User reviews

Sadly, the running joke of Engywook and Urgl having to go to the bathroom, but being unable to do so, is one of the entertaining things about this film. But it does get tiresome. And the baby rock-biter is cute, if incredibly stupid. But if you have ever seen the first movie, or read the book, you will most likely not care for this movie at all. The plot is poor, Falcore looks extremely cartoonish as do the Rockbiters, and the Nasties...well, they just aren't that scary. Give me Gmork any day, please!

This is a tolerable children's movie ONLY if you have no other knowledge of The Neverending Story.

I cannot begin to describe how awful this movie is. I watched the first Neverending Story when I was 7 or 8 or so, it came out in 1984, the year I was born, and I was absolutely fascinated with it. A few years later I had the pleasure of watching the second one, and although not as good as the first one, I have to say it is one of the better movie sequels I have seen (the people who comment on it give it too harsh criticism) It was still as imaginative and beautiful as the first one, and kept all the main characters. I saw the third one in the movie rental part of our grocery store when I was 14, and I got exited. I immediately rented it and brought it home and popped it in our VCR (you remember VCR's don't you?). It was not much longer after that that I was popping it out again. NES3, for lack of a better term,... sucks. The storyline was as unimaginative and vapid as you could hope for, it takes place in the real world, and not(as the title would have you believe)in Fantasia, and I get the feeling that it is because creating a fantasy world was a little out of their budget. This movie has "low budget" written all over it. The childlike empress isn't even blond! they get some brunette chick who looks nothing like her to play the role. After the fart jokes and potty humor commenced, I just couldn't take it any longer. My advice is don't wast your time and ruin your childhood memories with this piece of refuse.

When this film showed up on the cable listing, I had a sudden urge to see it even though I knew it was probably going to be terrible. The original was such a staple of my childhood, yet had such an incomplete ending, that I was intensely curious to see what they would do with another sequel. Besides, I knew that it could not possibly be worse than "The NeverEnding Story II."

Boy, was I wrong.

"The NeverEnding Story III" has rightly earned its place among IMDb voters as the 79th worst movie of all time. It is so bad that, in writing this review, I risk making it sound like it's worth watching, sort of like "Plan Nine from Outer Space." I assure you, this film is in no way in the Ed Wood category of being so incompetently done that it becomes enjoyable to watch. Those moviegoers who take pleasure in seeing cinematic disasters should be forewarned about this one, lest they never again be able to erase from their memory Rockbiter's gravelly-voiced version of "Born to be Wild," played in a video sequence early in the film and again during the end credits.

No, I am not joking.

The second film does have its admirers, and as much as I hated it, I sort of understand where they're coming from. At least that film had a legitimate purpose, to tell the second half of the novel which the first film had neglected to do. But now the story is finished, so the third film has to make up its own reason for being, with an even shabbier budget than that of the second film. So it concocts a story that allows us to see as little of Fantasia as possible. Here, a series of magical mishaps causes a bunch of creatures from Fantasia to be transported into the real world. These include Falkor the luck dragon, a baby rockbiter about the size of a fountain statue, and a talking tree. (Falkor, who must have gotten a lobotomy sometime between the second and third film, will chase after a "dragon" at a Chinese festival.) What we do see of Fantasia makes the place seem a lot smaller than I had ever imagined. Almost all of the scenes there take place in the empress's chamber in the Ivory Tower, though there is also one sequence where we get to see Rockbiter's home (just what I've always wanted to do!) with Mama Rockbiter and of course the previously mentioned Baby Rockbiter sitting in front of a large stone TV set. Needless to say, the inhabitants of Fantasia seem to possess quite a bit more knowledge of Earth than they did in the first film. When the gnome describes Bastian as "not exactly Arnold Schwarzenegger in the muscle department," we're reminded how much more enjoyable the film would probably be if Schwarzenegger were actually in it.

The cause of these events is that a gang of school bullies steals the book and discovers that it gives them the power to wreak havoc on the inhabitants of Fantasia. Strangely, these modern kids never seem surprised that magic exists. Think how long it took in the first film for even imaginative, ten-year-old Bastian to become convinced of the book's supernatural qualities. These bullies, much older and more concrete, never go through such a skeptical period. And later, when the Auryn falls into the hands of a teenage girl, she treats it with about the same level of awe as if she got hold of her parents' credit card.

There are actually some familiar actors in this mess. Mr. Koreander is played by the British character actor Freddie Jones, Bastian is played by the kid from "Free Willy," and the main bully is played by a relatively young Jack Black, who now probably would like to do with this film what George Lucas wants to do with the "Star Wars Holiday Special."

