The NeverEnding Story is a 1984 fantasy film co-written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen (in his first English-language film), and based on the 1979 novel The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. The film was produced by Bernd Eichinger and Dieter Giessler. It stars Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach, Patricia Hayes, Sydney Bromley, Gerald McRaney, Moses Gunn, and Alan Oppenheimer as the voices of both Falkor and Gmork (as well as other characters). The film follows a boy who happens upon a magical book that tells of a young warrior who is given the task of stopping the Nothing, a dark force, from engulfing the wonderland world of Fantasia.
At the time of its release, it was the most expensive film produced outside the United States or the Soviet Union. The film was the first in The NeverEnding Story film series.[4] The film adapts only the first half of the book, and consequently does not convey the message of the title as it was portrayed in the novel. The second half of the book was subsequently used as a rough basis for the second film, The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990). The third film, The NeverEnding Story III: Escape from Fantasia (1994), has an original plot not based on the book.
Plot:
Ten-year-old Bastian Bux is a shy and outcast bibliophile and lives with his widowed father. One day on his way to school, Bastian is chased by bullies but escapes by hiding in a bookstore, annoying the bookseller, Mr. Coreander. Bastian's interest in books leads him to ask about the one Coreander is reading, but the bookseller advises against reading it, saying that it is not a "safe" story like regular books. With his curiosity piqued, Bastian secretly takes the book, titled The Neverending Story, leaving a note promising to return it, and hides in the school's attic to read.
The book describes the fantasy world of Fantasia slowly being devoured by a malevolent force called "The Nothing". The Childlike Empress, who rules Fantasia, has fallen ill, and the young warrior Atreyu is tasked to discover a cure, believing that once the Empress is well, the Nothing will no longer be a threat. Atreyu is given a medallion called the Auryn that can guide and protect him in the quest. As Atreyu sets out, the Nothing summons a vicious and highly intelligent wolf-like creature named Gmork to kill Atreyu.
Atreyu's quest directs him to the giant, turtle-like adviser Morla the Ancient One in the Swamps of Sadness. Though the Auryn protects Atreyu, his beloved horse Artax is lost to the swamp, and he continues alone. Morla does not have the answers Atreyu seeks, but directs him to the Southern Oracle, ten thousand miles distant. Gmork closes in as Atreyu succumbs to exhaustion trying to escape the Swamps, but is narrowly saved by the luck dragon Falkor. Falkor takes him to the home of two gnomes who live near the gates to the Southern Oracle. Atreyu crosses the first gate, but is perplexed when the second gate—a mirror that shows the viewer's true self—reveals a boy which Bastian recognizes as himself. Atreyu eventually meets the Southern Oracle, who tells him that the only way to save the Empress is to find a human child who lives beyond the boundaries of Fantasia to give her a new name. Atreyu and Falkor flee, as the Nothing consumes the Southern Oracle.
In flight, Atreyu is knocked from Falkor's back into the Sea of Possibilities, losing the Auryn in the process. He wakes on the shore of some abandoned ruins, where he finds several murals depicting his adventure, including one of Gmork. Gmork then reveals himself and explains that Fantasia represents humanity's imagination and is thus without boundaries, while the Nothing is a manifestation of the loss of hopes and dreams. Atreyu battles and kills Gmork, as the Nothing begins to consume the ruins.
Falkor manages to retrieve the Auryn and rescue Atreyu. The two find themselves in a void with only small fragments of Fantasia remaining, fearing that they have failed, until they spot the Empress' Ivory Tower among the fragments. Inside, Atreyu apologizes for failing the Empress, but she assures him that he has succeeded in bringing to her a human child who has been following his quest – Bastian. She further explains that, just as Bastian is following Atreyu's story, "others" are following Bastian's, making this part of the Neverending Story. As the Nothing begins to consume the Tower, the Empress explains that Bastian must call out her new name to save Fantasia. However, Bastian, in disbelief that he himself has been incorporated into the story, denies these events as just being a story. He eventually gives in after the Empress pleads directly to Bastian to call out her new name and runs to the window of the attic to call out the name he has chosen: "Moon Child".
Bastian awakes with the Empress, who presents him with a grain of sand – the sole remnant of Fantasia. The Empress tells Bastian that he has the power to bring Fantasia back with his imagination. Bastian re-creates Fantasia and flies on Falkor's back to see the land and its inhabitants restored, including Atreyu and Artax. When Falkor asks what his next wish will be, Bastian brings Falkor to the real world to chase down the school bullies. In a cliffhanger ending, the film narrates that Bastian had many more wishes and adventures, and concludes: "But that's another story".
