Labyrinth (1986)
"Sixteen-year-old Sarah is given thirteen hours to solve a labyrinth and rescue her baby brother Toby when her wish for him to be taken away is granted by the Goblin King Jareth."
- IMDB
First of all, it’s very sad to me that this film did poorly in box office given how much effort and detail went into the puppetry and set design. Jim Henson did it like no other, and his legacy continues to be felt as the Muppets and Sesame Street continue to be relevant 30 years after his death. This was also a Lucasfilm production, with George Lucas himself involved in production right after the unbeatable success of his Star Wars trilogy and Indian Jones films. This movie was set up to be good, and almost 40 years later... yeah, it still holds up. And the concept itself is fascinating. I see the hard work that went into this project and the number of people that worked hard to make it all possible. From a film making stand point, it should definitely be appreciated more.
The story is very interesting. We're thrown into this very interesting magical realm and are just overwhelmed with questions. It’s been a few years since I’ve caught up the lore, but there’s definitely a lot between the lines. From details found in Sarah’s room to Jareth’s whole Phantom of the Opera love thing he had going on. All these hints and easter eggs made the world and the Jareth character so interesting with so much dimension, and by the end, it feels like we’ve barely hit the tip of the ice burg and I want to know more.
Now the center of the story is Sarah, played by the very wonderful and beautiful Jennifer Connelly. Her performance of a brave, stubborn, and capable female was great to see. She was an early definition of girl power. But her counter part is ultimately more outstanding, more in terms of the actor rather than the actual character, really. The incomparable David Bowie stole every scene he was in. He’s not known for his acting, of course, but this is his greatest and most iconic role out of the handful of acting gigs he acquired in his career. No surprise, but he wrote the music for the film. Half of his work in the 80s is often criticized for one reason or another, but the Labyrinth soundtrack was a little masterpiece. As the World Falls Down and I Can't Live Within You are low key heartbreaking. Chilly down...... I really don’t wanna talk about this song because it gives me PTSD from the scene it plays in...... yeah..... Underground is a bop, I can dance to it for hours. And obviously the same can be said for the Magic Dance song, which is probably one of Bowie’s most iconic songs of all time.
I’m gonna end by gushing about Bowie for a little bit more, just because he’s literally my patron saint. When it comes to Bowie fans, you’ve got the half that are actually fans of his for him and his music. But at this point, the other half of his fanbase was definitely introduced to him through this movie. As you go further into younger generations, that’s just how it is, and I was one of them. Labyrinth showed me who Bowie was as a child. Years later, I discovered the rest of his career, fell in love with his music, and now I’ve listened to every album and know words to most of his songs. I even have Bowie socks, which is a big deal if you know me. Bowie is god, and I never would’ve looked for his music if it weren’t for this movie.
My Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆
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