The NeverEnding Story [Die Unendliche Geschichte] **** (1984, Barret Oliver, Gerald McRaney, Moses Gunn, Patricia Hayes, Noah Hathaway, Sydney Bromley, Tami Stronach) – Classic Movie Review 7164

Co-writer/ director Wolfgang Petersen’s well-crafted 1984 West German Eighties children’s classic, based on the novel by Michael Ende, stars Barret Oliver as Bastian, a bullied young lad who gets a magical book and is whisked off to a fantasy land, Fantasia, which he must save.

This lavish and beautiful production from West Germany (though in the international version it pretends to be an American film) proffers the most handsome sets (by Rolf Zehetbauer), the loveliest cinematography (by Jost Vacano), the costliest special effects and the best looking creatures that Eighties money could buy.

It is an attractive and appealing movie, though it might be all a tiny bit coy and simple-minded for cynical adults, while older children could find it soppy and low on action. But, as a wholesome, well crafted children’s adventure, it is all very sweet and harmless though.

Also in the cast are Gerald McRaney as Bastian’s Father, Moses Gunn as Cairon, Patricia Hayes as Urgl, Noah Hathaway as Atreyu, Sydney Bromley as Engywook, Alan Oppenheimer, Thomas Hill, Deep Roy, Tilo Prückner and Tami Stronach as The Childlike Empress.

It runs 102 minutes, with the international version running 94 minutes.

The NeverEnding Story [Die Unendliche Geschichte] is directed by Wolfgang Petersen, runs 102 minutes or 94 minutes, is made by Bavaria Studios, Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), Neue Constantin Film, Bavaria Film and Dieter Geissler Filmproduktion, is released by Neue Constantin Film (West Germany) and Warner Bros (US), is written by Wolfgang Petersen and Herman Weigel, is shot in Eastmancolor by Jost Vacano, is produced by Bernd Eichinger and Dieter Geissler, is scored by Klaus Doldinger and Giorgio Moroder and is designed by Rolf Zehetbauer.

There are two sequels so far: The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter, directed by George Miller, followed in 1990 with Jonathan Brandis, and The NeverEnding Story III: Escape from Fantasia, directed by Peter MacDonald, in 1994, with Jason James Richter.

Child star Barret Oliver now teaches photography in Los Angeles.

It is good to know that the horse did not really die during the filming of the Swamp of Sadness scene.

It was shot at Desierto de Tabernas, Almería, Andalucía, Spain; Huelva, Andalucía, Spain; Gastown, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Blood Alley, Gastown, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; and at Bavaria Studios, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7164

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