Labyrinth

You missed a goofy CG owl in the opening credits, an already hot Jennifer Connelly, a neat recreation of Escher's Relativity, and some awesome Henson puppets. Bowie did wear a horrible costume, though.

Labyrinth is one of my favorite childhood movies. And it hasn't aged quite as poorly as I thought it would.

Easily one of my ten favorite movies of all time.

Pretty much flawless in my eyes.

The Bowie songs totally took me out of the film, but it does contain one of the greatest visual puns/sight gags EVER, and I bet half of you never even caught it.

Which would be...?

It's a fun film, although it's not particularly great, and I can't watch it more than once a year.

But it did introduce me to Jennifer Connelly...

There's an old joke, I don't remember the set-up, but the punchline is "I wouldn't send a knight out on a dog like this." And throughout the entire film, Sir Didymus is riding a dog -- literally, a knight on a dog like this. Made me laugh hysterically the first time I saw it, kind of like when Doc Brown met himself in Back to the Future II, literally creating a paradox -- or "pair o'docs," if you will.

Okay, I didn't get that at all. Then again, I've never heard that punchline before.

Always liked the pair o' docs, though.

Even as a kid this one let me down. You are not alone..still this cleans up on a lot of wht passes for children's films these days. I'd take this over DADDY DAY CARE anytime

Last time I saw this was in college.

Anything Henson is gold. Bowie's bizarre, but he's got menace, and though the tights are bizzare, the movie wins points for Ludo. The giant furry guy that calls rocks.

Ludo rocks.

HAH! I make pun....

first time....hated it...second time..ok...again and again..grew on me...began to embrace the 80s..and now think its a great movie

coming soon.
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Thank you for that link, HBAADU. Lots of info there I didn't know about. I'd hold many families hostage for a chance to see that 3-hour Labyrinth workprint.

Good luck in Europe!

Thanks gravedigger ...( 9 more days, and i'm gone.) But not eternally. Just for an undetermined period of time.

favorite film of the moment.
The Magdalene sisters.
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Labyrinth was and still is one of my favorite fantasy films. I used to watch it religiously, still have the soundtrack too

I remember the first time I saw this was at a slumber party, back in the day when I still hung out with girls, and let me paint a picture of 6 or 7 12 year old girls gasping at David Bowie's codpiece, every time he was onscreen, simply HILARIOUS.

And I remember I wanted clothes like Jennifer Connelly's for a loooooong time after that.

HBAADU, thanks for that link, I had never heard of that project, and shame on me since Neil Gaiman is my other boyfriend ( wink )

Definitely one of my childhood favorites and aside from David Bowie it still holds up pretty well. Terry Jones' contributions to the script were great.

Rather than create a new thread for this movie, I thought I'd just comment in this old one. Anyway, while this doesn't quite have the unity of vision that The Dark Crystal had (where it was pretty much Henson and Froud running the show), it is much easier to just sit down and watch because of the faster pacing, and as a result I still really dig it. Laundry list!:

 

-OK sure, Bowie's outfits look kind of ridiculous now (fear the bulge!), but they oddly fit within the crazy-ass world of the film. His songs are pretty good (my favorite being "Dance Magic", which is catchy as all hell), and I actually really love his performance here. It's the right mix of menace, humor, and hamminess, and he's certainly one of the most compelling Henson villains. I also like how he keeps upping the ante as the film goes along, such as when he reduces Sarah's time limit when she brags about how the labyrinth is a "piece of cake". The only disappointment is in how he's defeated; while it certainly fits within the themes of the film, and is subtly set up near the beginning, the "You have no power over me!" still kind of feels like a cop-out. Or a rip-off of the original Nightmare on Elm Street.

 

-Sadly, Jennifer Connelly does not acquit herself nearly as well. I realize this was her first leading feature film role, but she alternates between being really good and really, really wooden. Granted, that might be more of a reflection of how Sarah is by turns sympathetic and unsympathetic (which I do like from a writing standpoint), but her performance pales in comparison to Bowie or the Muppets.

 

-Speaking of which, do I even need to say how great the Muppet work here is? My favorite has to be Sir Didymus, although Ludo is pretty cool too. The only stuff that doesn't work is the Firey sequence, and that's mainly because of the cheesy blue-screen effects. I actually like the unreality of the CGI owl in the opening credits, though.

