History YMMV / Stardust

* GeniusBonus: Septimus' theme in the soundtrack is mostly in the time signature 7/8, likely a reference to him being the seventh numbered out of eight siblings.[[note]]the track is also, appropriately, the seventh track on the soundtrack album[[/note]]

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Lamia killing [[spoiler: Ditchwater Sal by blasting her head off in a magic duel? Horrifying. Sal's headless body dancing around like a decapitated chicken for several seconds? ''Hilarious.'']]

** The dead princes' JacobMarleyApparel is mostly played for laughs -- particularly Secundus, since the circumstances of his death [[BlackComedy leave him with an incredibly comical squashed face]] -- but poor Sextus, who died in a fire and clearly looks it, can make viewers squirm, not to mention Quintus, who has an axe in his head.

* EvilIsSexy:
** Lamia, the main antagonist, is the most played up for her fanservice -- this is actually a plot point, since part of her motivation is to be young and beautiful.
** Septimus, the most ruthless of the princes, is also the most attractive (evident even in the way he dresses, which while not heavily sexualized still plays off the "bad boy" archetype).

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Victoria is presented as something of an AlphaBitch (in contrast to her sweet persona in the book), but take note of the picnic scene: she doesn't string Tristan along, she's up front about the fact that Humphrey is going to propose to her and that she'll say yes, and she never gives Tristan any hint that he's going to end up with her. But then again, she does backtrack and offer Tristan the EngagementChallenge, and seems excited to see him when he does return -- so was she just playing him and Humphrey off each other the whole time?

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: The story is standard fairy-tale fare, but chapter 1 has an explicit sex scene. A [[PrecisionFStrike strategically-inserted]] "fuck" appears shortly after.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Victoria is presented as something of an AlphaBitch (in contrast to her sweet persona in the book) but take note of the picnic scene: she doesn't string Tristan along, she's up front that Humphrey is going to propose to her and that she'll say yes, and she never gives Tristan any hint that he's going to end up with her. But then again, she does backtrack and offer Tristan the EngagementChallenge, and seem excited to see him when he does return - so was she just playing him and Humphrey off each other the whole time?
* AwardSnub: "Rule the World" by Music/TakeThatBand was submitted for the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Original Song but didn't recieve a nomination. Despite that it was one of Take That's biggest selling singles and remains a staple of their live performances.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yio1vTuv7lQ Shooting Star]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiXemEn2J8c The Star Shines]] are probably fantasy distilled into music form.

** Lamia, the main antagonist, is the most played up for her fanservice--this is actually a plot point, since part of her motivation is to be young and beautiful.
** Septimus, the most ruthless of the princes, is also the most attractive. (Which is evident even in the way he dresses, which while not heavily sexualized still plays off the "bad boy" archetype.)
* GeniusBonus: Septimus' theme in the soundtrack is mostly in the time signature 7/8, likely a reference to him being the seventh numbered out of eight siblings.[[note]]The track is also, appropriately, the seventh track on the soundtrack album[[/note]]
** The witches' names Lamia, Mormo and Empusa are taken from Greek mythology. In the movie, Lamia only refers to the other two by name once and the casual viewer has no way to know which is Empusa and which is Mormo. The final battle however references aspects of the Greek mythology Empusa and Lamia clearly identifying both (Empusa, said in mythology to have flaming hair, battles Septimus by shooting torrents of fire his way, and Mormo, in mythology often called Mormolykos (terrible wolves) has a major moment involving said animals). Also, although not said to be sisters in Greek mythology, all three monsters (Lamia, Mormo, Empusa) were described as vampiric beings that stole the youth and life force of young people through feeding on their flesh and blood.

** Creator/ClaireDanes received great praise for absolutely nailing an English accent. Some even claimed it sounded more natural than her real voice.

** Bernard, the boy-turned-goat-turned-hot-chick, who is ''very'' happy to be helping Yvaine undress. Though it's not really LesYay in this case since, again, Bernard is actually a boy, just a girl when this is transpiring.
** And in a much more creepy sense, Lamia and Yvaine pretty early on. The massage scene, anyone?

** The dead princes' JacobMarleyApparel is mostly played for laughs -- particularly Secundus, since the circumstances of his death [[BlackComedy automatically render his squashed face incredibly comical]] -- but poor Sextus, who died in a fire and clearly looks it, makes viewers squirm, not to mention Quintus, who has an axe in his head.

** Just imagine if Tristan had taken Yvaine through the threshold to Wall as planned? Or if she hadn't been stopped from crossing herself in time?

--->'''The King:''' Of my seven sons there are four of you today still standing--this is quite a break with tradition, I had twelve brothers--\\

** Ricky Gervais just has three scenes as Ferdie - the fast talking trader - and his third scene has him merely making animal noises before Septimus kills him. But he has plenty of memorable lines.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: Early on in the film, there are a pair of tiny CGI elephants that aren't that well integrated into the scene.

** The epicness when [[spoiler:Lamia kills Septimus]] by [[spoiler:throwing his voodoo doll into a pond and thus making Septimus]] FLOAT IN MID-AIR has to be seen to be truly appreciated.
** Not as dramatic, but almost as impressive, is the scene where Yvaine tries to maul the witch Sal only to bounce off her like a magnet. Except with sparks. Quite a mastery of stunt-acting and CGI.