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The Dark Crystal, The Neverending Story, and Labyrinth


Weeping Sore

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The Dark Crystal (US, 1982), The Neverending Story (GER, 1984) and Labyrinth (US, 1986) look and feel like they inhabit a completely different universe than contemporary children's entertainment. Looking for any discussion of their relative merits as fantasy films and as causes of early childhood trauma. Seriously, David Bowie's tights alone had lasting reverberations in my psyche.


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Oh my GOD. Where to BEGIN with these movies. Labyrinth was always very confusing to watch when I was younger because I was all WHAT ARE THESE STRANGE FEELINGS and then when I was like 16 realized I just had the major hots for David Jareth The Goblin King Bowie lmao and I enjoy that movie perhaps more now than I did when I was younger and I looved it when I was a kid!!!

I freakin love the Neverending Story to bits, only last year did I read the book for the first time (it is truly fantastic) and the movie is a great adaptation of the first 12 chapters or so of the book, shame the sequel was total pants and I have a strange fascination with Gmork, the grumpy evil werewolf Atreus bumps into at the end, I just love him. Great movie.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT LEGEND????

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The Dark Crystal is a lot fuzzier in my memory but I remember that I really liked it so I should probably have a rewatch of that soon.

Labyrinth and The Neverending Story are among my absolute favourite movies though; I love them dearly.

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The only one of the three that I've seen is Dark Crystal, and I saw it on[c]e when I was 5 or 6 and it gave me nightmares for weeks. It left me so traumatized that I am unwilling to revisit it.


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I saw The Never Ending Story in the theater when it came out. The scene in the cave with the wolf still makes me jump. Love the movie though.



Had to see The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth on home video and/or cable. As much as I love Jim Henson, Never Ending Story is still my favorite of the three.


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Three absolutely amazing movies; I get something new out of Labyrinth every time I see it. The novelisation of Dark Crystal is excellent too; it gives the story a bit more depth and maturity, as I recall (it has been a loooong time, though!)

Oh my GOD. Where to BEGIN with these movies. Labyrinth was always very confusing to watch when I was younger because I was all WHAT ARE THESE STRANGE FEELINGS

Indeed 8)

I freakin love the Neverending Story to bits, only last year did I read the book for the first time (it is truly fantastic)

and the movie is a great adaptation of the first 12 chapters or so of the book, shame the sequel was total pants

A lot of book fans seem unhappy with the movie, so I'm glad I saw it first; the book is great too, but I don't think a faithful adaptation would have made as good a film (maybe a TV series could do it justice). I love the theme song! Haven't seen any of the sequels (or the TV shows); I should try them, with suitably lowered expectations.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT LEGEND????

Somehow I managed to avoid seeing Legend until quite recently (the director's cut), and for me it isn't up there with the other three (much as I like Tim Curry). There are certainly some good elements, but I don't think it all holds together that well.

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This topic makes me want to die. I spazz so hard at the very mentions of Willow, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, and Legend. I don't know what to say except that I'm in love with them. I was never very affected by The Neverending Story.



I think about Willow and Labyrinth every day, in just a little moment, here and there. I need them, all of them.



"Should you need us!"



David Bowie's tights, the danger of the bog of eternal stench, Shalindria's wand, and the trauma of watching that Skeksie get his clothes ripped off by the other skeksies. These are things that unite us together in a community of everlasting imaginative childhood.



I love that scene in Willow when the Nelwyn girl is there by the riverside when the kids find baby Elora Dannon and the boy runs off to tell his dad what they found. The girl just kind of stands there awkwardly with her mouth open, clicking those little sticks together. You could just imagine director Ron Howard whispering "Go! Run with your brother!" and she's just like *duhhh click click* and Ron Howard loses it, screams at her that when he was her age he was carrying a freaking show for godssake, until she starts crying and he's like "whatever, fine, let's do the deathdog scene then."



Legend was not, I think, meant for children. That was some dark, dark material. I love you for making this topic, Lazarova, I don't know what else to say. I just want it to exist.

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Legend was not, I think, meant for children. That was some dark, dark material. I love you for making this topic, Lazarova, I don't know what else to say. I just want it to exist.

Same!! I love this thread already just for existing. :P

WILLOW <3 one of my childhood favourite movies!!!

felice - Legend certainly is a strange one. The director's cut is the best version much like all ridley scott movies tbh.

I think it's dark and strange and gorgeous; it's not as charming as the other films listed here but there are so many great parts of it. Of course Tim Curry is excellent. So many freakin metaphors packed to the brim in Legend.

I love the scene when Lily is entranced by the faceless dancer in the black dress and seduced into darkness and becomes Dark Lily...that dress is...one of the most gorgeous costumes I've ever seen tbh; I think the movie could have been more than it was and the characters aren't as likable as any in the other movies mentioned but there's so much about Legend that interests me, little details that make me absolutely love it.

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The Dark Crystal (US, 1982), The Neverending Story (GER, 1984) and Labyrinth (US, 1986) look and feel like they inhabit a completely different universe than contemporary children's entertainment.

Seriously dark muppets. That's the difference.

In a making-of featurette for Labyrinth Jim Henson discussed their early ideas for Jareth and they knew they wanted a pop star, considered Michael Jackson. But no one else but Bowie could have delivered "Love me, fear me, do as I say and I will be your slave" quite so beautifully.

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Seriously dark muppets. That's the difference.

In a making-of featurette for Labyrinth Jim Henson discussed their early ideas for Jareth and they knew they wanted a pop star, considered Michael Jackson. But no one else but Bowie could have delivered "Love me, fear me, do as I say and I will be your slave" quite so beautifully.

Ew no Jareth could have been NO ONE but Bowie.

......

The babe with the power!

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Just screened The Dark Crystal for my five-year-old. It's amazing, if a bit draggy in parts and rather humorless overall. Also, a decent amount of death and terror and a scene where a cute little potato-looking person has his life essence sucked out by the power of the Crystal, and the juice is drunk by the vulture-like Skeksis emperor.



The overall cosmology/ ending is pretty cool. Compared to Labyrinth I'd say it's a more complete work of art, but not as fun.


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