Nostalgia Critic Real Thoughts On: Neverending Story Movies

[@ElvenRaptor]

Speaking as someone who grow up in a household that's always raised horses, I can vouch for the rest that horses CAN become depressed.

[@KittyxGrimm]

In the book Bastian *did* actually make up the name Moonchild, which makes more sense because it's clarified that Bastian loves books and wants to be a writer when he grows up. Hell, it's even implied that he wrote the story himself, much like how it's implied that Bilbo wrote The Hobbit.

[@cerostark73]

Never Ending story ended but Final Fansty still goes on. Very misleading titles

[@NerdLensStudios]

LMAO 3 years later, this comment still wins!

[@LegoManiac_101]

cerostark73 true

[@omegon2540]

Holy s*** he’s right

[@greenninja61]

Final "Fantasy"

[@IgnatiusThorogood]

As does Final Destination.

[@rharris4736]

The bit about G'mork going out like a bitch in the movie is spot-on really, but believe it or not, in the book his death scene actually finds him in an even more pathetic state (chained by an unbreakable chain as the Nothing approaches). He mocks Atreyu without knowing who he is, and gives this really bitter rant about how he was sent to kill the warrior who could fight the nothing and then drops his name, Atreyu. When Atreyu, rather innocently, says "but I'm Atreyu," G'mork dies from laughter at the irony that sheer dumb luck has brought Atreyu to his death where he himself failed. Finally, his lifeless corpse clamps its jaws around Atreyu's ankle, thus preventing Atreyu from a maddening compulsion to jump into the Nothing long enough for Falkor to save him.

[@Byrnzi360]

The book really is fascinating. There's a reason the author didn't want his name associated with the film.

[@bucwhovian8305]

+Byron MacGreggor You seen The Dom's LiA on it?

[@theAngryscotman]

+Byron MacGreggor From what I've heard about the book it sounds fascinating. One of it's main points is grow as a person and face your problems and don't just retreat into fantasy. A message I know I could stand to listen to and I'm sure a lot of people could (this is the internet after all)

[@sweeney60]

+theAngryscotman The interesting thing about the movie is that it starts out as an escape into fantasy type story but at the end it turns out the book is real and Bastian has to take part in it in order to save fantasia. The movie ends up being about being present and taking your place in reality and when you do your story finally begins.

[@ho2814]

The movie sucks

[@RJIS]

Hunter O no

[@madalinam6183]

NO! the second part of the book is stunning. Bastian has to rebuild Fantasia with his wishes and for every wish he makes and therefore for every amazing thing he creates in Fantastica (that's the name of the land in the book) he loses one of his memories from our world. People who say "I should read that" pretty much never do, but if you ever have the chance to read it to a child, you will love it at least as much as the child.

[@moviemaniac2159]

I wonder why they renamed the land "Fantasia" in the movie?

[@Dim4323]

They need to Netflix this shit and be like the book

[@marcbraun5342]

@@moviemaniac2159 They didn't, in the book it's Fantasia, too! But they seem to have renamed the luck dragon Fuchur to Falcor, which just sounds stupid, did they think of a falcon, or what?

[@moviemaniac2159]

@@marcbraun5342 Oh, I just thought it was called "Fantastica" in the book because Madalina M said that.

[@marcbraun5342]

@@moviemaniac2159 I know, but now _you_ know that's wrong! ;)

[@theDAVIDKANG]

"Is it printed on dead trees? Then it's not a book!!" That's a great line, Rob.

[@MissingSirius]

The Swamp of Sadness is why Artax was sad. He wasn't already depressed. To me, what makes that scene so terribly heart wrenching is that you can fight the Swamp (Atreyu does). Artax can't because he can't understand what's happening. He can't understand that he can fight his way out of the swamp, he's just consumed by sadness and loses the will to live and Atreyu can't do anything about it.

[@ZekeThePlumber86]

MissingSirius Atreyu can fight it because he's wearing the auyrn. Artex can speak in the novel and explains his thoughts before he dies..

[@D0pam1n]

The US version of the first movie is 6:42 shorter due to faster cuts to tighten the story. Also, the opening looks slightly different and the score was completely new and I'd say way more interesting. Btw, Wolfgang "Das Boot/Outbreak/Air Force One/Troy" Petersen directed it and wrote the script. The novel's author hated it for the reasons most authors do. But it's a perfectly good kid's movie with a quite serious and sometimes even dark, tense tone that was really well done for an 80s movie. I'd also like to say Michael Ende's novel is still worth reading if you're even slightly interested in fantasy/adventure kid's novels. I really loved the first movie and when I visited the filmstudios in Germany on a school field trip in the early 90s, I sat on the (back then) original Fuchur prop. :)

[@CULater000]

I grew up having read the book (in German) and only saw the movie until much later, so I was kind of pissed that they basically dropped half the book - I really liked the Dom's comment in his review that it is like adapting Romeo and Juliet, but ending at the wedding, completely changing the story

[@graciegj63]

Book based movies are gonna be like that. It's rare to find ones that used all of the material. Just look at "book vs film" and it'll explain everything.

