Labyrinth (Jim Henson + Gorge Lucas + David Bowie = Awesome) [Archive]

Chainsaw Hobbit

2012-01-28, 02:28 PM

I recently re-watched Labyrinth (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091369/). It was the first time I had seen it since I was eight or nine years old. I loved it so much that I watched it again immediately afterwords. Never have I been big on David Bowie, but he was just so brilliant in a way I can't put my finger on. Everyone else was great too, and the Jim Henson muppets were entertaining beyond belief. It was like watching a perfectly executed movie adaptation of a classic AD&D module, but with less violence and more singing. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Traab

2012-01-28, 03:04 PM

I still have this on VHS. :smalltongue: The Bog of Eternal Stench is awesome.

Caesar

2012-01-28, 04:13 PM

Everything about this movie is YES.

Starscream

2012-01-28, 07:55 PM

Friv

2012-01-29, 12:32 AM

Good ol' Labyrinth. This was one of the three movies I watched pretty much non-stop as a kid, along with Yellow Submarine and Return of the Jedi.

...

On reflection, this might explain a lot about me.

Anyway, I agree. I don't want it often anymore, but I still hum the songs from time to time. Also, that was the movie that made me want to listen to Bowie, so good work there, too.

Did anyone ever catch that bizarre manga they made as a sequel to it? I grabbed the first volume on sale, and it was decently cool. Not as cool as the movie, of course, but good enough that I didn't immediately want to throw it at a wall.

MLai

2012-01-29, 01:26 PM

Also Connelly is just smokin' hot. In Dark City. But watching Labyrinth makes your (my) mind keep tripping back to Dark City where she was at her absolute apex of hotness.

I didn't like David Bowie as a kid, because I wanted to see a giant goblin not a singer of a music genre I didn't care about. I appreciate him ever so much more now that my tastes in character design have matured (and after I have developed nostalgia for tons of anime where everyone has his hair).

Das Platyvark

2012-01-29, 01:42 PM

I really liked this movie, but I always felt that every flaw in it could be fixed by turning into something that wasn't a @#%!ing musical.

Dr.Epic

2012-01-30, 09:21 PM

David Bowie is the best thing in that film. Still think Willow and Princess Bride are better though.

Traab

2012-01-30, 10:23 PM

David Bowie is the best thing in that film. Still think Willow and Princess Bride are better though.

The Princess Bride is the ultimate quotable movie, only challenged in its supremacy by monty pythons holy grail. Willow is awesome and yet remains a lesser known movie, despite it having kickass hobbit wizards and val kilmer getting kicked in the face by a hot chick! Labyrinth is pretty cool, but I honestly havent watched it often since it was new. It just doesnt grab my attention as much as the other two. Though its still pretty good. *EDIT* Watching it now it strikes me almost like its an indie film. The use of muppets and scenery like the bog always struck me as low budget in style and there is something neat about that. Then it turns around and has the mc escher staircase scene and others like it and it just blows you away.

Dr.Epic

2012-01-30, 11:14 PM

*EDIT* Watching it now it strikes me almost like its an indie film. The use of muppets and scenery like the bog always struck me as low budget in style and there is something neat about that. Then it turns around and has the mc escher staircase scene and others like it and it just blows you away.

Well, muppets were the CGI of the 70s-80s.

Brother Oni

2012-01-31, 07:30 AM

Well, muppets were the CGI of the 70s-80s.

Actually bluescreen was the CGI of the 70s-80s. :smalltongue:

Well blackscreen in this movie and only heavily employed for the fireys scene (the set and the puppeteers were covered in black velvet).

As for it being a musical, there's only one really unnecessary song (Dance Magic), with the firey's song being a borderline case. The finale song and the ball scene are perfect for the film.

The Labyrinth manga is all right but not exceptional.

In any case, Labyrinth has bonus points for having Cat from Red Dwarf (Danny John-Jules) voicing a firey and Dr Beverley Crusher (Gates McFadden) as dance choreographer. :smallbiggrin:

polity4life

2012-01-31, 08:27 AM

I liked this movie but I felt some things were out of place.

As I grow older, I find the interactions between the Goblin King and Sarah to be...creepy. I don't hold anything against the actors; it's the story that tries to create this maligned, unrequited love story between an adult baby nabber and a young teenager.

And the credits were wrong. The Goblin King was played by David Bowie and his Package.

