Labyrinth (1986)

***Labyrinth*** is a 1986 musical fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, with George Lucas as executive producer, based upon conceptual designs by Brian Froud.

## Plot

After Sarah Williams accidently wishes for her baby brother to be taken away by goblins, which came true, She have to go on a quest to rescue her brother before he becomes a goblin forever.

## Why It's David Bowie At His Best

1. David Bowie made some great songs and did a great performance as Jareth.
2. The puppetry for the various creatures aged well.
3. The Labyrinth setting is well made
4. It has gained a cult following and resulted in a manga continuation.
5. The film helped start Jennifer Connelly's career as her character Sarah is a well written heroine balanced with flaws and goes through character development as well as her intelligence and perseverance receiving praise
6. The ballroom scene is arguably the best scene in the movie.
7. The costumes for Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie are exceptionally designed by Ellis Flyte and Brian Froud especially Sarah's silver ballgown with a large pannier skir, puffed sleeves and gold detailing.
8. Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus and his dog Ambrosious are well written and memorable sidekicks.
9. **Good Ending:** where Sarah rescued her baby brother and celebrates with her Labyrinth friends.

## Bad Qualities

1. The financial flop resulted in the end of Jim Henson's career, as he died in 1990 at the age of 53, four years after this film's release.
2. The Fireys can be annoying with the song "Chilly Down". Even their effects didn't age well.
3. The movie is sometimes too scary for kids, like the scene where Fireys take out their body parts.
4. Sarah's stepmother Irene, father Robert, and Toby can come off as annoying
5. Sarah is a bit unlikable in the beginning as she wished her baby brother to be taken by goblins, which did happen.

## Reception

### Box office

*Labyrinth* opened at number eight in the U.S. box office charts with $3,549,243 from 1,141 theaters, which placed it behind *The Karate Kid Part II*, *Back to School*, *Legal Eagles*, *Ruthless People*, *Running Scared*, *Top Gun*, and *Ferris Bueller's Day Off*. In its next weekend at the box office, the film dropped to number 13 in the charts, only earning $1,836,177. By the end of its run in U.S cinemas the film had grossed $12,729,917, just over half of its $25 million budget.

In January 1987 *Variety* reported the film had earned $12 million in nine foreign territories: the U.K., Australia, Brazil, Central America, Germany, Holland, Italy, Japan, and Mexico.

### Critical reception

The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film averages a 73% positive rating from 48 reviews; the general consensus states: "While it's arguably more interesting on a visual level, *Labyrinth* provides further proof of director Jim Henson's boundless imagination." On Metacritic, which uses a "weighted average" of all the critics' scores, *Labyrinth* scores 50 out of 100 meaning “mixed or average reviews”.

While acknowledging that *Labyrinth* was made with "infinite care and pains", Roger Ebert gave the film two stars out of four as he felt that the film "never really comes alive". Ebert said that as the film was set in an "arbitrary world" none of the events in it had any consequences, robbing the film of any dramatic tension. Gene Siskel's review of *Labyrinth* for the *Chicago Tribune* was highly negative, and he referred to it as an "awful" film with a "pathetic story", "much too complicated plot" and a "visually ugly style". Siskel objected to the film's "violent" plot, writing, "the sight of a baby in peril is one of sleaziest gimmicks a film can employ to gain our attention, but Henson does it."

Other critics were more positive. Kathryn Buxton found that it had "excitement and thrills enough for audiences of all ages as well as a fun and sometimes slightly naughty sense of humor". Roger Hurlburt called *Labyrinth* "a fantasy fan's gourmet delight", writing that "though plot aspects are obviously borrowed from other fantasy stories -- Cinderella, Snow White and the fairy tale classics, events are served in unique form". Bruce Bailey admired the film's script, stating, "Terry Jones has drawn on his dry wit and bizarre imagination and come up with a script that transforms these essentially familiar elements and plot structures into something that fairly throbs with new life." Bailey was also impressed by the film's depth, writing, "adults will have the additional advantage of appreciating the story as a coming-of-age parable."

Several critics noted the film's subtext, and found it successful to varying degrees. Saw Tek Meng acknowledged, "Sarah's experiences in the labyrinth are symbolic of her transition from child to woman" but ultimately found the film "too linear" for its latent themes to come through. Nina Darnton compared the film's tone to the writings of E. T. A. Hoffmann, stating that Hoffman's *The Nutcracker* "is also about the voyage to womanhood, including the hint of sexual awakening, which Sarah experiences too in the presence of a goblin king." Darton enjoyed the film and considered it to be more successful than Henson's previous collaboration with Brian Froud, *The Dark Crystal*.

Colin Greenland reviewed *Labyrinth* for *White Dwarf* #85, and stated that "Like *Time Bandits*, *Labyrinth* is the story of a child trying to negotiate a dreamlike otherworld where logic is not all that it should be; and so it also borrows lavishly from *The Princess and the Goblin*, *Alice in Wonderland*, *The Wizard of Oz* and *Where the Wild Things Are*. A couple of scenes along the quest are truly eerie; others are doggedly sentimental."

