Needless to say, the move to Blu-ray really makes the imperfections in the special effects really apparent, but even though Falkor's flights through the sky look like bad green-screen effects, and there is a good bit of rough lip-synching with the animatronic creatures, it is still appealing and worth showing to the current kiddie generation. Why is that? It's because the story is still a really great one to tell, and the fantastical world of Fantasia will really get any kid's imagination going.
The Neverending Story follows two young boys. One is Bastian (Barret Oliver), a kid who spends most of his time in his books and is frequently in trouble with both bullies and his teachers. As it turns out, his mother's recent death has caused him to escape into his fictional stories even more, and it is that need to escape and ability to dive into a story that starts him off on this adventure. The other protagonist is actually a character in a book that Bastian picks up. This book, "The Neverending Story," is about a magical world that seems to be under attack by a dark force known only as The Nothing. As The Nothing slowly chips away at Fantasia, representatives from all of the crazy races of the world gather at The Ivory Tower to find out what the Childlike Empress (Tami Stronach) plans to do about the plight. This is where our other hero, Atreyu (Noah Hathaway), comes into play. This young horseback warrior is tasked with traveling across Fantasia to find out what is necessary to not only save the land, but also to heal the sick Empress.
Atreyu's journey takes him from the Swamps of Sadness to the land of the Southern Oracle, all in hopes of learning something that will help. Of course, from Bastian's perspective, this is all a book he is reading in his school's attic, but the more he gets into the tale, the more it seems he is connected to it. At times, when Atreyu is in distress and Bastian yells out at him, Atreyu seems to hear him, and it soon becomes clear that "The Neverending Story" is a book like none other. Of course, Atreyu's quest is more than just running around the four corners of the fantastical world as he is chased by not only The Nothing itself, but also it's servant, a large wolf-like creature called Gmork. He is also accompanied by his horse Artax and a Luckdragon named Falkor (Allen Oppenheimer).
As I mentioned above, the transfer to Blu-ray is both good and bad. Because the movie uses very few (if any) computer generated images and relies on practicals and animatronic so much that it can be confused as a Jim Henson production, nothing looks overly fake. Well, it doesn't look fake in that it doesn't look like it is actually there. Trust me, you can definitely tell which creatures are animatronic and which simply have someone in a weird costume, but that's a part of the allure of the movie right? Anyway, the movie has also been remastered audio-wise with 5.1 surround sound. I have to say though, there were very few times when I felt like this effect paid off. The only times I really noticed the surround sound were during the swamp scenes and when Falkor and Atreyu are trying to outrun The Nothing (which is basically a giant storm). What the Blu-ray doesn't offer, sadly enough, is any special features. There isn't any kind of retrospective, nothing about the original German book that this movie is based on, nothing about creating the various characters, not even some lost deleted scenes. This aspect was a real disappointment.
Even with the lack of extras, The Neverending Story is a must see (at least) for both kids who grew up with the film or new kids. It's message of imagination and delving head-first into books is just too good to pass up, and while some younger viewers my scoff at the animatronic characters, it is still worth at least a rental.