I don't understand why they bothered to make this one. The first Neverending Story really put you in the feeling of a fantasy world. The second was not quite as good. This one? Good Lord! Super trendy, with people in Fantasia watching MTV type television. Falcor wasn't the same voice or personality. It always ruins a good children's movie that is attempting to take you to "another world" when they try to make it hip. The beauty of these films was that they weren't "hip"; they were a true departure from the everyday. Isn't that what going into the book in the first place was supposed to represent? When will film makers learn to leave well enough alone?

The first movie was great. The second wasn't so great, though it's not quite as bad as you've heard. Especially with there now being an even WORSE entry to this series - this being it!

Someone questioned why Warner Bros. didn't have the distribution rights to this entry. Well, at first they did. I remember reading a (very negative) review of this movie in "Variety" magazine, and Warner Bros. was set to distribute. It's quite obvious now that Warner Bros. threw away its distribution option (probably after seeing how horrible this movie is), and Miramax picked it up for a tiny release that lasted 5 minutes. (In my city, it only played for a few weekend matinees).

Oh yeah, what did I think of this movie? Quite frankly, it sucked. What were they thinking when they decided to jazz up the movie with contemporary rock 'n roll???? And most of the movie actually takes place not in the fantasy world, but in this world. The characters are especially obnoxious (especially the rock baby), and suffer from stereotypes. Plus, the movie seems to have forgotten a lot of what happened previously - the hero's dad knew about Fantasia, so the hero didn't have to hide anything from him - but for some reason, the hero keeps the incidents he was involved in a secret. The low point comes where the climax is not solved with magic or intelligence - but with karate. Yes, karate.

This movie was awful, easily one of the worst movies I have ever seen, though not quite as abysmal as Home Alone 4, honestly that film is blasphemy. I love the first NeverEnding Story and consider one of the all time great fantasy films, and the second one while disappointing was pretty good, but this one was garbage. Sorry I hated it, it has none of the magic of the first film, none of the sense of wonder that enthralled me when I first saw NeverEnding Story as a child. The scenery was not at all good, dull and rather tacky, I just wonder whether the producers saw the first film for their inspiration, because actually in the first film, the sumptuous set design should've got an award, for it was fantastic. The script here was dreadful, and the plot was uninspired, and had many inconsistencies with the first film(ie. the omission of Atreyu and anything to do with Bastian's family). Not to mention the rushed ending and the rather cartoonish design of Falcor and his voice(ugh!). Even the acting was poor, Jason James Richter has little of the innocence and heroism and even the likability of Bastian, no matter how hard he tried. Jack Black, who I usually find entertaining was wasted and it doesn't help his character was such an unlikeable jerk, as was the usually brilliant Freddie Jones. All in all, awful, awful, awful! See the first film instead. 1/10 Bethany Cox

This movie does belong in a class by itself: Even worse than utterly terrible. I have been an aficionado of 'bad' movies for quite a long time, adoring those movies which only a group of friends and many drinks makes enjoyable. This movie was in fact so amazingly bad that I could not watch it past the first half hour or so. I only watched the rest via fast-forward the next morning. I've seen many films worse considered classically bad, this one beat them all hands down. I even had to start referring to possibly similar bad movies by saying "They may be in the NS3 category". There are those bad movies that are MST3K fun and then there are those that make you wish you had a sharp object to commit suicide with, this one is the latter.

This franchise went from excellent original fantasy, special effects for the genre, and well written characters to bad acting and writing in part 2, to movie of the week actors and rubber puppets in part 3. It's amazing how a film franchise that had such good promise sank faster than Lips Manless after taking "the bath". Especially if you're considering getting this for the kids, at least treat them to the original movie or something like the Peter Barnes inspired fantasy miniseries' from the late 90s.

In the beginning, there was The Neverending Story. It is the best film ever made.

Then, there was The Neverending Story II. I'll vent my spleen over that mess later.

And then, there came this waste of film and effort. Hold on a minute while I go throw up.

While it is a clean, safe film in terms of subject matter, the third NES should never have been made. And I mean NEVER. The first two movies covered all the wondrous things within the original book, so I don't understand why this film was made at all. It is just cheesy, stupid, abysmal, and an absolute disgrace to the idea of The Neverending Story.

