filmmaker better known for producing several of Guy Ritchie’s early films and directing more traditional action fare like Layer Cake and the Kingsman movies. Hitting that same fairy-talefor-older-viewers vibe as The Princess Bride, Vaughn’s magical movie has plenty of fun playing around with familiar genre tropes while also keeping a fair few plot wheels spinning (kudos to Jane Goldman for her terrific script). Cox and Danes, meanwhile, make for a great screen couple, sharing plenty of chemistry as their relationship develops, while the likes of Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro are clearly having a blast being allowed to cut loose in memorable supporting roles.
It’s enough to make you wish that Vaughn had made a career doing more movies like this rather than wasting his time (and ours) churning out self-satisfied spy capers like The King’s Man and Argyle.
Extras: ★★★
This attractive dual-format Steelbook marks the first time Stardust has been released on 4K UHD. Paramount’s 2160p Dolby Vision incarnation of the movie is an absolute treat, the rich colours and enhanced resolution marking a major step-up in quality from the film’s 2010 Blu-ray release. Speaking of which... although the 4K disc is devoid of extras, the Steelbook also includes the old Blu-ray meaning you get all of the archival extras included on the Full HD platter. These include a commentary by Vaughn and Goldman; a five-part Making of... documentary; a set tour featurette with Gaiman and Vess; five deleted scenes; a blooper reel; and the theatrical trailer. For those who care about such things, the Steelbook also includes five exclusive art cards.
AvB
TOOMORROW (1970). DVD. Screenbound Pictures.
Out Now. PG.
★★★
Rudely awoken by her alarm clock, Olivia (Olivia Newton-John) begins a typically hectic day at the London College of Arts which, apart from her academic work, involves her in some pretty lily-livered student radicalism, dodging countless would-be suitors and trying to catch a music biz break for Toomorrow, the breezy pop combo she’s put together with three classmates (definitely not to be confused with Tomorrow, Steve Howe’s pre-Yes acid rock outfit).
Actually, it’s not that typical a day, given that this is the one in which safari-suited John Williams (Roy Dotrice) reveals both his interest in the act and, by peeling his face off, V-style, his true Alphoid identity (which might well remind viewers of the Outer Limits episode “Nightmare”). Teleported to the orbiting HQ of Galactic Control (”What a trip, man!”) our heroes learn that the Alphoids are a dying race and only the good vibes generated by Toomorrow (and their “Totaliser” PA gizmo) can restore their mojo.
Before you can say “Thomas Jerome NewtonJohn”, the kids have somehow effected an escape but it’s all the same to the Alphoids, who bide their time until the band’s breakthrough gig at The Roundhouse, which is sucked into space, audience and all, for a jarringly downbeat climax. Rudely awoken by her alarm clock, Olivia begins a typically hectic day at the London College of Arts. So, it was all a dream… or was it?