The Trailer

The Plot

Bastian is a young boy who lives a dreary life being tormented by school bullies. On one such occasion he escapes into a book shop where the old proprieter reveals an ancient story-book to him, which he is warned can be dangerous. Shortly after, he “borrows” the book and begins to read it in the school attic where he is drawn into the mythical land of Fantasia, which desperately needs a hero to save it from destruction.
(Source IMDB)

The Breakdown

Who is in it? Noah Hathaway (he played Atreyu)
Genre: Adventure-Fantasy
Was it adventurous? Sure.
Would this movie be for every adventure-fantasy fan? Yeah.
Should you see it? If you haven’t seen Never Ending Story, you need to get with it…

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The Verdict

This movie is totally for kids but seeing how I’m 26 and the movie came out the year I was born, I was a kid when this movie was popular. I remember loving this movie and watching it all the time and thought nothing of it really, I just saw a neat story. Watching this movie as an adult however is a different story. I can’t help but see the dialog towards the kids as creepy! I sure hope I’m not the only one that sees it like that, but if you haven’t seen this movie in a long time or at all, watch it and see if the luck dragon doesn’t sound like a creepy pedophile!

The movie starts out with a boy named Bastian and his dad having breakfast. It’s revealed that Bastian’s mother had died and the boy’s school work is suffering from it. The boy is coping with his mother’s death by day dreaming and drawing and his father tells him to basically grow up and be an adult. Bastian is also tormented by 3 bullies because he is weird and the bullies chase him into a book store where he finds a book titled ‘The Never Ending Story’. The book store owner tries to warn him that his other books are safe and that this one is different. When the man gets up to answer a phone call, Bastian is overcome with curiosity and steals the book.

When he finally gets to school he finds the class is already in session and he gets into a storage room in the school and begins reading. The story starts with some characters on a journey to a place called The Ivory Tower which is home to the empress. They are seeking her out because there is a big storm called ‘The Nothing’ that’s overtaking the world they live in called ‘Fantasia’. Upon arrival to the Tower they find out that the empress is deathly ill and the illness is linked to the nothing, which renders her powerless. A great warrior named Atreyu has been summoned and he alone is the last hope for Fantasia. He accepts a quest to find a cure for the empress and leaves his weapons behind as he travels aimlessly with his trusty horse Artax.

After about a week they are seeking the wisest being in Fantasia that happens to live in a lovely place called ‘The Swamp of Sadness’. If you let the sadness overtake you, then you will sink in the swamp so you have to think positive. Artax the horse has a bout of horse depression and sinks to his death leaving Atreyu walking alone in the mud. He eventually finds the wise giant turtle and it tells him that the southern oracle knows the cure for the empress but it’s 10,000 miles away. Atreyu is saddened by this and beings to sink in the swamp but is saved by the creepy luck dragon named Falcor that cleans him up while he is unconscious and flies him to the entrance of the oracle. Before he can talk to the oracle he must get past these giant statues that will blow you zap you with laser beams if you are not 100% confident in yourself which he passes. Next he has to walk into a mirror and then talks to the oracle inside which is two large statues like the ones before.

The oracle says that the only cure for the empress is a new name, but only a human child can give it to her. So Atreyu sets off to find a human child which he is told is beyond the boundaries of Fantasia itself. Upon reaching what is thought to be the boundaries of Fantasia he finds that the nothing is eating away at the world and the resulting winds knocks him off of Falcor. Atreyu talks to a few creatures we met at the beginning of the film and listens to their despair and talks to a beast that wants the nothing to destroy the world. It’s revealed that Fantasia is actually made of the hopes and dreams of humanity and the nothing is what results when humans stop wishing and dreaming. Because of the fact that Fantasia is a dream world, it actually has no boundaries because human dreams are limitless. The beast lunges at Atreyu but dies mostly because he’s a badass warrior, and a little bit because he sort of fell on a sharp rock. Fast Forward a bit, now the nothing has destroyed Fantasia and Atreyu and Falcor are flying through the empty space with pieces of their planet scattering off.

They find that the Ivory tower is in tact and the empress is still alive. She says that Atreyu was successful because the human child (Bastian) had been with him the entire time and at this point the boundaries between the book and Bastian’s real world blurs a bit. Bastian names the empress and she tells him to start wishing and dreaming. With each wish he makes more of the fantasy world known as Fantasia is restored. Bastian wishes to ride Falcor and uses the big creepy bastard dragon to torment his bullies. The End. This movie was a pretty cool flick for a kid, and watching it really brought me back to the days of my childhood. I rate this movie an 8/10 for it’s original and memorable story.

Official Nutshell-Movies Explanation

The NeverEnding Story (1984): A child warrior is set on a quest to ultimately find a human boy to save the world of imagination with his wishes.