Production:
Author Michael Ende was initially happy about his book being turned into a film. Ende worked with Wolfgang Petersen as a script advisor and was paid only $50,000 for the rights to his book. Ende claimed that Petersen later rewrote the script without consulting him, and felt that this adaptation's content deviated so far from the spirit of his book – "Fantastica reappears with no creative force from Bastian" – that he requested that production either be halted or the film's title be changed. When the producers did neither, he sued them and subsequently lost the case. Ende called the film a "gigantic melodrama of kitsch, commerce, plush and plastic".
The adaptation only covered the first half of the book. German producer Bernd Eichinger saw his children reading the book, and they urged him to make a film out of it. He was reluctant to adapt the book, but agreed to do so and acquired the rights to the book. The bulk of the film was shot at Stage 1 of the Bavaria Studios in Munich, with the street scenes and the school interior in the real world shot in Vancouver, Canada (the Gastown Vancouver Steam Clock can be seen in the bully chase scene at the end of the film, as the three bullies are chased down Cambie Street past the steam clock at the intersection of Water Street and then on down Blood Alley), and the beach where Atreyu falls, which was filmed at Playa de Mónsul in San Jose, Almería, Spain.
Music:
The film score of The NeverEnding Story was composed by Klaus Doldinger of the German jazz group Passport. The theme song of the English version of the film was composed by Giorgio Moroder, with lyrics by Keith Forsey, and performed by Christopher "Limahl" Hamill, once the lead singer of Kajagoogoo, and Beth Anderson. Released as a single in 1984, it peaked at No. 4 on the UK singles chart, No. 6 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has been covered by Armonite, The Birthday Massacre, Creamy, Dragonland, Kenji Haga and New Found Glory. More recent covers were done by Norwegian synthpop group Echo Image on their 2001 maxi-single Skulk and by German techno group Scooter on their 2007 album Jumping All Over the World. This Limahl song, along with other "techno-pop" treatments to the soundtrack, is not present in the German version of the film, which features Doldinger's orchestral score exclusively. It was also performed by Dustin and Suzie from the television series Stranger Things.
In 1994, Italian house music group Club House released the song "Nowhere Land", featuring Carl, which combines the melody of the tune "Bastian's Happy Flight" with original lyrics.
My Review:
Here we have yet another amazing, childhood movie that is one of the best films of all time. Again, I'm a sucker for unbelievable prosthetics and like Legend (1985) this too has amazing practical effects. The giant puppets in this are awe inspiring.
This was yet another movie that I have had the complete pleasure of owning. Everything about this movie I love: the characters, the story, the feelings, the message, the musical score, the practical effects, everything is just out of this world, including the big mystery element. Atreyu is without a doubt the best character in this movie, ... did an amazing performance. But my favourite character in this film is Falkor. He is without a doubt the adorbale, sweetest, softest, most caring and most amazing dragon I've ever fallen in love with. By far the most impressive puppet in this film. Any child would be absolutely lucky to have Falkor for an incredible and true friend, even a person like me who is 16 going on 17 years of age and still thinks like a kid {I have the mental capacity of a 7 year old}. You've just got to see this movie and all of the adventure and thrills within it. You'll be absolutely enthralled and amazed with absolutely everything that The Neverending Story has to offer. This story is your story just as much as this is my story!!!
Although, I can't pretend, even I can't even bear to watch Artax's death. It's the one scene I ugly cry... You know what, I'm feeling cruel you can witness the saddest scene in movie history and suffer as I do {Hahahahahahaha}.
This film teleports anyone watching it into Fantasia with its magical mystic feel hooking and drawing you in. The soundtrack is stellar not to mention with its synthwave {GOD I LOVE SYNTHWAVE} type of music along with some satisfying orchestral ones too. And don't even get me started on the theme song! My god, its my favourite song of all time which just upped the ante for this already fantastic distribution of mankind. A story of an imaginative, mistreated, and misunderstood boy reading a book with endless possibilities and obstacles being thrown at him eventually illuminating belief to bring him to that world after its tragic destruction is marvellous! Goddam do I love this movie and I will cherish it for all eternity. I highly recommend this magnificent manufactured work of art that is a movie to anyone with a strong taste for fantasy adventure; well deserved 99/10 is what this gets.
BTW, just don't make the mistake of watching the sequels. They're absolutely atrocious.
{Here's the badass theme for you to singalong too XD}
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