DVD Collectors Online

Labyrinth, a review by Danae Cassandra

Labyrinth
Year of Release: 1986
Directed By: Jim Henson
Starring: David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Froud, Brian Henson, Ron Mueck, David Shaughnessy
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure

Overview:
Journey into the fantastical world of Labyrinth, starring David Bowie and a cast of incredible creatures created by Jim Henson. Frustrated with babysitting on yet another weekend night, Sarah (Jennifer Connelly), a teenager with an active imagination, summons the Goblins from her favorite book, "Labyrinth", to take her baby stepbrother away. When little Toby actually disappears, Sarah must follow him into the world of the fairy tale to rescue him from the wicked Goblin King (Bowie)! Guarding his castle is the labyrinth itself, a twisted maze of deception, populated with outrageous characters and unknown dangers. To get through it in time to save Toby, Sarah will have to outwit the King by befriending the very Goblins who protect him, in hopes that their loyalty isn't just another illusion in a place where nothing is as it seems!

My Thoughts:
This is an old childhood favorite.  Of course, unlike some friends of mine, I was never rooting for Sarah.  I am Jareth's fan all the way.

I had such a massive crush on him when I was younger.

There's a lot of nostalgia wrapped up in this film for me.  It was such a favorite of mine as a child, and it takes me back to the good parts of my childhood.  And nostalgia always lets you view things through glasses tinted rose.

I don't know that I would love it so much if I came to it first today.  It's a lot of fun, sure, and the puppetry is fantastic.  David Bowie is a sexy and elegant as ever.  But I've never liked Sarah's character, and I still don't.  I also didn't particularly like Connelly's portrayal, which is something I wouldn't have consciously thought about back then.  

At the same time, I still think it's a lovely fantasy story, a lovely adventure, and a fun film ... even if I would like to see more of Jareth and less of Sarah.  A good time, recommended for kids 6 and up (there are a few parts that could be a bit dark for the wee set), or anyone with a taste for fantasy or 80's nostalgia.  

With regard to medium, while the colors are very clear on the blu, a couple of scenes were super obvious for being effects based and green-screened - most especially and most glaringly the scene with the red creatures that take off their heads.  Whatever process they did to clean this up for blu made that scene look very artificial in a way that I don't remember it looking before.

Bechdel Test: Fail

Overall: 4/5

(From Within My (Mom's) Lifetime Marathon on January 29th, 2015)

The Parent Trap, a review by KinkyCyborg

Title:The Parent Trap
Year: 1961
Director: David Swift
Rating: G
Length: 129 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Hayley Mills
Hayley Mills
Maureen O'Hara
Brian Keith
Charlie Ruggles

Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Featurettes
Production Notes
Closed Captioned
THX
Cartoon-'Donald's Double Trouble'


Original Disney classic which is solid family fare but I found the first 40 minutes or so dreadfully boring.  The primary reason for that I believe was that I didn't care for Hayley Mills, the girl chosen to play the sneaky little conniving twins. The first half of the movie focused on them/her and I found them annoying. Once the parents entered the picture, Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith, my interest grew tenfold.

Boy, Maureen O'Hara was a gorgeous, fiery redhead in her prime and she never looked more gorgeous! I've always been a fan of Brian Keith... absolutely loved his short but memorable performance as Buckshot Roberts in Young Guns who 'killed more men than smallpox'. Another great performer who took his own life.

Not my favorite of the old time Disney classics but a good watch. I would have rated it higher had they cast the young girls better.

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on August 27th, 2010)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

She, the Ultimate Weapon (2002/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia (United Kingdom) Length: 435 min. Video: Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: DTS 5.1, Japanese: DTS 5.1 Subtitles: English

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Plot:
SHE, the Ultimate Weapon is the story of Shuji and Chise, a couple of typical high school students living in a Hokkaido City, Japan at a time of war. As with most first romances, the pair must deal with peer group pressure, gossip, intense emotions, feelings of ambivalence and the fact that Chise is a secret military weapon capable of levelling a medium-sized city!

Created by Studio Gonzo (Burst Angel, Full Metal Panic, Hellsing and Trinity Blood) She The Ultimate Weapon Box Set gathers together for the first time all 13 episodes of the TV series and the "Another Love Song" feature length OVA in one beautiful deluxe art box.


Saishuu Heiki Kanojo
1.01 We Fall in Love

The premise is good. I also enjoyed the episodes I have seen so far, but for some reason I never finished watching this series. But I definitely will some day.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on July 2nd, 2012)