The NeverEnding Story (1984) Reaction & Review! FIRST TIME WATCHING!! 

Shan, I hope you're okay. Whether you come back or not, just know a lot of people have enjoyed your videos and wish nothing but the best for you.

Steven Spielberg was given the original Auryn prop by director Wolfgang Petersen as a "thank you" gift for his help with the film! It hangs in a glass display in Steven Spielberg's office!

Being a child in the 80s... there were so many just magical movies. The Never Ending Story, Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, Legend, Krull, Clash of the Titans, Time Bandits, Willow, The Princess Bride... what am I forgetting? It really was an amazing decade in which to grow up.

I’m so thankful my childhood was filled with these 80s classics ❤

The death of Artax. If you were a kid in the 80's you remember being devastated by it. Also the use of the theme song at the end of season 3 of Stranger Things was a nice touch.

Not “somebody” was reading/watching Bastian’s story Shan, YOU were the one following his story. You’re now a part of The NeverEnding Story. You were following the earthling child’s story. Edit: Oh and also, someone is following along with your story, we are!

In the book Artax is a talking horse which makes his death scene even more emotionally charged.

not sure if you caught this exactly, but the people the Empress says were "with Bastian when he hid in the bookshop" are us, the viewers of the movie. we're part of it too. and then you reacting to this adds even another layer ;)

The practical effects in this movie are incredible. That ancient turtle face is absolutely beautiful!

Interesting, this version seems to have a different voice actor for Deep Roy, who plays the snail racer (and was also every Oompa Loompa in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). Also, the text of the note the boy leaves for the shopkeeper when he borrows the book was in German. I grew up with this movie, must have seen it 100+ times in the last three decades. Decades? Holy crap, do I feel old, hehe.

Wolfgang Petersen also made "The Perfect Storm," which I highly recommend. When you talked about other worlds reading his story, that's a reference to us. "They were with him when he took the book..." "They" is a reference to the audience members--that is, you and me and everyone watching the movie.

50 year old me is still fascinated with this movie as 11 year old me. “The acting wasn’t award winning”- not everything is about awards. It’s about whether they make us care about them, and they all did. Btw, the one with the top hat was in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as the head Oompa Loompa.

I read the book with my parents before sleeping as a kid. The parts in RL were set in red color and the parts in phantasia in green letters. 26 chapters starting with a different letter of the alphabet and headed by a pretty graphic. The movie is about half of the plot while the other half of the book was Bastian's travel in Phantasia and quest to journey home. The author was the classic fantasy author Michael Ende who made stories about time thieves and heroic train conductors.

Its been awhile since Shan has posted anything. Does anybody know how he is doing?

RIP, Wolfgang Petersen, for bringing to life a fantasy adventure like no other.

Great film, you watched the German version with different voices and different music in some places. In the US version the pop song The Neverending Story by Limahl opens the movie over the opening credits.

This began the genre of 80s kids films that were scarier than they had a right to be. Although I consider this the first in that genre, most of them were produced by Jim Henson. If you want to explore more, I’d highly recommend Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, and, what I’d consider the final film of this lost genre, The Witches.

I'll never get tired of this movie and i think the effects still hold up pretty well.

Michael Ende is one of the best German-language children's and young adult authors of all time. The two most outstanding works include "The Neverending Story" and "Momo". I've always belonged to the Momo faction. The book, radio play and film simply speak to me more. For me, his stories are associations with childhood, happy Christmas parties, family and village cinemas that still exist.

I am 44 and he death of Artax still gets me every time. I loved this movie when I was a kid and would watch it often as we had it on VHS

My favorite line in the movie has always been: "To the winch, wench!"

The NeverEnding Story has quite a lot of depth for a child's story.

