AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise

Connianatu How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

kittydkat I work in the industry, especially with continuity, so I have a GREAT problem whenever ANYONE is re-cast in an established role, be it Victoria in Twilight, or EVERYONE, but the book store owner, in the this movie! Without retaining the same people, we lose the flow of the story. ALL of the main kids are different, Bastian's Father is a different actor, and the voices established in the first movie are all altered from the established ones! Honestly, the only things that tie it to the original is the movie title itself, character names, the book store owner is played by the same Actor, and, LUCKILY, they still have the original Luck Dragon and Rockbitter props.It is not a horrible movie, per say, but all of these changes make it a mere shadow of the glories of the original film. Although the kids do an admirable job in this movie, by not casting all of the original actors, it causes a disconnect, because we are looking at people we do not recognize as, say, Bastian, who is now a blue eyed blond. Then, they have the right Falkor and Rockbitter, but their voices are totally different! I wish this movie would have had ALL the magic of the first movie, but it takes half the film to acknowledge the new actors as the established roles, which, to me, robs the viewer of the full experience. This movie had so much potential!

D_Burke I recently bought this movie along with the original Neverending Story on a one disc "Double Feature", so naturally I watched both movies back to back. I remember liking both movies when I was a kid, and I especially recall liking this movie when it came out. Jonathan Brandis was a popular child actor back in the early '90's (although not nearly as popular as Macaulay Culkin or Elijah Wood), and John Wesley Shipp was most famous for playing The Flash. I remember liking this movie because I liked these two leads. As I watch it again in my adulthood though, I can see it hasn't aged well with time.The first NeverEnding Story, on the other hand, has aged surprisingly well. Despite having no-name actors in it, it was a very intriguing movie with an original villain (Nothingness). Its sequel appeared to be more formulaic, and the dialogue spoken by most of the human actors was too wooden and unconvincing.I had to laugh also at the main villain in this movie, Xayide (played by Clarissa Burt). I thought it was clever how her and her army of giants were empty inside, which was a clever homage to the original Nothingness that took over Fantasia. However, Xayide seemed more like a jaded runway fashion model from Milan than an actual convincing villain. I'm assuming the character of Bastian was supposed to be ten or eleven, because if he was any older than twelve, he could have used his wishes to have his way with her (i.e. "I wish your clothes would disappear"; "I wish for a camera"). It just didn't seem that the Xayide character created enough conflict, at least not to me.The movie probably would have been better if at least some of the original main actors (not to mention the director, Wolfgang Peterson) were brought back, and the film was made no later than three years after the original movie. It also probably would have eliminated the plot holes better if it has stuck to the original story. For example, Bastian never actually met Atreyu in the original movie, so how did Atreyu know who Bastian was? Also, if every wish Bastian made erased his memories, how did he still know who Atreyu was? Plus, it was never fully explained how the Empty Villains got rid of all the books in the world, or how human in the real world forgot books ever existed. Not to mention that the latter conflict was never resolved in the end.The "Next Chapter" of the NeverEnding Story could have been better in a lot of ways, but was enjoyable in a lot of other ways. I thought the reappearance of Falcor and the Rockeater (and son) was worth watching the movie for alone.

Kristine I am such a fan of the first Neverending Story film, it's a film that I grew up with and have always loved, it was one of my first fairy tale films that had cool effects and a wonderful story. Even today, there is still something special about the film, when I saw the double feature of Neverending Story and Neverending Story 2: The Next Chapter, it was was ten dollars, so I figured to go ahead and get the DVD. One guaranteed good movie with a possibility of another good one, even if the title is a little contradicting, lol. So I watched the film finally today and I have to say that while this isn't certainly the worst film, it isn't the best and was pretty insulting to the first film, the story? Nice cover up on how if you read it twice, the story is a different one.Bastian's life really doesn't seem all that different since he finished the Neverendng Story, his life is still lonely with his busy work-aholic father and he has been rejected from the swim team, things are not looking up for him. He goes back to the antique book store and gets Neverending Story again. He finds out that the empress is in trouble and he needs to restore Fantasia once again and with the help of Atreyu, Falkor, and his rock buddy(who somehow has a kid, how do rocks have kids?), he hopes to pull it off. But that'll be difficult when the emptiness is taking over and all Bastain's wishes are causing him to loose his memory of his father and late mother.The Neverending Story Part 2 isn't a bad family film, but it's really cheesy. I was hoping they would've given them more money, because these costumes were really horrible, the bird? God, could it have been any more cheesy? Not to mention the effects, the fact they changed ALL the actors from the first film, it was just a little over the top and wasn't anything special. I would recommend just staying with the first Neverending Story movie, but this is worth a look as a family film, but I'm just too in love with the first film.4/10

mirosuionitsaki2 THE NEVERENDING STORY II: THE NEXT CHAPTER was the sequel to the first NEVERENDING STORY movie made in 1984. It was an okay sequel to the first movie. It wasn't as wonderful and magical as the first though. It had some pros and cons. I guess I should name the hates and loves.HATES: Xayide is the worst character in the movie. She shouldn't even be there. She made the movie almost seem like a cheap Disney production with an evil woman with black lipstick and a clumsy servant. Although in the end, the servant doesn't seem so clumsy and stupid. Also, this movie has less effects than the first movie. Also, I read what the Washington Post said about this movie and I agree that the new characters seem like they are from a Late-Night comedy sketches.. and that's not good.Loved that in the end, Atreyu is alive and the bird thing changes sides and becomes good. It's heartwarming to know that everything works out in the end. It's also good that Bastian was actually in the story and his father knew except the typical, "Where were you son?" "Somewhere.. wink wink". Lying and hiding is never the answer and it annoys me so.I recommend this movie if you have seen the first NeverEnding story movie or if you have read the books. Or both.