Labyrinth (film): a childhood favorite

in films •  6 years ago 

Jim Hensen certainly left his mark on the world during his time on the planet. He had a very unique way of approaching entertainment and I am still a fan of puppetry today.

51He5tBsVlL.jpg

Special effects for the most part were pretty limited in 1986 and CGI was all but non-existent. I sometimes wonder if puppetry was used because of this rather than in spite of it. As we can see from certain over the top examples like episodes 1-3 of Star Wars, CGI isn't better than puppetry. Hensen is likely one of the great masters of this, and Labyrinth feature a tremendous amount of this.

lg_73d3a700db23-labyrinth.jpg
some would argue the puppets are a bit creepy in Labyrinth - I agree.

The story in Labyrinth isn't terribly important to me, all i needed to know was that it was a Hensen project and I want to see it. Sarah (a very young Jennifer Connelly)gets frustrated with babysitting her younger brother Toby and wishes the Goblin King to come and take him away. She is stunned when this actually happens and realizes she must immediately embark on a quest to rescue her baby brother - presumably to avoid being grounded when her parents come home.

baby-toby-labyrinth.jpg

She meets a bunch of characters along the way, some good some bad, and overall it stays entertaining if you like Hensen stuff. It is a bit more grown up than The Muppet Show but still is ok for most kids to watch except for a few creepy scenes.

The trailer is not very good but to be fair most trailers from the 80's a kinda crappy by today's standards.

While very favorably remembered now and definitely a cult classic, would you believe that this film was actually an rather large box-office failure? Well it was. It didn't even come close to recouping its $25 million budget and received some rather harsh criticism from professional critics of the time including both Siskel and Ebert, who were arguably the most important critics of the time.

While not as good as the Dark Crystal, which i find epic, this movie holds a special place in my heart and should be watched, just don't expect a terribly compelling story.

7 / 10

Authors get paid when people like you upvote their post.
If you enjoyed what you read here, create your account today and start earning FREE STEEM!
Sort Order:  

Also I like the idea of puppetry. If you know what you are doing, you can make great and better results than CGI.

One of the best examples of this is The Fly (1986). Man when Seth turned into a abomination... they made a really good job with using nothing less than puppetry.

  ·  6 years ago (edited)

David Bowie, Muppets, 80s, another interesting movie.
The Gremlins next? 😃

Really very great movie.Me also remember childhood.Very funy movie.Every child like this movie.Some peoples bad or some good.create the entertainment.Childs acting so impressive.Really all brothers sisters good Entertainer.I like this movie.Thanks for sharing.

This movie I loved, I remember when I saw it made me cry, I was also surprised by the special effects. You brought to my mind, with this movie, beautiful memories of a girl. Greetings and blessings.
Good energy.

Also one of my childhood favorites. And sometimes, out of the sudden, I hear the Kobold King singing in my head.. "dance, magic dance..." ;)

What power?