The Neverending Story [DVD] [1985]

Superb. I wear clothes with this film all over it. A must watch for all families. Never say you haven't watched it. Also links with stranger things so if you want references you need to pay attention. Classic film.

What can i say?still one of the iconic kids fantasy movies of not only the greatest decade for kids movies but any decade!.the 80's seemed to have a streem of great kids movies from david bowie as the goblin king in the labyrinth, mike j fox travelling through time in back to the future,you had flight of the navigator,willow,legend, and of course the brilliant goonies.but for me the neverending story is still the king of the 80's fantasy films of the period and now. A story about a lonely boy who yearns for the affection and understanding of his busy father,who comes across a rundown old bookshop with a magical secret inside.he meets the equally magical but very secretive book keeper who tells him of a book called the neverending story,which holds a power only for the reader,but also a darkside which the reader has to deal with only by himself. We then follow sebastian as he meets all the characters and people of fantasia.he will realise as the story unfolds that he is more a part of the story as he could ever of imagined,but also he finds that he has the very future of fantasia in his own hands and maybe the future of all books too. It is a fantastical journey with some lovable characters like falcor the flying dog dragon type being,and the hero of the hour who we find we start to will onwards,the honourable atreiu.there are some fun scenes,but be warned there are some sad scenes,notably when atreiu loses his faithfull horse in the mud,but there some jump scenes particulary when the wolf type creature known as the morc or morg first shows himself on screen. But the iconic scene for me is when sebastian makes the transition from fiction to reality and does what we all dreamed of doing to them darned bullies,by riding falcor through town and scaring them bullies to death.really brill ending to a fantastic film. If you havent yet seen this film then you wont know what your missing!.a true classic from an age when films were made the right way!.

The film is Directed by Wolfgang Petersen and is a typical 80's style fantasy film, but primarily directed at kids. it is the story of Bastian (Noah Hathaway), who lives with his dad following the death of his mother. Bastian is bullied at school, and his father is distant, so he has no real friends. He happens to discover an old bookstore one day, when he is running away from the bullies, and finds a book, called the Neverending Story, which the bookstore owner warns is not "safe" like other books. He takes the book to school and reads it alone in the school attic. Here begins the story within a story of the residents of Fantasia, whose world is being destroyed by a force called the "Nothing". The reason that Fantasia is being destroyed, is because modern children are reading less and using their imagination less, causing the world to die. Only Bastian can save it, but does he realise that he is part of the book he is reading?This is a really fun film, with fast paced adventure and lots of emotion. The scene where the horse dies made me cry when I was little! The charcters are larger than life, and I really liked the luck dragon, who helps the boy on his adventure. There is a character called the rockbiter, who is huge, but loveable, and a little guy who rides on a racing snail, who some viewers will recognise as the oompa loompa in the new charlie and the chocolate factory movie.You can occasionaly catch this film on TV, and they made 2 sequels, which are nowhere near as good, and confusingly, have different actors playing the lead role.It looks a bit dated, and the music is a bit wobbly, but if you can put that aside and just enjoy a story of a young boy trying to find himself, then you will enjoy this film.

If you like fantasies, stories that capture the imagination and would finally like to know the truth about stories, then this is the film for you. I have loved this film ever since its release, the fact that stories never really do end is a great concept, this film is a young boy called Bastian when on his way to school has to quickly hide in a bookstore to avoid bullies. Bastian is constantly troubled by similar issues and so loves to escape in to his books to get away from the real world.Only this time he is unnerved when he begins reading “The Neverending Story," in the school attic where he is thrown in to a mysterious yet wondrous world of fantasy as he reads through the pages of this mysterious book that he has unofficially borrowed.The book is about a far of land called Fantasia; a fantasyland threatened by something called “The Nothing," which is a darkness that destroys everything it touches, leaving nothing behind. The story goes on to say that, the kingdom needs the help of a human child in order to survive. As Bastian reads on, he suddenly realises that he is actually reading a description of himself in the book; Bastian dares, neigh, begins to wonder if Fantasia is real.The book is enchanting, so much so that now it has been opened; it does not want to be closed. We all know that life here on earth never really ends, so it is for stories, hence the title "The Never Ending Story", we see the story begin with the Princess of Fantasia requesting the need for the best warrior in the land, this happens to be a young boy warrior from an Indian tribe called “Atreyu “ who must face various dangers in the hopes of finding a cure to restore the princesses powers.As the story progresses both worlds become intertwined, with Bastion feeling that he is with Atreyu’s every step, urging him on and not to give up, driving him forward to reach the ultimate answer and to fulfil a young warriors quest.You and your children will love this film, it is full of lovable characters such as my favourite one, “Falkor”, “The Luck Dragon”, and the awesome Rock Biter and his bike and this crazy old Turtle who is allergic to people lol. There is a scary character too though, employed by “the Nothing” to stop Atreyu at all costs, he is called “Gmork, a wolf”, he is scary!This film starts out colourful, magical and mystical, grows darker and nightmarish with every passing scene, but eventually leads to this cool climax where you will discover the substance that keeps Fantasia , and every other world alive. There is nothing more beautiful, than the mind and what it can create. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do every time I watch it.PLEASE NOTE THE NEXT BITS ARE SOME OF THE GOOFS THROUGHOUT THE FILM, BUT THEY ARE ALSO SPOILERS, SO READ ON ONLY IF YOU WANT TOO!!!When Falkor first appears, he flies in a distinctive undulating motion, like a dolphin, and then he only flies in straight lines.When you first see Gmork (the wolf) in his cave at the beginning of the film, his teeth are close together and short but when we see him talk to Atreyu his teeth are further apart and much longer.After Atreyu falls off Falkor, he wakes up by the ocean with his feet in the water; it then switches to a longer shot that shows him around a couple of meters away from the water’s edge.Keep your eyes peeled towards the end of the film when the princess is talking to Atreyu, the middle two rows of beads in her headpiece change from being closer together to being further apart.When Atreyu is standing before the Sphinx he is watching a knight, you will see the knight's staff land on the right Sphinx's foot when he falls off his horse, but later when Atreyu is attempting to cross the gate, the knight's staff is laying parallel to the knight's dead body.When Atreyu leaves Rockbiter he walks away from the camera along a path, note the broken and fallen columns on both sides. Then as a fissure opens on his right, you will now see a large wall of rocks to the right of the path; keep watching, as the shot changes again everything returns.Atreyu is washed up on a beach; he has sand on his chest on minute and none the next.There are more goofs and slip up’s, why not try and spot some for yourself (better when you watch it a second time or it will spoil the enjoyment first time around).