[@CULater000]

+Gracie J This isn't just a matter of dropping a few elements - that is required of any adaptation into a different medium (Lord of the Rings is properly the best book adaptation, and they used maybe half of each book) - The Neverending Story dropped the entire second half of the main story; the original book was about a Sebastian becoming corrupted by the power he is given, taking a child's power fantasies and taking them to their ultimate conclusion

[@ElaMongrella]

Some parts of the 2nd movie were based on the 2nd half of the book, but they still messed it up pretty badly.

[@graciegj63]

Teridax01 Yea I see your point in that. But I've seen too many based on book movies that stray so far from the material, it might as well be called a movie slightly based on a book. Neverending story 2 is suppose to be the other half of the book. So technically it wasn't cut. Tho I wish they had told the story the exact way you described. Also, don't know why I didn't see your comment til now.

[@cheezemonkeyeater]

"I just don't get it." That's because you're overthinking it. The Swamps of Sadness have that effect on pretty much everyone, except for Morla, who just didn't give a shit about anything. Atreyu wasn't affected because he was wearing the Aurin, which protected him. Also, in the book, the horse could talk and had human level intelligence. It . . . honestly kinda ruins the scene in the book. Also, the movie really fails to get this across, but Bastian's mother isn't named Moonchild. I forget if the book mentioned her name, but it was more clear there that it was different. That was his first thought to name her after his mother, but he came up with a second name over the course of the story.

[@georgenelson811]

hey! in the book that horse could speak. That way they kinda explain all the friendship and depression on the swamp:)

[@MuffinHunterX]

+Valentino Balboni Also it's explained that Atreyu was protected from the effects of the swamp because he was carrying Ouryn.

[@charonlloyd-roberts2508]

+Valentino Balboni The book is better I'm in the process of re-reading it at the moment

[@jakubmakalowski6428]

+Valentino Balboni 　Funny thing is that there's a video on the channel awesome site and yet Doug and Rob seem to know so little about it.

[@joedigger9919]

+Shimikaze1 actually the movie is based off of the first half of the book.

[@John_does]

I wouldn't say third, the redemption story isn't that long,But yes, its sounds like the movie lose the balancing act in the fantasia after the recreation.

[@Herisheft]

Neverending Story, Dark Crystal and Star Wars are films which i remember since forever. I can still watch them over and over and i will never get tired of them, heck, the song is still one of my alltime favourites.

[@Changeling9000]

Please do real thoughts on the animated Titanic movies.

[@Prestidigitoreum]

+Crazy Horse 9000 Yes! They should review the sequel first though.

[@Kass686]

+Prestidigitoreum Tentacolino???

[@Prestidigitoreum]

1005418 Yeah, I hear it's terrible :D

[@Kass686]

Yeah from what I can tell it makes even less sense than the "original" lol!

[@Tornado1994]

+Prestidigitoreum It's not terrible, its ATROCIOUS.

[@GreenGoddessLita]

"Who hasn't seen this movie?" Tamara Chambers?

[@vincentneufarth9520]

Who knew that a family film from the 80s could get so dark. I was like "Jesus!" when I heard what happened to the horse.

[@Aiijuin]

Believe it or not, Doug and Rob. Limahl - singer of the Neverending Story Theme was a man. And YES, the two of you MUST read that book! It was written by German Author - Michael Ende. Probably one of the best books that I've ever read as a matter of fact. From one kid of the 80s to another, I would definitely take the time out to read it if I were either of you. On a side note: Michael Ende was devastated by the movies and how they had chopped the integrity of his book's content. He fought the studios in court until his death. He never won the battle, and Neverending Story 3 was made after he had died, despite his best efforts to save his story and stop the film production.

[@Igorcastrochucre]

I always look for something good to say to a movie even if hard to find. So here I go: 1. The Neverending story: Need I say anything? That movie rocked. 2. The Neverending Story II: The new Bastian is better as an actor, so is Atreyu, and the movie is quite solid even thought not as good as the first one. 3. The Neverending Story III: Oh boy... Well, in the first the villain was the Nothing representing the lack of imagination, in the second was the Emptiness that represents imagination being forgotten and in the third is the nasty if you look at it as the derailment of imagination, something simple and pure and escalating to an mind that has no fantasy and no charm, that's actually a good representation of the movie. When only negative thoughts invade the world of imagination, it creates this Frankestein's monster-like that is really fascinating if you go deep into it of how it makes the Nothing and the Emptiness look the good guy.

[@h.rtheater8321]

In all honesty.......why didn't they just have someone who changed the Neverending story by writing in it. Basically some using their imagination for evil or they have some dark fantasies, I think that would be awesome and interesting

[@1andonlyzara]

With regards to the horse drowning in the Swamps of Sadness, it's established in the book (and very poorly in the movie) that the sadness and depression that caused the horse to sink is like a literal contagion. Simply walking into the place can make you feel sad, and if you let that sadness consume you, you sink and die.

[@Dim4323]

Atax did talk "im going to tell you Atriu, im going to die" Im guesing they cut that part

[@EvilGrin]

I'm just re-reading the Neverending Story, and I really can just recommend it to everyone who liked the first movie, which actually is only the first half of the book, the second half is even better and doesn't have much in common with the second movie...

