Labyrinth

Name: Labyrinth
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Family, Musical
Released: June 27, 1986
Duration: 101 min
Rating: 50
Cast: David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly

1986

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Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critics

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Universal acclaim based on 154 Ratings

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8.5	User Score Universal acclaim based on 154 Ratings

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LABYRINTH

Movie Details & Credits

TriStar Pictures | Release Date: June 27, 1986

Starring: David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly

Summary: Babysitting infant stepbrother Toby on a weekend night isn’t young Sarah’s idea of fun. Frustrated by his crying, she secretly imagines the Goblins from her favorite book, Labyrinth, carrying Toby away. When her fantasy comes true, a distraught Sarah must enter a maze of illusion to bring Toby back from a kingdom inhabited by mysticalBabysitting infant stepbrother Toby on a weekend night isn’t young Sarah’s idea of fun. Frustrated by his crying, she secretly imagines the Goblins from her favorite book, Labyrinth, carrying Toby away. When her fantasy comes true, a distraught Sarah must enter a maze of illusion to bring Toby back from a kingdom inhabited by mystical creatures and governed by the wicked Goblin King. (Sony Pictures)… Expand

Director: Jim Henson

Genre(s): Adventure, Fantasy, Family, Musical

Rating: PG

Runtime: 101 min

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Critic Reviews

The New York Times - Nina Darnton

Labyrinth, a fabulous film about a young girl's journey into womanhood that uses futuristic technology to illuminate a mythic-style tale, is in many ways a remarkable achievement. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine - Staff (Not Credited)

Labyrinth packs enough surprises to captivate an audience of children and provides enough wisecracking to keep adults laughing. Read full review

Time - Richard Corliss

With their technical astonishments, Director Henson and Executive Producer Lucas have been faithful to the pioneering Disney spirit. In suggesting the thrilling dilemmas that await a wise child, they have flown worlds beyond Walt. [7 July 1986, p.65]

San Francisco Chronicle - Peter Stack

I think mature pre-teens along with immature teens might relate to this overbearing showcase of bizarre rubber duckies. Adults are bound to find it a major yawn, and young children are likely to be scared out of their wits. [27 Jun 1986, p.82]

Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert

Great energy and creativity went into the construction, production and direction of this movie, but it doesn't have a story that does justice to the production. Read full review

Los Angeles Times - Sheila Benson

There's more length than depth to Labyrinth. The Baryshnikov staging of "The Nutcracker" has more to tell about a girl on the edge of young womanhood, with more poignancy and a more palpable sense of transition, than all the technical wizardry Henson and crew have offered so lavishly-and without a single pop song, either. [26 Jun 1986, p.1]

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) - Stephen Cole

David Bowie, flaunting a Marianne Faithfull hairdo, stars in Jim Henson's latest puppety film, the flagrantly unoriginal Labyrinth. [1 Jul 1986, p.A1]

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User Reviews

EliHarold

Jan 28, 2016

I'm 35 and every time I put this on it brings me back to being 7 again watching it for the first time in the movie theaters. They sure don't make rockstars or movies like they used to.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

manusbyrne

Mar 19, 2018

this is my favorite movie of all time.
the special effects are just amazing and is some of the best I have ever seen.
the acting is alright but David Bowie as Jareth the goblin is one of the best villains ever. David Bowie also did the soundtrack to this movie and the songs he did were somethis is my favorite movie of all time.
the special effects are just amazing and is some of the best I have ever seen.
the acting is alright but David Bowie as Jareth the goblin is one of the best villains ever.
David Bowie also did the soundtrack to this movie and the songs he did were some fo his best such as dance magic dance, as the world falls down and within you are so good that I started listening to David Bowie after watching this and he is now my favorite singer.
this the best movie ever made 10/10… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Mad_Hatter91

Sep 8, 2012

It has been over twenty years since this film was shown in theaters, but still manages to surprise, enchant and make people laugh. Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) is a fifteen-parents divorced and lives at home with his father and step-mother (stepmother is always trying to help the girl but SarahIt has been over twenty years since this film was shown in theaters, but still manages to surprise, enchant and make people laugh. Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) is a fifteen-parents divorced and lives at home with his father and step-mother (stepmother is always trying to help the girl but Sarah refuses any contact with her). One day find yourself doing the babysitter to her little brother newborn (played by the father's relationship with his stepmother and therefore hated by Sarah) and stove hear him crying invokes the Goblin King, Jareth (David Bowie) who kidnaps him. Sarah repented for what he did asks to Jareth to get back the child, but the latter told him if he does not recover within thirteen hours the child will turn into a gnome. This will force the girl to find her brother through the maze full of strange creatures and traps. Directed by Jim Henson, the film has a simple plot organized so great and full of genius found in inquiries concerning the creatures, the maze and pitfalls. Fine performance, that of David Bowie suitable for this movie and also good Coonelly Jennifer.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

Rox22

Mar 15, 2013

One of my favorite movie from my childhood. I still enjoy it to this day. Fun story, great effect (for the day) and some really memorable performances, particularly from David Bowie. But, I do find that the story does get a little too sidetracked from time to time and needlessly slows down.One of my favorite movie from my childhood. I still enjoy it to this day. Fun story, great effect (for the day) and some really memorable performances, particularly from David Bowie. But, I do find that the story does get a little too sidetracked from time to time and needlessly slows down. But, it doesn't happen too often. Overall: A treasure from my childhood and a classic fantasy movie.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Spangle

