Imagine a fantasy world that defies everything you ever imagined. Think of creatures that may look horrific, but turn out to be kind. You are now in Fantasia, a land of storybook people that exist only as long as we belive they exist.
But, as it is right now, imagination seems to be scarce in the real world. Only a few people in our world, like Bastian Balthzar Bux, have any real imagination and dreams. Bastian is immersed with fiction books, but that doesn't make him very popular with the bullies. One day, on his way to school, he takes refuge in a mysterious book shop where the bookkeeper, an old man who is suprised to find a child in this day and age who likes to read, tells him that the books most of us read, like Treasure Island, are safe, because after we are done experinceing the book, we return to our normal lives. While the bookkeeper takes a phone call, Bastian uncovers a book on a table that reads: "The NeverEnding Story". Not knowing why, he feels compelled to take the book from the store, and hides in his school's attic. He opens the book, and suddenly we are taken into the tale he is reading.
The land of Fantasia is in trouble. It seems there is a mysterious "Nothing" that is wasting away the land. Where ever this stuff appears, nothing takes its place ("Not even a hole. A hole would be SOMETHING. No, it was....NOTHING", says a creature). Also on the list of Bad Things Happening: The Childlike Empress, who is the very heart of Fantasia, is dying from a mysterious illness that is somehow linked to The Nothing. In a last-ditch effort, the Empress sends for Atreyu, a boy warrior who is given the task to find a cure for the Empress. He has no weapons with him, save a necklace called the AUYRN, which will guide and protect him.
Atreyu is determined to live up to his task, but there are forces who are determined to stop him. They come in the form of Gmork, a huge, green-eyed wolf that is tracking Atreyu, so he can kill him and ensure the destruction og Fantasia. Gmork is a truely terrifying creature; young children will have nightmares of not preparred.
This movie is the defintion of imagination, one that inspires, not to mention having a not-to-subtle message that "Reading is Good." One that should not be missed.
Rated PG for violence.
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