Aiani

2012-01-31, 08:35 AM

I appreciate this movie now but when I was little I was terrified by it. My little brothers had just been born when I was shown this movie in school and I was extremely protective of them. To my little 8 year old mind the idea of my baby brothers being taken by goblins was the height of scary and I remember thinking that Sarah had to be a horrible person to wish for such a thing.
Now I love the muppets and of course David Bowie is cool but the Goblin King is still a creepy guy.

Serpentine

2012-01-31, 11:47 AM

Well duh. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft7zHARLUs0)
Did anyone ever catch that bizarre manga they made as a sequel to it? I grabbed the first volume on sale, and it was decently cool. Not as cool as the movie, of course, but good enough that I didn't immediately want to throw it at a wall.Yeah, I have a few of them. Not the last one or two, though. They're okay...
David Bowie is the best thing in that film. Still think Willow and Princess Bride are better though.Dunno about better, but Labyrinth, Willow, Princess Bride, Edward Scissorhands and Heathers* basically were my childhood, and are among the very few films I can watch over and over again.

*spot the odd one out...

Traab

2012-01-31, 12:27 PM

I never liked scissorhands. I watched part of it, but never all of it, as i kept losing interest when i would try for some reason.

The Glyphstone

2012-01-31, 01:03 PM

Bhu

2012-01-31, 04:41 PM

Also Connelly is just smokin' hot. In Dark City. But watching Labyrinth makes your (my) mind keep tripping back to Dark City where she was at her absolute apex of hotness.

I find it difficult to watch her now without having flashbacks to Requiem for a Dream. Man that was a messed up movie...

Wolfs Heart

2012-01-31, 04:58 PM

Well blackscreen in this movie and only heavily employed for the fireys scene (the set and the puppeteers were covered in black velvet).

That's super interesting, I didn't know that about the black velvet. Lybrinth is one of my all time favorites along with two other Henson greats - Dark Crystal and the Storyteller TV series.

Karoht

2012-01-31, 04:58 PM

And the credits were wrong. The Goblin King was played by David Bowie and his Package.It was a lemon. Bowie himself confesed this years after.

Eldan

2012-01-31, 05:31 PM

Oh? The version I heard was that it was padding added after a muppet accidentally hit him in the crotch.

Killer Angel

2012-02-01, 06:19 AM

I still have this on VHS. :smalltongue:

I've got it on VHS too. 'til I've found it on DVD. :smallbiggrin:

Well, muppets were the CGI of the 70s-80s.

And they don't grow old as CGI...

Brother Oni

2012-02-01, 07:59 AM

And the credits were wrong. The Goblin King was played by David Bowie and his Package.

I remember reading an analysis of the movie and it was proposed that the Package is actually Jareth's chief henchman - it's in as many scenes as it can get into and always tries to upstage its master. :smallbiggrin:

That's super interesting, I didn't know that about the black velvet.

I remember seeing a 'The Making Of' for Labyrinth and that's where I learnt about the black velvet and Gates McFadden. I'm sure there's a copy of it somewhere on youtube.

Closet_Skeleton

2012-02-01, 02:36 PM

Jennifer Connelly absolutely could not act at that age (try to listen to the "I hate you! I hate yoouu!" line without giggling), but she got tons better (Dark City FTW).

If you say so.

Can't stand her in anything myself.

Karoht

2012-02-01, 03:54 PM

I've loved this movie since I was four years old. It's one of the first films I remember watching. Quite scary for a kid that young, but I was fascinated.

Still holds up today. Love the story, the puppets, the soundtrack, and David Bowie. Jennifer Connelly absolutely could not act at that age (try to listen to the "I hate you! I hate yoouu!" line without giggling), but she got tons better (Dark City FTW).Really? I thought she played an awkward teen who was somewhat spoiled (yet claimed oppression) rather well. Compair her to a modern teen with similar behavior.

By the end of the movie she at least gives the impression of being better adjusted or having learned a lesson. She seems to behave differently, and she speaks differently by that point.

Tengu_temp

2012-02-01, 05:47 PM

Gorge Lucas? I'll pass, that can't be healthy.

Cazaril

2012-02-06, 01:47 AM

Really? I thought she played an awkward teen who was somewhat spoiled (yet claimed oppression) rather well. Compair her to a modern teen with similar behavior.

By the end of the movie she at least gives the impression of being better adjusted or having learned a lesson. She seems to behave differently, and she speaks differently by that point.

My favorite movie with Jennifer Connelly is the Rocketeer. Great movie, and she looked gorgeous in the 40s-era hair and costumery.

Labyrinth was good, but I actually like the Dark Crystal better...