[@nageorgiou2]

My Middle name is Atreyu after the kid in this film

[@nageorgiou2]

I just revealed a crucial bit of info on the internet... Fuck

[@Potato-qp8ik]

+nageorgiou2 you can just delete you comment if you don't want to reveal part of your name

[@nageorgiou2]

Potato1257 Yeah but there's no point. It wont be gone now

[@iluan_]

+nageorgiou2 By the kid in the movie and not the character in the book? The character in the book is like a million times more cool.

[@nageorgiou2]

iluan Hernandez It was the movie. Technically it would be both

[@counterpoint7852]

Moonchild is a reference to an Aleister Crowley novel. In fact, Neverending Story has a lot of Crowleyness in it. The back of the AURYN (at least in the book) has the phrase "Do What Thou Wilt" inscribed on it. That's a blatant quote from Aleister Crowley's Thelema religion. That's about as far as my understanding goes, and I don't know what to make of it either...

[@Lightice1]

+Jans Miles They don't use the exact Thelema phrase in the book, but it's certainly close and most likely deliberate. And it's all about what that phrase means; Bastian interprets it to mean "I can do whatever I want" and almost destroys himself, before he figures out that it means that he must find his true Will in order to be free.

[@vguyver2]

+Jans Miles Oh wow, I haven't heard anyone make a reference to Crowley in ages.

[@Wolfmyth100]

Artax dying in the book is even sadder, because he can talk and he tells Atreyu to go on with out him, because The Auryn can only protect one.

[@Schmidteren]

THE NEVERENDIIING STORYYYY... OHHHO OHOHOH OHOHHH

[@dawnwayfinder]

+Schmidteren Turn around. Look at what you see, ee ee, ee ee eeeh.

[@Schmidteren]

+Dawn Wayfinder I saw my own reflection... Time for some Disney

[@MagnusSkiptonLLC]

I wanna join in the song! Ahem... Get your motor runnin' Head out on the highway Lookin' for adventure And whatever comes our way

[@CruelestChris]

Charles Foster Kane You're fired.

[@PelicanHaddock]

Could you guys do real thoughts on "We're Back: A Dinosaur Story"? I quite liked that movie. I know a lot of people do.

[@shwahgamer]

+PelicanHaddock I loved that movie, I had to force myself to watch his review because he bashed on it so much. :( I don't think Rob watched it but he'd probably have the same thoughts as Doug...

[@ColterDewitt]

+Shwah Gamers Actually Doug S. Thompson reviewed it, so maybe they'll enjoy it. =^)

[@Metalheadgangster]

+Colter DeWitt In that review didn't he say that his name was Raoul Puke?

[@bucwhovian8305]

Yes! I've wanted this video for so long! I remember when I was about seven a friend put this one and before it even started he says to me, "the horse dies", I guess he didn't want me to find out the hard way. I'm not sure if knowing that made watching that scene any easier or not, even now I have a hard time watching it.

[@vguyver2]

+Buc Whovian that's when you know a scene was done right. That even if it's spoiled, you still get sucked in. It happens for me too each time I watch the movie Glory, I always choke up in that final charge.

[@lwanco1018]

12:51 Ya, I'm waiting for new school Disney to run the rocketeer just to see what parents have to say about when they say bitch.

[@jordan1650]

You guys should do a Real Thoughts on We're Back: A Dinosaur Story and Rock-A-Doodle!

[@jordan1650]

***** Oh yeah, but he should do Real Thoughts on We're Back. I'm interested to hear what they think of it.

[@HerrderRingeFan1]

the directors cut is just the german/original cut. its a german production. it was filmed in english to maket it out side of germany. Never ending Story is a german novel by michael ende. for the international release they cut scenes and changed the soundtrack. the Neverending Story song is NOT in the original cut. the soundtrack is much darker actually

[@tuschman168]

Agreed. I know American audiences love their Neverending Story theme song (and it is a good song) but honestly, I prefer the German soundtrack. The American theme screams "80s" but the German theme screams "fantasy".

[@junglemasterred3015]

00:42 woah woah woah. this movie was based on a book...I...must...read...it

[@StoogesFan]

I might get a lot of hate for saying this, but I think Neverending Story should have a remake. Do it well of course, not just a cash grab remake; I think it can be done. Looking back at the original, many of the animatronics, sets, effects, and some of the acting looks pretty dated. I would like to see someone like Peter Jackson, Guillermo Del Toro, or maybe Sam Raimi do it.

[@c.b.5535]

I think it would be an animation, or super CGI heavy.....and I don't know how I feel about that. I liked the practical effects in the original movie. I also liked that they had a real horse.

[@Tareltonlives]

+StoogesFan Totally agree!

[@ryansmith5287]

No, just no.

[@joedigger9919]

I am on board with this as well if done by the right people and it should probably be 2 movies. Just don't let Peter Jackson do it cause he will stretch it to 3 movies with the 3rd movie being nothing more than Bastion deciding whether or not to jump off the waterfall to get home.

[@Lycanthromancer1]

Since the movie only takes up the first third of the book, remaking into several movies would be perfect, actually.

