| | |  | Mystery & Suspense | Home » » » Pan's Labyrinth | | | | | | | Description: | | Following a bloody civil war, young Ofelia enters a world of unimaginable cruelty when she moves in with her new stepfather, a tyrannical military officer. Armed with only her imagination, Ofelia discovers a mysterious labyrinth and meets a faun who sets her on a path to saving herself and her ailing mother. But soon, the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur, and before Ofelia can turn back, she finds herself at the center of a ferocious battle between good and evil. | | | Features: | |
• Following a bloody civil war, young Ofelia enters a world of unimaginable cruelty when she moves in with her new stepfather, a tyrannical military officer. Armed with only her imagination, Ofelia discovers a mysterious labyrinth and meets a faun who sets her on a path to saving herself and her ailing mother. But soon, the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur, and before Ofelia can turn
| | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, Doug Jones | | Director:
| Guillermo del Toro | | Format:
| AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC | | Language:
| Spanish | | Subtitle:
| English, Spanish | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| New Line Home Video | | Run Time:
| 119 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| May 15, 2007 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 739 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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 Beautiful and BreathtakingMar 20, 2010
This one makes my list of 5 movies I never want to be without, and never get old. I'll say up front, this one is not for everyone, but most everyone can find some aspect of it they enjoy. I was pretty ambivalent about watching it when my husband rented it, and I figured I had a 2 hour nap ahead of me. I was more than pleasantly surprised and I undoubtedly liked it even more than he did, not that he disliked it by any means.
It would appear from the posters and advertising images that this is purely a fantastical movie not unlike Lord of the Rings, but that is only a portion of the story. It is part coming of age, part war, part fantasy and part Shakespearean-like tragedy.
The story is based on a young girl that finds herself in a war-torn place no young girl belongs, so her active imagination takes her away from it all and delves deeply into a fairy tale world of princesses, evil creatures, and extraordinary quests with a modern day, dark Cinderella type quality. Her hateful stepfather excels at playing his character, especially after I heard the actor, in real life, is a sort of Spanish Robin Williams comic. But you can't picture it when watching this movie because he so incredibly convincing as a hateful, angry, selfish character and gives new meaning to the term "hijo de punta". And Mercedes is nothing short of inspiring and one of my favorite strong women characters.
That said, this is NOT a movie for children. Many people judged too quickly from ads and a story about a young girl and were rather unhappy when they expected to see a family movie for all ages. It has a few violent scenes that would easily upset young children and the general story line is adult content, even without a lot of harsh language, nudity or the usual things that make most movies "R" rated. Most younger kids would scarcely understand the deeper plot and you'll end up waking up to screams of nightmares for days, so do yourself and your kids a favor and if you're considering letting them watch it, view it without them first and decide for yourself. Maturer children could probably handle it, but I wouldn't recommend it without parents seeing it first. Consider that a strong disclaimer.
It is in spanish, with english subtitles, but it is so well acted and edited that you won't be lost if you miss a sentence here or there, so don't let this sway you. It is hardly a typical foreign film with a winding plot that could leave you in the dust if you aren't a fast reader, or have you reading so much you miss all the imagery. It often almost seems like a good opera, that though you may not understand every individual word, the meaning is always well conveyed to the audience.
The story itself is absolutely beautiful, and I could easily see it adapted as a new age stage play or opera that I would be happy to see. The gorgeous soundtrack is also a can't miss, easily competing with the likes of Oscar winning John Barry (Somewhere in Time, Out of Africa, Chaplin, Playing by Heart, Dances with Wolves...).
This is such an excellent movie, I'll never tire of watching it time and again. It is brilliant in its simplicity, but doesn't drag, or spoon-feed the audience or have a forced happy-go-lucky ending to please the masses. I'd tell you more, but its definitely better with some surprises that are sure to take your breath away.
Wonderful!Mar 19, 2010
First to the criticisms.
- giving a non-existent key to the rebels and having them use it was a bit dumb.
- the military guys did appear a bit backward when it came to military strategy, with the rebels giving them the runaround.
Responding to others criticisms:
- it's rated 'R' .. do you often show 'R' rated movies to your 12 year old kids!