"If we're about to die anyway, I'd rather die fighting! Come for me, G'mork! I am Atreyu!" Fun Fact: The original Auryn for this film now hangs in an enclosed glass display in Steven Spielberg's office. Luck Dragon Fact: Falkor (Alan Oppenheimer) is actually a 43-foot long motorized creature with 6,000 plastic scales and pink feather-fur. His head is three feet tall and long and has a long tongue in the mouth. You can "ride" on Falcor's back on location at the Bavaria Filmpark in Munich, Germany. Music Enthusiast Fact: The title song by Limahl initially did poorly in the US. The song only became a hit in the US following the movie's Home Video release and Cable TV airings a year after the film's theatrical release. It enjoyed another peak in popularity when it was performed by one of the characters in the third season of Stranger Things (2016). Authentic Battle Scars Fact: Noah Hathaway was hurt three times during the making of the movie. While learning to ride a horse, his horse threw him off, then stepped on him. While shooting the Swamp Of Sadness drowning sequence, his leg got caught on the elevator and he was pulled under water. He was unconscious by the time he was brought to the surface. Noah Hathaway then almost lost an eye during the fight-scene versus Gmork. One of the claws on his giant paws poked him in the face. The robot was also so heavy that he lost his breath as well when he was hit to the ground by it. They only made one shot due to the risk that he would get seriously wounded. Noah Hathaway now owns and operates a tattoo parlor in Los Angeles, California (as far as I know) with his wife and he loves talking to fans of the movie.

What happened to you? Where are you? You were one of the only truly good movie reactors left.

Best wishes to you and your family through all you are going through. Your viewers will be here when you are ready to return.

I had no idea "Das Boot" and "The Never Ending Story" were made by the same director! It's mind blowing.

When the empress was explaining that as Bastion was part of the story, others in turn were there seeing his story as well, she was meaning "You" the viewers of the move. It is the only case of a 5th wall break I have ever seen used.

An absolute classic from my childhood. Its one of those we watched the last day of school in the school hall before the holiday started back in the 80s Those were good days.

One of the greatest movies ever made very classic The NeverEnding Story directed by Wolfgang Petersen starring Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Tami Stronach and Moses Gunn. The music video of the film is the classic song "The NeverEnding Story" performed by Limahl. This film has two sequels but in my opinion the first film is my favorite thank you Shan great reaction👍👍👍👍

As 80’s kids we grew up with children’s films that were filled with absolute nightmare fuel. It makes me happy to have grown up in that crazy time of cinema. I would suggest the movie Legend starring Tom Cruise and Tim Curry, if you haven’t seen that one already.

Missed your reactions Shan!

I'm so sorry to hear about you and your families situation. I hope you all recover from such a horrible situation. Take your time

Another REALLY good early 80s fantasy movie you must watch is “Dragonslayer “ from 1981. The dragon in that is all practical effects and looks amazing. Please consider it.

In the mid 80's Barrett Oliver (Bastian) was pretty recognizable to kids. He made some guest appearances in shows we watched like the 80's Twilight Zone revival and he was in other movies we saw like D.A.R.Y.L. and the Cocoon movies. Some of us recognized Noah Hathaway (Atreyu) from the 70's Battlestar Galactica where he played Boxy when he was like 6 years old.

this is one of the best films ever made to make imagination real for a person, a real film doing its job, being a film.

This movie is better than i allowed myself to admit as a kid.

This was my favorite movie for a time. I watched it dozens of times as a kid! It's weird 'cause I definitely don't remember Bastion ever saying "How can I make a difference?" at the end, and some of Night Hob's lines at the beginning sound like they were re-done. I'll have to give this version a look sometime.

I read the book before the movie came out, so I was totally worked out about it. The book was written in two inks: red for the Bastian/Real World parts, and green for the Atreyu/Fantasia parts. It’s the meta-est thing ever written, except maybe The Library of Babel or The Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges. Nine-year-old me couldn’t tell if I was in the real world or in Fantasia sometimes, because the book didn’t only mention Bastian, but also the reader of the Neverending Story book. There’s another quite obscure, unfindable movie with John Huston about the other famous Michael Ende novel, Momo, which I also loved as a child.

