Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I bought this DVD a couple of years ago, but have only sat down this afternoon and watched it, because the weather was so bad outside, and all I can say is wow! Sure the concert footage scenes are a little unrealistic due to the clothing of the audience,but you can easily overlook this due to the strength of the story and the performances on show here.Whilst the stars of the film are obviously David Essex and Adam Faith, both who are believable and affecting, the whole cast ably supports them and the casting can't be faulted.If you have an interest in pop/rock music through the decades, make sure you see this film, it's ripe for rediscovery and should be held in higher regard than it appears to be.

A relative innocent abroad in the wild world of rock'n'roll,wannabe pop star Jim Mclaine takes his band "The Stray Cats" on a typical early 1960s tour of British music venues,clubs,halls and eventually TV studios.With the inevitable van covered in girls' phone numbers they cover incalculable miles on the emerging motorway network doing countless gigs.Many people over 50 will remember seeing groups of grey - face scruffy young men huddling round the tables in the service areas of the M1 wolfing their egg and chips and reading "The Melody Maker" to find out where they were playing the following week. For most of them that was as good as it ever got,but some,like "The Stray Cats" through good management,good luck,good publicity and perhaps just a touch of talent,made that extra leap to stardom. The late Mr Adam Faith is superb as the band's manager.He is perhaps the best example of the British pop star turned actor.From "Beat Girl" and "Mix me a person" onwards he displayed a rare talent for serious performance and a decade on from "Stardust" was regularly acting on television. He "creates" Jim Mclaine,and in doing so,simultaneously sows the seeds for his destruction.Svengali - like he watches over his creature's adventures.Then he destroys him. Rather like "The Rake's Progress","Stardust" follows Jim's downward spiral from success to excess with a certain voyeuristic relish. It doesn't have to be judgemental,quite clearly doing serious substance abuse is a Bad Thing and certainly poor Jim pays for it and for his rather poor treatment of the opposite sex. If,when he first picked up that guitar in the shop,he could have seen the way things were destined to end up,would he hurriedly have put it back down again and studied for his 'A' levels?.....That'll be the day!

Following on from 'That'll Be The Day', this movie looks at what happens to Jim when he gets the stardom he wants. His band includes Paul Nicholas, Karl Howman, Dave Edmunds, and Keith Moon, with Adam Faith as manager. The band is called The Stray Cats and they make the usual trip through highs and lows of fan hysteria to a rather bleak ending.Of the two films, this one is the best. Not buying into the pop music myth, there is no happy ending for Jim after all his dreams have been granted and destroyed. The music is good, and the acting excellent (especially from Essex and Faith, and also Larry 'J R' Hagman). Look out as well for Blue Peter's Peter Duncan as the replacement for Nicholas in the band.

Stardust starts off beautifully. Jim McLaine (David Essex) is working at a carnival in England where business is slow that night, as it is Nov. 22, 1963. In the background is Neil Sedaka singing "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen". McLaine meets an old mate (Adam Faith) and tells him the little rock and roll band he's in needs a road manager. Faith sees opportunity and moulds the band known as the Stray Cats into a vehicle for Jim McLaine. There are so many great and true to life moments in this movie, the early recording sessions, Faith's behind the scenes manoeuvering, Larry Hagman arriving when the Stray Cats make it big to muscle in on things, and Jim McLaine's typical 1960's rock and roll odyssey. Essex and Faith are excellent (who says rockers can't act?) and it's a still relevent look at the "star maker machinery behind the popular songs". This picture is a sequel to That'll Be the Day, which is more about McLaine's coming of age in early 60's England, that is a great movie in it's own right, but the two can be watched independently of each other. Very highly recommended. Oh yes, the ending is as well directed, dramatic and atmospheric as the beginning. Great job Michael Apted!