Jun 11, 2017

Often mirroring the weirdest acid trip imaginable, Jim Henson's Labyrinth is often cited by many as a childhood classic, especially for young girls. Considering it is one of the rare films to offer a teenage girl protagonist who embarks on a hero's journey that was once reserved for just menOften mirroring the weirdest acid trip imaginable, Jim Henson's Labyrinth is often cited by many as a childhood classic, especially for young girls. Considering it is one of the rare films to offer a teenage girl protagonist who embarks on a hero's journey that was once reserved for just men or even young boys. Thus, Labyrinth's success with young girls is hardly a surprise given that it is the rare film they can watch and actually see somebody like them take charge, instead of being treated like a damsel in distress. Featuring excellent puppetry alongside this story of a young girl going to rescue her little brother (talk about a gender swap) from the Goblin King (David Bowie), Labyrinth is raucous fun that is highly imaginative, nicely acted, and a great fairy tale for the modern age even if it can get a little too odd at times.

The times in which it gets a little too odd are largely delivered via song. With David Bowie or various puppets breaking into spontaneous and decidedly random moments of song, the film halts too much. Not only do the songs contribute very little to nothing at all to the film, but the songs are very odd (one about removing a girl's head) and never really captures the imagination. Instead, it feels like stomping on the brake and brings the film to a screeching halt. Had the music been good, it would have been excusable, but the songs are just not interesting lyrically and go on for far too long. The end result is a film that can sometimes feel too broken up and disjointed to wind up matching its fantastical feeling. Instead, it feels like a childhood fantasy film interspersed with songs that got left on the cutting room floor of the latest David Bowie album.

Fortunately, as a fairy tale, Labyrinth is nonetheless impressive thematically. Written by Terry Jones of Monty Python fame, it should be no surprise that he writes some similar morals to fellow Monty Python member Terry Gilliam. In his film Time Bandits, Gilliam went heavily anti-materialistic and with Labyrinth, Jones does the exact same. The highlight example of this theme comes as young Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) bumps into a woman in a trash heap. The woman has various pieces of garbage on her back and has been sent by the Goblin King to try and distract Sarah from her quest to rescue her brother. Tricking her into going into her room at home by enticing her with some her possessions, the woman begins placing various toys and clothes on Sarah's back while urging her to just stay and forget about Toby. With her possessions literally creating a weight on her back due to the value she places upon these material goods, Sarah is forced to decide between being crushed by the weight of this material greed or breaking free and relying upon human connection as a means to fill in her heart. This materialistic nature is what had gotten her into this mess in the first place as she asked the Goblin King to steal Toby after she found out he had taken one of her stuffed bears. It is thus only by renouncing this love of material goods in favor of loving her brother that she is able to solve the Labyrinth and find her brother. Jones adds a further thematic layer to this by introducing the materialistic temptation via a piece of fruit. Given to her by Hoggle (Shari Weiser/Brian Henson), her friend, the piece of fruit mirrors the apple bitten by Eve that introduces sin to the world. Biting the fruit without hesitation, Sarah is then forced to confront the sin that has held her back from happiness for so long.

It is only natural then that the film proceeds to discuss themes regarding selfishness. Derived straight from Sarah's materialistic nature, she is incredibly selfish. She loves her toys for sure, but is annoyed that Toby would dare think that she would share those toys with him. Her parents ask her to babysit and, though she has nothing to do, she resents them and showers them with teenage angst for asking any action from her. As her stepmother says, she gets treated like an evil stepmother (hello Cinderella) despite asking her to babysit being the only demand she makes of her stepdaughter. Not only is she immature, but Sarah is selfish in how she wants to still be treated like a baby and resents Toby for stealing the spotlight from her after having it to herself all these years. Thus, Labyrinth forces her to put her life on the line by making her take the selfless and arduous journey through the Labyrinth to rescue Toby, which forces her to realize how much she loves the kid without the cloud of materialism and selfishness.

In line with this, Labyrinth also explores themes of responsibility. Approaching the age at which she will be considered a woman, Sarah must learn a measure of responsibility. When her parents ask her to do something, she needs to know it is not because they hate her, but because they just need some assistance from her. Whether she wants it to be case or not, she must take care of Toby from time to time.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

lasttimeisaw

Apr 8, 2015

LABYRINTH is Jim Benson’s follow-up of the grotesquely eye-opening puppet enterprise THE DARK CRYSTAL (1982, 7/10), and also his final painstaking work, where he pairs a cherubic Jennifer Connelly and a trend-setting David Bowie (look at his 80s coiffure!) as human actors with all hisLABYRINTH is Jim Benson’s follow-up of the grotesquely eye-opening puppet enterprise THE DARK CRYSTAL (1982, 7/10), and also his final painstaking work, where he pairs a cherubic Jennifer Connelly and a trend-setting David Bowie (look at his 80s coiffure!) as human actors with all his accomplished puppets, to present a spellbinding fairytale in a labyrinth at the heart of a Goblin kingdom. It was a disastrous commercial failure upon its release, but time has been pretty generous to it and now it has achieved the cult status and even a possible sequel has been hatched for many years.

keep reading my review on my blog, please google: cinema omnivore, thanks!… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

robertoiglesias

Dec 27, 2017

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Vile movie. Freaky, strange, and completely distasteful setting. There is only one thing that made me partly like this crappy film: Ludo. He was the only smart and kind character unlike the other horrifying characters besides the baby.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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