First of all, what's going on with this stepsister of Bastian's that has somehow appeared? Wrong, wrong. . . Then, what happened to good old Falkor? And most of all, where is Atreyu? If you are bold enough to see this film, that is the one thing you will distinctly notice if you've seen the other two- no Atreyu.The boy who played Bastian was not nearly as obnoxious as the actor from the second film, but he just doesn't hold a candle to the original actor, Barret Oliver.

I have only seen this movie once, because I was informed of how awful it was, and just had to see for myself. It was a waste of my precious time. I hardly remember the plot line or anything important like that because it just didn't stick with me. One gets the impression that this was made as a sort of kid/family-friendly approach to The Neverending Story, because it is just so simplistic, and sacrifices the charm of the original characters and settings for the sake of being funny and entertaining. But trust me, it is NOT funny and it is NOT entertaining. Any NES fan worth their salt would be appalled by this film. If however you are not familiar with the Neverending Story, see the original 1984 movie and read the book and be contented with that.

Do not subject yourself to the torturous nightmare that is the Neverending Story 3, I implore you.

As for a star rating out of ten, I give this film nothing. Nil. Zip. Nichts.

I first saw the first movie a few years ago. I loved it and still love it. I saw the second movie a while later. It was okay then. After two or three viewings I saw Michael Ende's name in the opening credits, and decided to find the book and read it. I can't remember whether I saw NES III before or after I read the book.

The book was AMAZING. Probably the best stand-alone novel I have ever read. But the problem is: After you read the book, the movies always look worse because it's not like the book. The first movie is basically based on the first half of the book. A few things were changed and/or left out, but it's still a great movie overall.

The second movie is basically based on the second half of the book. A lot of things were changed and a lot of things were left out. This decreased NES II's score a lot, but it's still barely an okay movie.

Now NES III is based only on the characters of the book. There's Bastian, of course, but in the book and the previous two movies, he doesn't have the attitude anyhow close to getting wild hair. No Atreyu, of course, which was probably one of the worst decisions made in the making of the movie. According to the first movie, Mr. Koreander doesn't like kids. But now he's school librarian, which doesn't make sense. Engywook and Urgl returning was probably a good decision, but their characterization was ruined when they were reduced to complaining about having to go to the bathroom the whole second half of the movie. The Bark Troll (there were bark trolls in the book) is not supposed to know enough about the human world to mention Vegas and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Bastian should not have been allowed to keep Junior at his house. Either Bastian would have said, "No way! I'm not taking him to my house!" or Junior would have wrecked his house down. Even the Childlike Empress was reduced to an idiot towards the end of the movie. NES III just doesn't have the feel that The Neverending Story was originally designed to have.

Positive notes on NES III: Well, the story was actually okay in my opinion. Jack Black is a likable actor. Mr. Koreander's line: "The story's not over yet, young man" is the only time in any of the three movies where it talks about the NeverEnding Story's "unendingness." I like seeing the Old Man of Wandering Mountain, but it's not the same part as the book. And the biggest positive note: I liked it a lot better a few years ago, when I wasn't as much of a movie critic as I am now.

5/10

Anyone else out there may fondly remember the original movie. It captured our imaginations and took us to a place of fantastic adventure and will be remembered by most viewers as the pinnacle of family fantasy films. The second was not bad, but it wasn't exactly a shining gem of cinematic art either. Now comes Neverending Story III... absolutely, without a doubt, the worst of all three, and one of the worst movies of all time.

I have heard so many negative things about it for many years, so one day I decided to watch it with an open mind. I wanted to turn it off 15 minutes in, but I held out hope that it could get better in some way. Well, I was wrong, and it just got worse and worse until the finale, which had me face-palming on the couch for what seemed like a number of minutes. Upon reflecting on what I had just seen, I just sat in a daze, astonished that a studio could manage to destroy a franchise's future so utterly.

I will never watch this movie again and I regret ever watching it in the first place, because now that I've seen it, it is forever engraved in my memory and came close to ruining one of my fondest childhood memories. "So bad it's good" does not apply to this film. Some more creative viewers may find some small charm in it, but, as everyone had told me for years, it truly is THAT BAD! The studio who produced this garbage should be ashamed of themselves.

I still think the first Neverending Story is the best of the series. I didn't so much like the second one as it was super cheese. This one is still super cheese but I enjoyed this movie. This version is so 90's. The music is so Dance Mix Tape style. And I loved Jack Black as the bully. This movie is not as well done with the fantasia characters but I really liked the story line with Bastion's little sister. And the nice family moral at the end of the film. This movie is not as cool as the first one but maybe because I'm a kid of the 90's I liked this version because I can remember growing up in the 90's. Hopefully they will not make anymore versions of the Neverending Story unless they do a really good job. Falcor was so cheese in number three that I can't bare to see anymore movies made of this series unless they do an amazing job on a fourth one. I am so cringing the new Lost Boys Tribe movie as it will be nowhere as good as the 80's original.