- yes, it is not in English .. I don't care what language it is in, if you can't read why are you writing a review. P.S. I understand one language .. English. Anyone complaining about the subtitles got a 'Not helpful' vote from me.
It would have been nice to see a little more fantasy .. I look forward to the sequel, where the brother rediscovers his sister in Faerie land .. please!
If you need to know anything else .. read the other reviews. I can only repeat how surprisingly good this is.
Dark and magical modern fairy tale...Mar 11, 2010
"Pan's Labyrinth" (2006)is directed by the Mexican director Guillermo del Toro (The Devil's Backbone, Hellboy, Kronos, Blade II). The film is a modern day fairy tale full of dark and magical elements set in 1944 in Spain after the Spanish Civil War during the Franquist repression. The story focuses on an abandoned labyrinth, and a mysterious faun creature, which a young girl, Ofelia, discovers. Ofelia is told by the faun that she is possibly a princess from the Underground Realm who has forgotten her past. In order to regain her connection she must perform a number of trials which the faun gives to her to perform, all the while amidst the chaos and instability of the adult world that she is a part of. Even though the English title uses Pan, in the original Spanish title the mythological fauns of Roman mythology are referred to, and not to the faun-like Greek character Pan, which Toro thought was too menacing a figure. This movie addresses and develops themes begun in Toro's earlier film "The Devil's Backbone"(2001).
The film has a 1.85 aspect ratio in 1080p with dts HD Master Audio 7.1 sound surround and is in Spanish with English subtitles. There are also a number of featurettes, including "The Power of the Myth", and features about the making of the film.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Wow.Mar 05, 2010
Stunning visuals like stepping into the 'virtual world' of Hieronymus Bosch! That the tale is told in Spanish only adds to the mystique. Seriously trippy - and violent too. Watch a large preying mantis-like wood bug change into a fairy and lead you into the dark woods and 'the labyrinth'. Yes, it could almost be a fairy tale - in the modern sense of the word - but for the violence, which is quite severe in places. In that regard, it is more like the original faery tales long before they were Disnified, and which could also be somewhat gruesome. Set in Franco's Spain at the end of world war II, the story follows a young girl's entrance into a magical world as a cruel dictator, her would-be step-father, wages war against rebels in the forest outside. Not for the kiddies. There is a heavy kind of menace and violence that helps convince and adds weight to the story in the right places. Bloody yet swift-moving, it is a tale cloaked in layers of art, symbolism, spirituality and * magic *. What a rich tone this movie has - so full of dark and light, a masterpiece of color. The fact that it is in Spanish (English subtitles) really does enhance its mystique and somehow gives greater authenticity to its magic. A very potent movie.
0 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 Hideously violent propaganda filmMar 05, 2010
Looking for a nice fantasy film to watch? Look somewhere else.
I am far from squeamish when it comes to movie violence. But this film was so disturbingly violent that I nearly turned it off a couple times. Want some examples?
A man gets his face bashed in with a wine bottle, and the viewer is treated to about twenty nose-crunching blows, blood spouting, the man twitching in agony, his father screaming.
On another occasion, we are shown a scene where the Spanish nationalist captain is nonchalantly shooting wounded enemy combatants in the head. He finds one fellow who is still sitting up, alive and conscious, and aims his gun at his face. The man pushes the gun away. The captain moves it back. He pushes it away again. This happens a couple more times before the captain simply shoots the man in the face through his hand.
And then there are the torture scenes. And the scene where one of the characters gets a knife stuck in his mouth and half of his cheek sliced open.
Nice night at the movies, right?
The trouble with this film is that it is billed as a fantasy, not a horror movie gore-fest.
And of course, there are the political/religious overtones. If you know nothing about the Spanish Civil War, you won't pick them up. Let it suffice to say that the communists are the good guys, and the Catholics and nationalists are hideously brutal thug-like criminals. There is even a scene where a priest encourages the sadistic nationalist commander to basically kill them all and let God sort them out. Nice.
I give this movie two stars because the fantasy element is interesting and well done. It is also slightly horrifying, but whimsically so. The movie has something of a good message at the end, too. The heroine, the little girl Ofelia, sacrifices herself to save an innocent. Unfortunately, the fantasy element only makes up about 25% of the movie and the good message is too easily lost amid the hideously brutal violence that permeates this film.
Not recommended for human consumption.
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