The NeverEnding Story (1984) Movie Reaction/*FIRST TIME WATCHING* "So enjoyable !" 

My favorite movie as a kid. It wasn’t until I was older when I realized that the child like empress was saying that we were watching the story just like Sebastian was reading the book. That this is the never ending story, and that she was even aware that we were watching the story along with them. The movie still effects me to this day in such positive ways.

And now with reactions, there's another layer--we watch you as you watch Bastian as he watches Atreyu...

The kid who played Atreau should have gotten an oscar for the scene in the swamp...

I was 10 when I first saw this at the theater. It helped me accept that it was OK to be different and that I wasn't the only one who used reading as a way to escape the bullying. And none of us could tell what the name he screamed at the end was. I didn't find out until my 20's. It was Moonchild.

Gmork's speech is legendary

Falcor is amazing, he is so optimistic and wise, it’s infectious. He was voiced by Alan Oppenheimer the voice of Skeletor.

They were with him when he mentioned he liked horror. They were with him when he cried at Artax, and when he couldn't understand whatever name it was Bastion yelled into the storm.

the neverending story was written by michael ende. one of the most successful and popular german-language writers of all time. his books have influenced generations and are still standard in german bookcases (of adults and children). the movie describes the first part. the whole book is twice as long. but the first part is the most beautiful. is one of my favorite books. and one of the best-selling in germany ever. the film was shot at bavaria studios munich. i myself sat on fuchur (the real one) once, for a photo shoot.(:

"I want one. I want a luckdragon." My friend, I've wanted one for 35 years.

You know what will give you more goosebumps on rewatch is when the Childlike Empress said "Just as he is sharing all your adventures, others are sharing his. They were with him when he hid from the boys in the bookstore." She was talking about you and us buddy boy, think about that!

I love how it references all of us who are watching. We are all on the journey with Bastion.

Time Bandits (1981), The Dark Crystal (1982), Ladyhawke (1985), Legend (1985), Return to Oz (1985), The Goonies (1985), Labyrinth (1986), Momo (1986), The Princess Bride (1987), Willow (1988)

In case you wanted to know the name he gave her that was his mom's, it's Moonchild

"I want one, I want a luck dragon' I mean same! This movie was already 10 years old by the time I watched it but everyone I knew who saw it loved that dragon.

Aside from the horse part the empress part at the end as she pleads always gets me, intense performance for such a young child, and to think the empress character is supposed to be an ancient being hundreds of years old

I'm an 80s kid and I think the movies looked better back then. They still had a sense of creativity, wonder etc.

The name that Bastian yells is Moon Child - so his mother probably was some kind of artist. As a recommendation, the closest thing compared to this movie is "Labyrinth" from 1986 with David Bowie and a very young Jennifer Connelly. Highly recommended - please watch it!

To get even a deeper appreciation for the artistry of this, watch some videos about how special effects were done in the ‘80s, BEFORE CGI! All of the effects had to be done physically. They had computer controls for camera movement, but not to create photo realistic images.

This is only the first half of the actual book. The Falcor puppet is an exhibit at the Bavaria Filmstadt in Munich.

The name that Bastian yelled was Moonchild.

Artax's death was sooo much worse in the book. Because Artax could talk. And he knew the Swamp had him and couldn't fight it off. He knew he was doomed. And he spent his last minutes, literally up to his last breath as the very tip of his muzzle finally slid into the muck, BEGGING ATREYU TO JUST LEAVE AND NOT WATCH, because he was afraid that grief over him would cause Atreyu to become more vulnerable to the Swamp and he too would sink and die. And Atreyu refused to leave and stayed with Artax to the very end, and for a good long time after the bubbles in the mud finally stopped. Even worse, Artax was wrong. His death saved Atreyu, because with so much sorrow in his heart for the loss of his friend, there was no room for the Swamp's sadness to even enter him. He walked across the sucking mud of the Swamp from that point forwards like it was solid ground.

This movie , Labyrinth,Free Willy,Matilda and Hook are my childhood , i rewatched them many times.

