A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Neverending Story -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Wolfgang Petersen's Neverending Story, based upon the fanciful novel by Michael Ende, is a treat for all ages, but especially for younger viewers.

Photographed by Jost Vacano, who had shot Mr. Petersen's Das Boot a few years earlier, arrives on Blu-ray for it's second outing, along with Neverending Story II.

If one compares Neverending Story with Das Boot, the differences between the two, as huge as they are in story, texture affect upon an audience, are minuscule when compared to the differences between the first two parts of Neverending Story.

While the first is a treat for the eyes, ears and brain, especially with it's framework of multiple stories (if you've not experienced the book, best to take a peek), the second comes off as a film not even from the same universe, and a waste of 90 minutes.

Naturally, there had to be a third (1994), but that's best not discussed.

Back to NS, the First...

When I view it, I'm reminded of the glory days of German filmmaking at UFA -- NS was created in Munich at Bavaria Studios, which was UFA's competitor.  Doing a quick check, I found that some productions shot at Bavaria have been Paths of Glory, Cabaret, The Sound of Music, The Great Escape, et al.

I'm pleased to report that the disc, to which additional extras  have been added is fully up to representing the film in its full quality.  This is a gorgeous image harvest, combined with a sometimes booming track to accommodate Giorgio Moroder's electronic score.

Wonderful film.  Great Blu-ray.

Image - 5

Audio - 5

Pass / Fair - Pass

Highly Recommended

RAH

Lord Dalek said:

I could care less about the German version really. The international one is fine.

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Dick said:

It runs roughly 12 minutes longer, drops the Giorgio Morodor score in favor of a pure orchestral track by Klaus Doldinger (who also scored DAS BOOT) and looks and sounds really very, very nice. For fans, this is the one to beat.

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Mark-P said:

Warner did release a statement that this new disc is not a new restoration. They had originally claimed that it was then made a correction stating that the "new restoration" only pertained to Neverending Story II. However The 2010 disc was single-layer and this new one is dual-layer so it may be a better encode.

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Oblivion138 said:

Some people have objections to the grading. It's certainly much darker and warmer than it ever was on previous formats. But previous formats are not a valid standard, and I never saw this theatrically. All I can say is I like the way this BD looks. I think the darker look is appropriate.

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