The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter
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| The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter |
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 US DVD cover |
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| Directed by | George T. Miller |
| Produced by | Dieter Geissler Tim Hampton (executive) Harold Lee Tichenor (consulting) |
| Written by | Michael Ende (novel) Karin Howard |
| Starring | Jonathan Brandis Kenny Morrison Clarissa Burt John Wesley Shipp Alexandra Johnes Thomas Hill |
| Music by | Robert Folk |
| Cinematography | David Connell |
| Editing by | Chris Blunden Peter Hollywood |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) |  October 25, 1990 February 8, 1991 |
| Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$36,000,000 (est) |
| Preceded by | The NeverEnding Story |
| Followed by | The NeverEnding Story III |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990) is a sequel to the fantasy film The NeverEnding Story. It was directed by George T. Miller and starred Jonathan Brandis as Bastian Bux, Kenny Morrison as Atreyu, and Alexandra Johnes as The Childlike Empress.
This film used plot elements from Michael Ende's original novel The NeverEnding Story, but introduced a new storyline.
Upon it's American theatrical release in 1991, the Bugs Bunny animated short "Box-Office Bunny" was shown before the movie. This short was also included on the VHS release later that year.
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[edit] Storyline
Bastian Bux is having troubles at home; his father cannot relate to him and Bastian's fear of high places is hurting him on the swim team. Bastian flees from his problems to an old bookstore, when after picking up the NeverEnding Story book, he hears the Childlike Empress tell him that he is needed to save Fantasia.
Upon landing in Fantasia, he reunites with Atreyu and meets a new character, an anthropomorphic talking bird named Nimbly. Characters from the previous film, such as Falkor and Rock Eater, have minor roles in this film. Bastian now faces "the Emptiness", and he is soon manipulated by the evil sorceress Xayide and her magical army of mechanical giants. The sorceress has a sinister plan for Fantasia and the Childlike Empress, but much of the film involves her persuading Bastian to forget about his mission and instead make a series of silly wishes. Each wish that Bastian makes causes him to lose a memory, and when he loses all memories he will not remember Fantasia and the Emptiness will take over.
Meanwhile, Bastian's father is out looking for his son, finding little help from the police or the bookstore owner. He finds the NeverEnding Story book and is surprised to see his son's exploits unfolded on the page. Finally, Atreyu is able to persuade Bastian that the sorceress is evil, and to face a final battle where Bastian has only one wish (and only one memory - his father) left. He saves Fantasia and defeats Xayide by wishing for her to have a heart, and with the verbal encouragement of his father, is able to face his fear of heights by jumping off a high cliff, thus returning home safely.
[edit] Criticism
Richard Harrington's review for the Washington Post was typical of the largely negative reaction to the film, "Unlike its predecessor, there are few effects in "II" worthy of being called special, and events unfold with uniform flatness. Silver City feels like Diet Oz, the sorceress's castle is more hinted at than realized and several new creatures are right out of late-night comedy sketches". [1]
Chris Hicks, writing for the Deseret Morning News, was more kind in his review, noting that it would be enjoyable to children, whereas the first film was enjoyable to the entire family. [2]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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