Labyrinth: Limited Edition Collector’s Set (4K UHD Review)

Reviewed by: Stephen Bjork
Review Date: Nov 18, 2024
Format: 4K Ultra HD

Director

Jim Henson

Release Date(s)

1986 (November 19, 2024)

Studio(s)

Henson Associates/Lucasfilm/TriStar Pictures (Shout! Studios)

Film/Program Grade: B+
Video Grade: A-
Audio Grade: A-
Extras Grade: A
Overall Grade: A

Review

Labyrinth is the kind of production that proves having too many cooks doesn’t always spoil the broth, even though that flies in the face of the idea that the director should provide the guiding vision for any given film. It’s certainly a rejection of the auteur theory as advanced by Andrew Sarris in the United States, let alone of the original politques des auteurs as promoted by Cahiers du Cinéma in France. The Cahiers critics at least acknowledged the fact that they were championing an ideal, not describing the way that things always worked in practice. Still, there’s no denying the fact that some films have benefited from having a plurality of conflicting visions instead of one single wizard behind the curtain. The dialectical clash between those conflicting viewpoints can result in an uneven mess, but sometimes it produces a synthesis that’s greater than the sum of its constituent parts. Labyrinth is an example of the latter.

Labyrinth is a veritable witch’s brew combining the very singular talents of director Jim Henson, producer George Lucas, writer Terry Jones, designer Brian Froud, and renaissance man David Bowie, each of whom put their own individual stamp on the final product. The result is a dark coming-of-age story about a young woman’s sexual awakening in the guise of family-friendly entertainment. It’s Walkabout by way of The Dark Crystal, with a generous dose of Monty Python and the Holy Grail thrown in for good measure. Of course, the most obvious antecedent for Labyrinth is really Neil Jordan’s The Company of Wolves, which was released just two years previously. Yet the tone and style of Labyrinth is radically different than that of Jordan’s take on Angela Carter’s adult fairy tales.

Make no mistake though, Labyrinth isn’t a film that addresses growing up and putting away childish things on a simplistic level. The catalyst that draws Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) away from her childhood fantasies is none other than the very adult reality of David Bowie’s smoldering sexuality. She’s created her own fantasy environments as a way to escape the pressures of the outside world, but up until this point she’s still managed to maintain a line between the two. That line blurs and vanishes once her dreams turn to the opposite sex, forcing fantasy and reality to collide together in uncomfortable ways.

Since Sarah has already allowed pieces of her real life to influence the shape of her visions, that conflict was inevitable once she became more aware of her own sexuality. It’s well-known that many of the elements of her fantasy world are already present in her bedroom at the beginning of the film, such as a stuffed version of Sir Didymus, bookends of Hoggle, and even a small statue of the Goblin King Jareth (David Bowie), but the most significant ingredient is a bit less conspicuous. Sarah has a stepmother, and while what happened to her real mother is never explained directly in the film, she keeps newspaper clippings showing that her mother is a famous actress who appears to have left her father. One of those clippings shows her mother with another man, and it’s none other than David Bowie himself. During the opening sequence of Labyrinth, Sarah is practicing a scene of her own, demonstrating that she also wants to be an actress. Like her mother, she sees acting as an avenue to escape a family life that she finds oppressive.

As a result, the fact that Jareth ends up taking on the supremely seductive form of David Bowie is no accident. She’s already been fantasizing about the man who her mother is seeing, and that adds interesting layers to a film that already had a lot of things brewing beneath its seemingly innocuous surface. There are multiple moments in the film that show Sarah’s growing awareness of male sexuality, such as the fact that she first encounters Hoggle while he’s relieving himself into a pool. (Speaking of which, pay attention to some of the statues in the Labyrinth and in Jareth’s castle; a few of them are even more perversely sexual than that.) Of course, there’s also the 800-pound gorilla in the room: a certain pair of tights worn by Labyrinth’s lead actor. David Bowie’s bulge has probably traumatized more children over the years than all the goblins in the film put together. Henson even films that particular feature in closeup at one point while Hoggle begs for Jareth’s forgiveness, and given Hoggle’s diminutive stature, it looks like he’s offering to—well, you get the picture. Come to Labyrinth for the Brian Froud monstrosities, stay for the monster in Bowie’s pants.