[@c.s.7521]

The book "Die Unendliche Geschichte" by Michael Ende is indeed written in German in the original. And yes, the movie left out several encounters for Atréju and several important scenes near the end of the first half (the whole "quest of the Childlike Empress to the Old Man of the Wandering Mountain" when Bastian proves too too cowardly to come to her even after she directly addressed him through the book, for example). Not to mention the first movie only cover the first half of the book, ends when Bastian enters the land Fantasién/Phantasia, then slaps a different ending onto it. In the novel, when he finally arrives the only thing left is the Childlike Empress sitting in a void (even the Ivory Tower is gone) with a single grain of sand which is all that remained. But I can understand why the left certain things out, because some of the creatures would have been frankly impossible to do with 1980s special effects. Even 1990s early CGI would have looked too shitty. The second movie borrows, very loosely, some characters, scenes and concepts from the second half of the book (such as Xayide the sorceress, or the battle for the Ivory Tower), but completely re-writes the story and leaves Bastian's quest after the fall of the Ivory Tower. Not to mention, in the novel the wold explains to Atréju why creatures from Phantasia can *never* enter the world of humans without terrible consequences both for the citizen of Phantasia and the human world. This is actually what the Nothing does: Phantasia is created from the dreams of humans, but the Nothing eats the world and eats its inhabitants and rips them apart and turns them into twisted ideas in the minds of humanity, the roots of ideologies, desperation and hopelessness.

[@joshuaescopete]

Real thoughts on "James and the Giant Peach"

[@leoh1472]

+Joshua Escopete It was made already :3

[@joshuaescopete]

When?

[@leoh1472]

Joshua Escopete a while ago

[@joshuaescopete]

Could you give a link to the video?

[@leoh1472]

Joshua Escopete Of course!

[@wolfey141]

i would love to see him do a mel brooks month

[@jeniferjoseph9200]

+wolfey141 They're too good lol. It's really hard to review a bad comedy (the only semibad one was Dracula Dead and Lovin It)

[@jeniferjoseph9200]

Ronnie Derrell I agree, it was just like the musical, I don't get why people hated it

[@jeniferjoseph9200]

Ronnie Derrell It's not a bad adaptation of the musical, but whether it stands as a good thing in its own right is a different story. Personally I loved it, but I can see someone feeling differently about it. I'm not going to claim that Les Mis and Into the Woods were the best movies around, though both were fairly solid adaptations. Honestly I wouldn't see it being that hard to to a NC of The Sound of Music, and that's an amazing musical adaptation.

[@VicenteTorresAliasVits]

mr. Wldasoldmysoul4pussyasateen and Jenifer Joseph: THE PRODUCERS 2005 visually felt too "stagey." Like someone had recorded the play. That's not how you adapt something into another medium. While the movie was funny, a lot of the jokes were the same ones from the 1967, so they don't really count as something positive.

[@VicenteTorresAliasVits]

mr. Wldasoldmysoul4pussyasateen and Jenifer Joseph: THE PRODUCERS 2005 visually felt too "stagey." Like someone had recorded the play. That's not how you adapt something into another medium. While the movie was funny, a lot of the jokes were the same ones from the 1967, so they don't really count as something positive.

[@AnonRanGER01]

In the German original, "moonchild" is "Mondenkind", which does have a certain beauty about it (as far as German goes). And yeah, read the book. :) The first movie is actually only half of the book. The second half, which is Bastian in Fantasia, never got made into a movie though.

[@graciegj63]

Mondenkind basically is moonchild in German.

[@AnonRanGER01]

Gracie J Yeah, but phonetically it's different. Maybe because "moonchild" sounds hippy.

[@graciegj63]

+AnonRanGER01 idk, it might be different. tho mond is moon and kind is child.

[@AnonRanGER01]

Gracie J I know; I'm German. :) In German, "Mondenkind" sounds quite poetic.

[@dubiouswretch]

The second half of the book inspired the second Neverending Story film.

[@sinkingdutchman7227]

Have you finally read the book guys? You really should. I belong to the lucky ones who had read the book as a child, before seeing the movie.

[@JBiggsofWSNC]

I wish a series could be produced that stuck close to the original source material.

[@TheNN]

The first film mostly does follow the first half of the book more or less. The second film follows the second half of the book...about 40% of the time. I guess you could say the 'foundation' is there, but that's about where it stops. It's WAY more interesting than the second film. I wouldn't really call it 'bad', but more just so achingly DULL and BORING. The third film though, yeah, that's crap. But at least it isn't boring. And the book is interesting in that it is 26 chapters long, and each chapter starts with a different letter of the alphabet, in order. You guys really should read the book though, you're almost entirely correct that anything that wasn't explained in the book was usually explained in the book, and generally made much more interesting. And in some cases they just added junk to the film that wasn't at all in the book. It's an excellent read, it really is.

[@N.G.S._01]

FUN FACT: The Director of the 1st Movie also did one of the BEST WW2 Films of all time, “Das Boot (1981)”. Which would explain why the Movie’s so Good… and Dark.

[@8.Indie.Infinity.8]

READ THE DAMN BOOK!!!! I'm just reading it now and it is literally blowing my miiiinnnddd!!!!! Totally Inceptions into itself just a third of the way through, trying to bring Bastian into Fantastica where the movie ends. And it Just.Keeps.Goinggg. omg so good.

[@beauferret5414]

In Barret Oliver's defence, I do think that he did a good acting job (he was crying when Artax died, and you can fake a lot of things when you're acting, but you can never fake sadness).

