The Labyrinth (1986)
Was there anything hotter in the '80s than David Bowie? That's what I thought.
Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) is just a frustrated babysitter. Her baby brother, Toby, refuses to stop crying despite all of her attempts to appease him. In her anger, she accidentally conjures goblins from her favorite book, The Labyrith (obviously), to take him away. To get him back, she must brave the labyrinth and face the Goblin King, Jareth (Bowie) with his riddles and tricks.
This is any babysitter's nightmare: a kid that won't stop crying and magical creatures that won't give him back. And since it's her brother, you know Sarah's not getting paid for any of this.
Her journey through the Labyrinth is an interesting with many intriguing characters. Hoggle (voice by Brian Henson) is the stereotypical crotchety old man with a soft heart. One of Jareth's minions, Hoggle has been ordered to hinder Sarah's journey, but finds himself warming up to her. He is split between helping save Toby and fulfilling Jareth's orders. And you can't help but feel bad for the little old man. No one can seem to remember his name, and he is endlessly hearing his name butchered to Higgle, Hogbrain and anything else that wasn't Hoggle.
I'm a fan of Jim Henson, and to see his puppets come alive in a movie that isn't about Kermit and Fozzie is awesome. While this may not be the darkest of 80s movies, those goblins aren't exactly singing about friendship and Hollywood (The Muppet Movie). For Henson, this is a darker movie, but the magic is still there, lighting up the screen and entertaining audiences. There is a lot of music too, but as mentioned, it's not the normal cheesy musical music. The creatures and characters do break out into random song quite a bit, but the music has a 80s edge. Besides the lyrics, most of the songs sound like they would have fit right along side any synthesizer-filled song on the radio at the time.
And who doesn't like to watch Bowie in tights?
If you don't own the movie already, you should. Get your own copy at:
Labyrinth (The Anniversary Edition) at amazon.com
Two Disc Widescreen DVD at bestbuy.com
DVD at fye.com
DVD at target.com
Jim Henson Family Fantasy Collection at walmart.com