When he asked Sarah how she find his labyrinth, its pretty obvious Jareth is fishing for some validation. He's a fae monarch and this is his shining achievement. And then she insults him by calling it a piece of cake.
+Amanda Diamond Good catch, I didn't think of it that way--I just figured he was daring her to say something negative. But this fits his character as David Bowie has described him (I go into that in Part 2).
Holy shit, I love this movie. It's so visually interesting and it's got such a brilliant grasp of folklore and fairy tale rules. Plus, Terry Jones (former Python trooper) brings the occasional bit of British humor, like the with the False Alarms. The whole thing with the goblins not being able to act until Sarah says exactly the right phrase and Hoggle not telling her where the door is until she asks directly (as well as the door not actually being there until she asks) are all fairy tale tropes that show up across multiple cultures around the world.
Nostalgia is all I can say when it comes to Labyrinth. Growing up, this was the go to movie for me and my cousins when they came over to spend the night. Such good times. Thanks for covering this, Dena!
@4:15. I also feel the need to defend Sarah, just a little. Let's look at the things that specifically caused Sarah's fit of temper here: she's come home and discovered that while she was out, her parents went into her room, took something that belonged to her, and gave it to her brother, all without her knowledge or her permission. How is that not a completely legitimate thing to be furious about? It isn't as though this was some old thing of hers that they found in storage that they decided to hand down to Toby(and even if it was, it would still be basic courtesy to ask if she minded them giving it to him), this was something sitting on the shelf next to her bed, which she immediately noticed was missing. That implies that she has some sort of emotional attachment to this particular bear. Is it wrong for Sarah to take out her frustration on Toby? Absolutely. But, she's a character at the beginning of a coming-of-age story; she has to start out being childish in order to grow over the course of her character arc.
Oh boy, just the other day me and my dad caught a David Bowie song on the radio, I recognized it was Bowie immediately, so when the announcer confirmed what I said, my father was surprised that I even know who David Bowie is!
Hey, Bowie was able to turn a liability into an asset! The actual medical term is anisocoria (unequal size of the eyes' pupils), not to be confused with heterochromia iridum (one iris a different color to the other).
You know the bit where Sarah introduces herself and Hoggle's like "I thought it was you". There's an awesome theory that there have been *multiple* Sarahs. Look at all the jewelry Hoggle's collected, for example-- where did it come from, if not from other people trapped in the Labyrinth? (Also, eeee! I can't wait for part two!)
+YorkChangeling I don't know about that, I still prefer what I pointed out in the video--that he recognizes her because he's part of her imagination. Also, with the jewelry theory--he regards her plastic jewelry with fascination. If he'd seen something like that a lot, he wouldn't have reacted that way. I do believe that other people could have been to the Labyrinth, tho, which I'll get to in Part 2--a couple of creatures hint at the idea that they may have been human once (IMO, anyway).
I love this movie for really stand up to the test of time. There are a good amount of movies that use puppets that look fake now, and while you can kinda tell they used Muppets, the way they blend them with the background almost makes them feel real. Just shows you how good Jim Henson was at his job/hobby.
Jim Henson. (1936 - 1990). Jim Henson was one of the most famous puppeteers, film makers and artists of the 20th century. He quite simply revolutionised puppetry in a way that nobody had ever done before. He designed puppets in such a way that the whole face really appeared to be talking to the audience. He designed the eyes in way to make the audience focus solely on the puppet, as though the entire face filled the screen. To begin with, Henson was not interested in puppetry as an art form per say. He was primarily interested in television. He used puppetry as a vehicle for getting into the television industry. Henson began his career in the 50s with a 5 minute puppet show for adults that aired at 11.25pm, entitled “Sam and Friends”. His team became known for making commercials for products such as dog food. In 1969, he was recruited by a children's television workshop to become a key innovator in the development of a program called Sesame Street. The aim of the program is to combine education with entertainment using a combination of human performers, puppets and short animations. This is a method for teaching children basic literacy and numeracy skills, in addition to teaching spacial awareness, social skills and issues that would affect them in everyday life. In 1976, Henson and his puppeteers went on to produce “The Muppet Show” in London which became the most popular tv show in the world at the time. Characters like Kermit the frog, Ms. Piggy, Sam the eagle, Beaker, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and many more quickly became household names. The show also featured a wide variety of human guest stars prominent in show business industry. Everyone from Spike Milligan to Leo Sawyer appeared on the show. It ran until 1981. In the early 80's, Henson moved on to film to create masterpieces such as The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986). These films were spectacular works of art that combined comedy, artistry and story telling in