The NeverEnding Story (film)

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The NeverEnding Story
File:Neverendingstoryposter.jpg
American release poster
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Produced by Bernd Eichinger
Dieter Geissler
Screenplay by Wolfgang Petersen
Herman Weigel
Based on The Neverending Story
by Michael Ende
Starring <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Narrated by Alan Oppenheimer
Music by Klaus Doldinger
Giorgio Moroder
Cinematography Jost Vacano
Edited by Jane Seitz
Production
company
Distributed by Neue Constantin Film
(West Germany)
Warner Bros. Pictures
(United States)
Release dates
 <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • April 6, 1984 (1984-04-06) (West Germany)

<templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • July 20, 1984 (1984-07-20) (United States)
Running time
 107 minutes
Country West Germany
United States
United Kingdom
Language English
Budget DM 60 million (~$27 million)
Box office $100 million

The NeverEnding Story (German: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a 1984 West German (English language) epic fantasy film based on the novel of the same name by Michael Ende, about a boy who reads a magical book that tells a story of a young warrior whose task is to stop a dark storm called the Nothing from engulfing a fantasy world. The film was produced by Bernd Eichinger and Dieter Giessler and directed and co-written by Wolfgang Petersen (his first English-language film) and starred Barret Oliver, Noah Hathaway, Tami Stronach, Moses Gunn, Thomas Hill; and Alan Oppenheimer as the voices of both Falkor and Gmork. At the time of its release, it was the most expensive film produced outside the USA or the USSR. The film was later followed by two sequels.[1]

Ende felt that this adaptation's content deviated so far from his book 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.[2] The film only adapts 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 would subsequently be used as the rough basis for the second film, The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter. The third film, The NeverEnding Story III: Escape From Fantasia, features a completely original plot.

Plot

Bastian Balthazar Bux (Barret Oliver) is a shy and friendless bibliophile teenager, teased by bullies from school. During one trip to school, he hides from the bullies in a bookstore, interrupting the grumpy bookseller, Mr. Coreander (Thomas Hill). Bastian asks about one of the books he sees, but Mr. Coreander advises against it. His curiosity piqued, Bastian seizes the book, leaving a note promising to return it, and hides in the school's attic to read. The book describes the world of Fantasia slowly being devoured by a force called "The Nothing". Fantasia's ruler, the Childlike Empress (Tami Stronach), has fallen ill, and Atreyu (Noah Hathaway) is tasked to discover the cure, believing that once the Empress is well, the Nothing will no longer be a threat. Atreyu is given a medallion named the AURYN that can guide and protect him in the quest. As Atreyu sets out, the Nothing summons Gmork (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer), a werewolf, to kill Atreyu.

AURYN, based on the Ouroboros, representing infinity/eternity. The original prop is now owned by Steven Spielberg.[3]

Atreyu's quest directs him to the advisor 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. Later, Atreyu is surprised by the sudden appearance of Morla, a giant tortoise. Bastian, reading, is also surprised and lets out a scream, which Atreyu and Morla appear to hear. Morla does not have the answers Atreyu seeks, but directs him to the Southern Oracle, ten thousand miles distant. Atreyu succumbs to exhaustion trying to escape the Swamps but is saved by the luckdragon Falkor (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer). Falkor takes him to the home of two gnomes that live near the entrance to the Oracle. The gnomes explain that Atreyu will face various trials before reaching the Oracle. Atreyu proceeds to enter the Oracle, and is perplexed when one second trial, a mirror that shows the viewer's true self, reveals a boy which Bastian recognizes as himself. Bastian throws the book aside, but after catching his breath, continues to read. Atreyu eventually meets the Oracle who tells him the only way to save the Princess is to find a human child to give her a new name, beyond the boundaries of Fantasia.

Atreyu and Falkor flee before the Nothing consumes the 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 an abandoned town, and finds a series of paintings depicting his quest. Gmork reveals himself, having being laying in wait and explains that Fantasia represents humanity's imagination, and that the Nothing represents adult apathy and cynicism against it. Atreyu fends off and kills Gmork as the Nothing begins to consume the town. Falkor, who had managed to locate the AURYN, rescues Atreyu in time. The two find themselves in a void with only small fragments of Fantasia remaining, and fear they have failed when they spot the Empress's Ivory Tower among the fragment. Inside, Atreyu apologizes for failing the Empress, but she asserts he has succeed in bringing a human child to her who has been following his quest. As the Nothing begins to consume the Tower, the Empress pleas directly to Bastian to call our her new name. Bastian calls out the name he had selected: "Moon Child", and loses consciousness.

When he wakes, he finds himself in blackness with the Empress, with only a grain of sand the last bit of Fantasia remaining. The Empress tells Bastian that he has the power to bring Fantasia back with his imagination with the power of the AURYN. Bastian re-creates Fantasia, and as he flies on Falkor's back, sees the land and its inhabitants restored, and that Atreyu has been reunited with Artax. When Falkor tells him he can wish for anything, Bastian then brings Falkor back to the real world to chase down the bullies from before. The film ends with the narration that Bastian had many more wishes and adventures, and adds: "but that's another story".

Cast

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Main article: List of The Neverending Story characters

Production

This film adaptation only covered the first half of the book. The majority of the movie was filmed in Germany, except for Barret Oliver's scenes, which were shot in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and the beach where Atreyu falls, which was filmed at Monsul Beach in Almería (Spain). It was Germany's highest budgeted film of the time.

