Labyrinth **** (1986, David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Froud) – Classic Movie Review 3256

‘Jim Henson, George Lucas and David Bowie take you into a dazzling world of fantasy and adventure.’

David Bowie gives a memorable turn as the lead in the 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth. Behind the scenes, former Monty Python man Terry Jones, George Lucas and the late Muppet genius Jim Henson combine their talents as screen-writer, producer and co-story-writer/director for this pleasurable family fantasy adventure.

Jennifer Connelly plays selfish 16-year old teenager Sarah who is left home alone by her parents to babysit her constantly bawling little two-year-old kid brother Toby (Toby Froud). But, but careful of what you wish for!

Sarah is then given 13 hours to solve a mysterious labyrinth maze to save Toby when her wish for him to be taken away is granted by the Goblin King and he is snatched away by the goblins and taken off to their fairy kingdom. The Goblin King steals the child and brings him to his castle in the middle of the labyrinth and Sarah has to rescue him before midnight or he will become a goblin.

Even if it slightly runs out of invention in the middle, Labyrinth is hugely entertaining, starting imaginatively and ending brightly. Certainly there is more than enough here to please most children and many of the grown-ups, too, who can relish the sweet fantasy story, the visual style, the skill involved, Trevor Jones’s score, the wit of things like the gravity-defying staircase, and especially David Bowie’s campy, entertaining performance as Jareth the Goblin King.

Above all, the Henson Creature Workshop characters are an enormous delight and Bowie performs Magic Dance, As The World Falls Down, Within You, Underground and Chilly Down, the first four written by him.

Dennis Lee wrote the story with Henson.

Also in the cast are Shelley Thompson, Christopher Malcolm and Natalie Finland.

The voices are provided by Brian Henson, Ron Mueck, David Shaughnessy, Timothy Bateson, Michael Hordern, Denise Bryer, Anthony Jackson, Douglas Blackwell, Robert Beatty, Dave Goelz, Percy Edwards, Kevin Clash, Charles Augnis, Danny John Jules and Richard Bodkin.

Tragically, the Goblin King is dead. David Bowie died on 10 January 2015 at the age of 69 after an 18-month battle with cancer. The Seventies and Eighties saw him combine his glittering pop career with memorable appearances in films including The Man Who Fell To Earth, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, The Hunger, Labyrinth, Basquiat and Absolute Beginners.

David Bowie amusingly plays a decrepit Andy Warhol in Basquiat (1996). It’s the most entertaining thing in the movie  – he’s got the mannerisms and look down to a fine art…

http://derekwinnert.com/basquiat-1996-classic-film-review-816/

The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) stars the young, slim, other-worldly David Bowie, then in his ‘space oddity’ phase. Though providing more of a presence than a feat of acting, he is absolutely ideal as Thomas Jerome Newton, the humanoid alien extra-terrestrial who comes to Earth from a faraway galaxy to look for water for the people on his dying planet…

http://derekwinnert.com/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-1976-david-bowie-rip-torn-candy-clark-buck-henry-bernie-casey-classic-movie-review-2992/

David Bowie learned to play cello for The Hunger ***** (1983). He is surprisingly effective as Egyptian vampire Miriam Blaylock (Catherine Deneuve)’s much-younger, 300-year-old vampire beau John Blaylock…

http://derekwinnert.com/the-hunger-classic-film-review-87/

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 3256

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