[@batfan1939]

I think what you're seeing is that kids are overly coddled. There's some times when kids can be scared, when they can things aren't always okay.

[@Necroskull388]

I kinda wish the Steven Universe vlogs came more regularly.

[@luis-ish5290]

me too

[@badman3000]

+Luis Fernando Ferreira Marinho Me three!

[@bucwhovian8305]

+Dagda Mor +Ivan Corredera (sigh) Jeez there is just no pleasing you guys it there! why does every video they do that isn't a SU vlog have at least one of these comments. Have a little patience guys!

[@swiftswalow]

+Dagda Mor hey, i haven't seen not the Vlogs nor the show... so i ask you here... should i look it up?

[@bucwhovian8305]

Swift Swalow Up to you, but JSYK the first 8-10 episodes are horrible, after that it gets a bit better, bit it still took man till about episode 20 to get properly into it. I do like it, but it's weird man...really fucking weird, I'm still not sure I really understand it.

[@R.P.McMurphy]

Critic, you HAVE to read that book, is one of the BEST things i've ever read.

[@bromodragone8405]

Or maybe he just knows her name meant "moonchild". Maybe her name was Mondkind (German for moon child, German book and whatnot).

[@BigBossMan538]

Rob, you almost made me spit out my coffee when you yelled @21:26. LOL.

[@JolietJakeBlues6]

I always wondered if it was a guy or a gal who sang that epic song, too. When I bought the mp3, I found out the artist's name is "Limahl" who is a guy, but in the bridges/chorus (?) there is a female vocalist as well whose voice is much more prominent than Limahl's, and who, of course, provided the simple-yet-necessary "Aaaah, Aaaah, Aaaah." BTW - whenever the song comes on my iPod I can't help but set it on repeat for about a half an hour or even longer!

[@PaintraSeaPea]

That unsureness you're talking about that was common in 80's kids films is something I think the newer Spongebob movie had. It's really weird and creative and I didn't really know what to think of it at first.

[@NukeOTron]

All you really need to know about the book is that the movie only covered about half of it. ...and I literally mean the first half. The second half justifies the "Neverending" part of the title. ...and the original book was German.

[@arktomorphos]

In German Falkors name is Fuchur. Guess why they changed that for the Englishspeaking version.

[@MithranArkanere]

Took me a while to realize what they meant with "falkor". They were talking about Fúchur the Luck Dragon. What's with some translators renaming characters? Names do not translate! If you want to explain that some name has a meaning, you use translation notes.

[@TetsuDeinonychus]

Fúchur sounds like a profanity in English. That's why they changed it a bit. They're both dirived from "Fuku Ryuu" anyway.

[@ShyGuyXXL]

+Tetsu Deinonychus Only if you pronounce the "ch" like a k. But it's pronounced like ... uh.. well, there's no sound like that in english. Here. www.dict.cc/?s=Fuchur Just click on the speaker icon on the right of the name.

[@cleetose]

+ShyGuyXXL Having no sound like that in English is probably why they changed his name for the English version.

[@TF2CrunchyFrog]

+cleetose But surely it would have made it more "exotic"? I know Americans are kind of lazy when it comes to prooer pronunciation of foreign names, but what the hell do they do if there's a movie with German, Russian or other non-English characters? If Star Trek fans can learn Klingon, they can learn German as well.... because those are the exact same throat sounds. Imagine if Germans simply refused to learn the English "th". Yes, we can speak it.... it's not that hard. It's just that we tend to slip into "z" when we have to talk fast in English because let's face it, the "th" is basically lisping.

[@TF2CrunchyFrog]

+Tetsu Deinonychus There is no "k" sound in "ch". The "u" is not pronounced like an English "u". The dragon's name sounds nothing whatsoever like "f*ck you" in the Geman original. More like "Foo-[X]oor"

[@ElDaumo]

its not THAT surprising, that the book is in german, considering the original story is in german and the film had a german director, producer and scriptwriter...

[@kestrelraptorial689]

"Fushigi Yugi" is another story where a character reading a book is pulled into the fantasy world. For a very long time, whenever I watched or talked about "The Neverending Story", I called the giant turtle Genbu, before learning her name was Morla. Perhaps Morla is of the genbu species.

[@Charles12]

It would be funny if morla was the same species as maturin in It

[@rickykeim2005]

well the First Never Ending Story movie is about Dealing with Loss. That's why it's so Bleak. Sabastian is using the Never-ending Story to Help Him Cope with the Passing of his Mom. I always Respected the First Movie for not being so Shallow as Other kids Movies tend to Be. it really seemed like they Made it with an important Message or Idea Behind it.

[@eliamagrinelli517]

Yes, please. Read the book. The only bad thing is that you will love a little bit less the first movie after reading the book. You will understand why the author felt betrayed by the director and hated it (don't know what he did when he saw the sequels...).

[@unamed2516]

Elia Magrinelli Heard that he might’ve died when the sequels came out.

[@Summer06x]

"apparently there was a lot more traveling" yeah.. the movie is actually just the first half of the book and thus completely misses the entire point of the story and characters. i really love this movie but the book is superior in many way, it's a lot more complex and dark, the movie is just a fun action adventure without a lot of depth.