Where Labyrinth does break from the mold set by Walkabout and The Company of Wolves is that Sarah eventually decides that she’s not ready to fully embrace her adult fantasies, so she returns to the real world instead. Of course, Sarah’s reality is still filled with her childhood fantasies, and they’re always ready to be there for her if she really needs them. Meanwhile, her adult needs will have to wait for another day. While Labyrinth does explore the world of adolescent female sexuality in discreet yet provocative ways, the film ultimately decides that it’s not quite the right time to put away childish things. Sarah just needs more room to grow as a woman, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Bowie’s bulge will still be lurking in the shadows, waiting to make its entrance at a more appropriate time. (So to speak.)

Cinematographer Alex Thompson shot Labyrinth on 35mm film using Arriflex 35 BL3 cameras with J-D-C Scope Xtal Xpress anamorphic lenses, framed at 2.39:1 for its theatrical release. (70mm prints were blow-ups that were re-framed at 2.20:1.) This version is based on a 4K scan of the original camera negative, digitally cleaned up and graded for High Dynamic Range in both Dolby Vision and HDR10. It’s a textbook example of how to do this kind of digital restoration, with damage to the negative having been removed, but any production artifacts like wires or dirt on the optical composites left untouched. It does appear that there may have been an attempt to clean up some of the harsh matte lines on the Fireys, but they still stand out, albeit a bit less like a sore thumb than before (although the bleed-through visible in some shots is still present). There’s an abundance of grain on display, with no noteworthy compression artifacts visible.

The HDR grade improves the contrast but does tend to push just a wee bit too hot at times, with lighter areas of the screen sometimes on the verge of looking blown out—the face of the ‘Ello worm in closeup; Bowie’s white blouse in the Dance Magic Dance scene; Toby’s face in the same scene; Connelly’s face during the door riddle and dealing with the helping hands; and more. It’s typical of Sony HDR grades from the early days of the UHD format, before they nailed down how to do it optimally. Connelly’s flesh tones also sometimes push a little pinkish; her blush seems like it took over her whole face. That’s nitpicking, though, because on the whole this is a lovely rendition of Labyrinth that easily trumps all previous Blu-ray versions.

Primary audio is offered in English Dolby Atmos and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio (the older 5.1 remix has been omitted). Labyrinth was released theatrically in matrix-encoded Dolby Stereo for 35mm and 6-track discrete mag for 70mm, and the 2.0 track does appear to be the original Dolby Stereo mix. It’s still an option for those who don’t care for remixes, but Sony does Atmos remixes really, really well, and this one is no exception. It’s much more immersive than the original mix without ever losing its character. The ceiling speakers are used sparingly for effects like thunder or the oubliette door slamming overhead, but the other surround effects are steered much more precisely than they are in the original mix. There’s more depth to the bass, too—those slamming doors have real heft to them, and there’s a satisfying rumble when Ludo calls for help from his mineral friends. It’s an evolutionary remix, not a revolutionary one, and that’s exactly how it should be done. Additional audio options include French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. Subtitle options include English, French, and Spanish.

Shout! Factory’s Limited Edition Collector’s Set 4K Ultra HD release of Labyrinth is a two-disc set that includes a Blu-ray with a 1080p copy of the film. It also includes five art cards, a sticker, and a 28-page booklet featuring Brian Froud’s production artwork and an essay by Rachel Leishman. Yet the big draw here is a 3.5” glass crystal ball that has the film’s title etched inside of it, with a wooden display stand for it that’s tucked deeper into the packaging. (There’s a warning on the back of the box not to place it in direct sunlight since it could cause a fire.) Everything is housed inside an oversized rigid case featuring Froud artwork, with a flap that opens up from the front in order to show off the crystal ball. Still, Shout! being Shout! these days, it’s not quite that simple. This is the “basic” Limited Edition Collector’s Set, but they’re also offering a variety of different packages that include other swag like posters, an ‘Ello worm plushie, more stickers, enamel pins, a card game, and a handheld maze game. (If you’ve got the money, Shout! will happily take if from you.) The disc-based content is identical in each case, so the following extras are included in every set:

DISC ONE: UHD

Audio Commentary with Brian Froud
Fan Event Q&A (UHD – 33:32)
Contact Juggling Tutorial (UHD – 12:46)

