La storia infinita 2

I'm a bit surprised at the heavy criticism this film received. It doesn't take a scientist to figure out that this sequel didn't live up to its predecessor. However, it's not nearly as bad as it's made out to be.

Before I continue, I should note that I have not yet read Micheal Ende's novel, so I can only judge this film as just that, a film. Not as an adaptation.

Many have complained that the personality of the characters from the original movie were contradicted and the film had little continuity. I disagree. In this film, Bastian is older and wiser, yet still has a lot to learn. That is not a flaw. He is *supposed* to be this way. As for his father, we didn't get to know him well enough in the first film to understand his personality, so the audience needs to give him the benefit of the doubt as well. Kenny Morrison was a fine Atreyu replacement for Noah Hathaway and Xayade is a villain that you'll love to hate.

This film goes the "Temple of Doom" route by offering a darker tale than before. In fact, some of the scenes might be a bit frightening for anyone at pre-school age or younger. I know that those giants used to scare me when I first saw this film at the age of eight. There are some humorous moments regarding the clash of cultures as Bastian and Atreyu often find it difficult to understand each other's vocabulary. A few thrilling moments, a dramatic twist mid-way through, and some nice visual effects round out a solid film.

On the negative side, some of the humor seemed a bit forced at times. *Cough* Spray can. *Cough* And while the dialogue was passable, it often sounded too plain without any real motivation behind it.

On a final note, and this is overlooked by the earlier reviews, Robert Folk's musical score is spectacular. It's a shame that it'll probably never be released in the mainstream ever again. The score alone makes the film worth watching.

All in all, this is an underrated film that needs to be viewed with an open mind instead of a quest to find as many flaws as possible. It's no fun using the latter way. It may not be the best sequel one could hope for, but it certainly could have been a lot worse. Just watch Neverending Story III to find out how.

The original is one of my all time favourite movies, beautifully designed, well acted and had the sense of wonder that enthralled me when I was a child. I saw Neverending Story 3 recently, and thought it was absolute garbage with next to no redeeming qualities. NeverEnding Story 2: The Next Chapter wasn't terrible, but I will admit I was disappointed.

The film does look spectacular, with lovely costumes and sets- the image of the silver boats on the river was a beautiful image. The music by Robert Folk was gorgeous, very lyrical and atmospheric. And I did think Xayide was a pretty good villainess and Clarissa Burt was superb playing her, and that Ken Morrison did a worthy job replacing Noah Hathaway as Atreyu. I do admit Hathaway was better, he was born to play the part. Falcor wasn't too bad either, if not as wise as he was in the original movie.

There are flaws however. The plot is disjointed, and there are a lot of unfocused moments in the screenplay. Also that big bird was really irritating. Not to mention some contradictions in comparison to the original, then again NeverEnding Story 3 had a lot more contradictions, and did do an even worse job than this film. Barrett Oliver as Bastian was great in the original, and I do appreciate that they made him older and wiser here, but I did think as the hero Jonathan Brandis was rather feeble, but he did try his best with superficial material.

Overall, disappointing, but it wasn't that bad. If anything I think it is average, so I will give it a 5/10. Bethany Cox

There are so many things wrong with this movie its hard to pinpoint. I myself am one of the biggest Neverending Story fans around, both of the book and the 1984 film. But while that film didn't stray from the book much, this movie simply takes characters and puts them in entirely new situations.

The aesthetic complaints I have about this movie are further. Bastian and Atreyu look completely different (I know the original actors had aged), Pyorncrachzark (Rock Biter) had a child, and shots from the original film were used for horse-riding sequences. The childlike empress is older as well. She can't age! This truly is a children's film, whereas the original was a truly beautiful movie. Shortly, avoid this movie and see the original again. Wambos can jump in the Nothing.

Just take a look at my summary and you'll get a great idea about what I think of this movie. I wasn't originally planning to watch this, but I decided to because it was in a day I had not much to do and so I did, if only to see how weak this would be. I wasn't really expecting much from it, but it turned out to be even weaker than I imagined.

But let's go by parts. "The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter" is a sequel to the original and much beloved 1984 film. Unlike the original, this wasn't directed by Wolfgang Petersen, but by George T. Miller. About the cast, with the exception of Thomas Hill as Mr. Koreander, the whole cast is completely different. This already says a lot. The original one has a cast you just gotta appreciate, but I can't say the same about this one.

Bastian is now played by Jonathan Brandis, Atreyu by Kenny Morrison and the Childlike Empress by Alexandra Johnes. Jonathan Brandis had a tragic ending in real life. In the role of Bastian, he wasn't all that bad, but we cannot compare him to Barret Oliver, the one and only Bastian. Kenny Morrison is good as a Atreyu, but naturally not as much as "the real Atreyu" - Noah Hathaway. Nevertheless, Kenny Morrison looks a bit like Noah Hathaway, but with a stronger Indian-like appearance. Alexandra Johnes really doesn't fit at all as the Childlike Empress, unlike Tami Stronach.

