Muppet fans can rejoice as The Dark Crystal comes to Blu-ray! Or can they? This isn’t your typical puppet action but rather a tale of an epic journey of good vs. evil. Jim Henson set the world on fire before Iron Man flew in the sky with the beautiful CGI, before the bumblebee smashing down terror on decepticons and before the plane came crashing down in Knowing. In this masterpiece however Jim Henson teamed up alongside puppeteer Frank Oz and together collectively showed the world their world of puppets and cinematography. When I was a kid, this was as cool as it got. Now many kids find this as lame as it gets, but no one can deny the infamous Sesame Street creator his recognition with this wonderful release on Blu-ray.

This movie truly deserves every bit of praise it got for its attention to detail and art of story making. The Dark Crystal was groundbreaking when it was released in this form, and personally I feel the exact same way today as with its release to Blu-ray disc. The remarkable story telling is worthy of all praise, this is what makes this movie so epic and really makes you wonder why isn’t this considered one of the best films of the 80s. The character design is also top notch along with the puppeteering which none can do it like Henson could, and the voice acting was perfect.

The story was epic and I can assure you that to this date The Dark Crystal is still a bit creepy, the world of Dark Crystal is freighting and full of scary characters. Jen, who is part of the Mystics, is tasked with reuniting the shard in order to bring peace and harmony to the world. However, there’s always the bad guys, the Skeksis who accompanied by the Garthim attempt to make Jen’s task much more difficult. Will Jen make it? Why don’t you check out the The Dark Crystal to find out?

There’s a lot of things that make this film work and there isn’t much to complain. The film is epic, undoubtedly one of the best films of the 1980s, fans of the film will most likely not miss this release. This is as good as this film will ever look. Jim Henson was truly a master puppeteer and a great story teller and all the praise he receives is well deserved.

This film sports a 1080p video with 2.40:1 aspect ratio. There is a grain throughout the film; however, it never takes away from the film. The colors are accurate based on the locations of the main character from darkest place to the brighter locations; the colors seem to be just right. Just like Labyrinth, with this 1080p transfer the viewer might be able to notice the puppet’s strings with some attention. The level of detail never fails, you can really see the textures of the puppets and the surroundings. There is some minor issues, but none that can be blamed on the transfer. This is really as good as it gets, it may not be best transfer visually, but for a movie that was released in the early 80s is simply top notch. Sony has done an outstanding job.

The Dark Crystal sports a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Lossless audio track. First of all, keep in mind this movie was made in the early 80s and this will surely be the best that this film will ever sound without a doubt. Unlike the Labyrinth, the dialog appears to be decently clear. The audio track appears to be somewhat weak and the actual soundfield is never really felt, the sound catches on towards the end, but it’s not enough to give it a higher rating. However, this is not a bad audio track but could have been a bit better.

Let’s see what the studio included in this release.

• Audio Commentary with Brian Froud: This is a great audio commentary; Briand Fround recalls the film, ideas and characters.

• Storyboard Track PiP: Picture-in-Picture documentary with conceptual artwork and other storyboard ideas.

• The Book of Thra: Dark Crystal Collector: A crystal will appear on screen and information will be placed in a book that is accessible on the film by pressing the red crystals.

• SkekTek’s Crystal Challenge Trivia Game: Trivia game that plays during the film. Questions will pop up from time to time during the motion picture and players will have to answer or you will lose.

• Original Skeksis Language: Test Scenes with Introduction by Screenwriter David Odell: The viewers have a chance to take a look at footage of the characters talking in different languages.

• Deleted Scenes

• The World of “The Dark Crystal”: A behind the scenes look at the filming of the film, the process, the design, and much more.

• Reflections of the Dark Crystal: “Light on the Path of Creation”: Another look into the film’s theme and much more.

• Reflections of the Dark Crystal: “Shard of Illusion”: This is a deeper look into the puppets and the difficulties of making the story around them.

• BD-Live: Includes movie trailers to other Sony Blu-ray releases.

For the fans of this film this will be an easy buy, but for those who hesitate I can tell you that this film is undoubtedly epic. One of the best films made in the 80s, the great story telling and mater puppeteering makes this film unbelievably good. There isn’t much to complain about the film but there is plenty to praise. I highly recommend this film.

The Dark Crystal will be available on Blu-ray September 29.
Pre-order The Dark Crystal at Amazon!