Customer Reviews
Nice film! - By: Eduardo Lima, 30 Aug 2010 
From what I've read from other reviewers I was expecting a lot more...
It's a good story, that evolves smoothly, but it lacks something more.
I was not impressed by the film...
On top of it, the blu-ray picture is not even close to the Dark Night one, some grain or noise is visible thorough the entire film!
A fantastic film - By: Yiannis, 27 Aug 2010 
I'm not a film expert but this is a film that I really enjoyed. I think that the main point that I can stress here is the variety of emotions it caused me:in the beginning it seems like a fairy tale but as the film progresses there are points that becomes brutal with some very cruel scenes....some said that they weren't necessary but I have to disagree. On the other hand, there were scenes that you feel so sympathetic for the little girl that you really want to scream "leave her alone for god shake"... It's not an exaggeration to say that I really didn't know how to feel at certain moments. I'd definitely recommend it.
On a side note, the soundtrack is really great. Pay attention to the music as you watch it.
Fantastic - By: Dave Fandango, 27 Jul 2010 Superb film. I cannot recommend it enough. I love it & so should you. Picture quality is brilliant. Utterly mesmerising & touching.
A master piece but not without its holes.... - By: Trancer108, 24 Jul 2010 
This works very well, the fairy tale setting is believable gothic. There were parts however that did not flow smoothly & where the viewer got lost, stark jumps form dreamy scenes to the grotesque made one enquire for the need of such gore & disfigurment especially for a children's film or its it? This is one of the trappings of the film, which market is it aimed at? I would have wanted the distinction to be more clear. The ending, considering the build up was a slight diappointment, I wanted to see more invested with more dramatisation that was already a thread of the film. The story, an alicein wonderland of sorts, works on deep psychological & mythological levels, with a profound philosophy running thorugh. The visual effects are astounding, camera work, costume & makeup, clearly a work of art that has not had billions thrown at for want of a story line.
Simply stunning - By: A. L. Rutter, 20 Jul 2010 Pan's Labyrinth is a fairytale setin post Civil War Spain. We follow the story of Ophelia, a young girl who, with her pregnant mother, is moved into the dark house of Captain Vidal. The film is told elegantlyin a dual storyline. The first is setin real life - Carmen, Ophelia's mother, being bullied by Vidal & falling ill through pregnancy; Mercedes, servant to Vidal, befriending Ophelia & trying to do the right thing for the resistance fighters that Vidal is trying to crush; & Ophelia herself, wanting to meet her baby brother, but terrified by her new house & reluctant to call Vidal 'father'. The other storylinein the film follows Ophelia through a garden labyrinth into a dreamlike fairytale world, where she meets Pan, who believes that she is the soul of a long lost princess. Ophelia is invited to perform three tasks to prove she is royalty - each one more surreal & terrifying than the last. Both storylines collide at the endin a melancholic & ambiguous climax that leaves the watcher thoughtful, rather than thrilled.
I didn't watch Pan's Labyrinth at the cinema -in fact, it has curiously passed me by right up until last Saturday. I don't know where my reluctance stemmed from - maybe the foreign language aspect, maybe the massive hype accompanying its release, maybe the gore I heard about. Anyway, when we chose to watch a film on Saturday, the person recommending Pan's Labyrinth urged me to try at least the first half hour - if I was still reluctant, we could turn it off & I wouldn't really have lost any time.
Needless to say, the film was not turned off. In fact, by the time ten minutes had passed, I was enthralled by Ophelia's story. Pan's Labyrinth by turn appalled me, thrilled me, sickened me, delighted me - to me, it presents everything that a fairytale requires: a hero, a villain, magic, & a message.
One of my friends argued that the film was simply two separate stories mashed together by Guillermo del Toro, but I loved the way Ophelia travelled from dream to reality & back again. I admired the reflections between fairytale & life. I thrilled to the fact that Ophelia was fighting against two sinister individualsin the two facets of her life. I especially appreciated the fact that I am still wondering, days later, about whether Ophelia really did travel into a fairytale or whether she created the dreamlike world as a way of escaping the life she hated with Vidal.
I'm not ashamed to say that Pan's Labyrinth scared me silly at times, especially the monsters, both real & imagined - y favourite part of the film was also the part that scared me the most, this being during Ophelia's second task when she has to retrieve a knife without disturbing a slumbering nightmare. Gosh, that freaked me out!
The performances were universally extremely strong, & the fact they I had to follow their dialogue with subtitles took nothing away from their performances. I find that this is definitely the mark of how good a foreign language film is for me: if the subtitle aspect is non-obtrusive & I am not disturbed from the course of a film by reading along, then it is excellent!
Lastly, I just want to mention how stunningly beautiful this film is - especially all of the fairytale elements. How I regret not bothering to see this at the cinema! I definitely think this is the sort of film that HD & Blueray were invented for.
If you, like me, haven't watched Pan's Labyrinth - for whatever reason - I would urge you to change your mind & give it at least a try. It is horrific, scary, beautiful & melancholic. The story of Ophelia will stay with you long after the closing credits. Highly recommended.
