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I'm going to say something controversial here but this movie kind of sucks. I enjoyed most of it, but I don't think it would have been so amazing had it not had such a good effects team in Jim Henson's Creature Shop at it's peak and a soundtrack by David Bowie at his peak. This movie's cult status is carried by those two things alone, because it sure isn't the story.
I honestly can't tell what message the story, written by Monty Python alum Terry Jones, wants to be about. There are some themes about growing up, but so much of the movie relies on childish logic. There's a really good scene where Sarah is piled high with the childish things she loves, only to realize it's all garbage. But at the same time the ending is that she needs her childish fantasies sometimes and dances with them all. I don't really think it does a good job at conveying what it wants to be about. But honestly I think that would be fine if it were just written a little better. A lot of it is meandering. It doesn't really feel like Sarah interacts much with the other characters or learns any real lessons, other than with Hoggle, and he seems to have more character growth than she does. Ludo and Diddymus are just sort of there for the ride, though Ludo's ability to summon rocks does come in handy for crossing the extended fart joke that is the Bog of Eternal Stench and the overly long goblin city battle.
Honestly, Sarah as a character kind of isn't really there, and that's a shame, because Connelly isn't terrible. I just wish that she and Bowie had had more time together to actually sell the impression of this fantasy prone young woman being lured in by the dashing rogue of a Goblin King. Which, I mean, Bowie isn't beating the allegations when this is his prominent acting role. All in all, this is not a great story, and there aren't even all that many memorable lines. It takes a full 40 minutes before Sarah even starts gathering friends and allies! I mean, they don't do anything, and every problem she encounters she screws up, but still. Bit weird. Still, nothing is really terrible except for Chilly Down, which I hate. I hate it a lot. This movie has terrible green screening throughout, and Chilly Down is the worst of it.
What this movie does have going for it visuals. There are so many parts that are just a treat to look at. Even when to a modern eye the wires holding the spaceship are noticeable, it's so good to look at. If anything seeing the artifice and the shake of layers makes it more impressive to see. The muppets are all fantastic, and there are an astounding number of goblins. The matte paintings are fantastic, and seeing them makes me long for the good old days. The Volume is great, but there's something about a matte painting. There are just so many good moments of puppet artistry. There are rocks that look like David Bowie's face from the right angle. The escher staircase is probably one of the best versions of it. The helping hands and false alarms and all those little things are so good to look at and such neat tricks. It also has a great version of the "one of us lies, one of us tells the truth" riddle where it doesn't matter what the right answer is because they're both idiots and easily confused.
The movie is also occasionally interrupted for David Bowie to sing a mostly unrelated song. Underground isn't even in the movie proper, Magic Dance is just out of nowhere, and while Within You and As The World Falls Down are somewhat better integrated, they're not... really. I think this movie would have been improved if it had more David Bowie music. Except for Chilly Down, which I hate. It's not just the music itself, though. The score itself is phenomenal. I love it.
Also fun facts: Disney made a manga with Tokyopop that's about Toby going into the Labyrinth. "Labyrinth" is actually based on a board game, a little marble game where you try to avoid the holes. Toby Froud, the baby, went on to work with Jim Henson Creature Shop later in life on the Dark Crystal show.