I met the actress that plays the Child Empress at comic con. The Nothing is the imagination we lose when we grow up.

Well, Shan, you are watching Bastian's story ... and here we the viewers are watching your story ... and is somewhere someone watching us?? Who knows, but that's the Neverending Story as well... 👍👍 There are a lot of deeper meanings to the movie, too, like growing up and losing yourself to the progress and greed of society, vs. children who have not been conditioned yet to think like that. Good movie on many levels

Perfect reaction, Shan. Michael Ende's original book "Die unendliche Geschichte" (The Neverending Story) is better and more complex - of course - but the movie came very close to the book. Only 1/3 of the book was in the film, but I think, it was the perfect choice. Funfact: The scenes in the desert were filmed in Spain, while a lot of scenes were filmed in the Bavaria Filmstudios in Southern Germany. You want more early Wolfgang Petersen? In this case I recommend "Enemy Mine" (1985), a very interesting Science Fiction movie with a great cast.

I'm from the UK and I grew up with this film when it first came out, there are two different versions of this film I first saw the American version which has a completely different score, u should check that version out too to see which version u like better, watching through with you on this version is very interesting because the scenes hit very different with different music

This was the first movie that our family rented after we bought our first VCR, in late 1984. My dad wanted to rent Raiders of the Lost Ark, but 8-year-old me wanted the movie with the kid riding a big, fluffy, flying dog. Sorry, dad! 🤣

It's weird, I think this is a different audio edit of the movie? I must have seen this a million times growing up, and I distinctly remember a few audio cues that are missing, and the snail jockey having a different voice.

I lived this movie as a kid, and recently had my childhood dream come true when I met Noah Hathaway, Atreau, in person. I have several autographs, and the Blu-ray with the director's cut. The soundtracks to both editions, and a replica of the necklace.

Sorry to ear about the tragedy your family is going trough. 😢 We will wait until you’re ready to come back and we will be there for you. I send you all the courage possible ❤

Having not watched this since the eighties (im 47) the"meta" references and the comprehension that adults have over children puts an entirely new spin on this! Thank you for doing this! Noah Hathaway (Atreyu) was quite the heartthrob among the girls in my elementary school😂

I just want you to know that I follow maybe 15-20 reactors and you are easily in my top 3, I've been following you for well over 2 years. I think you had maybe 10 vids when I subbed. I don't understand why you don't have 100k followers. I just searched for dead poets reactions looking for yours without typing in your channel name and it wasn't even on the list. What a crime, i hope none of this discourages you from continuing. I truly love watching and rewatching some of your reactions. Thanks again, keep it up forever if you can

kinda just blew my mind that this was the Das Boot director, great reaction and appreciation. Feel like the Princess Bride may have garnered some inspiration from this. Also really has a Time Bandits vibe which I highly recommend.

You mentioned that "in another world, someone is following his story". That's you, Shan! And then you point out that in ANOTHER world, someone if following YOUR story. That's US! It's so meta it's creepy.

This and the dark crystal and the secret of nimh was my childhood but I can’t lie the scene when the horse dies scarred me 😢

I hope everythings all right, love your reactions, one of my most favourite reactors.

As a child I saw the film very often. Now after a long time I've seen this one again. Be sure to watch these films by Wolfgang Petersen: In the Line of Fire (1993) with Clint Eastwood, Outbreak (1995), The perfect Storm (2000), Troja (2004) and Poseidon (2006)

1:25 "feel free to dislike if you didn't." let's not give them any ideas Shan 🙂

In the book edition I read, when it switches protagonists to Atreyu, all the letters were printed in crimson.

