Rating: 
Summary: a total fantasy package great adaption unique plot
Review: I pratically grew up with this movie. I have worn out the VHS copy of the movie and have needed a new copy for a long time.
The best thing about this movie has to be the story and the music. The story is very unique, I haven't read the book but this movie would make anyone rush out and buy it. The sound, oooh, the music is killer its some of the best music you will probably ever hear (At least from fantasy movies made in the 80's, some of which will make you shudder in disgust). A great movie for any collection. Too bad the sequels were some of the worst movies ever made.
Rating:
Summary: Should be owned by everybody
Review: I had the profound privllege of seeing this movie in it's inital theatrical release and have enjoyed it ever since. I am normally not a science-fiction person, but the theatrical special effects in this movie are so well-constructed and implemented that I am always entraced by this particular release.Essentially, a lonely boy faces a humdrum existence until he gets a hold of a magical book and discovers the amazing story inside--and his role as an active participant in at least saving the Empress from the clutches of the nothing. Again, what microscopic holes do exist (how the Empress and the boy are standing in the end if Nothing really has decimated all but one grain of sand in her world) are overshadowed by the vastly superior bulk of the film.
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Summary: Strange seeing this one again
Review: This movie is great for younger children. The plot is relatively simple and imaginative, and the inhabitants of Fantasia (the boundless country depicted in the story) are kid-friendly and enjoyable. I'm not so sure it would have much impact at all on a teenager or adult, though. I, like many people, sawe this when I was in elementary school, and I used to rent it all the time. Recently I found the DVD version and decided it would be fun to revisit the movie.
So here's the pressing question: is this movie worth revistiting when you're older? The end is. Tami Stronach did an EXCELLENT job as the Empress- I almost cried. Noah Hathaway is pretty good too, playing Atreyu, the brave warrior. Plus, the music is good. Nothing like a good instrumental score... but I don't think it quite lived up to the extreme excitement I felt right before watching it.
One last note: before you watch the movie, watch the Theatrical Trailer- which is really the only special feature on the DVD. The trailer does a better job of creating excitement and organizing scenes than the actual movie. I always thought the movie wasn't detailed enough; for example, they would say something like "Atreyu traveled far and wide to find the cure for the Empress" and they would show Atreyu galloping through the desert, but no more detail. They were, however, amazingly focused on his scene with the really slow turtle.
In short: you might enjoy it, you might not. It's entirely a matter of your taste in movies.
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Summary: The Greatest Fantasy Film of All Time?
Review: I first saw this movie as a young child. It continued to be one of my favorites all my life. Since first seeing this movie, I have been exposed to countless thousands of movies, everything from Kurosawa to Orson Welles and John Ford. But Fantasy and Sci-Fi have always been my favorite kind of movies. Amazingly, rather than degrade with time, this movie just gets better and better. Why? Well first of all, the plot is the often used but always great story of a boy on a quest to save the world. It worked in Star Wars, it worked in Dune, it worked in every Final Fantasy game, and it works here. Secondly, the visuals are some of the best seem in any movie ever. Don't see this movie of VHS. It MUST be experienced on DVD in all its widescreen glory. The special effects are perfect (taken right from the 80s golden age of matte paintings and blue screen before CGI destroyed the artistry of visuals). The soundtrack is one of the best in any movie ever. In short, this is in my opinion, the best movie Wolfgang Peterson ever made, and one of the greatest fantasy flicks of all time. Movies come and go, but this story remains...neverending. It is my favorite movie of all time.
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Summary: Back to Fantasia
Review: I must have seen this movie about a thousand times as a child, until I lost my VHS copy. Twelve years later, as an adult, I still cried when Artax sank in the Swamps of Sadness and my heart beat as fast today as it did back then when I heard Atreyu yell "Come get me Gmork, I am Atreyu!". If you liked this movie as a child, you'll love it as an adult, and you'll understand certain concepts that you may have only "felt" when you were younger.
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Summary: The Neverending Story will never leave your mind...
Review: I can remember when I was a kid and watching this movie. It was so good. Even as a kid and now an adult, I loved the music. The music is what makes the movie. The villians and heros in this movie, work together to struggle against the other. Nothing at all is boring in this flick. A true classic from the 80s. This movie should not have had any sequels. NEVERENDING STORY II and III are terrible and can't imagine why any Hollywood studio or producer would want to make sequels that were that terrible and call them "movies". Do not pass up the orignial NEVERENDING STORY. It will entertain you for sure,for a good hour and a half.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Fantastic Movie!!