DISC TWO: BD

Audio Commentary with Brian Froud
The Storytellers: Picture-in-Picture Track
Reordering Time: Looking Back at Labyrinth (HD – 9:31)
The Henson Legacy (HD – 10:36)
Remembering the Goblin King (HD –4:48)
Anniversary Q&A (HD –41:24)
Inside the Labyrinth (SD – 56:28)
Journey Through the Labyrinth:
- Kingdom of Characters (SD – 27:57)
- The Quest for the Goblin City (SD – 30:03)
Deleted & Alternate Scenes (Upscaled SD – 26:04, 14 in all)
Theatrical Trailers (Upscaled SD – 4:08, 3 in all)

The commentary with Brian Froud was originally recorded for the 2007 DVD release of Labyrinth. He’s an interesting choice, because while he may not have been the director or the credited screenwriter, he was intimately involved with the production from start to finish, and not just in terms of designing the creatures, either. He had a hand in the conception of the story and all of the human characters as well. He discusses the film’s themes and how he blended traditional fairy tale lore into the overall design work that he did. He also offers plenty of stories about the production, and it sounds like he spent a lot of time on the set. It’s a good track that’s well worth a listen.

The Storytellers is the kind of “interactive” extra that was popular in the early days of the Blu-ray format and has thankfully gone by the wayside. It’s a popup picture-in-picture track that plays with the main feature, and it’s a pretty sparse one, too. There’s no way to skip to the popup featurettes, either, so you just have to slog though to get to them. (Note that depending on your player, it might not even work properly due to alternate angle or subtitles settings.)

Shout! has added two new extras for this release, both of them filmed at the same fan event. The Fan Event Q&A features Brian Henson and Toby Froud sitting down with a group of ardent Labyrinth fans (some of whom are in full cosplay glory). Henson responds to their questions, touching on the sexuality in the story and how the casting of David Bowie impacted that angle. He also offers some memorable stories about the production, like the challenges that his father faced while trying to direct the Helping Hands. Toby Froud, who played Sarah’s brother Toby in the film, was far too young to have any clear memories about making it, but he’s still warm and open with the fans. The Contact Juggling Tutorial features some of the same fans being shown how contact juggling works—although it’s not so much of a tutorial as it is an explainer. Still, it’s a fascinating art from that’s always mesmerizing to watch.

The rest of the extras are archival ones from the previous UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD releases of Labyrinth. Reordering Time, The Henson Legacy, and Remembering the Goblin King were added for the 30th Anniversary Edition UHD and Blu-ray in 2016. They feature interviews with Jennifer Connelly, Brian Henson, Lisa Henson, Cheryl Henson, and more, mixed with behind-the-scenes footage. (Jim Henson also appears via archival footage.) The Anniversary Q&A was also added for that release, although it was actually taped a few years earlier for the 25th anniversary. Moderated by Adam Savage, it teams up Brian Henson with puppet performers Dave Goelz and Karen Prell. (Henson has to leave early, but he’s replaced with a surprise appearance by Hoggle performer Shari Weiser.)

Inside the Labyrinth is the oldest extra in the bunch, but it’s arguably the crown jewel in the package. It was produced for television back in 1986, and it’s a comprehensive look at the making of the film. It includes vintage interviews with Jim Henson, Brian Henson, David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Brian Froud, Terry Jones, Kenny Baker, Gates McFadden, and Shari Weiser, among others. More importantly, it offers a wealth of behind-the-scenes footage. It’s an old fashioned, honest-to-God making of documentary, the kind that just doesn’t get made anymore. Don’t skip it just because it is a little old fashioned; you’ll learn more here than you will elsewhere. That’s not all, though, because there’s also Journey Through the Labyrinth, a two-part documentary that was added for the 2009 Blu-ray release. The first part Kingdom of Characters focuses on just that, the design and creation of the various puppet characters in the film. The second part The Quest for the Goblin City looks at the production itself from conception to execution.

Finally, the Deleted & Alternate Scenes were added for the 35th Anniversary Edition DigiBook release. It offers optional commentary from Brian Henson. For some reason, the Lost Auditions featurette from that release hasn’t been included here. That was a collection of vintage audition footage featuring Trini Alvarado, Maddie Corman, Tracey Gold, Molly Ringwald, Jill Schoelen, Danielle von Zerneck, and Claudia Wells. It’s the only noteworthy extra from previous versions that’s not included in this package. On the other hand, there are two new extras here and a serious piece of swag in the form of the crystal ball. Is that enough to earn a double-dip if you already own the 30th Anniversary Edition or 35th Anniversary Edition UHDs? You’ll have to judge that one for yourself, but let’s just say that I’m happy.

- Stephen Bjork

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