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IMDbPro

The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter

  • 19901990
  • PGPG
  • 1h 29m
IMDb RATING
5.0/10
26K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
6,077
305
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990)
Official Trailer
Play trailer1:23
2 Videos
99+ Photos
AdventureDramaFamily
A young boy with a distant father enters a world of make-believe and magic through a portal within an antique book.A young boy with a distant father enters a world of make-believe and magic through a portal within an antique book.A young boy with a distant father enters a world of make-believe and magic through a portal within an antique book.
IMDb RATING
5.0/10
26K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
6,077
305
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Director
      • George Miller
    • Writers
      • Karin Howard(screenplay by)
      • Michael Ende(based on the novel "The Neverending Story" by)
    • Stars
      • Jonathan Brandis
      • Kenny Morrison
      • Clarissa Burt
    Top credits
    • Director
      • George Miller
    • Writers
      • Karin Howard(screenplay by)
      • Michael Ende(based on the novel "The Neverending Story" by)
    • Stars
      • Jonathan Brandis
      • Kenny Morrison
      • Clarissa Burt
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 95User reviews
    • 30Critic reviews
    • 30Metascore
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 4 nominations

    Videos2

    The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter
    Trailer 1:23
    The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter
    The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter
    Trailer 1:19
    The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter

    Photos150

    1 sheet movie poster
    1 sheet movie poster approx 27" x 40"
    The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990)
    The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990)
    The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990)
    The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990)
    The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990)
    The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990)
    The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990)
    The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990)
    The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990)
    The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jonathan Brandis
    Jonathan Brandis
    • Bastian
    Kenny Morrison
    • Atreyu
    Clarissa Burt
    • Xayide
    John Wesley Shipp
    John Wesley Shipp
    • Barney
    Martin Umbach
    Martin Umbach
    • Nimbly
    Alexandra Johnes
    Alexandra Johnes
    • Childlike Empress
    Thomas Hill
    Thomas Hill
    • Koreander
    Helena Michell
    • Bastian's Mother
    Christopher Burton
    • Tri Face
    • (as Chris Burton)
    Patricia Fugger
    • Instrument Spinster
    Birge Schade
    • Windbride
    Claudio Maniscalco
    • Lavaman
    Andreas Borcherding
    • Mudwart
    Ralf Weikinger
    • Mudwart
    Colin Gilder
    • Rockbiter Junior
    Rob Morton
    • Police Officer
    Frank Lenart
    Frank Lenart
    • Trainer
    Rudi Bauer
    • Giant
    • Director
      • George Miller
    • Writers
      • Karin Howard(screenplay by)
      • Michael Ende(based on the novel "The Neverending Story" by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      It is not known who played the Rock Biter in the movie and the actor is not credited in the end credits and to this day the actor's identity remains a mystery.
    • Goofs
      When Bastian puts Auryn under his shirt, there's a metal against metal sound, yet Bastian isn't wearing any metal.
    • Quotes

      Bastian's Father: [reading that Bastian has mounted and attempted to direct Artax] My son on a horse? He can't ride a horse!

    • Crazy credits
      Bavarian State Opera is misspelled as 'Barvarian State Opera' for the Orchestra's credit.
    • Connections
      Featured in The Movie Game: Episode #5.3 (1992)
    • Soundtracks
      Dreams We Dream
      Composed by Giorgio Moroder

      Sung by Joe Milner

    User reviews95

    Review
    Review
    Top review
    2/10
    A shadow of the original and a mockery of the book
    Michael Ende's lovely book is in two parts; Petersen's 1984 film is really just the story of Part I. It's very good all the same. Admittedly it would have been nicer if Petersen had made a four-hour film covering the entire book, but Part I's story is complete enough and works on the screen. Besides, there's always the possibility of a sequel.

    Which makes it all the odder that the sequel, when it came, did NOT continue the story in the way that Ende had. Oh, Miller and his writers mine what's left of the novel for ideas; what emerges is a gross caricature of Ende's work, a hideous, twisted, traducement. Making the witch Xayide into too big a villain is the central mistake. In the book Bastian's problem is a deep one: wishes take away his memories not because of the contrived plotting of some super-villain, but because of the very nature of the world Bastian finds himself in; because of the nature of wishing, really. Xayide EXPLOITS this fact; she does not create it. (Note that in Petersen's film the central villain also exploits rather than creates strife.) Quite apart from this Xayide is much more chilling in the book. In the film she's a cackling, cretinous vamp who wears ludicrous bird-of-paradise gowns. She's a stage villain of the flattest kind.

    One small change is more damaging than you might at first think: in Ende's book, Bastian doesn't leave Fantasia ("Fantastica" in the translation I read) until the very end. This makes more credible his chances of being trapped there. Bringing him back to our world for the start of the next film is enough to make the entire subsequent story silly and enervating. It feels as if we have entered a sitcom: at the start of the next episode, everything is as it was before. In today's episode Bastian must learn a Valuable Lesson About Life - coincidentally, the same one he learned yesterday (and will probably have to learn again in the next sequel, the dullard). The first scenes of Part II are almost unbelievably bad. I almost admire Miller's willingness to ADVERTISE how bad his film will be. We open with one of the cheesiest sequence of allegedly humorous pratfalls I think I've ever seen; in a matter of MINUTES, I lost faith in the film, as had everyone I was watching it with.

    And so much of the original talent is missing as to make the whole exercise pointless. The crew is almost entirely different; the cast - apart from Thomas Hill as Cornelius, who puts in an appearance even though he now has no role to play in the story - is different and vastly inferior, and all the beauty and fantasy that infused Petersen's production design is missing. It's not that the special effects are TECHNICALLY deficient, although they may be. It's just that there's no vision to give them life. When I see the turrets and drawbridges I find myself think of garage roll-a-doors and hydraulic lifts, for that is what they look like here. The script is full of such clunkers you'll be unable to avoid wincing ... unless you treat it all as a joke, which, luckily, is my siblings and I decided to do. Treat it as a kind of "Plan 9" experience and it may be worth watching.
    helpful•76
    17
    • Spleen
    • Jul 21, 2000

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • February 8, 1991 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Germany
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Die unendliche Geschichte 2: Auf der Suche nach Phantásien
    • Filming locations
      • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    • Production companies
      • Warner Bros.
      • Bavaria Film
      • Cinevox Filmproduktion GmbH
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $36,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $17,373,527
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $4,912,124
      • Feb 10, 1991
    • Gross worldwide
      • $17,373,527
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 29 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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