NeverEnding Story, The (1984)

Fantasy adventure from the director of The Perfect Storm and Troy (here in his first English-language movie), starring Noah Hathaway and Barret Oliver.

Barret Oliver plays Bastian; a lonely boy, saddened by the death of his mother, who takes refuge from bullies in an old shop and discovers a mysterious book depicting the land of Fantasia, populated by strange creatures and ruled by an unseen child-empress.

The ancient country is under threat from an evil force called The Nothing and the boy finds himself drawn into the story and a wondrous alternative world.

At the Ivory Tower, Cairon the majordomo (Moses Gunn) announces that the Empress is dying and that only an adolescent warrior named Atreyu can save her and Fantasia.

Atreyu (Noah Hathaway) strikes out on his horse, Artax, to go beyond the boundaries of Fantasia to save the day. He is helped and hindered on his quest by several creatures, including a giant turtle and a married pair of old gnomes who watch over a mystical place called The Oracle.

Atreyu loses Artax to a deadly swamp but finds a new friend in Falkor (Alan Oppenheimer), a flying, furry dragon dog who can transport him to those outer reaches of Fantasia presently menaced by The Nothing.

The story keeps referring to “a young boy” as the only one who can save Fantasia and Bastian slowly begins to realise that the magic book’s fantasy is real and that he has a personal stake in it.

Atreyu
Noah Hathaway
Bastian
Barret Oliver
Childlike Empress
Tami Stronach
Cairon
Moses Gunn
Urgl
Patricia Hayes
Bastian’s father
Gerald McRaney
Koreander
Thomas Hill
Teeny Weeny
Deep Roy
Night Hob
Tilo Prückner
Engywook
Sydney Bromley

Director
Wolfgang Petersen