“いま、限りなく壮大な物語が宇宙を駆けぬけるー。”
ミヒャエル・エンデの名作ファンタジー小説を映画化。いじめっ子たちに追いかけられた少年バスチアンが、逃げ込んだ古本屋で手にした『はてしない物語』。読み進めるうちに、彼は不思議な小説の世界に引き込まれていく……。
製作費: $27,000,000 (41億円)
興行収入: $20,158,808 (30億円)
推定収支: $-6,841,192 (-10億円)
※製作費・興行収入はTMDBのデータを参照しています。収支は(興行収入 - 製作費)で算出したFindKey独自の推定値であり、広告宣伝費や諸経費は含まれません (1ドル=150円換算)。
FindKeyのエディトリアルチームがこの作品の深層や歴史を解説しています。
脚本: Wolfgang Petersen / ミヒャエル・エンデ / Herman Weigel
音楽: Klaus Doldinger / Giorgio Moroder
制作: Bernd Schaefers / マーク・ダモン / ベルント・アイヒンガー
撮影監督: ヨスト・ヴァカーノ
制作会社: Constantin Film / Bavaria Film
I remember seeing this film when I was young - spurred on by the Limahl theme song that was in the charts at the time, and rather enjoying it. Based on just the first half of Michael Ende's original novel, it's a gentle fantasy tale of a young boy - "Bastian" (Barret Oliver) - who is being bullied by three classmates. When one day he seeks refuge in a bookshop, the owner shows him a mysterious book that he "borrows" and reads - introducing him to the magical, and dangerous, kingdom of "Fantastica" where he learns that it's benign, kindly young "Childlike Empress" is dying and that only he can help "Atreyu" (Noah Hathaway) save her and everyone from disaster at the hands of "The Nothing". The youngsters are strong with their performances, and Wolfgang Petersen's adaption of his own screenplay remains reasonably faithful to the delicate story with clever, engaging animation - a combination of intricate puppetry and blue-screen effects that is both charming and fun: the luck dragon ("Falkor") and the "Gmork" greatly add to the story of wishes and secrets as "Bastian" races against time to accomplish his task. Time has been quite kind to this film (apart from, maybe, the haircuts!) and it still holds up well.
A fantasy flick of real quality! I got to watch this at the cinema thanks to its release as part of its 40th anniversary, the second movie I've seen re-released on the big screen after <em>'Trainspotting'</em> back in May. That Danny Boyle flick from 1996 is great, as is this Wolfgang Petersen feature from 1984. I wasn't sure what to expect, I only knew of its genre and that famous theme song. One of the first things to note about <em>'The NeverEnding Story'</em> is how well it has aged, it looks awesome. The practical effects still look top quality and are super effective, I watched <em>'Big Trouble in Little China'</em> yesterday and that has aged rather poorly in the effects department - and was released two years after this! I really loved seeing the world come to life. The effects are a big reason for that, though this shows the importance of getting strong voice actors. Alan Oppenheimer is fantastic in the roles of Falkor, Gmork and Rockbiter, credit to Robert Easton as Morla too. As for the 'normal' actors, Sydney Bromley, Moses Gunn and Tilo Prückner are excellent in their respective roles. Younger actors Barret Oliver, Noah Hathaway and Tami Stronach all do good work. I could've done without, and this my only thing close to a criticism (which it even isn't), the constant leaps back to the reader (Oliver's Bastian), it's not bad but sometimes doesn't feel necessary; less is more, sorta thing. A brilliant film, one with an edge to it as well... 🕊️🐎
