Labyrinth (1986)
★★★½ — Labyrinth (1986)
Labyrinth was a passion project for Jim Henson, who co-produced it through his own company alongside George Lucas's Lucasfilm, with Terry Jones of Monty Python writing the screenplay. Henson had spent decades in television (The Muppet Show, Sesame Street) and had made his theatrical feature debut with The Dark Crystal in 1982, a film he hoped would prove puppet-based fantasy could work for adult audiences as much as children. Labyrinth followed that same ambition, on a budget of $25 million, though it earned back barely half of that on its original theatrical run, making it a costly disappointment at the time. Jennifer Connelly was seventeen during filming, and the casting of David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin King gave the production an unmistakable glamour-rock edge. Young Toby Froud, billed third, was the real-life infant son of conceptual designer Brian Froud, whose visual sensibility had also shaped The Dark Crystal.
A beautifully weird little gem from the '80s fantasy era. Jim Henson’s Labyrinth is equal parts enchanting, surreal, and just plain odd, which probably explains why so many of us kids obsessed over it while parents quietly wondered what they'd just let us watch. The puppetry and animatronics are nothing short of magical. Seriously, these effects still hold up, especially considering this wasn’t some billion-dollar CGI spectacle. And David Bowie doing his best Goblin King cosplay is equally iconic. I mean, yeah... it's a little uncomfortable now watching him basically play a glam-rock Pied Piper trying to snatch a baby. But at the time it was just another Tuesday night movie for me and my sister. Jennifer Connelly is great as Sarah. She carries the whole thing with wide-eyed determination, even when things get gloriously bizarre. And Hoggle? Oh, he became a D&D villain in my campaign for like six months. Still one of my better NPC decisions. It’s not perfect (pacing drags a bit, some scenes feel longer than a Tolkien novel, and the moral implications of the main plot are... questionable by today’s standards) But it’s charming, creative, and full of that old-school Henson magic. Not quite a classic, but absolutely a cult favorite. And hey, if you grew up with it? It’s hard not to love.
Rating: ★★★½ | Year: 1986 | Watched: 2025-05-14
Where to watch (UK)
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Amazon Prime Video with Ads · ITVX Premium
Rent: Sky Store
Buy: Sky Store
Physical: Amazon UK
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Jim Henson: The Dark Crystal (1982)
More from United Kingdom: Lessons of Darkness (1992) · Shinjuku Boys (1995) · The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) · Blue (1993)
More from the 1980s: Nightmare City (1980) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Style Wars (1983) · Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers (1980)
More adventure: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · The Eagle (1925) · Louisiana Story (1948) · The General (1926)
More family: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Wonder (2017) · Kirikou and the Wild Beasts (2005) · Anastasia (1997)