Shan, you are watching Bastian's story, and WE are watching YOURS. That makes us all part of the Never Ending Story. (that theme song music video, by the way is...uh something to behold)

Wiki (german): The Neverending Story is a German-American fantasy film from 1984. It was directed by Wolfgang Petersen, who is also one of the screenwriters. It is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Ende. The film covers only the first third of the novel. Michael Ende was not happy with the film and had his name removed from the opening credits; however, it is still listed in the credits. The film premiered in Germany on April 6, 1984.[3] Limahl's theme song The NeverEnding Story was initially only used in the US film version. After Limahl's version was able to place itself in the hit parades in Europe[4], the film was re-released in Germany with the US soundtrack. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001-IMDb 7,2) The same young actor from: The 6th Sense Bicentennial Man (1999) Cloud Atlas (2012 - 2.52 Hours - IMDb 7,5) From one of the converted Wachowsky Brothers who also created the Matrix Trilogy. Jacobs Ladder (Only the ORIGINAL 1990, not the bad Remake) TOP MOVIE: Mr. Nobody (2009 - IMDB 7.8) 2,35 Hours long in the Directors Cut. Wiki: Mr. Nobody is a 2009 science fiction drama film written and directed by Jaco Van Dormael and starring Jared Leto, Sarah Polley, Diane Kruger, Linh Dan Pham, Rhys Ifans, Natasha Little, Toby Regbo, and Juno Temple. It tells the life story of Nemo Nobody, an 118-year-old man who is the last mortal on Earth after the human race has achieved quasi-immortality. Nemo, memory fading, tells a doctor and journalist about his three main loves and his parents' divorce and the subsequent hardships he endured. The speculative narrative frequently changes course to investigate the alternate life paths that could have resulted from his making different decisions in his life, focusing on when he is nine, fifteen, and thirty-four. The film has nonlinear narrative that incorporates the multiverse hypothesis.... Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) Biography Ready Player One (2018-IMDb 7,4) Free Guy (2021-IMDb 7,6) August Rush (2007-IMDb 7,4) Upgrade (2018-IMDb 7,5) Tomorrowland (2015-IMDb 6,4) George Clooney CONTAGION (2012-IMDb 6,8) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008-2,46 Hours-IMDB 7.8) The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012-IMDb 6.6) What Dreams May Come (1998-IMDb 6,9) Robin Williams Patch Adams (1998-IMDb 6,8) Robin Williams Awakenings - Zeit des Erwachens (1990-IMDb 7,8) Robin Williams Dead Poets Society (1989-IMDb 8,1) Robin Williams National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007) Trading Places (1983) Lost Place (2013) Wikipedia:The story follows four youngsters who, while geocaching in the Palatinate Forest, stumble upon what appears to be a disused American military base where top-secret electromagnetic wave experiments were conducted during the Cold War.... Haarp is real! And Chemtrails which allegedly does not exist Original: The Lazarus Protocol In german: HARODIM - Nichts als die Wahrheit (Austria 2012). There are several German trailers on RU-vid. Unfortunately, the whole film was deleted several times, not only on YT. Very interesting action (Content, it's about the 9 . 11 in NY, but not what you would expect and not quite mainstream, the film only ran in the cinema, not on TV and the financing was extremely difficult, so finding financiers for the film, there are also some documentary clips)

Momo (1986) is a german film from the same author as NeverEnding. Curiously it's the primary inspiration for Dark City. (They're *very* different, tbc.)

Shan deserves a case of whatever for being the first person to ever understand "Moooooonchiiiild!!!!"

I could never understand the name that Bastian yelled into the storm. I know if was filmed this way to sort of let the audience fill in if they could not hear it. When we first watched this movie as kids. my friends and I had anticipated the mother's name to be Hope. But it turned out to be Moonchild, which for along time I was confused about. However, from urban dictionary: " A Moon Child is a unique and a curious soul who is often in a daze, his or her mind is always out of this world. They live in their fantasy and refuse to come back to a harsh reality."

There are a number of changes I've noticed in this version you watched from the version I know and grew up with. Such as the hatted snail riders voice, the reveal music for the ivory tower, The horse actually making noises in its death scene. And certainly most notably, the god damn THEME song of the movie itself was removed. That is actually blasphemous lol Never knew these changes were made.