I thought Bastian's real mom died? Now his real mom is alive and his dad (except his new stepdad) is gone. Did I miss a step between NES 2 and 3? Then, all the fantasy characters (Falcor, Rock Biter, etc.) change looks (and in some cases, even names)!

If I could rate this negative #'s, I'd rate this a -10. However, Jack Black showed how he could actually act (in a rather early appearance before he became the likable guy he is/plays now), so I think I'll give it a -5.

I have watched many, many more movies than the average normal person. My tastes are varied...classic films, foreign films, silents and more. But one of my odder pursuits is my weird desire to watch all 100 of IMDB's Bottom 100 List....the 100 lowest rated major release movies. It's important to point out that I have never seen any of the "Neverending Story" films and I started with #3. And, since it made the list I thought I'd give it a watch.

In this film, Bastian is a kid who appears to be about 10 or 11 year-old. Oddly, he's begun at a new school...one that allows 'kids' there who are nearing retirement age (or so it seems). This small kid is chased and assaulted by a group of 20-something punks (led by 25 year-old Jack Black) and they're going to beat the stuffing out of him. To escape, he uses his magical book to enter the land of Fantasia. The problem is that the punks find the book and keep it...somehow realizing that will keep him stuck in Fantasia forever. But apparently there is another way out....and it's long and complicated and boring. And, somehow, some creatures from Fantasia were accidentally brought to the real world with Bastian...and he needs to find and return them.

The Henson creatures vary. A few look really nice. A couple seem rather dated and creepy. What's REALLY dated is the introduction, where you see some very early CGI which looks horrid today. Perhaps in 1994 folks were impressed by it.

What doesn't vary much is the writing and acting. The story seemed tired and the characters were often annoying. I particularly hated the rock creature who sang Steppinwolf's "Born to Be Wild" sequence and I assume a lot of folks in theaters felt the same way. I also thoroughly hated the bullies...who were old enough that they should have known how to act...but didn't. At least Black landed on his feet and eventually learned to act.

So do I recommend it? No...there are much better kid's films out there that WON'T make parents watching along bored. Plus, smaller kids probably shouldn't see it because the bullies are pretty frightening. And who should see it? Probably no one.

In spite of this, I don't think the movie deserves to be on the Bottom 100 and think mostly this was the result of folks who loved the original being so angry about the poor quality of this third film.

This movie is hands down the worst movie I've ever seen in my entire life. I'm now dumber having watched it. This movie is so bad that I took the time out of my day to sign up for an account on this website just so I could warn everyone that hasnt seen it yet to throw it in a trash fire if they ever come across it. They should of taken whatever money they spent making this film and gave it to starving kids in Africa because wasting it on this obnoxious trash is a crying shame. It doesn't even deserve a star at all..I kind of feel like killing myself...why did I put that movie in? Why God? It goes to show that time travel will never be possible because no one has come from the future yet to abort the making of this horrendous mind numbing black hole they call the never ending story part 3...oh its never ending alright...you just want it to end but it never does..it just gets worse and worse...

Football is nearly all that is on right now and I caught up on TV shows, this movie is on and I figure to give it a shot.

1994!?!?! This movie reminds me of the worst of 80's low budget fantasy. Even how the characters dress, with their preppy plastic clothes or stereotypical "punks" outfits.

As another commenter pointed out, the references from Fantasia characters to real world people and places is insulting.

This movie kills fantasy.

The contemporary soundtrack also destroys whatever potential there could ever be for a lasting (positive) impression.

Everything about this is horrible. I gave it a 2 because it's better than watching football.

Imagine that you are reading an entertainment magazine like "Entertainment Weekly" or "Rolling Stone", and you happen to look in the news section where they give you information about a movie that is in production. It is a children's movie distributed by Miramax, who has made dozens of Oscar-winning films over the last 30 years. It has special effects by Cinemagic and the Jim Henson Creature Shop, and Jack Black stars in it. You would want to see it, right? Well, not if it's "The NeverEnding Story III".

"The NeverEnding Story III" is disappointing in every sense of the word. It is by far one of the worst sequels ever made, and it does a disservice to the book by Michael Ende and the original 1984 film on which it is based (My review: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088323/usercomments-250).