a unique cinematic fashion that few had witnessed before. Initially, the films were not well received by the critics, I believe this was because Henson had previously been pigeon holed into being a children's performer, simply because he was a puppeteer and they did not know how to interpret such films. To me, Henson was not just a children's performer, he was an artist, a storyteller, craftsman and philosopher who never had enough time to complete his work as demonstrated by his experimental film “Timepiece”. “Timepiece” was nominated for an Oscar in 1965. Henson was also interested in folk tales and bringing those folk tales to a modern audience, which came through in one of his final projects before his death, “The Storyteller”, which was hosted by a veteran actor John Hurt of Elephant Man fame. Henson's gentle message was peace and harmony in the world and his dream that encompass “singing and dancing and making people happy”. He commented on racial acceptance through the voice of Kermit the frog in the song, Being Green, and environmental issues through the series, Freckle Rock (1983-1987), and above all, he used his muppets as a metaphor for the way he believed people should live their lives. His family continue his legacy with dignity and grace. My purpose in writing this is not to lament about my childhood but to try and get people to understand the complexity and beauty of Jim Henson as a performing artist. This is not to dismiss the vital contribution of people like Frank Oz. R.I.P Mr. Henson.
I definitely noticed the photo of Bowie next to Sarah's mother, which definitely makes me think of how in adaptations of Peter Pan the character of Captain Hook is also played by the same actor who plays Mr Darling. The Underground and As The World Falls Down music videos are sort of origin stories for Jareth.
Labyrinth is my favourite fantasy film and David Bowie is awesome as Jareth and the music by Trevor Jones is just magical and the title track Underground by David Bowie is pretty catchy and you can dance to it all day and the lesson taught is never give up on childhood completely but it’s ok to escape reality when you feel like it and even you are starting to grow up
You commentary and snarky quips about this movie are killing me! It's one of my favourites and it's nice to hear someone else's sassy thoughts on it for a change. Half the things you've said in this half alone are things I've thought myself about this movie and I find it highly amusing.
This is one movie from my childhood that I know I love, but I don't remember exactly why until I rewatch at least once, but hey I saw it on TV when I was like 5, as I was one year old when it came out. Anyway, nice review. Waiting for the second part!
+Hermaeus Mora (I couldn't respond to your comment for some reason) Okay, mainly I just didn't wanna say it in the video. It's called a Spanish Tickler or a Cat's Paw. Just be careful about reading too much about torture devices if you're sensitive to that kind of stuff (I am and I made that mistake once--hence what I said about not wanting to go down that rabbit hole).
+Cyborcat i tried to look it up and i guess you mean spanish tickler. the only results i got for french tickler where about latex condoms with additional protrusions.
The more reviews the better. Especially from someone like me that grew up obsessed with this movie. So far, this is a great review. The "one of us tells the truth and the other one always lies" always threw me when I was younger until I came up with my own headcanon about it. The door that said that is a liar. If it always lies, it's lying about that. So the other door could be a liar as well. That's why Sarah's logic never worked and she ended up in the Oubliette.
Did you listen to any of David Bowie’s music when you were younger and what’s your favourite song by him? My favourite songs by Bowie is Moonage Daydream And Underground
I love this movie so much!, I sing it for my cousin who lives it too & shes says I do a damn good version of David Bowie!...🤔 That idk lol but I'm glad others love it!
Labyrinth in the moon light we settle on the veranda a gentle breeze whispers into our backs soothing our hearts into the lovely sense of community unique to the Dandenongs it is moment 0f bitter soft tenderness as we recall Bowie”s passing\talent and the life like magic of Jim henson”s Muppets a mystical blend of spine warming music fairytale tradition with a quirky twist python humour and the brave love of a fearless sister the silent film begins crystals float owls glide glowing titles catch the eye the sound weaves in the dark hills in the background foreshadow the labyrinth sparkles shine in honour of graceful ghosts we laugh we sing we rejoice then embrace the night knowing this cult classic will live on forever
Excellent attention to detail! I've never noticed any of the little things that you mentioned. It really adds layers to the story, especially the bit with the step mother. I just thought she was rehashing the Cinderella cliche. I only noticed that she has a Trumpy doll down and to the left of Lancelot's spot. I suppose he's the one doing the magic/ stupid things! :P
6:44 more like awesome entrance also I re - enacted this scene and the confrontation scene with Sarah and Jareth I played both characters I did it for my love for Labyrinth I don’t know if you wanna see it if you’re interested in my acting skills and if you are I can download it to RU-vid unfortunately I lost the footage where I acted out Jareth’s Entrance I hope I’ll find it someday
I love this film but sadly relate it to the deaths of two awesome entertainers. While the first, Bowie, is obvious; the second is Justin/Jew Wario thanks to his "You Can Play This" of the Labyrinth video game.
