Trailer Tuesday: Stardust

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Last weekend a 'fake' in-progress trailer for Stardust appeared online. This week, finally, the first official trailer is up.



There's been quite a bit of commentary on this trailer. Nat from The Film Experience weighs in his thoughts here. The Ain't It Cool News forums are buzzing with some interesting discussion. Even author Neil Gaiman, on whose work Stardust is based, has commented on his blog.

You see the big issue is how audiences will respond to the film. Stardust is not conventional, serious fantasy. Besides its all-star cast, it has a quirky, whimsical sense of humour, which is apparent in the first half of the trailer. But it also has plenty of action, and some very dark streaks as well, which are very clear in the last minute of the trailer (naturally, I responded more to this content).

Will audiences be able to handle such a mix? Have the film makers achieved a satisfying balance between all the elements? This isn't Harry Potter, with a built in audience, after all. Apparently it's something that has really been bothering Paramount, the studio distributing the film. They've been very tentative in terms of their marketing approach.


It is a worry, but right now I'm just excited at the prospect of seeing Michelle Pfeiffer in all her witchy, evil glory (and aging make-up). I really hope they haven't chopped her character's one-on-one combat with a unicorn, which was a fantastic, visceral scene in the book.

Anyway, the official Stardust site has also been updated with plenty of awesome new content.

Stardust is released in North America on 10 August, with its debut pretty much everywhere else in September and October.

Comments

Gareth said…
Hmmm, you know, that actually looks pretty damn cool. Flying ships, magic, sword fighting, shweet! And Michelles witch actually looks quite cool. More importantly, she uses her magic a lot. Not like Gandalf :/. Gandalf was such a pussy. Yakked a lot then fall off a bridge.

Said it before, I'll say it again. Mages for the win ;)
3:50 PM
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