midflinx007

Jennifer Connelly was just starting her career when she made Labyrinth. Unfortunately it shows. As Sarah, her acting has its moments, and though she has sub-par dialog, her character grew on me. The sets are incredibly colorful and fairy-tale-like. However, they look cramped and fake. This unusual world tells a rarely told story in movies, one of growing up from a child into an adult. Sarah begins the story still in her fairy-tale world. Her room is a beautiful collection of childhood dolls, figures, and toys. New posters of plays and actresses are also apparent, however. Suffering, babysitting Toby every weekend, "its not fair!," she cries, and she's right. Inside the labyrinth she realizes life isn't fair. Life is complex, bewildering, full of choices and decisions. **If the other user comments haven't spoiled the ending yet, stop reading.** By the end Sarah has her baby brother back, and for it given up a romance with an unusual prince-charming. She hands Toby her teddy bear Lancelot to keep, then goes to her room alone. In the mirror her Labyrinth friends appear. She realizes that while growing up is hard, her friends and her childhood memories will still be there for her.

It is a shame Gunmen didn't get fair treatment when it was brought to DVD. Originally shot in 2.35:1 widescreen, the DVD and obviously, the video are only available in 1.33:1 full TV screen format. Almost half the picture is missing, and it shows. Even ignoring the lush scenery cut off, too often the characters' faces are missing from the frame. Even worse is that the DVD transfer is rotten. It may have been from a S-VHS master from what it looks like. It is full of film grain which compresses awfully on DVDs, making the entire movie look muddy.

This is a terrible shame because Gunmen is a fun, lightweight flick of two guys, one good, the other bad, forced to work together against a common enemy. There are many funny one liners, and the action scenes are pretty good, though low budget. Denis Leary is always fun to watch when he's angry or evil, and he's almost always both in Gunmen.

Superb setting. It holds its own against Blade Runner. Great acting. The characters grow on you. Sometimes you're likely to get stuck because you don't know where to go despite the linear gameplay. If this happens consult an online walkthrough. The puzzles will take some brain power but there's nothing uneven about them. The only thing I lament is that it was made in the dying days of DOS and is limited to 320x240 and 256 colors. If it was made two years later it would have been stunning to watch.