Michelle Pfeiffer gets hit with a touch of Stardust. Photo by David James/Paramount Pictures

The summer movie gods have saved the best for last, and it has arrived in the form of a shooting star.

Well, sort of. Stardust is the best movie released this summer, and everyone in the film is chasing a shooting star that happens to be in the lovely persona of Claire Danes. The bold combination of top-notch visual effects and classic fairy-tale storytelling make the film an experience that is both enchanting and uplifting. This is a movie to be seen and adored with an open mind and eager affection.

Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, the whimsical story follows Danes’ beautiful star, named Yvaine, as she’s hunted by princes, witches and a young man named Tristan (Charlie Cox), who promises to return the star to his unrequited love, Victoria (Sienna Miller). As in many fairy tales, it’s the journey, not the destination, that is most important, and screenwriters Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn (who also directed) do a great job of mixing the magic and fantasy with reality. After finding and kidnapping Yvaine, Tristan must fend off the sons of the King (Peter O’Toole), Septimus (Mark Strong) and Primus (Jason Flemnyg), one of whom must possess her ruby red necklace in order to succeed their father on the throne.

Also tracking Yvaine/Tristan is Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), a 400-year-old witch who needs the heart of a star for eternal youth and beauty. Along the way Yvaine/Tristan find help from a sky pirate named Captain Shakespeare (Robert De Niro, who does an about-face that has to be seen to be believed), and British comedian Ricky Gervais has an inspired cameo as a black market dealer.

The film contains a lot of standard summer movie characteristics: impressive visual effects, a love story, betrayals, revenge, finding oneself in the face of danger, and even pirates. But it never feels as if it’s pandering to supposed audience demands, and instead exists solely within its own breezily entertaining, storybook world. The tone of the film can best be compared to Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride (1987), which was also a fairy tale in a far-off land full of intrigue, action, likable characters and a love story for the ages.

Matthew Vaughn’s previous work, the British crime drama Layer Cake (2004), was an upbeat, keep-you-on-your-toes good time starring the man who would become James Bond, Daniel Craig. Vaughn’s mastery of pacing and suspense works at a higher level in Stardust, not just because the story is perfectly told but also thanks to individual sequences that are absolutely riveting.

For example, there’s a scene in which Yvaine has separated from Tristan and is staying at an inn that was magically conjured by Lamia. There’s imminent danger each second she’s there, and the original music by Ilan Eshkeri paces the sequence with omnipresent chords that accentuate the peril. As the music rises to a crescendo and the editing becomes more rapid, there’s a palpable tension that freezes the entire audience until the daring escape is complete. When it’s over, you exhale and eagerly brace yourself for what’s to come.

So see Stardust, remember it and love it, because movies this enjoyable don’t come around very often.

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Stardust **** Directed by Matthew Vaughn. Written by Vaughn and Jane Goldman based on the novel by Neil Gaiman. Starring Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro Charlie Cox, Ian McKellen, Sienna Miller, Peter O’Toole. Rated PG-13. **** A genuine must-see ***  Entertaining **   Mediocre but not worthless *    A wretched waste of time Also opening in Miami-Dade County this Friday: Becoming Jane, Interview, Rush Hour 3.