Plot: What’s it about?
Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) is a beautiful young woman, but she spends more time with books than she does with boys. This might sound strange, but she loves to get lost in the worlds of the books and surrounds herself with them. She often imagines herself inside the stories, but of course, she knows that is pure fantasy and nothing else. When her parents insist that she baby-sit her baby brother Toby, she seems resentful, but agrees. As the night passes, the baby cries and cries and cries, which drives Sarah up the wall. After hours of the constant crying, Sarah reads aloud a wish that goblins come and take away Toby, but little does she know that her incantation was just the right combination of words. Soon enough, the goblins do come and take the young child, leaving Sarah in a state of panic and disbelief. When Jareth (David Bowie), a Goblin King arrives however, she begins to realize how serious the situation is. He tells her she has thirteen hours to navigate the labyrinth around his castle, or Toby is lost forever. Jareth’s castle is deep inside the labyrinth however, surrounded by traps, tricks, and a host of unusual inhabitants. If she can traverse the maze, then she can get back her little brother, but it won’t be easy. Even with the help of some labyrinth folk, can Sarah manage to rescue little Toby in time?
What happens when you combine the magic of Jim Henson and the funding of George Lucas, throw in the presence of David Bowie, and top it off with the innocent beauty of a young Jennifer Connelly? The answer of course, is Labyrinth and this movie has enjoyed a consistent audiences of folks of all ages. A blend of live action, Henson’s puppetry, and Lucas’ knack for special effects, Labyrinth is a mystical journey into a world of fantasy, loaded with quirky characters, exotic locations, and stunning visuals. As you’d expect from Henson, the puppets look great and are well detailed, so they work well alongside their human counterparts. I love some of the smaller creations, even the ones that just serve to populate the scenes, as they look cool and add depth to those sequences. On the same front, the sets look incredible and have the same attention to detail, which builds atmosphere and a sense of realism. The special effects are solid in most instances, but a few sequences were poorly executed and given Lucas’ penchant for revisiting his productions, I’m surprised at least a couple weren’t touched up a little. Even with some flaws, this movie is fun and has a real sense of magic, so its more than recommended. This Superbit version offers better audio & video, but not a sizable difference and some great extras are sacrificed, so I’ll leave it up to you to decide which is more important.
She has become a sex symbol, box office draw, and even Oscar winner, but before all that, she was in Labyrinth. This was only her fourth feature film, but she seems at ease and this case, that’s impressive. Given the talent that surrounded her and the odd nature of the material, she could have been overwhelmed, but that wasn’t the case. Connelly plays off her puppet costars well and has a genuine sense of wonder about her, as she explores this unusual and unremarkable world around her. I don’t think this kind of performance wins critical awards, but her presence brings a human side to Labyrinth and of course, that is crucial to the film’s success. We need to be grounded in the real world as we soak in this mystical realm and Connelly serves as that grounding, so her great effort really pays off. Its impressive to see such a young actress hold her own, especially in an unusual production like this one. Other films with Connelly include Waking the Dead, Phenomena, The Rocketeer, Dark City, Higher Learning, and A Beautiful Mind. The cast also includes David Bowie (The Last Temptation of Christ, The Man Who Fell to Earth), who seems a little out of place at times, but is still fun to watch.
Video: How does it look?
Labyrinth is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The original release offered a terrific transfer, but this new Superbit edition ups the ante a little. I wouldn’t rank this as one of the more impressive Superbit releases, as it doesn’t have a vast level of improvement, but it looks better than the prior disc, to be sure. The usual Superbit enhancements apply in this case, with more vivid colors, blacker black levels, and increased detail levels. I think these improvements, while minor in most instances, are quite important in this film’s case, given the detailed visual scheme, which has a lot of subtle touches. The same print is used here as before, which is good news, since it looks clean and allows the visuals to be properly showcased. This one looks better than the prior release, but just enough to be noticeable.
Audio: How does it sound?
As always, this Superbit edition includes dual 5.1 surround options, with Dolby Digital and DTS in the house. These soundtracks offer a marked improvement over the 2.0 option on the previous disc, but don’t expect miracles in this case. The audio is held back by the material, which seems to have some solid potential, but for some reason, the experience comes off as thin and restrained in most scenes. The surrounds get some use, but its for subtle and atmospheric effects, or to expand on the musical score. I suppose I expected a much more immersive and dynamic track from this release, but that isn’t what happens. The bass is about as weak as in the original release, but on the whole, these are improved soundtracks. I couldn’t tell much difference between the tracks either, as neither really pushed the material. This disc also includes subtitles in English and Spanish, in case you might need those.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes no bonus materials.
