Review of The NeverEnding Story (1984) by Jacob M — 17 Sep 2013

Note: There will be some spoilers in this review. I will give reference to when the spoilers will happen, so if you've never watched this film before, don't say I didn't warn you.

I admit it, I've never watched The Neverending Story as a kid. I wasn't even born yet when the film came out in 1984. But due to the overwhelming fans it has and how "great" this film supposedly is, I finally decided to give it a shot. And I must say, there were some moments that I really enjoyed, while other moments left me cold.

The film's about a boy named Bastian (Barret Oliver), who's felt depressed in life after the death of his mother and focuses more on fantasy rather than reality. While playing hooky, he comes across a mysterious bookstore, where he comes across a book called "The Neverending Story", and intrigued, he reads it.

In the story, we are transported to the land of Fantasia where the Empress (Tami Stronach) is dying and the world is threatened by a creature called Nothing. A boy warrior, Atreju (Noah Hathaway) is summoned to find a cure for the ruler. Teaming up with a horse and a "Luck Dragon", along with other help along the way, Atreju races to save the world before Nothing consumes it all.

The film also features Gerald McRaney as Bastian's father and Moses Gunn as the Empress's speaker.

Well, let me get the good out of the way first. To start off, I was very impressed with the visuals for this film. The film combines animatronics and puppetry and it's awesome. I was super impressed by the effects for the rock giant, the luck dragon, the evil wolf creature, a racing snail (no, not Turbo), and a sneezing old turtle.

For child actors, both Noah Hathaway and Barret Oliver are both excellent as Atreju and Bastian. They didn't annoy and were convincing enough to portray heroes in the fantasy world, or in the case of Bastian, the real world.

The cinematography is also incredible in The Neverending Story. I was engulfed in the world of Fantasia and was pleased with the fantasy settings shown in the film.

Now, here's when things get to become complicated. The score, for one thing, is painfully bad. I have to be honest, I do enjoy 80's electronic music, but when the film is supposed to be a fantasy epic as The Neverending Story, the sound is very distracting and very annoying. People, this is The Neverending Story, not Top Gun! While this kind of music works in Top Gun, it diminishes the film here. Also, that theme song is one of the most painfully horrific experiences I've ever heard in my life. That couple cannot sing, period!

While I was getting into the story and the world of Fantasia, what ruined the film for sure was the final act. (SPOILERS COME IN NOW) In the end, the warrior fails and the world is mostly destroyed. The temple survives, and he gets to express his guilt to the Empress. She reveals that he didn't fail; instead, the true hero is the one who is reading the book. Um... talk about an insult to injury. This was the part in the movie where I just about flipped. For one thing, making the reader the true hero instead of the warrior was a dumb and wasted decision. I mean, here we have a dedicated hero meant to preserving his land, but the hero was just some poor kid off the streets reading the book! How insulting for the warrior! If that was me, I would feel even more insulted if that was the case. I didn't feel emotionally connected here and all I received were feelings of anger and frustration on the producers who succeeded in entertaining me despite a horrific score. END OF SPOILERS I honestly don't know why this film has a massive fanbase, but at least I got to see for myself, and I wasn't the biggest fan.

While I was annoyed by the final act for being a painfully horrific letdown and that 80's synthesizer score was out of place, I didn't truly hate The Nevrending Story. There were some disappointing things here, but I was wowed by the visuals and the cinematography, the child actors were good in material that wasn't truly good, and the film is a decent watch and a good film to show to young kids who are a little too young for more intense fantasies like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. While it's not "the most fascinating family film since ET", it's an OK fantasy experience.