Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

kittydkat I work in the industry, especially with continuity, so I have a GREAT problem whenever ANYONE is re-cast in an established role, be it Victoria in Twilight, or EVERYONE, but the book store owner, in the this movie! Without retaining the same people, we lose the flow of the story. ALL of the main kids are different, Bastian's Father is a different actor, and the voices established in the first movie are all altered from the established ones! Honestly, the only things that tie it to the original is the movie title itself, character names, the book store owner is played by the same Actor, and, LUCKILY, they still have the original Luck Dragon and Rockbitter props.It is not a horrible movie, per say, but all of these changes make it a mere shadow of the glories of the original film. Although the kids do an admirable job in this movie, by not casting all of the original actors, it causes a disconnect, because we are looking at people we do not recognize as, say, Bastian, who is now a blue eyed blond. Then, they have the right Falkor and Rockbitter, but their voices are totally different! I wish this movie would have had ALL the magic of the first movie, but it takes half the film to acknowledge the new actors as the established roles, which, to me, robs the viewer of the full experience. This movie had so much potential!

tequila101 Well wasn't this just a waste of time. Never ending Story no.2 offers nothing new to us at all. The Original already did that and it certainly didn't need this waste of time.After the first 20 minutes or so of this film, I felt the fantasy was taken out of this film and that really disappointed me as it was classified to be a Fantasy film. In terms of magical elements, it doesn't have them.All the actors have change and that's OK because they did a pretty good job, but.... it's the story and all the concepts that I hated. I'll go through the one that really irritated me and for some reason this became a huge distraction of the film.Bastian now gets to wish for anything he wants cause he's got the oracle. But the kid's character is a total idiot, why doesn't he wish for the entire world of fantasia to just go back to normal.... Instead he does a bunch of other things in which that results in him loosing his memories. The whole wishing concept is just over the top along with other things that they would of worked on. I really tried to like this... 4.7/10

RichardKleiner Well, to tell the truth, I did like this sequel when I first saw it. I must have been five or six years old (din't remember it in the movies).When I see it today, there are an assortment of flaws and awkward moments that make it inferior by far with both Ende's novel and it's film predecessor, and overall, inferior to several fantasy movies before it.Some aspects of the novel, including characters like Xayide and events like Bastian's loss of memories are included, but completely altered for the newly conceived story.Bastian's father, only mentioned in the novel, has a bigger part in this movie, giving it a "Spielberg-esque" moralist tone. It's not entirely bad, but it's just not what the original story was about.Half of the movie is Ende's stuff. The rest is made up plots and cheap kiddy fantasy. Don't feel obligated to rent it, but if you do, don't read the novel nor watch Part I first. You may feel disappointed. You also may need to think like a kid to find it amusing.

Atreyu_II 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.