The NeverEnding Story III

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The NeverEnding Story III
The DVD cover for The NeverEnding Story III
Directed by	Peter MacDonald
Produced by	Scott Rudin
Written by	Michael Ende
Starring	Jason James Richter Melody Kay Jack Black Julie Cox
Music by	Per Gessle Peter Wolf
Cinematography	Robin Vidgeon
Editing by	Michael Bradsell Jim Roddan
Distributed by	Miramax Films
Release date(s)	1994
Running time	84 min
Country	Germany USA
Language	English
Preceded by	The NeverEnding Story II
IMDb profile

The NeverEnding Story III (1994) is the second sequel to the fantasy film The NeverEnding Story. It was directed by Peter MacDonald and starred Jason James Richter as Bastian Bux, Julie Cox as the Childlike Empress, Melody Kay as Nicole, and Jack Black as Slip. It is generally regarded by fans of the original movie (The NeverEnding Story) as the weakest installment of the series and is also the only movie in the series not based on material taken directly from Michael Ende's novel. The character Atreyu was noticeably absent, having been a major character in The NeverEnding Story and The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter.

In the U.S., the film was called The NeverEnding Story III: Escape From Fantasia.

The movie arrived late and had a very limited release in U.S. theaters in 1996 and arrived on VHS there the same year. The soundtrack, also, was not released in the U.S., but only in Japan on CD, and in limited quantities.

[edit] Storyline

As the film begins, Bastian Bux is once again having problems in the real world. His widowed father has remarried a woman named Jan, who is also a single-parent with a daughter named Nicole. Bastian, who has always wanted a brother or sister to share adventures with, finds that his new step-sister is less receptive to the idea, and is extremely rude to him.

Bastian finds that he not only has to adjust to a new family and house, but a new school as well. With the new school, of course, comes a new set of bullies, in this case a leather-clad group of miscreants known as The Nasties. Doing what bullies do best, The Nasties taunt and torment Bastian and lock him in the boiler room in the basement of the school. They are caught in the process and are quickly expelled.

Since the Nasties no longer have scholastic obligations to dictate their schedules, they can now torment Bastian with impunity. They take this opportunity immediately and chase Bastian through the halls of the school, intent on making his life miserable.

Bastian seeks refuge in the library and finds that Mr. Koreander (the bookstore owner from the first two Neverending Story installments) is now the school’s librarian. He has brought all the books from his old store to the library including, Bastian finds, the Neverending Story. Koreander tells him that the story isn’t over yet, but that Bastian has to promise to never remove that book from the library.

Bastian says that he is hiding from bullies again, so Koreander tells him he can hide out in the library until the period bell rings. Koreander then bustles off to do some unspecified librarian duties.

Bastian seems to have every intention of going to his second period class, but The Nasties spot him through the window on the library door and resume the hunt. Bastian locks himself in a broom closet and opens the Neverending Story, telling it that he wants to return to Fantasia and escape The Nasties. The room shakes and Bastian is swept away, leaving the book behind. The scene jumps to the home of Urgl and Engywook, a married gnome couple who seem to have very little in common. They are about to sit down to dinner when a giant shoe smashes down through their roof and crushes the cooking pot. This is, of course, Bastian, making a dramatic, if destructive, entrance. The gnomes say that it’s all right, that inter-dimensional travel is a very imprecise science. They are obviously happy to see Bastian and offer him dinner.

Meanwhile, in the real world, The Nasties have not found Bastian in the library. They begin tearing the place apart in their frustration, scattering books and magazines everywhere. Slip, the leader of the group, finds the Neverending Story on the floor and picks it up, marveling that his words are appearing on the page as he says them. He comes to the conclusion that the book is the story of Bastian’s life and adventures and, now that the gang has it, they can change and manipulate Bastian’s reality and that of Fantasia.

