Die unendliche Geschichte (1984)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Wolfgang Petersen

Writers:

Wolfgang Petersen (screenplay) &
Herman Weigel (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 July 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy

Tagline:

A boy who needs a friend finds a world that needs a hero in a land beyond imagination!

Plot:

A troubled boy dives into a wonderous fantasy world through the pages of a mysterious book.

Plot Keywords:

Book | Bully | Warrior | Young Boy | Hero

Awards:

4 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Barret Oliver	...	Bastian
Gerald McRaney	...	Bastian's Father
Drum Garrett	...	1st Bully
Darryl Cooksey	...	2nd Bully
Nicholas Gilbert	...	3rd Bully
Thomas Hill	...	Koreander
Deep Roy	...	Teeny Weeny
Tilo Prückner	...	Night Hob
Moses Gunn	...	Cairon
Noah Hathaway	...	Atreyu
Alan Oppenheimer	...	Falkor / G'mork / Narrator (voice)
Sydney Bromley	...	Engywook
Patricia Hayes	...	Urgl
Tami Stronach	...	The Childlike Empress

Also Known As:

The NeverEnding Story (UK) (USA)
The Neverending Story (International: English title)

Runtime:

102 min | 94 min (international version)

Country:

West Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:All | New Zealand:G | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Canada:F (Ontario) | Finland:K-8 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:U | USA:PG | West Germany:6 (w) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Filmstudios, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Neue Constantin Film

Trivia:

The name of the mystical land in (the English translation of) the original novel was Fantastica, not Fantasia, but the original German name Phantásien translates more accurately into English as Fantasia.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When Atreyu is in the Swamps of Sadness with his horse, the horse sinks because it gives into the sadness, but Atreyu doesn't sink, even though he is crying and sad that his friend has died. Though not properly shown in the movie, the book explains how AURYN is protecting him. (His eventual near-sinking at the end of the scene, which never occurred in the book, is due to the plot changes that were made for the movie.)

Quotes:

[first lines]
Bastian's Father: Good morning, Bastian.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Splendor (1989)

Soundtrack:

The Neverending Story

Great fantasy film!

One of the best kids fantasy films of the 80's. This is a great films about troubled young boy Bastien who escapes some pursuing bullies in an old book shop finding a story. As he reads this story alone, in hiding, he becomes enraptured in it and soon begins to feel more than a reader but involved in the story and is sucked into the world of Fantasia.

Now, does the film have the important elements of a fantasy yarn? Yep it sure does. It looks great it has strange creatures and wonderful landscapes and it's fair share of adventure. The book bastien read centres around Artreyu a young warrior who is the only hope of saving Fantasia from the evil that is "the Nothing" which is what it's name suggest and will turn Fantasia into nothing.

I had never watched this until recently when purely by chance it was on TV and had a good write up (ah the power of movie critics!) so I thought that as a lover of fantasy, I would watch it. Glad I did people, glad I did. It takes you back to feelings of childhood and captures the imagination. Wolfgang Peterson, who didn't particularly impress me in recent flop Troy, directs preceedings with class and control. There are some good young actors too. ****