[@maisiesummers42]

The song was sung by both a man and a woman. Technically it's a duet, though their voices are so similar it's hard to tell them apart.

[@apex2000]

from what i remember the whole swamp sadness made more sense in book, as it draws out the sadness in you. which is why any thing can slip into sadness.

[@NekoMouser]

What hippie was named Moonchild? A child who was clearly named by hippies in the 60s. In the book the kid's full name is Bastian Balthazar Bux, so Moon Child is not that unexpected. And I get the impression was that she was more liberal and her death made the dad retreat from fantastical things and push the son to do the same. The story was essentially about not letting grief, or nothingness, consume you and not giving up on that belief in more magical things just because something magical was taken out of your life. Long before the Babadook was the manifestation of grief, there was the Nothing. It was all metaphor.

[@stagelinedpro]

Do real thoughts on Pagemaster.

[@slug237711]

+Stage Lined How bout you cuddle up with a good book?

[@moviemaniac2159]

I have been waiting for that for a long time.

[@TariaSagi]

Well, I guess the reason for the book having the german title in most trailers and the german version (which I saw) being 20 minutes longer is that the book was written by a german author called Michael Ende. You should read the book, it is amazing, it goes into much more detail than the movie does and you can distinguish between the two stories: It is written in two colors, which is pretty neat.

[@HomeBredPacMan]

Wasn't there also a Never Ending Story cartoon as well that showed up on HBO?

[@KumoriGurasu]

33:30-33:45 - The last time I got that feeling was Sponge Out of Water. All the drugs were taken that day.

[@c.s.7521]

@Doug: In the book, the horse is sentient and can talk, like so many of the inhabitants of Phantasia, even if it is otherwise just a horse. And the reason the horse gets depressed is the swamp. It's not called "the Swamps of Sadness" for nothing. The swamps affect every sentient being with deadly melancholy... the longer you stay there, the heavier your heart gets, which (in a magical world like this) literally makes you sink deeper and deeper into the swamp, and because you are depressed you do no longer care so you just stand there and let yourself sink and drown. In the novel, Artax calmly explains this to Atréju while he is sinking, and says Atréju must go on without him. When Atréju and Artax entered the Swamps of Sadness to look for the oracle, Atréju was protected by the Auryn, the medallion the Childlike Empress gave to him. Artax was not. The reason the Oracle (the ancient giant turtle called the Ancient Morla) does not sink and drown is that for Morla, melancholy and ennui are her mental ground-state of being, because she is so old, as old as the Childlike Empress, and utterly tired of the world. So Morla doesn't give a damn when Atréju tells her the world is ending and being eaten by the Nothing.

[@senpai690]

My mother's name was Moon-child... HOW DARE YOU!

[@JBWarner86]

Lot of folks in the comments here asking for We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story for your next real thoughts, and I'm with them :) Also a few other suggestions for future episodes: - Follow That Bird. The NC got too sentimental to make fun of this one; how much of that was you guys' real reactions? - Captain Planet. You guys and Lindsay talked a bit in the FernGully commentary about the early '90s "save the Earth" movement that gave us this insufferable show, and I'd love to hear you go more in depth about that. - North. Roger Ebert "hated hated hated" this movie, and I'm curious to hear if you guys agree. - Tank Girl. This movie seems to have a cult following, and if either of you have read the comics it was based on, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it versus the adaptation. - Bebe's Kids. Both the movie and the video game :)

[@aaronA76]

Doug, if you want to enjoy the extended cut of The NeverEnding Story, I prefer the Japanese Blu-ray of the film because the opening and end credits are in English unlike the German Blu-ray but the text of the book and the letter Bastian leaves at the book store when he takes the book are still in German. Please search "The Neverending Story Extended Edition JAPAN" or "The Neverending Story Extended Edition japanese" on Ebay if you get a chance.

[@ATalkingShark]

Gonna guess the next movie review: is the movie "Virus", the 1999 movie directed by John Bruno?

[@stagelinedpro]

+Red Sergal Maybe its Spawn.

[@ATalkingShark]

Stage Lined I liked Spawn... Until I found the comics.

[@ElegantButlerSeb]

+Red Sergal I'm hoping SolarBabies.

[@tenchiofJurai67]

How about The Indian in the Cupboard?

[@Thane3999]

I loved the book as a kid and I still love it now. It was both fantastic, terryfying and tragic. I never grew fond of a film, especially, due to them screwing up first meeting of Falco and Atreyu, and leaving out the rest of the book, to be dealt a final blow by it's sequel. But I will give movie credit for something. In depratment of practical effects it did a great job.

[@tuschman168]

I don't think the special effects for a book-accurate first meeting of Falcor and Atreyu existed back then. How the hell would you make Ygramul in 1984?

[@Gigidag77]

The german version is only 7minutes longer and mostly differs in music. The US version added a few new score pieces by Giorgio Moroder. The german cut with english dub has been released in the US recently as well I think.

[@mas8705]

"Who hasn't seen it?" *cautiously looks around and slowly makes his way to the door*

[@Juu50x]

+mas8705 WAIT FOR ME!!!

