The NeverEnding Story
- Thread starter JD
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The Never Ending Story was a staple in my childhood VHS rotation, but honestly, Bastian drove me nuts as a kid. I loved everything about that movie except for, specifically, Bastian. As I kid, I generally really couldn't stand any normal young boy that got to be part of any sort of fantastic amazing adventure (or even just being in a movie) because I was super envious and didn't have a fun childhood at all.
I really didn't like Wesley Crusher for this same reason. And very few people I know even know that there is a second one! I've seen the second one probably half as many times as the first, but I haven't seen either in 20+ years. Maybe I should find some copies and revisit them! I remember the second one being creepier and darker and it was a turnoff as a kid, but I'd probably love it now.
In the same vein, I loved Return to Oz for how dark and creepy it was.
I really didn't like Wesley Crusher for this same reason. And very few people I know even know that there is a second one! I've seen the second one probably half as many times as the first, but I haven't seen either in 20+ years. Maybe I should find some copies and revisit them! I remember the second one being creepier and darker and it was a turnoff as a kid, but I'd probably love it now.
In the same vein, I loved Return to Oz for how dark and creepy it was.
I saw that on tv when I was around 7/8ish and even then I thought to myself, you are showing this at 2 o'clock on a saturday afternoon, what are you thinking? Of course I loved it.
Those wheel monsters that turned into sand really messed me up as a kid in a good way.
Actually the first one is the darker and creepier one, that was why I preferred II as a kid.
Perhaps I've mixed up the creepiness levels in my head or made the assumption based on Return to Oz...haha. Honestly, I can't even remember what even happens in the second one.
*Futurama-Fry eyes* Does the story have something to do with him losing his memories in the form of glass marbles and an anthropomorphic owl selling him out to the big bad? I also vaguely remember him not being able to jump off a high-dive. If these random images are correct, then it is true the second one was way less dark and creepy.
I admit, the book's later chapters had an arguably very creepy zone which I'd like to see ideally in a newer film. If done correctly.... 
* major plot spoiler for the book *
Bastian gets into a lot of trouble as the story goes in while he's in Fantasia, due to the effects of AURYN on humans. It allows a human to make their wishes into reality, thus healing and improving Fantasia in the process, but every wish costs a piece of human memory. The longer you use it, the harder it is to remember the human world or why it's beneficial to return with knowledge of Fantasia. And the more one feels undefined, since without a past you can't wish for a future.
There is a place for former humans who lost their memories and couldn't get back to our world, the City of the Old Emperors. They no longer have personality and have lost the capacity for change, and they basically wander around doing random stuff. The City exists solely to contain them, since they can't function in any meaningful way and they never age or die. Change is impossible for them.
Bastian gets into a lot of trouble as the story goes in while he's in Fantasia, due to the effects of AURYN on humans. It allows a human to make their wishes into reality, thus healing and improving Fantasia in the process, but every wish costs a piece of human memory. The longer you use it, the harder it is to remember the human world or why it's beneficial to return with knowledge of Fantasia. And the more one feels undefined, since without a past you can't wish for a future.
There is a place for former humans who lost their memories and couldn't get back to our world, the City of the Old Emperors. They no longer have personality and have lost the capacity for change, and they basically wander around doing random stuff. The City exists solely to contain them, since they can't function in any meaningful way and they never age or die. Change is impossible for them.
^ Sounds so interesting! I am always kinda iffy about any classic remake, but I think I would love a Never Ending Story remake if done by the right person or people.
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