I’ve never gotten why Artax’s death is so sad. It’s not like the audience established a relationship with him or anything. He’s got maybe five minutes of screen time if that and all of a sudden Atreyu’s horse sinks into mud and it’s a tragedy? The real tragedy is now Atreyu has to walk, until he meets Falkor of course. Maybe if we had some scenes of Atreyu spending time with Artax. Distant riding shots don’t count.

16:50 This shot was achieved by having a horizontal set and rotating the camera so that the wind appeared to be blowing Atreyu away from the tree whereas actually he was dangling from it and trying to pull himself up.

Everything ok? Haven’t seen you in awhile.

Thanks for this journey back to my childhood, Shaun. I grew up in Germany in the 80s and The Neverending Story was one of the books my Mom read to me before bedtime. I still have the book, a beautiful edition with the amulet on the cover and different coloring of the letters depending on whether the chapter takes place in the real world (red) or in Fantasia (green). Somewhere in my parents place there must me a photo of me riding Fuchur (guess they had to change the name for english-speaking audience because of the "ch") in front of a silver screen showing Fantasia from when they took me to the studio in Bavaria that produced the movie. I actually wasn't too impressed with the movie as a kid (it's actually more popular in the US than in Germany) because the visuals just didn't compare with the images in my head and the movie completely changes Bastian's background (in the book he's totally neglected by his Dad, who can't deal with the death of his wife and gets bullied because he's fat and insecure). Michael Ende is still THE children's author in Germany afaic and part of his genius is that they are great adventures and teaching tales for kids but simultaneously are profound commentary on society that require an adult mind to understand in its full meaning. Should you ever have kids do them and yourself a favor and get at least this book and "Momo" - you won't regret it.

It's not that bad of a movie. It's made with a lot of care to details and is rather good from the technical side. But... there is the conflict between the comercial interestes of movie productions and the artistic vision of an author. He called the movie "a gigantic melodrama made of kitsch and commerce, plush and plastic" and tried unsuccessfully to reclaim his rights. That's the reason why you won't find the name "Michael Ende" anywhere mentioned in the movie's credits. It's not that bad of a movie. But it pales in comparison to the book. The _real_ Neverending Story. There are english versions, some even using the different coloured text. Some version should be available in any good library. And if you can get one of the "original" editions... the better. Read it. I don't know how good the english translation is... but the story alone is worth it.

2 things to know. The old bookkeeper, His name starts with an "A".... The name he yelled, Moonchild, was his mom's name.

the Nothing is a great depiction of depression, because it's not sadness, but lack of colour and life. the book even describes creatures jumping into the Nothing, reflecting how tempting it is. and fighting the Nothing is the same as coping with depression - realizing you are part of an interconnected narrative and what you do matters.

40 and this movie realy imprinted in me as a kid. not just he horse dyeing, but everything about it is so magical.

The Snail riding guy and Gmork sound much different than I remember.

I hope you are doing well, Shan. It's been a while since we've seen you. Just know you are missed.

"Mr. Simpson, this is the most blatant case of false advertising since my lawsuit against the film The NeverEnding story!" -Lionel Hutz

In the end the viewers of the film are also part of the story as the Empress said, sharing his adventure as Bastion shared Atreyu's. Perfect 4th wall breaking going meta.

Never got to see this as a child because I was pushing 30 when it came out, but I loved it in the theater and added it to my video collection as soon as I could.

The 80's and 90's had some retro VHS fantasy classics that i was raised on.

@Shan Watches Movies Hey Shan where are you? Hope you're ok mate.

This was the first real full movie i have ever seen as a kid when i was 8 years old. Before i was only used to kids tv shows and comics. This was an awakening, pure magic, i will never forget it. This movie has a special place in my heart.

The movie is actually only 50% of the book. The rest is how Bastian deals with the power of the wish. The book is actually very good. It can be read as a standard fantasy tale or you can read a lot of meta and symbolism into while reading it. It's really worth your time if you like such themes. But that's another story...