 

-The production design is terrific as well, particularly the ballroom in the dream sequence and the Escher staircases used in the climax.

 

-While it's admittedly not easy to defend from a pure logic standpoint, I like the loosey goosey, Alice in Wonderland storytelling style. It's obviously not as tight or straightforward as The Dark Crystal, but it has its own charm to it, and I like how Sarah develops from a total 80s brat to a competent, heroic young woman.

 

In short, maybe it hasn't aged as well as some childhood movies, but it's definitely one of the better 80s fantasy offerings.

There is a surprising lack of female presence here in this thread (Though it is there. Hi Ladies!)

 

This movie - I was born in 88, so this wasn't some kind of 'coming of age' film for me - but in talking with a lot of women my age - this film was sort of ...it just did it. Girls were exposed to the film, whether through cable television, or as a kid-friendly movie....and we (Or I, because I hate to make assumptions) just got it. It being some weird sense of sexuality, thanks to the David Bowie, his performance, and that giant bulge in his pants. It was a coming-of-age film for Connell's character, and it hit a lot of girls around the time of puberty. Y"know when guys see a chick in a film when they're young, and they - they don't understand masturbation yet, but they just know they're attracted to that thing with breasts, and they're just drawn to it? THe first tendrils of understanding and being a sexual creature?

 

That movie. That man. Those pants. 

 

Also, great production design, songs, etc. Everything everyone else has commented on.

Yeah, I definitely got the whole "coming of age" vibe more on a rewatch, Wayward. One little detail I love is that the man seen in the pictures of Sarah's mother in the beginning is-gasp!-David Bowie. Though I confess I'm not sure as to the meaning; while there's definitely a sexual component to Sarah and Jareth's relationship, is she looking for a father figure as well?

 

Always nice to hear the female posters on this board chime in. And those pants are indeed hypnotizing. I'm straight as an arrow, and even I couldn't help staring from time to time.

Well, how do you take something as:

 

"I ask for so little. Just let me rule you, and you can have everything that you want."

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave."

 

And just not take that as so completely ....just, sexual, especially when written? And that's just the text, without the body language. I think there's a latent sexuality...this seems a sort of mini-genre unto itself, especially the eighties (See: A Company of Wolves (1984)) involving young women. 

 

I'm not quite sure on the father figure business myself - she does have a present, if 'typical father. I think it could easily be read as a justifiable Electra Complex - afterall, the invading force is not just Toby, but the stepmother.  Perhaps it's wanting to be wanted, needing to be needed by the absent mother, and in taking her mother's (supposed) lover/costar for her won, it's a way to reclaim her mother, or become that idealized image of her mother - the sort of woman she wants to be. 

Well, I last saw it when I was about 8, so the sex thing didn't really enter into my mind. All I was thinking was, "Hey, Muppets! And this cool/creepy guy with a shiny ball trick!" But yeah, a lot of 80s fantasy (this, Ladyhawke, Legend, even The Princess Bride to an extent) dealt with this kind of "young woman's awakening" thing.

 

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on Connelly, Wayward. I honestly think Bowie blows her away in their scenes together with his sheer charisma, but she's generally fine in the scenes where she's by herself or with Muppets, and she definitely has the "virginal" look down.

Terry Jones (Python) needs to be mentioned. His absurdist humor takes the best from this "girl in a crazy fantasy world" (Oz/Wonderland/Neverland) genre and puts a great modern spin on it, without losing what makes that type of tale so timeless. MIRRORMASK is artsy, but wishes it were this crazy cool.

Fascinating discussion. This reminds me of the criticism of the 2003 Peter Pan, at the time, of there being an implied attraction being Captain Hook and Wendy.

 

Having that sexual element in Labyrinth (it's definitely there), on the one hand, adds to the threat that Jareth poses. He doesn't just want to kill you, he wants to rape you. What adds even more ambiguity, however, is Bowie himself: aside from the bulge, he's not your average man. The hair, the tights, the singing, and the glitter always gave me an effiminate impression of the character. Add on to the rumors about Bowie in the '80s that he had been caught in bed with Mick Jagger, and the sensuality in this movie is all over the place. I've always had a vibe, as well, that Jareth had maternal feelings towards baby Toby.

