Another Spandex Film

Yesterday morning, after the invitational airsoft games in Bulacan was cancelled due to the weather, I remembered having borrowed an old fantasy flick from the Hairy Critter. Found it accumulating dust on my room so instead of hitting the bed again from some z-time, I rather opted to check it out. Peborit niya daw ito. Let's see...

"Labyrinth"
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!

The story follows the adventure of Sarah (young Jennifer Connelly) on this freaky night when she was left alone with his baby bro, Toby. Struck with teen angst and all that comes with PMS (and her nerdy affinity with this fantastical story she kept on mumbling about), she half-heartedly wished Toby would be snatched away by the goblins to stop him from crying. Be it fueled by her imagination or a factual alternate dimension, the goblins really kidnapped Toby away and brought him into the lair of the Goblin King which was situated in the middle of a gynormous maze (if "gynormous" is really a word) and past a ragtag Goblin City.

The Goblin King, Jareth (glam rock icon, David Bowie), gave Sarah an ultimatum: complete the maze in 13 hours or the baby will become a goblin. A winding journey followed as Sarah quested to seek the Goblin King's lair. She met friends along the way that formed her shambles of a fellowship ala Lord of the Rings. Adventures after adventures, and they finally were able to siege the Goblin City and later on the Goblin King's lair itself and save the baby from IMPENDING DOOOOM (i love saying that!).

I just watched this yesterday on DVD after much prodding from my friend, the Hairy Critter, and after that I was like, "Why did I miss this back then?". But then again, I was only 5 years old and so high with Starwars to fancy any other sci-fi/fantasy film (ok... "Neverending Story" excluded).

This 1986 film was a collaboration between director Jim Henson (The Muppet Show!) and producer George Lucas (Starwars!). I heard it flopped back then but a steady following was there up until today (obviously, Hairy Critter included) which elevated the movie amongst cult classics.

There's nothing much fascinatingly moving from the storyline itself. It's textbook fantasy with mediocre, if not poor, plot. The icing comes from the fact that by that time computer animation on films is just near wishful thinking so almost all of the entire "Labyrinth" set is manually designed and crafted by the infamous Industrial Light and Magic (I.L.M.). Knowing that the movie is created without computer aid gives you the idea of how much creative-work is done and how vivid the imagination is required to come up with such an enchanting feel on every settings and puppetries. With it, I can say that the magnificent production works alone more than fill up for what the movie lacks in twists and plots.

It's also worth to take note of the very "new wave"/80's feel of the theme. I dig! And all those teased-up hair, "baston" jeans, and black spandex too. The David Bowie musical on parts of the film projects an aura of psychedelia which reminds me of the Beatle's "Magical Mystery Tour" and idol Caroll's "Alice in Wonderland". The combined mystical effect brought about by the set, the music, and the casts is what makes the movie a magical ride, in general.

Most humours are, compared to date, oddly clichés and offbeat. David Bowie makes a nice antagonist. He's scary, in a strange way. Well, in costume or not, he's hauntingly scary anyway. Haha. The young Jennifer Connelly is sooo cute. I can see why she's still making a hubbub on showbiz now after all those years. Her role in the film is pretty straightforward to portray so it should not be a challenge.

In all, "Labyrinth" is a nice family entertainment because of its aesthetics and an appreciative masterpiece for the masterminds behind it. The brilliance who was Jim Henson and his artistry was very evident on this movie. He's truly missed.

I rate it eight out of ten goblins.

Another Spandex Film

Yesterday morning, after the invitational airsoft games in Bulacan was cancelled due to the weather, I remembered having borrowed an old fantasy flick from the Hairy Critter. Found it accumulating dust on my room so instead of hitting the bed again from some z-time, I rather opted to check it out. Peborit niya daw ito. Let's see...

"Labyrinth"
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert! Spoiler Alert!

The story follows the adventure of Sarah (young Jennifer Connelly) on this freaky night when she was left alone with his baby bro, Toby. Struck with teen angst and all that comes with PMS (and her nerdy affinity with this fantastical story she kept on mumbling about), she half-heartedly wished Toby would be snatched away by the goblins to stop him from crying. Be it fueled by her imagination or a factual alternate dimension, the goblins really kidnapped Toby away and brought him into the lair of the Goblin King which was situated in the middle of a gynormous maze (if "gynormous" is really a word) and past a ragtag Goblin City.

The Goblin King, Jareth (glam rock icon, David Bowie), gave Sarah an ultimatum: complete the maze in 13 hours or the baby will become a goblin. A winding journey followed as Sarah quested to seek the Goblin King's lair. She met friends along the way that formed her shambles of a fellowship ala Lord of the Rings. Adventures after adventures, and they finally were able to siege the Goblin City and later on the Goblin King's lair itself and save the baby from IMPENDING DOOOOM (i love saying that!).

I just watched this yesterday on DVD after much prodding from my friend, the Hairy Critter, and after that I was like, "Why did I miss this back then?". But then again, I was only 5 years old and so high with Starwars to fancy any other sci-fi/fantasy film (ok... "Neverending Story" excluded).

This 1986 film was a collaboration between director Jim Henson (The Muppet Show!) and producer George Lucas (Starwars!). I heard it flopped back then but a steady following was there up until today (obviously, Hairy Critter included) which elevated the movie amongst cult classics.

There's nothing much fascinatingly moving from the storyline itself. It's textbook fantasy with mediocre, if not poor, plot. The icing comes from the fact that by that time computer animation on films is just near wishful thinking so almost all of the entire "Labyrinth" set is manually designed and crafted by the infamous Industrial Light and Magic (I.L.M.). Knowing that the movie is created without computer aid gives you the idea of how much creative-work is done and how vivid the imagination is required to come up with such an enchanting feel on every settings and puppetries. With it, I can say that the magnificent production works alone more than fill up for what the movie lacks in twists and plots.

It's also worth to take note of the very "new wave"/80's feel of the theme. I dig! And all those teased-up hair, "baston" jeans, and black spandex too. The David Bowie musical on parts of the film projects an aura of psychedelia which reminds me of the Beatle's "Magical Mystery Tour" and idol Caroll's "Alice in Wonderland". The combined mystical effect brought about by the set, the music, and the casts is what makes the movie a magical ride, in general.

Most humours are, compared to date, oddly clichés and offbeat. David Bowie makes a nice antagonist. He's scary, in a strange way. Well, in costume or not, he's hauntingly scary anyway. Haha. The young Jennifer Connelly is sooo cute. I can see why she's still making a hubbub on showbiz now after all those years. Her role in the film is pretty straightforward to portray so it should not be a challenge.

In all, "Labyrinth" is a nice family entertainment because of its aesthetics and an appreciative masterpiece for the masterminds behind it. The brilliance who was Jim Henson and his artistry was very evident on this movie. He's truly missed.

I rate it eight out of ten goblins.