Music

The film score of The NeverEnding Story was composed by Klaus Doldinger of the German jazz group Passport. The theme song of the North American release of the film was composed by Giorgio Moroder with lyrics by Keith Forsey, and performed by Limahl (lead singer of Kajagoogoo) and Beth Anderson. This song, along with other "techno-pop" treatments to the soundtrack, are not present in the German version of the film, which features Doldinger's orchestral score exclusively.

The theme song performed by Limahl was 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 American theme song has been covered by The Birthday Massacre, Creamy, Dragonland, Kenji Haga, and New Found Glory. The song has also been covered 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.

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.

An official soundtrack album was released featuring Doldinger's score and Moroder's theme tune (Moroder also rescored several scenes for the version released outside Germany).[4] The track listing (Doldinger is responsible for everything from track 6 onwards) is as follows:

In Germany an album featuring Klaus Doldinger's score was released.

Reaction

Critical response

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The film has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 81% based on reviews from 37 critics.[5] Metacritic gives the film a score of 46/100 based on reviews from 10 critics.[6]

Film critic Roger Ebert gave it three out of four stars and praised its visual effects, saying that "an entirely new world has been created" because of them,[7] a comment echoed by Variety.[1] Joshua Tyler of CinemaBlend referred to it as "One of a scant few true Fantasy masterpieces".[5]

Vincent Canby panned the film as a "graceless, humorless fantasy for children" in a 1984 The New York Times review. Canby's criticism charged that parts of the movie "sounded like 'The Pre-Teenager's Guide to Existentialism'". He further criticized the "tacky" special effects, and that the construction of the dragon looked like "an impractical bathmat."[8]

Box office

The film performed very well at the box office, grossing $100 million worldwide against a production budget of DM 60 million (approximately $27 million at the time). Almost five million people went to watch it in Germany, a number rarely achieved by German productions, resulting in a gross of about $20 million domestically. It also grossed a similar amount in the United States; only a modest sum in the American market, which director Wolfgang Peterson ascribed to the film's European sensibilities.[9]

Awards

This film won two awards in 1984 and three in 1985

  • 1984 won the Bambi Award for: National film
  • 1984 won the Golden Screen Award
  • 1985 won the Saturn Award for: Best Performance by a Young Actor
  • 1985 won the Brazilian Film Award for: Best Production
  • 1985 won the Film Award in Gold for: Best Production Design

Nominations

This film was nominated for three awards in 1985

Home media

LASERDISC

The film was released by Warner Bros. on LaserDisc with a digital stereo soundtrack in 1985.

A widescreen laserdisc was released on August 28, 1991; no special features were included.

DVD

The Region 1 DVD was first released in 2001 by Warner Bros, containing only the North American release of the film. The only audio option is a 2.0 stereo mix in either English or Spanish. The theatrical trailer is the lone extra feature presented.

There is also a quite lavish 2003 European version, which is a 2-disc special edition with packaging shaped like the book from the film and containing both the North American and German releases of the film. Various extras, such as a 45-minute documentary, music video, and galleries, are presented on the second disc.[10] However, there is no English audio for the German version of the film. This edition is currently out of print. The standard 1-disc edition is also available for the Region 2 market.

A Dutch import has also appeared on the Internet in various places, which only contains the North American release of the film but also includes a remastered DTS surround track, which is not found in either the German or the Region 1 release.

Also, in 2008, Czech and Slovak language DVD versions appeared in Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Blu-ray

The first Blu-ray release was a region-free Dutch edition on March 24, 2007.

On March 2, 2010, Warner released a Region A Blu-ray edition of the film. The disc includes a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, which marks the first time a 5.1 surround track has been included in a US home video version of the film. No special features or theatrical trailer are included.[11]

On October 7, 2014, a 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray was released, which duplicates the DTS surround track of its predecessor. Originally described as a "newly" remastered version of the film, Warner released a statement indicating that "the only remastered version is The NeverEnding Story II", while not elaborating further on this current US release.[12] The 30th Anniversary Edition contains the original theatrical trailer, a commentary track by director Wolfgang Petersen, documentaries and interviews from both 1984 and 2014, and a German-language/English-subtitled feature detailing the digital restoration process of the film.

Legacy

The film has since been an inspiration in popular culture.

Music

  • The American metal band Atreyu derived their name from the character of Atreyu.
  • The Mexican pop punk band Fälkor derived their name from the character of Falkor, changing the styling of the middle a for ä.
  • The American rock band Bayside have used quotes from the film as titles of their songs. Examples include "They look like strong hands" and "They're not horses, they're unicorns".
  • The American rock band Rooney made reference to the film in the song "I'm Shakin'" ("I tossed and turned all night 'cause I was looking for an ending / This was so because I watched all day The NeverEnding Story with Atreyu")

Warner Bros planned adaptation of the novel

In 2009, it was reported that Warner Bros, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, and Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way were in the early stages of creating another adaptation of Michael Ende's novel. They intend to "examine the more nuanced details of the book" rather than remake the original film by Wolfgang Petersen.[13]

In 2011, producer Kathleen Kennedy said that problems securing the rights to the story may mean a second adaptation is "not meant to be."[14]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Blu-ray.com
  12. ↑ [1]
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ http://www.ign.com/articles/2011/12/17/about-that-neverending-story-remake

External links


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