Funny, when I see the talking walls, I keep on thinking of the creatures from Return to Oz. Also I love this this movie, I know it might be nostalgia talking but I thought it was an improvement over the Dark Crystal movie.
Trust me, I think it's something I would think you would be a fan of. It's got a nice dark atmosphere and seeing some of the movies your a fan of, I think you would appreciate.
+ZionKraze I think so too, going what I've seen. I think I passed it over when it first came out because critics slammed it and it kind of faded into obscurity. Now I see people talking about it again (kind of like Labyrinth, I guess), and it looks like something I'd like now.
@@Cyborcat personally I think you gotta watch it a few times to really love it. Its a totally different t vibe from wizard of oz so I think that's why it was received so poorly, a different expectation. The girl from the craft plays Dorothy when she is about 9 or 10. It's very creepy, kitchy and kool. And is all about gnomes. (So its Fae)
I know what you mean I love the opening credits of Labyrinth the song sounds magical and the CGI owl looks awesome for 1986 and also I love the title track of Labyrinth: Underground it’s my favourite song in the song including Magic Dance and As The World Falls Down no in fact all 5 songs by David Bowie in the film
7:08 i dont know if anyone notices very well, when Jareth first shows of the crystal to Sarah, notice the reflection doesnt match the scene. It actually looks they just used the reflection of jareth at near the end of the film.
I really loved Labyrinth when I was younger. I still like it now, though I do notice some iffy acting moments from Jennifer Connelly. Then again, she was only 15/16 when it was made. Great imagination, and excellent puppet work. Equivalent movies today just don't quite match it in the imagination stakes - other than maybe Harry Potter. CG just doesn't have the same charm to it either.
CG is the death of movies.. Movies are very shallow and empty these days.. Just good CGI.. Animated ones like Ice Age etc are the only great things coming out these days
+Cyborcat I'm really surprised there was any choreography, it looked more like he didn't really know what to do. But maybe the intention was to make him look kinda adorkable.
+Berta Vierlein Or maybe the moves were kept simplistic on purpose so you'd focus more on the music, especially since you mostly just see his upper body anyway.
I saw in a video, I think from Cinefix, that this scene was a huge mess and very hard to film because there were so many puppets, so yeah, I guess maybe they just told him to keep it simple and not trip over anything.
13:39 never liked stories with the one-lying-brother-one-telling-the-truth riddle. The idea of the question is to make them both liars and doing the opposite of what they say (I think), but it is always explained in that convoluted diagram way. Not to mention I would find it more clever if a protagonist just asked "how many fingers am I holding up?" and whomever gave the wrong answer she just ignores as she now grills the one who only tells truths.
+butchdeadlift10 It's really not that complicated, if you break it down. Think of it like multiplication with negative values - it doesn't matter which number is negative, the answer will always be negative. So here, it doesn't matter which of the two is the liar, the answer will always be the wrong one. What frustrates me about this is that she gets the answer right, yet *still* ends up falling down a pit. Jareth is a cheating bastard.
+thor30013 Well I reoccurring theme in Labyrinth is that you have to be careful what say. Piece of cake is said three times and things get tougher each time. They even joked about this in behind the scene documentary. Sarah even says in this scene that's she'd never gotten the riddle right before and must be getting smarting. She should quite while she was ahead rather than act things will be easy now. Pride (literally) goes before the fall.
Yeah, someone else pointed that out awhile back. Apparently there are Jareth faces all over the place, but I only ever noticed the statue before making this video =P
I love this movie so much and it does make me super nostalgic and my mom used to sing me dance magic dance all the time but this movie scared me a little also 6:12 made me actually laugh out loud
The second mispronounciation of Hoggle's name: I honestly heard it as Hogwart. And not because the NC used it as a joke, after I watched the movie back when I was a teenager (and Harry Potter was on top of its game) I honestly heard it like that XD
+Cyborcat Yeah, I noticed... I remember the first time watching this film. It was back in the early to mid-90's when I was in kindergarten. We watched it on ciné film through a projector in a film club, my father was operating. I tell you, we got so scared of the imagery that he actually got a lot of complaints for it from some of the other parents
+David Lev Yep, that'll be mentioned in Part 2. Didn't know about Brian Fraud being a puppeteer, tho, I thought he just did character designs. That's cool.
