The Dark Crystal holds well against the test of time. It has been only recently that movies that take place in a completely different fantasy world ("The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring") have become more feasible. Still, the Dark Crystal stands as an excellent tale of good versus evil.

Jim Henson and crew spent much to much time creating this movie, and the depth of their effort shows. However, some adults might find the story simplistic, and it is in the same manner that Labyrinth is. However, like Labyrinth, Dark Crystal succeeds in taking you to another place and immersing you in another world.

If you are a viewer interested in fantasy worlds, Dark Crystal will please you well. If you haven't seen it in years, get the DVD. It has a wonderful "making of" section, deleted funeral scenes, and isolated musical score.

• At the time it was made, it was hailed as the only live action film in which a human actor makes no appearance.
• The little hairy things that crawl across and that the Creatures eat are modified wind-up toy robots that run like crazy on two legs as a round rolling central body that houses the wind up motor. The wind-up key was removable.
• The Special Edition DVD features several "workprint" takes showing early passes at dialogue. This early voice-over work differs from the final dialogue in several ways: the Skeksis speak in a foreign language, Frank Oz provided the voice of Aughra (sounding very similar to his voice work for Yoda in the Star Wars movies), and the Mystics were referred to by (presumably) their original name, the ur-Ru. The novelization was apparently based on this earlier version, referring to the "Trial By Stone" contest by its original name - "Hakskeekah" - and calling the Mystics the ur-Ru. In the final film, one reference to ur-Ru was not redubbed: when the Mystics enter the Skeksis Great Hall, SkekOk, the Scrollkeeper sees them and shouts "Ur-Ru!"