Fantasy films are a hard sell. You are asking the audience to suspend disbelief to a greater degree than your standard rom-com or action flick; even then, if the title doesn't include the words Harry, Lord, or Narnia, forget about it, you aren't going anywhere. A good example of this would be the recent big screen debut of The Golden Compass. Sure, it was the top box office hit of the weekend but it was well below expectations and is fading fast.

Then again, The Golden Compass really wasn't all that good. Perhaps a better example of this, with a good story at its center, would be Stardust; that is, after all, what this review is about. Here is a movie that was largely ignored at the box office, but it is so good that I hope that it finds an audience now that it is on store shelves.

When Stardust arrived this past August, it was like a breath of fresh air. It arrived as counter-programming in the waning summer season; Transformers was still hot, The Bourne Ultimatum was making a splash, The Simpson was showing its legs, and Rush Hour 3 was making its presence known. Do you see a trend there? Stardust was of a decidedly different lineage than those other films.

While those other films by and large played to a large segment of the populace, Stardust stood out as this weird little oddity that no one knew much about. Now this is not a comment on the quality of those other films, as most of them were good if not excellent. It is just they belong to the blockbuster type of film that were targeted at a wider audience. Stardust had lower expectations, although its quality screamed for more. It was saddled with an advertising campaign that did not hit hard enough and did not give one a good idea of what it was about. I remember walking into the theater knowing it was a fantasy film, but beyond that? Forget it.

By now, I am sure you are wondering just what makes Stardust so great. Let me give you the short answer: it just is. Not good enough?

Stardust presents a world full of magical whimsy, high adventure, and romance. It strips away the seriousness of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and does not get into the serialized nature of the Harry Potter franchise. Rather than bring to mind those recent films, it is better to look about twenty years into the past for its nearest kin. That's right, the film draws favorable comparisons to The Princess Bride. While the relationship is apt, do not think of Stardust as The Princess Bride Part 2; it is more of a tonal relationship.