VHS : The NeverEnding Story 3 - Return To Fantasia [1994]

Rating: - terrible really terrible!
where do i start? i foolishly thought that this would somehow beas good as the first..how stupid was i? with its wooden acting and poor sets this mediocre, poorly acted/directed movie puts the truly wonderful first installment to shame. why can't people leave things as they are?? i guess due to the success of the first the directors wanted to perhaps make it more of a good thing, unfortunately 4 them they were wrong very wrong! As if the second wasnt bad enough they add insult to injury and do a third that bombed completely.
please if u are expecting this movie to be as charming and breath taking as the first u are sadly mistaken..i wouldnt waste ur money or time. it may well destroy your beleif in the movie business. i would give this movie an eighth of a star sadly i cant.

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Rating: - Neverending Story 3 - TERRIBLE!
I've seen the first 2 Neverending Story movies, and I thought the first one was excellent. The second was pretty good (although not as good as the first), then I saw the 3rd movie (on TV) and I couldn't believe what an absolute travesty of a movie this was.

The Neverending Story 3 was just terrible. Whoever scripted and directed this has absolutely no idea on how to produce a Neverending Story movie. Everything about this movie (from the plot to characters) was a joke.

Fantasia didn't have the 'magic' that the previous 2 movies had. Because Warner Brothers lost the 'rights' to produce this movies, Miramax took over the franchise and CHANGED everything - from the look of the auryn to the characters.

After the beginning of the movie, you see Rockbiter driving his bike through a forest singing 'born to be wild'. That was so annoying and stupid.

Bastion (Jason James Richter) is in this, and he's just bad - period. Don't expect any Atreyu in this, because he's not in it. He has been replaced with Bastion's spoiled brat step-sister Nicole (Melody Kay), who goes to a shopping mall with the auryn to get free merchandise (that is just stupid).

The empress is no longer 'childlike' (for whatever reason I do not know), so she no longer posesses the charm from the other empresses of the 2 prequels.

Those 2 dwarf guys return from the first movie. They were ok, apart from the "Arnold Schwarzenegger" one-liner, which was pretty cheesy.

Then there's Falkor, the luck dragon. What used to be a dragon of great wisdom has now been reduced to some lame dork of a monster from the Power Rangers/Saban's Masked Rider fame.

Junior (Rock Biter's son) was ok. At least he was better than the walking tree, Barky. Barky was a waste of character. Near the end of the movie, Barky, Junior and Bastion go into a shopping mall to find Nicole, and Barky tells Bastion, "Oh boy! They're having a sale in the garden department!" - Oh please.

And now we come to the villains - a group of flunking school bullies called "The Nasties".

They chase Bastion down one of the boiler rooms, where they all bump into a janitor. The janitor makes sure The Nasties get expelled for Bastion's suffering, and The Nasties then plot their revenge against Bastion.

Their job in the movie is to get The Neverending Story book from Bastion, take hold of the auryn, and wreak havoc in Fantasia. Like I'd really care what a bunch of bullies do to the travesty that Fantasia has now become.

I could go on and on about this movie, but I think I'm going to stop there.

Bottom line - this movie was the worst Neverending Story movie ever. Avoid at all costs!

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Rating: - Not worth renting
Though I am a fan of the original Neverending Story movie, and even enjoyed Neverending Story 2, I can not reccommend this movie to ANYONE who enjoyed the previous ones. Aside from the continuity error of Richter being younger than Brandis in NS2, it completely warps the idea of Fantasia. A more worthy sequel would have dealt with Bastian growing up... not turning into a spoiled brat like the kids who are the putative (and unconvincing)enemies. Many of the characters you know from the first two movies and loved have been twisted out of recognition... I wouldn't inflict this movie on anyone.