Labyrinth Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Labyrinth Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 11, 2009

Jim Henson's "Labyrinth" (1986) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures. Amongst the supplemental features on the disc are: commentary with conceptual designer Brian Froud, documentary about the production history of the film, picture-in-picture feature, two very informative featurettes and more. All of the supplemental materials are perfectly playable on North American Blu-ray players and PS3s. Region-Free.

In another world

Jim Henson’s Labyrinth was made in the mid 80s. It came a couple of years after The Dark Crystal, a film that proved to be a major disappointment for director Henson. Labyrinth was a much more elaborate project that convinced George Lucas and British pop star David Bowie to come on board. A year after it was released in American cinemas, Labyrinth was nominated for Best Special Visual Effects Award by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

The story of Labyrinth revolves around a young girl, Sarah (Jennifer Connelly, Requiem for a Dream), who gets in trouble with Jareth the Goblin King (David Bowie, The Man Who Fell to Earth) after she wishes aloud that her younger brother Toby (Toby Froud) is taken away by the goblins. Much to Sarah’s surprise, Jareth appears and takes Toby to his palace, a mysterious place in the middle of a giant labyrinth populated by all sorts of weird looking creatures. Realizing what she has done, Sarah immediately heads to the palace to save Toby. She has exactly thirteen hours to pass through the labyrinth.

And so the adventure begins. Sarah enters the labyrinth and befriends some truly amusing characters. There is the lonely Hoggle (Shari Weiser), who has never had a friend before, Ludo, the giant guerilla-like creature, Didymus, the feisty one-eyed knight, and the helpful mini-worm. She also meets a talking wall, a few fairies, a friendly wiseman (Frank Oz, Blues Brothers 2000) and a whole bunch of wicked goblins.

As Sarah gets closer and closer to the palace, Jareth gets more and more nervous. He attempts to mislead and force her to give up on her brother, but she manages to remain strong. Determined to keep Toby for himself, Jareth calls on the goblins to attack Sarah and her friends in a desperate attempt to prevent them from reaching his palace.

Labyrinth is a film that looks quite impressive for its age. Terrific costumes, great camerawork and good CGI effects elevate it above most other fantasy films that were made during the 80s. There is a sense of nostalgia in it as well, one that is fairly easy to detect through the film’s terrific soundtrack.

Labyrinth also has good energy. Sarah’s journey through the labyrinth never drags and there are always new characters that she meets. Some are good-hearted, others aren’t. Not all of them are likeable, but the majority of them are unique.

Unfortunately, this is the key reason why Labyrinth does not work quite well. The manner in which these fascinating characters are introduced throughout the film does not allow the viewer to embrace them. Even Sarah’s friends do not spend enough time with her in front of the camera.

Then there is David Bowie’s character, Jareth the Goblin King. In the beginning of Labyrinth, when he enters Sarah’s world, he is cocky and powerful. Surprisingly, when Sarah enters his world, a place he knows like the palm of his hand, populated with all these creatures that he controls, he suddenly becomes weak. This definitely works to Sarah’s advantage, but not the viewer’s.

Still, a lot of the film’s imperfections nowadays actually grant it that unique flavor cult classics are known for. And you know what, during those long and cold winter nights, when everyone else is asleep and you are alone in front of your TV, free to watch whatever you want, these types of films could be a lot of fun to revisit.

Labyrinth Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jim Henson's Labyrinth arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures.

During the last six or so months, Sony Pictures have been giving us some incredibly good looking catalog releases. So, I knew that Labyrinth would not disappoint. However, I honestly did not expect it to look this good. Contrast, clarity and detail are surprisingly strong. I ran a quick test between the R1 SDVD release, which the studio put on the market in 2007, and this Blu-ray release, and the gap in quality between the two is simply staggering. For example, the color-scheme on the Blu-ray is vastly superior to the one seen on the SDVD – there is depth and vibrancy that is simply missing on the SDVD release.

