It’s a shame when a lovely and charming fantasy movie doesn’t gets the audience it so richly deserves, but that’s exactly what happened when the director of Kick-Ass and Kingsman decided he was going to make a romantic, funny, storybook adventure with a stacked cast and a real sense of magic. The only problem was, nobody went to see it. But that’s okay, because now it’s available to watch for a very low cost: nothing.
Stardust is streaming for free on Pluto this month, giving viewers another chance to revisit Matthew Vaughn’s fantasy adventure after it was missed by, well, pretty much everybody. The film is based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, and it follows a young man who crosses into a magical kingdom to retrieve a fallen star, only to discover the star is actually a woman being hunted by witches and princes. This also sounds like something of an acid trip, but the film is actually quite good!
The cast includes Charlie Cox (Daredevil: Born Again) as Tristan Thorn, Claire Danes (Romeo + Juliet) as Yvaine, Michelle Pfeiffer (The Madison) as Lamia, Robert De Niro (Goodfellas) as Captain Shakespeare, Sienna Miller (Anatomy of a Scandal) as Victoria, Ricky Gervais (The Office) as Ferdy, Mark Strong (Kingsman: The Secret Service) as Septimus, and Henry Cavill (The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare) as Humphrey.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
The Matrix
Mad Max
Blade Runner
Dune
Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Was ‘Stardust’ a Success?
Unfortunately not. It wasn’t much of a theatrical success, but it wasn’t a complete disaster either, grossing about $137.5 million worldwide, including just $38.6 million domestically, against a reported $70 million budget. Adjusted for today, that’s roughly $215 million worldwide, $60 million domestic, and a budget of about $110 million. It’s the kind of film that you’d say made its money back, broke even, and people liked it, so no harm done.
Critically though, it’s aged rather nicely into a proper cult favorite. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 77%, and it won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form, plus the Empire Award for Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy. It also won the Phoenix Film Critics Society’s Overlooked Film of the Year, which is quite amusing because it basically sums the movie up as “nobody went to see this, but you probably should have”.
Stardust is streaming for free on Pluto this month.
