You won't be disappointed!

Sadly Over-hyped

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

This movie is still one of my all time favorite's from when I was a little kid playing with my toys in front of my television. This Is a movie that I have watched over and over again a million times and never get bored of it. To this day I still watch it and still enjoy it just as much when i was a kid playing it in my VHS player. This movie is a movie that everyone must see and experience the wonderful NeverEnding Story! 10/10!!!

Barret Oliver plays Bastian Balthazar Bux - a proud name, if there ever was one - a studious little boy, who's quite fascinated with books and stories as means to escape his less than ideal life as a child, who has lost his mother and is bullied at school. After dodging said bullies into a bookstore, he happens upon a book called The NeverEnding Story. Taking the book to school with him he ends up lost in its pages, reading about a world being taken over by The Nothing and about the Childlike Empress and Atreyu of the Plains People, who hunt the purple buffalo.The NeverEnding is one of the most beloved classics of the fantasy genre for a reason. Partly this is because of how the film looks. The beautifully made and animated puppets are still a sight to behold and give the whole film amazing authenticity. Rock Biter, Falkor, Morla and so many more fantastic creatures, who despite clearly being puppets, feel amazingly alive and alert in every scene they're in.But the other and most important part is the story itself. The barebone plot itself is more than decent fantasy adventure, but its the subtext, to which I keep returning. This film and the original book take a step backwards and decide to examine the very act of experiencing a story, be it through the act of reading a book, seeing a film or even listening to a song. We get lost in this experience. The surrounding real world shuts down and suddenly we're there, struggling across the Swamp of Sadness or peering through the telescope of old Engywook. It's an amazing thing, but quite often it's taken for granted.Not with this story, though. And for that, if for nothing else, this is a great film.

This is my favorite film of all times. Bastian reads a book called The Neverending Story and finds out that only Atreyu can stop the Nothing from destroying Fantasia and has to save the Childlike Empress! When Bastian realizes that he is part of the story, he calls the Childlike Empress' new name. Then he rides on Falcor and gets revenge for getting bullied. The only thing I hate is when Artax sinks into the Swamps of Sadness.

I remember loving this film as a boy, and decided to watch it again recently. I was still impressed with the beautiful visuals, great score, excellent creature effects and slightly dark tone. But what I had not appreciated as a kid is what a great 'coming of age' film this is for boys. Something we don't see a lot of these days.The content would be considered heavy at times by today's standards, but this is what I grew up on and I think it would benefit young boys of today to see the morals and wisdom such as this film shares.Through the character of Bastian and his alter-ego in Fantasia, Atreyu, boys explore various themes, such as coping with loss; for Bastian his mother and Atreyu his beloved horse Artax. They must also find courage in the face of seemingly impossible obstacles and both are asked to prove themselves to older men; Bastian to his stern father and Atreyu to Cairon.As often with hero's journey's the central character will undergo a transformation by the end. Bastian is seen riding the Luck Dragon at the end, when we were told he was afraid of horses at the beginning and he returns to the real world to face the bullies he had been so scared of.The scene with Atreyu losing his horse to the swamp is sometimes cited as one of the most powerful in the film and it certainly is, but the scene which gets me most, is in fact one with neither of the lead characters. It comes near the climax, with the stone giant Rock Biter as he sits in shock on the verge of tears as The Nothing closes in on him, struggling to cope with his failure to protect his little friends who had been sucked from his hands. He resigns himself to death, reflecting the way many men can become depressed, even suicidal over letting down those closest to them. He stares at his hands and repeats, "they look like good strong hands, don't they" and starts to cry. Incredibly powerful stuff.The reason I say this is a good film for boys, and not as much for girls, is there are very few female characters. The main one being the Child-Like Empress, who only appears at the end of the film and is a classic damsel in distress, desperately pleading to a male to save her life and her 'empire' as she oddly refers to it.She has of course been manipulating the course of events for the entire adventure and has knowledge of everything that has gone on. In fact all the female characters are portrayed as possessing great wisdom, from the feminine Southern Oracles, to the ancient Giant Turtle Morla down to the tiny Ergl with her many potions and medicines.The female characters are also pretty difficult to reach; getting to each requires some great effort by the male leads.Unfortunately all of these deeper thought-provoking layers as well as the character development of Bastian are lost in the 2nd and 3rd films, with the 3rd being the very worst of the three and the second being a more generic rehash of elements of the first.The first NeverEnding Story shines however and clearly has more depth beneath the surface than the fun fantasy elements would indicate. Well worth a watch at any age.