Connelly's portrayal of Sarah polarized critics and received strong criticism from some reviewers. Critic Kirk Honeycutt referred to Connelly as "a bland and minimally talented young actress" Writing for *The Miami News*, Jon Marlowe stated, "Connelly is simply the wrong person for the right job. She has a squeaky voice that begins to grate on you; when she cries, you can see the onions in her eyes." Contrary to these negative views, an anonymous review in *St. Petersburg Times* praised her acting saying, "Connelly makes the entire experience seem real. She acts so naturally around the puppets that you begin to believe in their life-like qualities."

Bowie's performance was variously lauded and derided. In his largely positive review of the film, Corliss praised him as "charismatic" referring to his character as a "Kabuki sorcerer who offers his ravishing young antagonist the gilded perks of adult servitude". Bruce Bailey enjoyed Bowie's performance, writing, "the casting of Bowie can't be faulted on any count. He has just the right look for a creature who's the object of both loathing and secret desire." In a largely critical review, the *St. Petersburg Times* found, "Bowie forgoes acting, preferring to prance around his lair while staring solemnly into the camera. He's not exactly wooden. Plastic might be a more accurate description."

Following the film's mixed reception, Henson came "the closest I've seen him to turning in on himself and getting quite depressed", his son Brian told *Life* magazine. It was the last feature film directed by Henson before his death in 1990.

Since Henson's death, *Labyrinth* has been re-evaluated by several notable critics. A review from 2000 in *Empire* magazine called the film "a fabulous fantasy" and wrote, "David Bowie cuts a spooky enough figure in that fright wig to fit right in with this extraordinary menagerie of Goth Muppets. And Jennifer Connelly, still in the flush of youth, makes for an appealingly together kind of heroine." Writing for the *Chicago Tribune* in 2007, Michael Wilmington described *Labyrinth* as "dazzling", writing that it is "a real masterpiece of puppetry and special effects, an absolutely gorgeous children's fantasy movie". In 2010 *Total Film* ran a feature called 'Why We Love Labyrinth' which described *Labyrinth* as a "hyper-real, vibrant daydream, *Labyrinth's* main strength lies in its fairytale roots, which give the fantastical story a platform from which to launch into some deliriously outlandish scenarios". In their February 2012 issue, *Empire* featured a four-page spread on *Labyrinth* as part of their Muppet Special.

### Accolades

*Labyrinth* was nominated at the British Academy Film Awards for Best Special Visual Effects, and received two Saturn Award nominations, for Best Fantasy Film as well as Best Costumes. *Labyrinth* was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation.

*Labyrinth* is ranked 72nd on *Empire*'s “The 80 best ‘80s movies’ and 26th on *Time Out*'s "The 50 best fantasy movies". In 2019 *The Telegraph* named it as one of "The 77 best kids' films of all time".

### Legacy

Despite its poor performance at the American box office, *Labyrinth* was a success on home video and later on DVD. David Bowie told an interviewer in 1992, "every Christmas a new flock of children comes up to me and says, 'Oh! you're the one who's in *Labyrinth!'*" In 1997, Jennifer Connelly said "I still get recognized for *Labyrinth* by little girls in the weirdest places. I can't believe they still recognize me from that movie. It's on TV all the time and I guess I pretty much look the same."

*Labyrinth* has become a cult film. Brian Henson remembered his father, Jim Henson, as being aware that *Labyrinth* and *The Dark Crystal* both had cult followings by the time of his death in 1990, saying, "he was able to see all that and know that it was appreciated." Academic Andrea Wright wrote that *Labyrinth* has managed to maintain audience popularity long after its initial release to a greater extent than *The Dark Crystal*. Since 1997, an annual two-day event called the "Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade Ball" where revelers come dressed in costumes inspired by the film has been held in various cities, including San Diego, Hollywood, and, most recently, Los Angeles. *Labyrinth* has a significant Internet fan following, and as of December 29, 2019, Fanfiction.net hosts over 9,800 stories in its *Labyrinth* section.

The strong DVD sales of *Labyrinth* prompted rights-holders the Jim Henson Company and Sony Pictures to look into making a sequel, and *Curse of the Goblin King* was briefly used as a place-holder title. However, the decision was ultimately taken to avoid making a direct sequel, and instead produce a fantasy film with a similar atmosphere. Fantasy author Neil Gaiman and artist Dave McKean were called in to write and direct a film similar in spirit to *Labyrinth*, and *MirrorMask* was ultimately released in selected theaters in 2005 after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. On January 22, 2016, Sony Pictures announced that a reboot is in development with Lisa Henson as producer and Nicole Perlman attached as the screenwriter. However, on January 25, Perlman confirmed on Twitter that while she is working on a *Labyrinth* project with the Jim Henson Company, it is not a remake or reboot. Perlman also discussed the timing of the rumors in conjunction with David Bowie's death and said, "Henson Co & I started talking in late 2014, so the timing of these rumors is so upsetting. I would never seek to profit from Bowie's death."

## Trivia

* Paul Bettany developed a crush on Connelly while watching the film and eventually married her.
* At first, Jennifer Connelly didn't like her acting but as time passed, she loved the film's impact on popular culture.
* The commercial failure of the film demoralized Jim Henson to the point that his son Brian Henson remembering him be quiet upset.

## External links

* Template:IMDb
* Template:Rotten Tomatoes