Your analysis is so awesome. This movie has so many layers! The following is a copy of a comment I made on another video reacting to this movie that touches on similar points as yours but focuses on them through the perspective of Bastian’s depression. I hope it adds even more context to the full extent of Bastian’s triumph by the end of the movie. “The entire story is an allegory for depression as is the main “antagonist”. When you are in the throes of depression “nothing” matters. You cannot find joy in anything so everything becomes “nothing”. Meaningless. The “nothing” as depicted in the movie is not a tornado per se; it’s a complete lack of anything. What you view as the tornado is just an effect of the “nothing”. It is not evil, it not good, it not anything, it is just a void that sucks in everything and leaves you with a world that is empty and totally devoid of hope. Bastian lost his mother. Atreyu, Artax. The Rock Biter his friends. The Childlike Empress, her name, her entire identity. All experienced unspeakable loss. Fantasia is built on the dreams of humankind and the foundation of dreams is hope. As humankind loses sight of its dreams, loses its childlike wonder, loses its hope for a better future, Fantasia withers away and dies. I do not think it’s an accident that the movie starts with Bastian’s father scolding him about not trying out for the swimming team. I think that the swimming team is an example of a dream Bastian has given up on due to his depression over having lost his mother. I believe just as much as The Neverending Story needed Bastian to conquer the Nothing, Bastian needed the Neverending Story to conquer his depression, his very own “nothing”. That is why when Atreyu sees Bastian when he gazes into the mirror. Atreyu is Bastian’s counterpart in Fantasia. He is the courage Bastian gave up when his mom died and the courage Bastian needs to reconnect with. In the oft maligned second movie the Emptiness is destroyed by Bastian wishing for it to be given a heart. Likewise Bastian’s “emptiness” in the first movie is destroyed by observing the courage of Atreyu. The root of courage being cour-, latin for heart. Bastian’s heart is restored by his connection to Atreyu. I hope this helps you better connect with the story on subsequent viewings. You are right that on their own the side characters are hit and miss, but if you view then as stand ins for the different ways people react to depression it makes the movie a lot more profound… and profoundly sad. Case in point, the final scene with the Rock Biter is exceptionally difficult to watch when you realize what his speech about his hands really means. “These hands. These strong hands. What could they do?” It really stings when you realize the context. Most people think the Rock Biter has given up and resigned to being destroyed by the Nothing. But if you look at it from the overarching context of the film, the Rock Biter has already been taken over, destroyed by the “nothing”. He has given up all hope and was a husk of the character we saw at the start of the film. Atreyu at that point could have done nothing to save him. Only hope could and that was something that was beyond the boundaries of Fantasia. And that is just fucking sad and is why I always bawl my eyes out at that scene. Sorry for the walk of text but hope this helps make future viewings a tad more engaging.” Hopefully the above comment adds even more enjoyment of the movie for you. When looked at in all the context, this is not a kid’s movie. It’s an everyone movie. Everyone can get something out of it if they only open their heart to receive its message. Thanks again for your analysis!

Loved your reaction to this! I watched this back in the 80s when I was a kid. Artax the horse's death scene always makes me cry. The Gmork wolf creature made me afraid to go to the bathroom at night. And yes, we all want to ride Falcor! May I recommend you to react to D.A.R.Y.L. (1985) which stars Barret Oliver who played Bastian and TROLL (1986) which has Noah Hathaway who played Atreyu.

The 80s were such a great time for dark special effects movies. Others in this vein are The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and Return to Oz. Remember, there was no such thing as realistic CGI back then. CGI didn't really hit its stride until the early-mid 90s. People use CGI synonymously with "special effects", but CGI is but one type of special effect technology, one that is relatively recent. For the decades before that, special effects were achieved with models, animatronics, stop-motion photography, lighting tricks, puppetry, matte paintings on glass and optical illusions.

