rockmt

I just watched this truly haunting and majestic Henson masterpiece for the first time and the visions of the film still linger in my head. The planet of Thra was so dystopian, the thought of it just hits you on the head and breaks your heart at the same time. I wonder if Henson and Froud had subconscious thoughts of Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, or Mao and their actions of unparalleled savagery when making this film. It seems that what Thra went through was meant to be a warning to mankind not to tinker with weapons of mass destruction. This was made during the Cold War after all.

A futuristic Hong Kong no one wants to fathom! The whole premise of the five clips that make up this film is bold. Having said this, there is a mix of good and bad in this film.

The first clip starts off too slowly. The dialogue is too full of British influenced Hong Kong slang and at times it is hard to understand, even for Cantonese speakers who do not reside in Hong Kong like myself although those reading English subtitles will have no problem. Too bad because the plot was a good one but it was just not well acted or scripted.

The second clip is almost unbearable to watch. It was too far into the sci-fi mode that it made the story unbelievable. The acting was wooden, the story line was wandering, the filming looked cheap, and overall it just looked amateur. Fast forward if you wish, nothing missed here.

The final three clips are why you should watch this film. All are spoken in standard Cantonese, all are well acted, the scripts all make sense, and the viewer ought to leave with a sense of wonder and amazement. I liked the fourth clip the best with superb directing, acting, and filming and this clip alone can carry the whole film.

Definitely a must watch but skip over the boring parts after the first time.

I had heard about this movie for a long time but never watched it until it showed up again on TV recently, probably in part tribute to the recently passed David Bowie.

Overall, it was an OK movie, not Star Wars or Lord of the Rings level in my opinion but still fun and entertaining to watch (it kind of reminds me of "Legend" another fantasy movie with Tom Cruise and Mia Sara that appeared the year before). I liked the humor but sometimes the appearance of the puppets were too distracting and that is what I think dragged the ratings down. Jennifer Connelly held her own as such a young actress at the time and David Bowie was spectacular as the brooding, sinister Jareth the Goblin King.

The plot and storyline are what keeps viewers like me in tune for years to come. The thought of a selfish teenager wishing something in a fit of anger without first thinking carefully about it repeats itself over and over again and is a wise message to tell to all children and adolescents. For this alone, Labyrinth is worth watching. I kind of think this story could come out even more vividly through the books that came out shortly after the movie was released but I'd have to find out for myself.