I grew up on this movie. I mean, not literally, because that would take some balance, but I must have watched it hundreds of times between first and sixth grades. This is the movie that started what has been, for me, a lifelong love affair with my imagination. This movie led me to even more richly detailed fantasy worlds--Narnia and Middle Earth chief among them. It was the first movie I ever loved and it's always going to be a part of me.

The Neverending Story is two things. Primarily, it is a wonderful children's movie. The world of Fantasia is a well-done and imaginative place, filled with characters that kids can adore. Atreyu, Bastian, Gmork, Morla the Ancient One, the Childlike Empress, even the Rockbiter, nearly every character here is extremely well-developed and entertaining. When the Rockbiter gives his "They look like good, strong hands, don't they?" speech, just about anyone could get misty-eyed; it's hard not to get involved with such detailed characters.

The Neverending Story is also something of a statement. Fantasia, the most magical place a person could dream up, is dying. Not because it's under attack by your standard fantasy bad guy. There's no evil wizard here, and the only dragon in the movie is Falcor, the very cool dog/dragon hybrid that calls himself a Luck Dragon. No, Fantasia is being destroyed, chewed up into nonexistence by a thing called The Nothing. Since Fantasia is a world created by human hopes and dreams, The Nothing is caused by people who have stopped reading, who have stopped imagining and hoping and dreaming. Near the end of the movie, Gmork states that he's trying to help the Nothing, because "When people lose their hopes and dreams, they become easy to control." The movie works as a fairly powerful statement on literacy, and the more subtle symbolic elements of the plot are enough to keep even adults entertained.

The story of the movie is very well-done, featuring the stories of two different characters, Bastian and Atreyu. Bastian is a coward and Atreyu is a warrior; Bastian has his adventures through "safe" books, where Atreyu goes on real quests. Bastian becomes involved in Atreyu's story as he reads it in a book (Called The Neverending Story) and gradually finds himself becoming genuinely involved in the story. To say any more might spoil the movie's wonderful plot, so I won't. The music is also very good; it might sound a little 80s at times, but classic melodies like "The Ivory Tower" sound good even when they're obviously being played on cheap synths.

Fortunately, the movie has great and well-written characters and an involving storyline, because some of the actors just don't cut it. Barret Oliver as Bastian has too many cringeworthy moments to count, and, while Noah Hathaway fares better as Atreyu, he also has some moments where you wonder if he just walked in off the street and they put him in the movie. The adult actors do better, but most of the scenes have one of the little kid actors in them, so there's always some bad acting around the corner.

The acting is really the only significant flaw in this movie, and it's not something a little kid is going to notice and be bothered by. Children will love this movie; it's extremely well-done and deals with them on their level, one of very few kid's movies that does so these days. Highly recommended for kids of any age.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up to Age 4