I'm really glad you enjoyed this movie. I watched it so many times as a kid, and then for whatever reason it was a long time since I saw it again on but it still holds up and you pick up things that you didn't when you were a kid. Great reaction

This is my favourite childhood movie. It was one of the first english-speaking movies I saw, (I'm from Norway), back in the early 90s, when I was 7-8 years old. I have the book too...and my very own Auryn:)

The book is quite amazing. This movie basically covered like 1/4 of the book. it really makes it feel so long. They made sequels which kinda sorts touches lightly on the rest of the book. They never really made much sense to me until I read the book and I could see the bits that they pulled out to put into the sequels.

I used to rent this on VHS alot when I was younger. Always hated the horse and Lake part, love the rest, especially Falcor and the theme tune. The Werewolf is so scary and cool looking, An American Werewolf in London is one of my favourite Movies, that's where I got my Channel name from, BlueMoon, from the opening intro. The NeverEnding story is always a brilliant watch, I also have it on DVD. Like Dwayne Johnson in Central Intelligence, I hate bullies, so this ending was perfect. I can't say enough about this Movie, I really loved this reaction video, good job Jordan.

I discovered this gem from another react about 6 months ago on youtube....went to check it out and loved it too!! Just so well made and the story is amazing.

How many times i cried watching this wonderful movie, all is wonderful, music, movie, the actores, the background

This movie really saved me, one of the few kids films to really talk about depression.

I loved that you got this movie. Thanks for allowing us to watch with you. I feel your reaction is like mine was when this came out. I feel so old

This movie was my childhood. The scene with Artax in the swamp always breaks my heart

2:25 There were Cel Phones, they were just really big and not video. Just Google "Zack Morris Phone", and try to forget the fact that 🎶 Zack Morris is Traaasssshhhh! 🎶

My #1 desert island childhood movie.

What current generations don’t realize is the older movies allowed kids to run the gamut of emotions. They learned that loss and death are very real but at the same time there is always hope and meaning to go on. I feel like a lot of today’s generations don’t get exposed enough to reality and that’s why they are living in a virtual reality and become people mostly full of hate and vitrol. Just look at social media and what its done to people! Movies like the neverending story were a huge part of my childhood and I’ll never forget some of the morals and lessons I learned from them. They also encouraged a great imagination!

A great movie, based on a truly great book. if you get the chance, read it. I recommend it wholeheartedly

Gotta love how this film uses an unironic breaking of the fourth wall; referencing the audience of the film watching The Never Ending Story as he reads The Never Ending Story. One of the few times I've ever seen that work.

2:00 The Bystanders are The REAL Villains of this story!

Interesting Fact: Wolfgang Peterson, the director of this The Neverending Story movie, literally took at least 40 takes of each scene, whereas normally, other directors would take about 5 to 10 takes of each scene. That's exactly how talented and how much of a perfectionist Wolfgang is!!

The Nothing is a reference to the fact that kids do not read books, it literally kills fantasy - Fantasia.

Just got to meet the actor, Noah Hathaway, who plays Atreau yesterday, and got a photo with him, and personalized autograph.

How much i cried when artax died..... When their is the empress, when she cries.... How much i laughed, i smile and lived with the story

In the book describes the Nothing as literally nothing. You look at it and your mind wouldn't register anything like something was blocking your vision, but even the book says that wasn't a correct description. As for the name Atreyu... The book gives a little background about him such as he is an orphan, and his tribe took him in and named him Atreyu which meant "Son of All".

Moonchild was the name that was given to the princess

I met the actress that plays the Child Empress at comic con. I got her autograph.

I was born much too late to have watched this when it first came out and scarred (but was loved) an entire generation, but I also watched it for the first time as a kid just like they did and both fell in love with it and was deeply emotionally scarred by it. I cannot get through the Artax scene without crying - honestly, I can't even think about it without choking up. Having said that, this is my favourite film ever and has been since I first watched it as a child. It's magical. I have also read the book and it is even more amazing. There is sooo much more to the story. And Artax's death scene is even sadder. In the book Artax can talk and when the heaviness of the Swamp of Sadness gets the better of him, Atreyu wants to put the Auryn around Artax's neck to give him strength to fight it. However, Artax tells/reminds him he can't do that, because Atreyu was told when he received the Auryn that it is only meant to guide him and he is not allowed to use it to change the situations that arise on his quest. And so he has no choice but to let it happen, as Artax accepts his own fate and sinks and drowns. The Neverending Story is truly a beautiful, heartbreaking, wonderful experience to read. And although the author of the book is not a fan of the film, I personally adore the film as well.