It becomes immediately apparent that the Nasties are not interested in making things nice for anyone as fire starts to rain down on the forests and mountains of Fantasia. Friends and families turn against one another and minor disagreements turn into outright fights. Seers and wise-men track the movement of “The Nasty” and begin to fear that soon the whole of Fantasia will be consumed by it. Bastian enlists the help of Falcor, the Luck Dragon, and he and the gnomes, along with Barky the Bark Troll (a walking, talking tree) head to the Ivory Tower to speak to the Childlike Empress. The Empress and her seers inform Bastian and company that the book, and therefore all of Fantasia, is under the control of the Nastie’s twisted wills. The only hope for their world would be for Bastian to return to the real world and get the book back, using it and the Auryn to set things back the way they were. Bastian makes a wish to return, but the world is thrown so off-kilter by “The Nasty” that Falcor, Junior (the Rock Biter’s son), the gnomes and Barky are also sucked into the rift between the worlds. (This was a break in continuity from the original films and the novel, as it had been stated in the previous installments that Fantasticans who crossed the boundary into the "real world" became a lie.)

Realizing what has happened, Bastian tries to gather his friends into one place so that they can all figure out what is to be done, but the Fantasians have been scattered far and wide across the world, (Barky ending up in a forest that is being cut down by loggers, Junior and Falcor ending up near Mt. Rushmore, and Urgl and Engywook ending up in Nome, Alaska). His efforts are further hampered when Nicole, his adopted sister, takes the Auryn, wearing it like a pendant, but then realizes it has wish granting powers and uses it for a shopping spree.

The Nasties are also intent on finding the Auryn, reasoning that it will grant them even more power, not only over Fantasia, but the real world as well. They accost Nicole at the mall and snatch the Auryn away, causing The Nasty to affect everyone in town. Couples break up, people start fights, cars start crashing, everything is in utter chaos.

Bastian and Nicole fight back the power of The Nasty and reconcile as friends and realize that they are actually glad to now be siblings. Nicole helps Bastian find the Nasties’ hideout and they snatch the book back. Nicole decides to use the book to transform Bastian into a martial arts expert (making reference to such notable fighters as Bruce Lee, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal). Bastian uses his newfound powers to defeat the Nasties in combat and retrieve the Auryn from their possession.

Bastian gives the Auryn to Barky, who wishes Fantasia back to the way it was. The real world also returns to its senses and Bastian and Nicole go home to their now complete family. The next day they return to school where The Nasties have all been transformed into studious, polite students who are very helpful to Bastian and Nicole. Nicole expresses disbelief at the change, but Bastian simply smiles.

On his way to class, Mr. Koreander stops Bastian. The old man takes back the Neverending Story and assures Bastian and the audience that, “The story isn’t over yet.”

[edit] Continuity error

In a very noticeable continuity error, Falcor is able to blend in with the colorful dragon floats at a Chinese New Year festival, but the next day, Bastian and company are able to wander around the city freely, noting that it is Halloween and the Fantasians can say they are in costume. Chinese New Year is celebrated in spring, while Halloween is in late October.

In this movie there are a couple references made that the Ivory Tower is a palace located inside the Silver City. In the book and the other two movies it is clear that the Ivory Tower is a city in itself and that the Silver City is located a long distance from the tower.

In this movie Auryn is used against the Childlike Empress. In the book and the other two movies this is impossible as the Auryn's power comes from the Empress herself. Her own power cannot be used against her. The Empress is also portrayed as vain, and self absorbed, thinking of shopping and having people bow to her. This is a complete opposite in the book and other movies as she never thinks of herself and never gives orders or uses her status for personal pleasure. They also used an older actress for the part, this seems odd as the Childlike Empress cannot age.

[edit] External links

• The Neverending Story III review, screencaps, sound clips, and a short video clip
• The Neverending Story Web Page

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende and its adaptations v • d • e
Book:	The Neverending Story
Films:	The NeverEnding Story | The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter | The NeverEnding Story III
Television:	Animated series | Tales from the Neverending Story
Characters:	Atreyu | Bastian Balthazar Bux | Carl Conrad Coreander | Childlike Empress | Gmork | Luckdragon | Southern Oracle | Ygramul
Other:	Auryn | Fantastica