Eric Stevenson From what I heard, this movie was actually an adaptation of the second half of the book the original film was based on. Wow, imagine who meta it would be if I read the original book? Anyway, this sequel features Bastian going back to Fantasia and defeating an enemy known as the Emptiness. I found this movie mostly boring and the original is so much better. I think it's because Bastian was kind of a jerk in this one. It's said that he literally killed Atreyu! I mean, I get it that he was losing his memories, but wow was that mean! The best thing is probably how good the effects are.The sets are quite nice looking and the character designs are quite creative. It was weird how there were scenes where he was losing his memories which were represented by balls coming out of a machine. That was later used in "Inside Out"! Forget "Osmosis Jones". THIS is the movie that it stole from! Most of the actors from the original film are gone and they can't represent the story nearly as well. Still, I do like the idea of sequels for something called "The Neverending Story". *1/2

patrickontheplanet I'll be brief: you are in for a real stinker when you've noticed the sequel has recycled stock footage from the first film because the original imagination and production value was so high (think Atreyu riding on his white horse, which has magically came back to life in part II). Yes, cutaways and transitions from the first movie were dropped into the second film and that's about ALL the second movie had to do with the first. Even Falcor's eyeballs in the second movie were the wrong color - a weird blood red color. None of the original voice over actors or cast returned and barely any of the same crew returned for part II. As a child, I was really excited for the sequel and remember that I went to see it opening weekend at the theater with friends. As an adult, I went back to re-watch part II and now recall why I forgot so much - it sucked so bad that I purposefully removed it from my brain bank. The script to part II, a film's blueprint, was an epic fail from the first page to the last. No special effects or superb acting could save this thing. I gave it two stars instead of one because, for a brief moment in the closing credits, the production included a short clip of the original Neverending Story theme song.

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.

D_Burke I recently bought this movie along with the original Neverending Story on a one disc "Double Feature", so naturally I watched both movies back to back. I remember liking both movies when I was a kid, and I especially recall liking this movie when it came out. Jonathan Brandis was a popular child actor back in the early '90's (although not nearly as popular as Macaulay Culkin or Elijah Wood), and John Wesley Shipp was most famous for playing The Flash. I remember liking this movie because I liked these two leads. As I watch it again in my adulthood though, I can see it hasn't aged well with time.The first NeverEnding Story, on the other hand, has aged surprisingly well. Despite having no-name actors in it, it was a very intriguing movie with an original villain (Nothingness). Its sequel appeared to be more formulaic, and the dialogue spoken by most of the human actors was too wooden and unconvincing.I had to laugh also at the main villain in this movie, Xayide (played by Clarissa Burt). I thought it was clever how her and her army of giants were empty inside, which was a clever homage to the original Nothingness that took over Fantasia. However, Xayide seemed more like a jaded runway fashion model from Milan than an actual convincing villain. I'm assuming the character of Bastian was supposed to be ten or eleven, because if he was any older than twelve, he could have used his wishes to have his way with her (i.e. "I wish your clothes would disappear"; "I wish for a camera"). It just didn't seem that the Xayide character created enough conflict, at least not to me.The movie probably would have been better if at least some of the original main actors (not to mention the director, Wolfgang Peterson) were brought back, and the film was made no later than three years after the original movie. It also probably would have eliminated the plot holes better if it has stuck to the original story. For example, Bastian never actually met Atreyu in the original movie, so how did Atreyu know who Bastian was? Also, if every wish Bastian made erased his memories, how did he still know who Atreyu was? Plus, it was never fully explained how the Empty Villains got rid of all the books in the world, or how human in the real world forgot books ever existed. Not to mention that the latter conflict was never resolved in the end.The "Next Chapter" of the NeverEnding Story could have been better in a lot of ways, but was enjoyable in a lot of other ways. I thought the reappearance of Falcor and the Rockeater (and son) was worth watching the movie for alone.