[@c.s.7521]

I remember, as a child, there was a documentary about the filming process and the practical effect work of the Never Ending Story on German TV (the stuff that today would be put onto the DVD as extra, but that was the age of video tapes). They showed how Falkor/Fuchur the luck dragon was build... the whole thing was a giant animatronic robot that took several people to control for the facial expressions alone. And one of the special effects crew assistants spent *week* glueing on all the scales and fur onto the dragon *by hand*. Some of the scales were no larger than your pinky finger fingernail. The poor woman.

[@appleberry81]

In the book, the horse and many of the animals talk and are personified, which explains why Artax gets sad and dies. Throughout their travels in Fantasia, Atreyu and Artax encounter areas where the nothing is spreading. They see the creatures of Fantasia giving up and jumping into the nothing. So when they entered the swamp, Artax surrenders to the sadness and loses hope. But of course the movie doesn't show that so you're left with a wtf moment. I recommend you read the book, it is so great and you will see that the plot for the 2nd movie is in the book but in a way better format. And the moon child name, it's not his mother name. Although he did considered giving the child-like empress his mother name, but in the end Bastian named her moon child. In the book, after Atreyu dies the empress needed Bastian to believe he was part of the story, that there was someone reading his story just like he was reading Atreyu's story. When she spoke to Bastian directly, he saw her moon-like white eyes, thus the name moon child. To convince that others were reading his story, she goes to this mountain, where this writer/watcher is located. There lies all the records of the worlds, the writer/watcher records every event thus calling it the neverending story. (I only remember bits and pieces so I may mistaken some details). In the movie, my guess at the end where Atreyu fights the wolf and you see all those drawings of his adventures, that's probably what the director was trying to show.

[@stephantom8237]

I always thought it was like, almost anyone would have fallen in the swamps of sadness, not that Artax was particularly depressed before. Atreyu just had a very resilient spirit. I read the book a few years after the movie, but I don't really remember that scene. I remember that Atreyu's skin was green, and he was older, and Bastian was fat and more of a real nerd, and the general tone was kind of different. But the details are blurry. I remember the movie more clearly.

[@Themaniacnextdoor]

Will you guys ever find a reason to talk about Watership Down? It's a really good movie but i've noticed it's slipping away in recent years (it might have something to do with the fact it got a pg rating...), and I think you'd like it.

[@RheaStorm]

+Themaniacnextdoor I've never found a place to see the movie. I heard it's good, and relatively close to the book. So I've wanted to watch it for some-time. You know a good place? I happen to love the book.

[@Themaniacnextdoor]

I did find a link to watch it online once but it's an easy find on DVD (and VHS at the moment. I've seen about 6 copies in my area). I got a copy at HMV for about $20, but I don't know if you have HMV where you are

[@eliotmccann2589]

Doug Walker did do a video explaining why he won't review certain films, and Watership Down was on it. Worth checking out.

[@Themaniacnextdoor]

Eliot McCann never seen that one listed anywhere...huh

[@eliotmccann2589]

+Themaniacnextdoor I'll try to find the link and post it here. :)

[@Mysterios1989]

Just looked it up on german wikipedia: The US-version is 6minutes and 42 seconds shorter than any other version. And the book in the movie is in german because the Neverending Story (book) was originally from germany.

[@robertcorbell1006]

22:05 Like with the Point Break remake?

[@TyMarshall007]

I hate the fucking remake

[@torak49]

Hey if you want to know about the book version look up the Dom's Lost in adaptation video. He works for your site so you must know who he is :D

[@bucwhovian8305]

+torak49 IKR how did they not mention that! He only fucking works for them!

[@cynicalrenegades2424]

+Buc Whovian do you actually think he watches every video of the other producers. that would take so much time away from his own work.

[@bucwhovian8305]

Cynical Renegades Not every video no, but if he has them on his site, why wouldn't he watch them from time to time?

[@StudioInkblot]

+Buc Whovian It'd be a pointless name drop.

[@bucwhovian8305]

StudioInkblot I don't think so, they are talking about a movie and a book that he's done a video on. Why not mention it?

[@tylertomlinson3865]

I don,t know if people notice but the realm or world in the Never ending story Fantasha is also the same name as the disney film Fantasha.

[@theradgegadgie6352]

The song was sung by a guy called Limahl, otherwise known as Christopher Hamill of Kajagoogoo.

[@MDWolfe-ks5fu]

(before watching) Okay, just for a quick note here. The First Neverending Story movie isn't my exactly my favorite but the book actually is my favorite. Mostly because, it's the second half of the novel that Hollywood never adapted extremely well. If there is any other movies that needs to be rebooted or reimagining, It's the Neverending Story.

[@jakespidermonkey1994]

In the book, Bastian actually did make up the name Moon Child. Why they made it his mother's name in the movie, I have no clue.

[@lilliebuchanan5861]

In the book, Artex the horse could actually talk, so it was like having two people on this adventure. And the Swamp of Sadness didn't only get you if you were having a crappy day, it took you when your soul had given up, and after Artex and Atreyu scoured the land seeing nothing but the destruction and death brought about by the Nothing, Artex had given up hope of ever saving Fantasia. It's a message of how so many authors and artists give up when all around them they see uninspired stuff, so why even try? The book is actually really good, at least up until the part where the movie ends.

