The Story That Never Ended in Our Hearts
Only the kids from a certain generation can truly appreciate what a movie like The NeverEnding Story did for them and their childhood. Although there are noticeable differences from how it might be remembered and how it really is, this is still an imaginative story that even kids today could find joy in.
The NeverEnding Story was brought to us in 1984 by director Wolfgang Petersen as he took us to a world none of us would have ever been able to think up on our own. The story follows the young boy Bastian (Barret Oliver) who is dealing with his mother death and a group of bullies. After taking shelter from them in an old book store, Bastian is introduced to a story he is told is unlike any other he has read. Curiosity gets the best of him and he ‘borrows’ the book to see for himself.
He takes the book to the attic of his school (which I wasn’t aware schools had) and begins to read as he’s taken to the world of Fantasia where the Nothing threatens to wipe it out if a hero doesn’t come to stop it. The unlikely hero known as Atreyu (Noah Hathaway) comes forth and offers to stop the Nothing. He journeys across Fantasia dealing with such obstacles as the Swamps of Sadness, the Magic Mirror Gate, and the Southern Oracle and meeting characters like the Rockbiter, G’mork, Engywook and Urgl, and Falkor.
The story as a whole is very imaginative and off the edge as Petersen’s mind creates a wondrous world. Given that it was made in 1984, the visuals are stunning for that time as the effects rival some of that which we see in movies today (which is a scary thought). Where some viewers might get lost is in the story itself and its ability to jump about from one random situation to another. The ultimate goal is clear as day, but the route taken to get there can seem out of whack at times. And with its PG (PG-13 back then) rating, this can be watched by kids of all ages, but might also scary some of those same kids with its characters.
It may not be the best movie ever made (or even one in the top ten or fifty even) and yet it is still a movie that any kids from the 80’s and 90’s will know just at the calling of its name.
Throwback Lesson: Never underestimate the power of books. They allow your imagination to run wild, take you to places you otherwise couldn’t go to (sometimes even literally), and they let you create their world in your own mind rather than watching someone else’s vision of that same world on a screen.
ROASTED RIPPER SCORE: B (7.5/10 Lucky Dragons)