This being said, neither severe edge-enhancement nor heavy macroblocking patterns plague the Blu-ray release. Furthermore, there is plenty of healthy grain on it that gives the film a pleasingly natural look. I did spot a few tiny flecks popping up here and there but nothing else that would seriously affect your viewing experience. For the record, I did not detect any disturbing scratches, debris, stains, or dirt. Finally, I noticed two minor stability issues but, again, I don't believe that most of you will even spot their presence. All in all, this is a great looking disc and undoubtedly a solid upgrade over the existing R1 SDVD release of Labyrinth. (Note: This Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. For the record, there is no PAL content preceding the main menu).

Labyrinth Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are three different audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and German Dolby TrueHD 5.1. I opted for the English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track and did only a few very quick comparisons with the other two tracks for the purpose of this review.

The English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 is terrific. The bass is surprisingly potent, the rear channels not overly active but effective, and the high frequencies not overdone. David Bowie's "Underground", Magic Dance", Chilly Down", "As The World Falls Down", and "Within You" sound fresh. There are no balance issues. The crisp and clear dialog is very well mixed with the music. Trevor Jones' score sounds a bit dated but it surely gives Labyrinth a very special flavor. This being said, there are no disturbing pops, cracks, clicks, or hissings that I detected.

As noted above, I quickly tested the French Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and German Dolby TrueHD 5.1 tracks. To make a long story short, these dubs sound rather flat. This is not to say that dynamically they are inferior to the English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track, but it is fairly easy to tell that the voices of the French and German actors who did the dubbing are not as effective as the voices of the principal actors. The music score sounds identical on all three tracks.

For the record, Labyrinth arrives with a number of different subtitle options: English, English SDH, French, German, Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Hindi, and Turkish. When turned on, the subtitles split the image frame and the black bar underneath it.

Labyrinth Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Commentary with Brian Froud - conceptual designer Brian Froud talks about the many groundbreaking at the time CGI effects that were incorporated in the film, the fascinating characters, the message behind the story, the many production difficulties the film crew had to overcome, etc. Indeed, this is quite an informative commentary that offers a wealth of information pertaining to the film's production history and consequently acceptance by the public. Subtitled in English, French, German, and Dutch.

Making of Documentary - titled "Inside the Labyrinth", this extremely long featurette focuses on the enormous amount of work that went into the film. From David Bowie's invaluable contribution to George Lucas' involvement to Jim Hanson's vision of the film, everything that you could possibly want to know about the production of Labyrinth is in this featurette. Subtitled in English, French, German, and Dutch. (57 min, 480/60i)

Journey through the Labyrinth: Kingdom of Characters - another featurette addressing the fascinating characters from the film. Puppeteer David Goelz, puppet designer Jane Gootnick, George Lucas, conceptual designer Brian Froud, and puppeteer coordinator Brian Hanson talk about the difficulties they had to overcome during the pre-production of the film. Subtitled in English, French, German, and Dutch. (28 min, 480/60i).

Journey through the Labyrinth: "The Quest for Goblin City" - conceptual designer Brian Froud, his assistant, Mira Velimorivic, George Lucas, Brian Hanson, and Jane Gootnick talk about how the story of Labyrinth came to exist. Subtitled in English, French, German, and Dutch. (30 min, 480/60i).

The Storytellers - this is a PIP feature, which you would be able to access only if you have at least a Profile 1.1 Blu-ray player. Cheryl Hanson, daughter of director Jim Henson, talks about what might have inspired her father to shoot Labyrinth. Other people who contributed to the film also also share their thoughts.

BD Live Functionality -

Labyrinth Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fans of Jim Henson's Labyrinth will be thrilled with this disc - it looks lovely. Sony Pictures have also made sure to include a good number of supplemental features on it. All of them, even the commentary with conceptual designer Brian Froud, are subtitled in English, French, German, and Dutch. Highly Recommended.