The Never-Ending Story is one of those films that I never quite got round to seeing in my youth (though I remember having the computer game for the old Speccy years ago!), and seeing it for the first time recently, really wish I’d had some nostalgia for it. As a fantasy story it’s okay, but the same basic plot has been seen and done thousands of times, and to me this wasn’t one of the better films with a similar storyline. If I’d seen it as a kid, as my wife had, I’m sure I would have enjoyed it more. So, for those adults who aren’t going to get nostalgic about this movie... stop reading now. You’re not likely to get much out of this film. My reaction to this film was similar to my wife’s view of TRON... she couldn’t understand why I liked the movie so much, and this was because she didn’t have the fond memories of it that I did. I think this also explains why I am a dissenting voice among many glowing reviews here on Epinions...

It’s not that the movie’s terrible in any way, you understand. The storyline’s pretty solid and has one or two good elements to it, the acting’s not bad on the whole and though the special effects are of rather variable quality, the sets are well designed and help pull you into a fantasy world. The plot follows a young boy called Bastion (Barret Oliver), a quiet lad who loves reading, partly because it allows him to become immersed in another world, be another person. Having lost his mother and the constant victim of school bullies, he ends up hiding in a bookshop where he comes across a book called “The Never-Ending Story”. The store owner tells him that this book will be too much for him because it’s not “safe like other stories” – which of course makes Bastion absolutely determined to read it. As he does, he finds out just why the book is so special...

The book is about the land of Fantasia, and the dreadful “nothing” which is enveloping the land, destroying all in its wake. Nothing can stop it apart from the “Childlike Empress” – but she is dying. These desperate times call for a hero, but the one who steps forth is not what everyone expects; instead of a seasoned warrior, a young boy called Atrayu (Noah Hathaway), who despite unlikely appearances is indeed the one called for by the Empress. He travels the land in search of a cure and meets many amazing creatures, including a luck dragon (very luckily for Atrayu, as it happens) called Falkor (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer). With a deadly enemy, G’mork (also voiced by Alan Oppenheimer) on his trail, time is running out for Atrayu – and Bastion is becoming more and more involved with the book. Eventually he realises that the book requires more than to simply be read...

[I have to say that G’mork was one of the most pointless baddies I’ve ever come across in a film, which did nothing to make me feel more interested in the movie!]

The storyline was okay – perhaps it was quite unique or different back in the mid-eighties, but by now its a well worn plot setup. The acting is fine throughout, and both Barret Oliver and Noah Hathaway do well in the lead roles. The characters are not very developed, but some do stick in your memory – like the “Rock Biter”, who has a fondness for gourmet rocks. The storyline simply takes you from one set piece to another most of the time, though there is some interesting social commentary struck in there near the end. The special effects were quite good at times but also fairly appalling in others, though that’s judging by today’s standards which isn’t very fair. The music score by Klaus Doldinger and Giorgio Moroder was nice enough, but I didn’t find it particularly memorable.

Overall I would expect The Never-Ending Story to be a film that its original target audience – youngsters around 6-10 (that’s my guess, anyway!) will still enjoy. Pity I didn’t see it when it was first out, since I would have been in that age group back then. For adults, I would suspect that this would only be a particularly enjoyable movie if you have fond memories of it as a child. To me there are much better movies of a similar type, but The Never-Ending Story is still worth a look.

Original title: Die Unendliche Geschichte (German)

The film was based on the novel by Michael Ende, with the screenplay by Wolfgang Petersen (who also directed) and Herman Weigal, with additional dialogue by Robert Easton.

To me the most impressive aspect of the film was the set decoration, which was done by Rolf Zehetbauer.

More films by Wolfgang Pieterson

Poseidon (2006)
Troy (2004)
Air Force One (1997)
Enemy Mine (1985)

A more recent film that I felt captured a similar essence to The Never-Ending Story, and which I prefer to it: Bridge Over Terabithia

Another kid’s film that has a very different storyline, but seems to evoke the same essence: Flight of the Navigator