This movie takes characters from the book and creates a new story that is full of plot holes, bad puns, and very little logic whatsoever. It helps very little that none of the cast members from either of the first two movies were involved in this film.

This time, Bastian is played by Jason James Richter ("Free Willy" (1993)). Although Richter looks like a preteen model, he is still harassed by a gang at his new school known as the Nasties (or the Nastys) whose leader is Slip, played by a then-unknown Jack Black.

As it turns out, Bastian's new school also happens to be where Coreander, the owner of the book store in the original story, works as a librarian. British actor Freddie Jones plays Coreander in this movie, and fans of the original may be disappointed not to see Thomas Hill reprise his role. I don't blame them.

Anyway, Coreander happened to bring the NeverEnding Story with him to this school library. It's a pretty contrived way to bring the book back into the story after the main character has moved away if you ask me.

What's even more contrived is when Bastian, hiding from the Nastys, retreats into the world of Fantasia, only to have Slip retrieve the book, realize its powers, and try to destroy the world and Bastian. In the book and the first two movies, the reader had little to no control over how the NeverEnding Story would be told. How the Nastys get control is never explained anywhere in the movie. The NeverEnding Story being an enchanted book is no excuse to cover up such plot holes.

When Bastian realizes he has to re-enter the real world to obtain the book and save Fantasia, the movie just gets worse. Even with the Oren (the token worn around the neck that resembles two snakes), Bastian alone can't make it back home. So a number of creatures from Fantasia have to wish with him, and be transported into his world, for him to save Fantasia.

Such a subplot wouldn't be so bad if the supporting characters weren't so annoying and intelligence insulting. There's the Rock-Biter's baby boy who talks in annoying "baby talk" that real children under 3 don't use as vernacular, an anthropomorphic tree who talks like an old Jewish comedian except not as funny, and two gnomes (Urgl and Engywook, featured in the first movie but played by different actors) who have a tired running joke about needing to use the bathroom.

Oh yes, and who could forget Falcor, the luck dragon? In the first two movies, Falcor was a hero to Atreyu and Bastian, and was the voice of reason in many situations. He also had a voice like Walter Cronkite, which made him ever cooler. Here, he not only looks different from the previous two films, but he's whinier and dumber. When, in the real world, he mistakes an airplane for a female luck dragon, I could only hang my head and wonder, "Why?".

To make matters worse, Bastian can't wish the book back after the Nastys stole it because he can't use the Oren to make wishes in the real world. That plot point is well and good, and makes a setup for a great conflict that adds to the story. Unfortunately, the people who wrote this screenplay forget that plot point and failed to explain why Bastian's stepsister Nicole (Melody Kay) could make wishes when she had possession of the Oren. Any script reviser could point out these plot holes, and it most especially amazes me that filming progressed despite these inconsistencies.

It is even more amazing that no one in this movie actually acts poorly. Richter does well in his role, despite his voice obviously cracking and no one noticing. I don't bring that point up to be mean. It's just that the filmmakers could have used his voice changing as a good subplot to explain why he's being picked on. But I digress.

The point is that everyone involved in this film just could not save the story having so many inconsistencies. By the end, the story bears no resemblance to Ende's original book at all. The Fantasia creatures are also too annoying, trying too hard to be comic relief and inundating their dialogue with uncharacteristic pop culture references. Case in point: the Rock Biter rides his bike while singing "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf. What were these filmmakers thinking?

And you would think that the Jim Henson Creature Shop working on your side would be a valuable asset in this film. In this case, none of the recurring characters look like they did in the first two movies (the Rock Biter, looking like a pint-size version of his predecessor, was the biggest disappointment), and they weren't strong characters either. They did not live up to Henson's high standards of storytelling and development. If you don't believe me, try finding this movie on Muppet Central. You would have had better luck finding this film in a theater that ran it for two weeks back when it was released.

Yes, the story of the "NeverEnding Story" doesn't stop here! The family fun goes on and on and on and on and on........

Get your family ready as y'all go on an exciting adventure through a fantasy land, meet lovable characters, hear stories with great values, and more! Much, much more! But wait! There's more! There's terrific animation, terrific voices, a great story, a great plot; mix them up, put them all on a greased cake pan, put the pan in the oven already heated up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and in 30 minutes or less, you've got a great family film that's been nominated for best film! (Hint: if your movie is not done by that time, it's free. LOL) I sure hope this series lasts as long as the "Land Before Time" series! (Man, how many more movies can there be?)