[@eliotmccann2589]

Nonsense! Barrett Oliver was GREAT in the first film! Also, DO read the book- it is wonderful!

[@JockevanHelgen]

Please read the Book... I am from germany, the first movie is good, second okay but the third... nope. Read the Book, it is awesome and make so much more sense...

[@thegreatgoldfilms6311]

21:26 is a good "fuck" from Rob

[@adamn7516]

I have to disagree with you about Barrett Olivers acting ability. While his character Bastian came across as a bit whiney at times I never found Barretts acting ability at all bad. Go watch him in the movie DARYL or more correctly D.A.R.Y.L. in which he was the main star. That movie was released the same year as the Neverending Story. Actually I'd love to see you do a Nostalgia Critic review of the movie DARYL.

[@moviemaniac2159]

He was also pretty good in "Cocoon" and "Cocoon: The Return".

[@samhynninen]

Doug, trust me, the third one sucks. It was so crowded and still I almost fell asleep. The romance is even more embarassing in it.

[@flauschewoelkchen9001]

The book is wonderful, I can really recommend it. The second half is completely missing in the movie, which is very sad, because the gist of the whole story - learning, that even in a world where you can have everything by only making a wish, love is the only thing that truely matters - is lost. But as I grew up with the movie, I still love it. So beautiful and imaginative.^^ I would really like to see the English version of the film, as I heard that they even changed some music pieces (like the wonderful Ivory Tower Theme ; _ ; ).

[@ltmmoviereviewsharrison3462]

Here are my thoughts on the neverending story movies The first one:One of my favorite 80s kids films.Great characters,a fun story,astounding effects and puppetry and some real good drama.What else can I say. The next chapter:Some of the effects are decent,the actor who replaced the original bastion is not bad and I did like the villain.Though the story made no sense half of the time,most of the human actors are phoning in their performances and the new characters are really bland. So is it the first film,No but at least they tried to make something decent. Escape from Fantasia:This movie takes the first movie and just completely 💩 on it.This movie makes the second movie look like a masterpiece compared to this,the effects were cheesy,the acting is awful,the story was stupid and cliché,the soundtrack is forgettable and the villains are weak compared to the first two.The only kind of positive thing in it was Jack Blacks performance,although his dialogue and character sucks.He is at least the only actor that was trying.Everything else is cringeful. How did Miramax get a hold of this thing,I will never know,but it pains me to see a franchise that started off good or at least decent and just went completely down hill after two sequels.

[@Stovetopcookie]

A spray can!

[@joseloreto4284]

They also should know that Michael Ende didn't like the film. Ende suggested the guys to change the title. But they refused, so Ende sued them and left the project.

[@bromodragone8405]

"Because people who have no hopes are easy to control" - G'mork sums up the world in 2020

[@80MWH]

Ok, many people have gotten confused about the 'Mother's Name' bit from TNS. It's a little like how we all believed that Obi-Wan's stories about the Old Republic was telling of an amazing time. But in truth, reading the book, Bastian didn't say that line. In truth, he did wonder what her name could be, but one thing that didn't translate over to the film, was the reveal scene of her, when Atreyu returns to the tower. In reading her description and how she looked, it was then that Bastian suddenly felt that the name 'Moon Child' would work...but because some things don't translate over so well, many people didn't understand, and assumed A connected to B. *This has been another...Useless Fact*

[@ZekeThePlumber86]

I really wanted to see the trolls and the wind giants in the movie. There's a part in the movie where Atreyu and Falcor are caught in the storm, right before Atreyu ends up on the beach. The wind giants absence makes the scene feel very random..

[@Naviaravideos]

There is a reason Artax dies. The swamps puts a deep sadness/depression effect on each beeing who walks through the swamps (thats why it named the swamps of sadness). In fact he wanted to die... (in the book Artax can speak) Atreyu is not affected because he had the Auryn, wich protected him. The "acid" water, the silver city is swimming on, are tears of the Archarie, the tears clean the silver and make it shine. One thing about the wishes, in the movie it looks like Bastian can wish whatever he want, speak it out and it happens, in the book it is more like an subconsciously wish wich build inside of him. Once formed it doesn't have to be spoken out, when the wish comes true, a new story is build where the wish finds its place. For each wish, Bastian looses a part of his memory until he has found his last "true" will.. that is, what is written on the backside of Auryn "Do what you want" - means "find your true will"

[@materiagrezza9331]

You two guys are the new Siskel & Ebert, with the difference that you are brothers living in Chicago

[@essense2234]

But they usually always agree on everything, unlike Siskel and Ebert who always fought and argued over a lot of different things about the movies they reviewed

[@Lycanthromancer1]

Brothers and Lovers in Manhattan.

[@cboehm24]

The book was horrible. That wonderful ending from the first movie? Forget it. After that, Bastian becomes a complete monster and [SPOILERS] the Childlike Empress...dies?

[@arouska]

go watch Bernie starring Jack Black. it's a dramatic role that JB nails.

[@theawakened94]

In the book Bastian never leaves Fantasia in middle of stories. He gets stuck and starts to forget his own world. The book is fantastic and i love it to death. I say read it Doug and Rob !

[@jnzupka]

4:21 The Stupid Bat! I don't know why, but I find that funny