Labyrinth (1986)

Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) is a teenage girl who lives in a fantasy world of goblins and magic. But her fantasy becomes reality when the Goblin King (David Bowie) takes her stepbrother. Now she has thirteen hours to solve the massive Labyrinth and make her way to the Goblin castle beyond. Along the way she befriends several of Henson's fantastic Muppet creations for the final battle.

This wonderfully produced and magical fantasy is great fun from the beginning to the end. Henson (fresh off the equally impressive Dark Crystal) 'mines his imagination for very realistic places and endearing and vivid characters. Toping it all off is a wonderful casting and a nice soundtrack and musical score.

Fmovies: Jennifer Connelly is Sarah, an immature spoiled narcissistic bratty teen whom after wishing her baby brother, Toby, away to the Goblin King (a great David Bowie, who's a highlight of the film) and has to traverse a complex labyrinth to get him back learning to be a lot less selfish in the process. Bowie's songs highlight and punctuate a magical film that is sure to appeal to both the young and young at heart. Better then Jim Hanson's other more mature film of the 80's "The Dark Crystal", because it's a tad more humane and more easily to relate to, but both these films are fun to watch. Loving this film from when I was a kid myself might have shading my opinion of it a bit, yet re-watching it just now, I still find it very enjoyable.

My Grade: B+

Collector's Edition DVD Extras: "Inside the Labyrinth" 56 minute making-of featurette; Four photo galleries; posters gallery; Filmographies; Storyboards; Theatrical trailer; and trailer for "The Dark Crystal box set"

Random Notes: Comes packed with animation cell/scene composite card and postcards

Most of us look at Lucus film as producing Star Wars, but many would overlook this little gem, Labyrinth, superb in its plot and set design, ahead of its time and exciting for both children and adults. It has also become a bit of a cult classic and set Connelly up for her modern day fame. Admittedly as a child I was scared to death of this film due to the creepiness of certain parts! If you have chance, watch the 'making of' documentary which is actually quite fascinating. Muppet fans will love the characters, Bowie fans will be pleasantly surprised at David as Jareth the Goblin King and the soundtrack is a little chunk of 80's fun.

Labyrinth fmovies. By today's standards "Labyrinth" may look dated and cheap but there's something about it that makes it special.

David Bowie makes it a stand alone movie in the weird ranking. The man is crazy but his performance is excellent!

Jennifer Connely (being 16 at the time) delivers a solid and tender performance. She was very, very cute and her performance totally gained the audience's love.

The tale is fantastic and keeps you interested from the beginning to the end. The musical moments are also great! The f/x were great for it's time and I wonder how they came out with the idea for creating such original characters.

The thing that I liked the most about the movie is it's art direction. The world that is created is taken directly from everyone's fantasy world idea. Colorful and dark at the same time.

Better than the "Neverending Story" movies, "Labyrinth" should be watched for lovers of sci-fi.

The movie takes you to a wonderful world where nothing is what it seems. I was about 10 years old the first time I saw it and it made such an impact on me that I ended up ordering it from Germany just 12 years old. The setting is fantastic; it's just scary enough without making scares in a young boy's soul. Bowie acts in a trilling way, and his unique and magical voice brings it all together. If you like fantasy you will love this film. All the Quotes make Bowie as Jareth "the Goblin King" the perfect villain. At times you almost despise him but as I wrote in my first sentence, nothing is like it seems. And as I grow older I sympathized with him, you may even say that he tries to help Sarah. If you decide to see that aspect of it that is. All in all I wish you all a lovely experience watching this movie!

Growing up as a child in 1980's New York, I remember being inspired by many fantasy and science fiction films, that eventually led me to start writing short stories myself (from there to my current occupation of journalism the road was quite short, BTW). Titles like The Neverending Story, Flight of the Navigator and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? captured my imagination and filled me with aw, and with time found their way to my ever growing DVD collection, as did Jim Henson's Labyrinth, the latest addition to my nostalgic bundle of joy.

The saddest thing about all this is that no one seems to make films like Labyrinth anymore. Viewing it again at the age of 25 just made me appreciate it even more, for all of it's breathtaking imaginative figures, rich scenery and original plot; especially when some of the scenes seem somewhat dated while the essence and heart of the film remain in tact, even twenty years down the road.

In short, Labyrinth is one of Jim Henson's last attempts at creating cross-age entertainment through his world famous puppets, after bringing life to the eternal beloved characters of The Muppets and Sesame Street, and before his sudden and premature death. The story presents us 16 year old Sarah (a very young Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly, A Beautiful Mind), who has an extremely vivid imagination she uses to escape her everyday worries... or so it seems. After asked to take care of her baby stepbrother, Toby, Sarah finds herself dealing with a screaming infant, instead of wondering away in her thoughts to a world filled with Goblins, Yeti-like creatures, and a King Atrhur-ish talking dog. After several lacking attempts at calming the baby down, she wishes Toby to the evil Goblin King Jareth. Fantasy and fiction clash when Jareth (the one and only rock singer David Bowie, who appears on screen with an extravagant 80's outfit and some cute yet unnecessary songs) actually takes Toby away to his evil kingdom, where he threatens to transform the baby into a Goblin, if Sarah won't find a way to cross a tricky and mystical Labyrinth on the way to his kingdom. Determined to save her brother, Sarah makes her way through the Labyrinth, meeting helpful friends along the way, whilst magical fantasy happenings occur around her...

This is a true 1980's gem. Treat it with care, and enjoy!