The Book this movie is based on "The Never Ending Story" from Michael Ende is a Freemason Masterpice. If you know the how to translate the parabolas and the anthropomorphic symbolism in the story it's a perfect instruction how to reach your higher self. It goes hand in Hand with "The small Prince" as the best example how to hide complex mysticism in a story for childen.

Love this movie. Always thought how freaky it would be if they started talking to us, the viewers, haha. Awesome to see you experience it, love your vibe man!

Love your reaction and this movie is just simply amazing still to me ...one of my childhood favs although Artax’s death I think pretty much traumatized a whole generation of kids in my day and it’s still sad😭😭😭 I’ve always wanted a luck dragon myself Falcor is just absolutely adorable and I don’t know if I mentioned this to you before but when they came out with the Pokémon Drampa it looks a lot like Falcor

Hiya Jordan. Ah, so glad you finally got round to seeing it. Never gets old, a magical masterpiece. A triumph of puppetry, no CGI here folks. The awesome catchy theme song, the amazing creatures, the stunning scenery, the subliminal messages and lessons... Artax 🐴 😭. Gmork, yikes 😱 🐺 Back in the ‘80s, there was a home computer text adventure based on the movie. It had a decent rendition of the theme song, and pretty graphics but the game itself was a bit disappointing, the text scrolled up before you could read it lol. Yep indeed, who wouldn’t love their very own Luckdragon? ❤️ Only seen the trailers, but not impressed with the sequels, they kinda tarnish the original I think. Is your review a Auryn sample lol. Love the thumbnail 😂

“FUCK!.” The NES is like Inception, Bastian Is reading about an amazing ongoing thru Bastian Us etc, Like Someone is watching our story play out. Bastian’s Mom died in the beginning and it’s his journey of dealing with that trauma and learn to cope with the pain and learn to hope again

The novel on that scene where the horse dies is even worse as the animal has a voice, and bastion try's to skip the scene by turning the page's, but the book forces bastion to keep reading the lines that he is trying to skip.

His mothers name was Moonchild

If you like movies with puppetry, the top fantasy I'd recommend is *The Dark Crystal* (1982) and horror/comedy is *Gremlins* .. I remember seeing this in a cubscout movienight sleepover, us kids with our sleeping bags on the floor of a hall and the leaders hired a projector and kickass sound system. I don't remember any of the other movies but as an avid reader this had real impact on me.

So glad I grew up on this. So many family movies from this era had some pretty scary scenes lol

23:35 - Moon Child. That is what he calls her. I can't believe I went this long without realizing it. But then as soon as I looked it up, I was like, 'Yeah, I can hear it now'.

This movie was made a year before I was born, and I think this movie is better than some of the movies today.

Great movie. Other great movies like this is Labyrinth 1986 and The Princes bride. If like great things with puppets you should see Jim Hanson short series The Storyteller.

3:36 The "Miyagi" WANTED Bastian to take the book.

It’s funny that you mentioned An American Werewolf in London cause the lil old man with the telescope was actually one of the 3 homeless men the werewolf killed

He yelled “Moonchild”

The name of the lock dragon is Valcour and I would like to recommend for you to review the other 2 movies of neverending story and I would like for you to review them because they’re all in one story because we all are a part of the neverending story just like the mother says to Sebastian when he was young and that is why he was the brave and mighty kid known as Atreyu the purple buffalo hunter

Just found your reaction, so glad you kept the rock biter strong hands speech

It'd be nice to see this Generation's technological animation tackle this Masterpiece and make a sequel or trilogy that lives up to what did the author intended. Like, and the first film the same way, but add the part were AURYN says "Do As You Wish", leaving the audience wondering what he'll do next, which would make a solid foundation for the sequel; the next part of the book.

