Labyrinth Returns To Theaters For Its 40th Anniversary
The iconic fantasy film’s soundtrack album, by David Bowie and Trevor Jones, is available on vinyl.
Here’s your chance to see Labyrinth, one of the defining fantasy films of a generation, in a communal setting on the big screen. The iconic 1986 movie is returning to theaters this week in honor of its 40th anniversary.
Theatrical showings of Labyrinth 40th Anniversary will begin this Thursday, Jan. 8 and continue through Jan. 15. In addition to the original movie, the 40th anniversary edition includes a featurette celebrating the fans of Labyrinth, filmed at the UK’s recent Labyrinth Experience & Masked Ball.
Directed by Jim Henson based on a screenplay by Monty Python’s Terry Jones, Labyrinth stars music legend David Bowie and a young Jennifer Connelly in one of her breakout roles. Labyrinth 40th Anniversary transports viewers back into the mystical maze accidentally summoned by Connelly’s imaginative teen Sarah. She must rescue her brother Toby from Bowie’s character Jareth, the Goblin King, whose performance The A.V. Club once described as “gloriously iconic, a perfect blend of predatory, leering rock star and hurt, rejected emo lover.”
The labyrinth itself was inspired by the works of Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher, full of visual paradoxes like staircases that go up in every direction. It was brought to life with great care by Henson in his final directorial feature, a fantastical allegory that has developed a fervent cult following over the years. As The Atlantic once put it, “Labyrinth reacquainted audiences with an old idea that Hollywood had long neglected: Childhood is a scary and dangerous place, an inherently strange time filled with dead-ends, wrong turns, lies, and traps.”
One of the key elements of the movie’s success was its soundtrack. The album alternates between Trevor Jones’ original score and Bowie-penned pop songs from the movie including “Magic Dance,” “As The World Falls Down,” and the album’s theme song and biggest chart hit, “Underground,” which was paired with an elaborate music video set in the world of Labyrinth.
Released at the height of his pop stardom in the wake of mid-’80s hits like “Let’s Dance” and “Dancing In The Street,” Labyrinth was the second of three movie soundtracks in which Bowie was heavily involved—sandwiched between 1981’s Christiane F. and 1993’s The Buddha of Suburbia.