The meta moment in The Never Ending Story is that Bastian embarks on Atreyu's adventure while you follow Bastian's journey, just as we follow you following Bastian's adventure with Atreyu. And all the while, a higher power observes us, watching you watching Bastian as he reads about Fantasia.

What really bowled us over in the theater was the Empress pointing out WE, the audience, were who she was talking about. "They were with him..." The fact she refers to an event BEFORE he finds the book literally blew our minds.

Great reaction, even greater HAIR!!

Yes that's "Deep Roy" from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

That scene with the horse was one of the most distressing scenes of the 80s. Really surprisee Shan cant remember anything about this film!!

You hit the nail on the head. Whatever issues one might have with the film, the imagery and cinematography are amazingly gorgeous to this day. Great reaction.

Great reaction as usual watched your videos for the last years enjoy the experince with u keep doing them ian from northern ireland

haha, I cracked up when you said, "appropriate for kids in the early nineties."

Any of the Paterons heard from Shan? been 2 months, i need my reviews!!!!!!! If your reading this Shan hope all is well!

Bastian is following Atreyu. You are following Bastian, and we are watching you. Reaction channels give another layer to this movie.

Some of the best movies to see reactions on RU-vid: - Schindler's List (the most mandatory movie to see in life and the hardest) - Forrest Gump (a life lesson for everyone) - No Country For Old Man (one of the best antagonists in movie history) - There Will Be Blood (one of the best protagonists in the history of cinema) - The Lord Of The Rings Extended Trilogy (an unforgettable journey) - Gladiator (For Rome) - Braveheart (For freedom) If you haven't seen any of these, I recommend watching as soon as possible.

Great reaction!! I swear in this reaction, the voice of the racing snail owner, with the top hat, was different than I remember, and some of the music. I did notice the note bastion left in the book store wasn't in English, so it's entirely possible some stuff is different than what we had here in the US. Naturally the movie doesn't appear to be on any streamer service so I can't check if I'm misremembering or not. Also I didn't notice the banger of a song that is the "Never Ending Story" theme song in the reaction. Isn't it normally at the beginning and the end credits?

5:38 Funny you should mention that the dude with the top hat looks straight out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, since the actor is Deep Roy, who played all the Oompa-Loompas in the 2005 Tim Burton film starring Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka. There’s something different though: in the version I saw when I was young, Roy’s character had a rather posh British accent and not the cartoonish American Southern accent dubbed in to this version. And, the note Bastian left for the bookseller was written in English and not German.

5:12 - Woah, that voice is way different than the one on my copy (DVD 2001) 16:03 - Also a different voice, so weird. 20:40 - Okay so it looks like you're watching a German (?) version, so they must have just dubbed those voices in, but I can't imagine why, the originals were great, or maybe this is the original?

Oh! All these times I’ve watched this movie and I just noticed some of the scenes were filmed in Vancouver BC Canada, 2 cities away from me! Yay Canada 🇨🇦

I don't know if it simply never clicked in my head, or if I just forgot that Mr. Petersen was the man behind this film, but I know I've seen it about 100 times! If you really want to see some really good special effects in an older film, might I suggest Bruce Dern's "Silent Running"...far superior special effects to those in "Star Wars".

Similar stories are Henson's Labyrinth and the Dark Crystal. Great puppetry and practical effects.

Glad you're back. Missed you and your reactions the last 2 weeks.

The 2nd movie, although not on the level as the 1st movie, is still epic. Also the music theme of this movie "Neverending Story" is so typical of 80s to early 90s and is epic and legendary.

in the first 20 seconds I learned an amazing fact about the director of this movie. I'm in, subbed and liked

Shan’s over here channeling his best Keanu Reeves. 🥰😂😂👍🏼

Aaaaaaand the song is instantly stuck in my head just seeing the thumbnail.