The characters from the first movie we all love so much are not as appealing here. Bastian has nothing to do with the loving Bastian from the original and here he proves not to be very smart - including whenever Atreyu warns him to be careful about what he's doing. Atreyu is cool here, but not as much as the Atreyu from the earlier film. As for the Childlike Empress, they really managed to ruin her image. Here, she's just an ordinary-looking girl with freezy hair - she has nothing to do with the angelical and innocent-looking Childlike Empress of the original.

Falkor is not the same here. He looks quite artificial and ugly here, while in the first movie he looks so real and perfect. Besides, is it just me or did he become smaller in this film? Another equally bad thing is his voice here. Golly, his voice here sounds awful! It's as if he was talking with his mouth full all the time. And the same can be said about the Rockbiter's voice here. Speaking of Rockbiter, now he has a son? That Junior is a little annoying, isn't he? Mr. Koreander is nowhere near as amusing here as he is in the first movie, despite being portrayed by the same actor. Bastian's father is now younger? And how come Bastian has a mother now, considering she's not alive in the original film?

As for the visuals, only a few are still good, but aside that Fantasia is simply not the same Fantasia I love so much from the 1st movie. The gorgeous and fantastic landscapes seem to be gone. The magic and special effects that give the 1st movie a feeling of something out-of-this-world are missing. Besides, Fantasia is now a silver city, which just doesn't please me.

The soundtrack is nothing special. Nothing to do with the wonderful and inspiring soundtrack of the original movie.

Very little in this movie resembles "The Neverending Story". In fact, this seems more like a mix of "The Lord of the Rings", "Star Wars" and a Power Rangers episode, with its extreme darkness and mostly because of all those horrible mechanical giants. I hate creatures like those. I also hate the new villain, the sorceress Xayide. And that ridiculous big bird...

As for the humor, nothing worthy to mention. Aside one or two very small things, there's nothing to laugh in this movie. The original has classic and funny humor.

So many things just don't fit in this sequel. Conclusion: this is a shadow of the original and a mockery on the original. It is an easily forgettable movie. Maybe kids will enjoy this, so I'd only recommend this for them.

Just to finish, did anyone else notice that some scenes with Atreyu riding Artax during the quest were literally taken from the first film? I noticed that.

Michael Ende's lovely book is in two parts; Petersen's 1984 film is really just the story of Part I. It's very good all the same. Admittedly it would have been nicer if Petersen had made a four-hour film covering the entire book, but Part I's story is complete enough and works on the screen. Besides, there's always the possibility of a sequel.

Which makes it all the odder that the sequel, when it came, did NOT continue the story in the way that Ende had. Oh, Miller and his writers mine what's left of the novel for ideas; what emerges is a gross caricature of Ende's work, a hideous, twisted, traducement. Making the witch Xayide into too big a villain is the central mistake. In the book Bastian's problem is a deep one: wishes take away his memories not because of the contrived plotting of some super-villain, but because of the very nature of the world Bastian finds himself in; because of the nature of wishing, really. Xayide EXPLOITS this fact; she does not create it. (Note that in Petersen's film the central villain also exploits rather than creates strife.) Quite apart from this Xayide is much more chilling in the book. In the film she's a cackling, cretinous vamp who wears ludicrous bird-of-paradise gowns. She's a stage villain of the flattest kind.

One small change is more damaging than you might at first think: in Ende's book, Bastian doesn't leave Fantasia ("Fantastica" in the translation I read) until the very end. This makes more credible his chances of being trapped there. Bringing him back to our world for the start of the next film is enough to make the entire subsequent story silly and enervating. It feels as if we have entered a sitcom: at the start of the next episode, everything is as it was before. In today's episode Bastian must learn a Valuable Lesson About Life - coincidentally, the same one he learned yesterday (and will probably have to learn again in the next sequel, the dullard). The first scenes of Part II are almost unbelievably bad. I almost admire Miller's willingness to ADVERTISE how bad his film will be. We open with one of the cheesiest sequence of allegedly humorous pratfalls I think I've ever seen; in a matter of MINUTES, I lost faith in the film, as had everyone I was watching it with.

And so much of the original talent is missing as to make the whole exercise pointless. The crew is almost entirely different; the cast - apart from Thomas Hill as Cornelius, who puts in an appearance even though he now has no role to play in the story - is different and vastly inferior, and all the beauty and fantasy that infused Petersen's production design is missing. It's not that the special effects are TECHNICALLY deficient, although they may be. It's just that there's no vision to give them life. When I see the turrets and drawbridges I find myself think of garage roll-a-doors and hydraulic lifts, for that is what they look like here. The script is full of such clunkers you'll be unable to avoid wincing ... unless you treat it all as a joke, which, luckily, is my siblings and I decided to do. Treat it as a kind of "Plan 9" experience and it may be worth watching.