 

Being a goblin doesn't even seem like that bad of an existence.

Didn't Jones say his work on the screenplay stops at the scene where Hoggle gives Sarah the apple? I seem to recall hearing that a while back, but you're correct in praising Jones nonetheless.

 

I had forgotten about that subtext of the 2003 Pan (which is still a great, vastly underrated film), but yeah, Bowie's effeminate side is definitely in full display here, although I'd argue that there's several key points where he gets more aggressive (such as his frustration with Sarah at the film's climax). Speaking of Toby, he was actually played by artist Brian Froud's own son (also named Toby), which adds even more intrigue to the film's subtext.

 

Well, in all honesty, I don't think you can lump Princess Bride in with films like the Labyrinth. Ladyhawke, maybe and Legend, most definitely. Tim Curry's Darkness was going to do a little more than just play pattycake with the girl in that dress. It's a little harder to articulate than I'd like, but even with the tights, the hair, the glitter...something came across as very, very masculine about Bowie as Jareth. It's this literal fantasy man - I hate to say this, but perhaps it's the same reason that so many girls went wet for FuckThatFace in Twilight. Though, perhaps it's more the unattainable idea - afterall, Jareth is still a goblin. You have this sinuous creature that just takes your breath away with a murmured word, with intensity of passion rather than action or gesture. I want to say it's a sort of complex, visceral jolt of sensuality/sexuality that the other films you mentioned lack. It's the - sort of thing that makes you feel something, or would feel at that age, but don't know why or how to describe it.

 

God. I sound like a fangirl. 

 

In regards to Connelly - I think that she alone really does personify the fairytale nature of the film more than the fantastical elements. She's Snow White as if they engineered her in a lab. I know that I wanted to be here - she fits this sort of adolescent ideal of beauty. I think it's those visual cues (Similar to Legend's female character, and in the Company of Wolves - I would like to note that the Wolf in the last segment also is in the sort of dandy/fop look of the 17th Century. That period, especially is codified as 'feminine') that make it such an intense, female experience. I suppose there's something to be said about the difference in appealing to adolescents in that sort of subconscious, sexual way. 

 

Or I might be talking out of my ass. I'm tired, and I've got too much work to do at the moment. 

 

 

 

 

 

No one but Ziggy Stardust himself could have played the part. The ambiguous gender qualities of Jareth remind me of...

 

Got your mother in a whirl
She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl
Hey, babe, your hairs alright
Hey, babe, lets go out tonight
You like me, and I like it all
We like dancing, and we look divine
You love bands when they play it hard
You want more, and you want it first
Put you down, say I'm wrong
You tacky thing, you put them on

Rebel Rebel, you've torn your dress
Rebel Rebel, your face is a mess
Rebel Rebel, how could they know?
Hot tramp, I love you so!

 

 

Not sure, but since that's nearly to Act 3, he deserves much credit. And it was a peach in the film. Was it an apple (like so many other fairy tales) in the screenplay?

 

I also want to mention the scary qualities of the film. The majority of the running length is silly, but the beginning during the storm, Sarah's breakdown ("I hate you!"), Toby's empty cradle, and the intro of the goblins ("Listen!") and Jareth's tricks still manages to freak me (and my 7 year old daughter) out a bit. Once you get past it and into the Labyrinth itself, you realize that the creepiness is all a glamour of sorts and the goofball characters (remember the nice beast, Ludo?) are more harmless than originally thought.

 

 

I think the oddest thing about the film is that it's full of songs, but they're all sung by the villain. I think there at least four David Bowie numbers in the film and they're ALL villain songs. It sort of changes the perspective of the entire thing, because we're used to musical numbers as a tool of protagonists or good guys (which is why singular villain songs are always so effective). It means that we as the audience are being seduced by The Goblin King as well as Conneley.

Good point. I figure the fact that it's rockstar Bowie has much to do with it, but that song ownership shift does change the dynamic more than a bit. And the fact that they did cast a glam-rockstar in the part says a great deal about his intentions and role in Sarah's development.

Damn, it is a peach, probably in the screenplay as well. That is an interesting point, though, Spike.

Love this movie, a perfectr fairy tale and one i never grow tired of watching.