Review: I had loved this movie since I was a kid and I had to get it on DVD. This movie is spectacular! Above anything else it teaches children what a wonderful gift of reading can do for the imagination and how important reading is. The story takes us through an oridinary world of Bastian, who's having trouble in life with the recent death of his mother. And his father who wants him to put both feet on the ground and stop living in the clouds. However, when Bastian is being chased by bully's from school he finds a bookstore that has a rather thick but interesting cover. The bookstores owner warns him its not your typical book and that he couldn't have it. However, he steals it and then finds himself in the school's attick. He finds himself soon lost in an adventure of The Neverending Story. Which the book is about a land being destroyed by The Nothing. As Sabastian is being led on the adventure following another young boy in hopes to save Fantasia and it's people, named Atrial. When all along it's only Bastian who can save them.
This movie has everything you could possibly want in a fantisy. It's full of adventure, special effects, and all through a little boy that is using his adventure through a not so ordinary book. This show's how important again it is for kids to read, and to use their imaginations, and what books can do to take you on a realistic adventure. It's amazing and I call it a classic as well as millions of other fan's across the world. The DVD is pretty good, the sound seemed a bit faded but its a pretty good DVD. Only thing is it doesn't give you the opition to have it full screen like some of them do. However, it's got Notes and Trivia on the book and characters, interactive menus, theatrical trailer, and language selections. All in all a great buy you won't be sorry. I give the movie an A+ and the DVD a B!
Rating:
Summary: A Neverending Pleasure!
Review: It came as quite a shock to American critics when Wolfgang Petersen, best-known for his direction of the gritty submarine drama 'Das Boot', chose a children's fantasy for his first American film. But The Neverending Story is a fanciful, engaging, and thoroughly enchanting fairy tale, and has become a bit of a classic of the genre! The story appears to be simple; a young boy named Bastian, withdrawn since his mother's death, and the target of local bullies, finds refuge in a magical book about a mythical world called Fantasia, filled with sweet and bizarre creatures, an ethereally beautiful Empress (played by the luminous Tami Stronach), and a young hero (Battlestar Galactica's Noah Hathaway) that he immediately relates to. What truly sets this film apart is its underlying message of 'What Is Real?' The characters of the story keep referring to Bastian, and how he must save their world. Bastian must learn to use his imagination, to let go of preconceptions of reality...and, ultimately, the viewer is given the same choice, as well, in one of the most novel twists I've seen in a film in a long time! Being produced by an international team, the film has a decidedly European 'feel', even with the participation of Gerald McRaney ('Simon and Simon', 'Major Dad') and the other American actors. Major pluses include the beautiful theme music, some terrific low-key creatures (I LOVED the giant flying dog!), and an approach to fantasy that is closer in spirit to 'The Princess Bride' than 'The Lord of the Rings'. While the DVD has a great 'look', it has virtually no special features; one hopes a 'Director's Cut' DVD might eventually be made! Also, be forewarned that various sequels to this film have been produced, that aren't NEARLY as good as the original. THIS IS THE ONE TO BUY! Treat your kids and yourself to a terrific tale! The Neverending Story is wonderful!
Rating:
Summary: A terrific story for all ages
Review: This story is terrfic for all ages. THe power of imiagination is stronger than the power of disbelief.
It's a reaffirmation that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in [our] philosophy. I recommend it to everyone who believes in the power of dreams and who refuses to grow up.
Rating:
Summary: Well made Children's film
Review: The Never Ending Story was a top selling German Children's book that repeated its success when translated into English. It is a complex book in that it interweaves a story about a lonley boy whose mother had died some time ago. His father stunned by his wife's death has problems giving his son the love and support needed. The son walks into a strange bookshop and finds a book called the "Never Ending Story". The book combines a story about a fantasy kingdom with the boys reaction to what he reads. The action in the fantasy kingdom revolves around the threat to this kingdom by the "nothing". The reality being its destruction by non belief. A warrior boy sets out to counter this menace and has a range of adventures on the way. The charm of the book was the complexity of the story and the interaciton between the boy reading and the story unfolding. The film pretty much just concentrates on the action described in the book and is a little mono dimensional. However at the end of the day it is a well made fantasy film with state of the art special effects.
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