See the birth of an icon in this trailer for David Bowie biopic Stardust

The late David Bowie was one of rock’s most iconic musicians. And just as famous as the man himself was Ziggy Stardust. The “man from out of space” stage persona adopted by Bowie – which many people associate with his early music – made him the legendary showman he would become known as. How exactly did Bowie come about creating such a bizarre and unusual stage personality though? Well, that’s the story behind Stardust, a new biopic on the music legend’s life that tells his journey from obscure and struggling artist to becoming one of the biggest stars on earth.

Directed by Gabriel Range – who co-wrote the script with Christopher Bell – Stardust sees real-life musician Johnny Flynn play the role of the rock icon and follows him on a three-week tour of the US where he becomes inspired to ditch his usual style – which wasn’t proving popular at the time – and adopt a stage persona instead. Drastically changing his look, Bowie transformed himself into Ziggy Stardust, a transformative journey which we get a glimpse of in the first trailer for the movie below:

Stardust follows in the footsteps of recent releases Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman which also told the colourful life stories of other British music legends from this era, namely Freddie Mercury and Elton John. But while Stardust looks like it will be quite a poignant and in-depth look into this important part of Bowie’s life, there is one big thing missing from the trailer that helped to elevate those previously mentioned biopics: the music

And that, sadly, is no mistake on the part of the trailer as this movie does not have the rights to any of Bowie’s music (as reported by Cinemablend). Meaning that none of those big hits that made him so famous will appear anywhere in the movie – not even in stage performances. Which honestly makes the whole movie feel a bit pointless, because why would we want to experience this transitional journey of the man if we can’t get to hear how it transitioned his music as well? A thought, which Bowie’s own son, Moon and Warcraft director Duncan Jones, also shared via Twitter:

This movie won’t have any of dad’s music in it, & I can’t imagine that changing. If you want to see a biopic without his music or the families blessing, that’s up to the audience.

I certainly like the story the film is trying to portray and the performance by Flynn looks interesting – to say the least – but the film appears to lack energy and, without the music, some authenticity as well. It may still provide an interesting viewing experience, but one that is unlikely to get fans excited.

Last Updated: October 30, 2020