From the same director, Wolfgang Petersen, if you never watched them, you should try ENEMY MINE and DAS BOOT. And SHATTERED too !

The Film is Made in Germany

I think it took about 7 weeks to train the horse to sink into the mud on a platform that slowly lowered. Dedication > cgi and if you look closely in the scene where you first meet atrayou, you can see costumes from other movies like E.T and star wars.

The actor who plays Atreyu sells this movie. If he played this role with one hair too little dignity or didn’t play it as straight as he does, this movie would be awful, but he plays it with so much dignity and so much gravitas, but still as a little kid. It’s nuanced without becoming unbelievably adult, and strong enough without becoming petulant.

If a movie or book like this was written today- it would be called: 'The Incredibly Long Runtime Story'. You know? Since people take things way too literal nowadays!

Jim Henson Creature shop did the effects of this film

I got to see this in the theater when I was a kid. We saw a double feature, this and Cloak and Dagger. I liked Cloak and Dagger, I LOVED The Neverending Story! I hope you are still planning on getting to Watership Down at some point. I also highly recommend.The Last Starfighter. Best Regards!

Back when family and fantasy movies were not supossed to be stupid or pc.A world whitout originality,creativity and freedom, thats pretty much nowadays.

Absolutely loving your reactions! Please keep up the great work!

I love all the cool masks/dolls behind you especially the Michael Myers mask. Also, Bastian & Atreyu look nothing alike.

The name he said was Moon Child/Moonchild (not sure which is the proper way the maker has it)

You need to listen to the song that is from the ending credits

Good........Bad.........I’m the guy with the gun!

Great reaction buddy! Have always loved this movie. Part 2 ppl say isn’t as good but it’s worth a watch.

The author Michael Ende hated the movie so much that he refused to be credited for it. I read the book in the original German language while I was living in Germany to the language

Falcor is a great character in this movie. Unfortunately in the sequels they turn him into a useless idiotic character

You should review Legend ;) "Little goody two-shoes, little goody two-shoes..." lol

“Labyrinth” With David Bowie

Real fans knew the name before google

It's part of my childhood, this movie has real something special in my heart

dont know anyone that actually watches this and doesn't enjoy it. And yes, we ALL want a luck dragon. :) The nothing always seemed to be a representation of growing up and forgetting to use your imagination and just believe in the fun of it all.

Ah the urban legend of the on set horse 🐎 if he died or not due to mud sinking scene Who knows Who really knows

His mom's name was Moonchild... You should watch Legend, Willow, and the Labyrinth if you haven't yet.

30+ yrs & im still waiting for my luck dragon 😂

One of my favorite movies. Also The Haunted Mask was one of my favorite Goosebumps episodes :)

Atreyus name means so much to bastion because atreyus name translates to son of all. Whereas bastion feels like no ones son..

I just love that movie! 💚💜💚

The stages of Atreju's journey are the stages of self-knowledge. The reason the knight failed to pass the gate was because his fear caused him to hesitate through the gate, and Atreju resisted his fear, and charged on with the journey. This was probably the film that led me onto a path of neopaganism, particularly Wicca and Druidry. It got me interested in Jungian psychology, the Monomyth (described by Joseph Campbell), and the Mythopoetic Men's Movement (via "Iron John," by Robert Bly).

There is no cgi in this movie. At all. It was the 80s.

23:29 *MOOOONCHIIIILD!!*

this movie is about depression and overcoming depression

if you wanna watch 2 it's got a bigger budget but not as good, and 3 ugg it has one redeeming quality and it sure as hell isn't what they did to our boy Falkor

Strange name, but "Moonchild"

Pretty sure it's already been said, but definitely read the novel by Michael Ende. The movie is only the first half of the book. If you liked the meta moments, you'd love the book.