+Cyborcat Sorry, I meant that Toby is www.pdxmonthly.com/articles/2014/6/19/toby-the-baby-from-labyrinth-grows-up-to-be-a-goblin-king-june-2014 I also should have mentioned that Wendy Froud, Brian's wife, Toby's mom, and an acclaimed artist in her own right, also did character designs for Labyrinth (and the Dark Crystal)
+David Lev Ah! I was surprised I didn't know that about Brain Fraud, and it turns out I misunderstood you =P Even more interesting, thanks for the link =P
I love this movie. Jim Henson always did a wonderful job with anything he worked on. Dena, will you ever do a episode talking about "The Dark Crystal"?
+Moonbeam Hard to say. I think I've only seen it once, so I don't have a connection to it like I do with Labyrinth, but I do want to watch it again, so it just depends on how I end up feeling about it.
I first became familar with this little muppet acid trip of a movie when I was around 10 to 11 years old. Parents left me and my sister at a daycare where this is literally the only movie they would show....Well it was a rotation between Spaceball and Honey I shrunk the Kids, but this movie was shown countless times. I couldn't make heads or tales of this flick so seeing it again feels pretty weird. I don't think it's a bad movie, but certainly not something I'm gonna be running to see in the future.
One of these days if you have some link or a way, to send a video of me.... attempting to sing it for you & the fans as well as tell my cousin to check your channel??? Maybe a David Bowie contest??? Lmao
@@Cyborcat I was slightly freaked out when I watched it the first time, but it's an awesome movie. Maybe the Goblins don't know anything about raising a baby? I'd love to read that fanfiction. They learning how much work it is to raise a kid. Helping raise my nephew has helped me learn that! Maybe they'll give him back. XD Goblin Prince has a nice ring to it though. I really only found your review because I wanted to touch up on the story. A Harry Potter fanfic crossover that sounded awesome, but has vanished from the internet.
This is a change, it's not a Hellraiser movie...not that I'm against quite the contrary, it's cool to see a more colorful movie from time to time. Damn! I need to rewatch Labyrinth, I haven't seen it in quite some time.
You mention a torture device but won't tell us what it is? Agh! You've piqued my interest, and whether the curiosity kills me, I have to know what it is now!
Fun David Bowie Eye Fact #2: He was punched in the eye by the man who did every single memorable album cover art (think Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here...all of those) from the 70s for stealing his girlfriend. It was a bet between him and either a member of Pink Floyd or Peter Frampton...because they ALL went to High School together in the 60s in England. It must have been an amazing time to see local garage bands!
I hope one day you do a Dark Crystal review. Mostly because movies like that and Legend straight up created the love of fantasy and creepy things I currently possess. I'm currently rereading the Wheel of Time series since I don't know if the Winds of Winter will be released even in my lifetime at this point.
Cyborcat I know but back then when I watched the Hellbound video I didn't know where the scene with the little worm comes from but overall I do enjoy both references :D
+Dragon Skunk Not recently. I did get two strikes on my account last year, but I haven't had anything like that recently other than not being able to monetize certain videos. I still might make a WTFU video just because the Content ID system is a pain and more people need to be talking about it.
+Dragon Skunk Exactly, I just kind of got used to it. Nostalgia Critic's video, along with another one by MysteriousMrEnter got me thinking about it, and I'm back to realizing how messed up it is.
I swear not to be rude I think that I soul know more about David bowie than you is was bothering when you would just keep talking and I have been in that genre my hole life and the fact that you only got into him because of that movie that's sad he's really talented and so if you never watched that movie you wouldn't even of known who he was
I...actually never liked this. I never saw it as a kid (though i remember seeing it at the video store) and didn't see it until I was finishing High School. I think it was how AWFUL Jennifer Connelly's acting was that did it for me -- everyone else was doing great, but her? Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Also, I always got distracted by Danny John Jules and the voice of Hoggle being the voice of the dog from "The Storyteller" (a Jim Henson show I DID see growing up).
