The Neverending Story III (1994)

A young boy must restore order when a group of bullies steal the magical book that acts as a portal between Earth and the imaginary world of Fantasia.

Director:

Peter MacDonald

Writers:

Jeff Lieberman (screenplay), Karin Howard (story),

Stars:

Jason James Richter, Melody Kay, Jack Black

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason James Richter	...	Bastian
Melody Kay	...	Nicole
Jack Black	...	Slip
Carole Finn	...	Mookie
Ryan Bollman	...	Dog
Freddie Jones	...	Mr. Coreander / Old Man of Wandering Mountain
Julie Cox	...	The Empress
Moya Brady	...	Urgl
Tony Robinson	...	Engywook
Thomas Petruo	...	Large Head
Tracey Ellis	...	Jane Bux
Kevin McNulty	...	Barney
Nicole Parker	...	Nasty #1
Adrien Dorval	...	Nasty #2 (as P. Adrien Dorval)
Kaefan Shaw	...	Bark Troll

Storyline

While the first two movies were based on the novel by Michael Ende, this one is only based "on the characters." It transfers Fantasia into the "real" world. Bastian's dream to get a sibling becomes true when his father re-marries, but soon he has trouble with his new step sister Nicole and with a gang of school bullies, the Nasties. Hiding in the school library, Bastian finds his favorite book of THE NEVERENDING STORY, where it is later found by Slip, the gang leader. The latter recognizes the power of the book and begins to form Fantasia after his bad intentions. When the chaos becomes worse the Child-like Empress requests Bastian to move back to the real world, get the book back and save Fantasia. Accidentally some Fantasia characters travel with him to reality, but get lost in different places. Meanwhile Slip and the other Nasties spread anarchy. Finally, Bastian gets support from Nicole, who begins to believe in the power of Fantasia. Together they are able to solve the situation ...

---

Plot Keywords:

book | bully | school library | telescope | stepbrother stepsister relationship | 

---

Taglines:

It's a brand new beginning in the adventure that never ends

---

Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

---

Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 October 1994 (Germany)

Also Known As:

The Neverending Story III: Escape from Fantasia

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinevox Filmproduktion GmbH, Dieter Geissler Filmproduktion, Studio Babelsberg

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Out of the trilogy, this is the only installment which wasn't shot in CinemaScope.

---

Goofs

Falcor arrives at a Chinese New Year festival, but the next day is Halloween. Chinese New Year is celebrated in January or February.

---

Quotes

Bastian: [reads the text his past events in the Neverending Story] Jane's house is more suited for a family of four, which for Bastian, had a new room, a new neighborhood, and worst of all: a new school.

---

Crazy Credits

At the beginning of the end credits we see the "Easy Rider"-sequence again in the upper half of the screen.

---

Connections

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

---

Soundtracks

"The Neverending Story"
Composed by Giorgio Moroder
Performed by Real Im-Pact

User Reviews

do not ever watch this horrible film

In the beginning, there was The Neverending Story. It is the best film ever made.

Then, there was The Neverending Story II. I'll vent my spleen over that mess later.

And then, there came this waste of film and effort. Hold on a minute while I go throw up.

While it is a clean, safe film in terms of subject matter, the third NES should never have been made. And I mean NEVER. The first two movies covered all the wondrous things within the original book, so I don't understand why this film was made at all. It is just cheesy, stupid, abysmal, and an absolute disgrace to the idea of The Neverending Story.

First of all, what's going on with this stepsister of Bastian's that has somehow appeared? Wrong, wrong. . . Then, what happened to good old Falkor? And most of all, where is Atreyu? If you are bold enough to see this film, that is the one thing you will distinctly notice if you've seen the other two- no Atreyu.The boy who played Bastian was not nearly as obnoxious as the actor from the second film, but he just doesn't hold a candle to the original actor, Barret Oliver.

I have only seen this movie once, because I was informed of how awful it was, and just had to see for myself. It was a waste of my precious time. I hardly remember the plot line or anything important like that because it just didn't stick with me. One gets the impression that this was made as a sort of kid/family-friendly approach to The Neverending Story, because it is just so simplistic, and sacrifices the charm of the original characters and settings for the sake of being funny and entertaining. But trust me, it is NOT funny and it is NOT entertaining. Any NES fan worth their salt would be appalled by this film. If however you are not familiar with the Neverending Story, see the original 1984 movie and read the book and be contented with that.

Do not subject yourself to the torturous nightmare that is the Neverending Story 3, I implore you.

As for a star rating out of ten, I give this film nothing. Nil. Zip. Nichts.