Labyrinth (30th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-Ray] 
Director: Jim Henson
Cast: David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly
Release Date: September 20, 2016
A Review By: Kevin Lovell
Disc Rating: 9/10
Synopsis:
A selfish 16-year old girl is given 13 hours to solve a labyrinth and rescue her baby brother when her wish for him to be taken away is granted by the Goblin King.
Directed by Jim Henson from a screenplay by Terry Jones and based on a story by Dennis Lee and Jim Henson, LABYRINTH was produced by Eric Rattray, with George Lucas and David Lazer serving as executive producers.
Combining the extraordinary talents of three notable artists and directed by the incredibly gifted Jim Henson, ‘Labyrinth’ returns home once again, this time fully remastered in 4K and sporting a spectacular new Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Now both longtime fans and newcomers to this wonderful fantasy adventure can join 16-year-old Sarah (Connelly) who after making a terrible and selfish mistake must journey through the mind bending Labyrinth with only 13 hours allotted to reclaim her baby brother from the dastardly Goblin King Jareth (Bowie) before he becomes lost to her forever. Combining the distinct talents of entertainment greats Jim Henson, George Lucas and David Bowie who each contribute their own unique touch, ‘Labyrinth’ is a mesmerizing tale for the whole family that still holds up wonderfully and remains a monumental event in the world of film that will never be forgotten and will hopefully continue to be shared with many new generations to come.
Fellow fans of the wonderful piece of filmmaking that is ‘Labyrinth’ will almost surely want to make certain to pick up a copy of the new 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray release from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to add to your collection. This new edition of the movie features phenomenal high definition video and audio presentations courtesy of a new 4K remaster of the film from a 35mm camera negative, and the end results is glorious. The new release also includes a number of previously released extras in addition to some solid new supplemental material exclusive to this release such as a retrospective look at the film in ‘Reordering Time: Looking Back On Labyrinth’ and more (more detailed information regarding the bonus content can be found in the special features section of the technical specification coverage below), which combined with the gorgeous new video and audio presentations of the film should easily make this one a definite must own for many of the fellow fans.
Overall, fellow fans of this magical tale will likely want to make sure to pick up a copy of the ‘Labyrinth: 30th Anniversary Edition’ on Blu-ray in order to have the ability to enjoy this timeless masterpiece time and again in truly breathtaking quality, now fully remastered in 4K and presented with a newly created Dolby Atmos soundtrack, as well as including some great bonus content both new and old. The 30th Anniversary Blu-ray also comes in a gorgeous and durable digibook that features an informative booklet attached to the interior, as well as some beautiful full color artwork and more, making this a truly fantastic release in almost every way (there is one notable issue with an included carryover bonus feature which is discussed in more detail within the technical specification coverage below), not to mention the perfect way for newcomers to this fantasy gem to experience it for the first time. This outstanding new 30th Anniversary Blu-ray release of ‘Labyrinth’ definitely comes highly recommended.
VIDEO:
The 30th Anniversary Blu-ray release of ‘Labyrinth’ features a brand new transfer of the film fully remastered in 4K from a 35mm camera negative source and presented here in a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.35:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. This new high definition video presentation looks outstanding and delivers a consistently sharp, detailed and colorful presentation that still retains a suitable amount of grain and other artifacts reminiscent of the source materials. It holds up impressively from start to finish and suffers no notable faults of any kind throughout. Overall, this is a phenomenal new high definition video presentation of ‘Labyrinth’ that should absolutely thrill the fellow fans.
AUDIO:
This 30th Anniversary Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the lossless Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This lossless multichannel soundtrack provides a clean, discrete and often somewhat aggressive audio presentation throughout. Regularly utilizing all seven available channels in order to fully immerse the viewer within the film’s memorable soundtrack by David Bowie and sending a number of random auditory effects and chatter throughout the various speakers, while never resulting in any dialogue which may be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or rendered inaudible. Overall, this is a sensational Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that contributes yet another layer of enjoyment to this overall impressive new Blu-ray release.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The 30th Anniversary Blu-ray release of ‘Labyrinth’ includes a healthy collection of supplemental material featuring a number of new extras exclusive to this release. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary track with Conceptual Designer Brian Froud’, in addition to some new retrospective and dedicational Featurettes that include interviews/comments with the cast and crew discussing their experiences with the film and remembering the late geniuses Jim Henson and David Bowie. These new Featurettes include ‘Reordering Time: Looking Back On Labyrinth’ (running approximately 10 minutes in length), ‘The Henson Legacy’ (running approximately 11 minutes), ‘Remembering the Goblin King’ (approximately 5 minutes), and ‘Anniversary Q and A’ (41 minutes). Three ‘Theatrical Trailers’ for the film (approximately 4 minutes in total) are also new to this release. This edition also includes a number of extras that were included on the previous Blu-ray release of the film, these include the ‘Inside the Labyrinth’ Making of Documentary (approximately 58 minutes), and a couple of Featurettes: ‘Journey through the Labyrinth: Kingdom Of Characters’ (28 minutes), and ‘Journey through the Labyrinth: The Quest for the Goblin City’ (30 minutes). The release additionally includes another extra from the previous release: ‘The Storytellers – Picture in Picture’ track which includes a popup window in the corner with the creative team offering a plethora of information about the film. Unfortunately (at least on my end) this feature on the new release didn’t include any audio specific to this, it merely played the popup window along with the new Feature Film Dolby Atmos soundtrack and therefore providing no real purpose. Attempting to change the audio track also proved futile. While it’s possible this is an error simply on my end, I find it doubtful as I checked this extra on both of my home theater setups which each resulted in the same issue. If any of our readers happened to have experienced a different result regarding this issue on the 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray disc we would love to hear from you.
*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-ray release are the property of their respective owners.
Disc Rating: 9/10
Jim Henson’s ‘Labyrinth: 30th Anniversary Edition’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray & DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
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