NeverEnding Story, The: 40th Anniversary Limited Edition (4K UHD Review)

Reviewed by: Stephen Bjork
Review Date: Jan 27, 2025
Format: 4K Ultra HD

Director

Wolfgang Petersen

Release Date(s)

1984 (December 4, 2024)

Studio(s)

Neue Constantin Film/Bavaria Film/Producers Sales Organization (Imprint Films/Via Vision Entertainment)

Film/Program Grade: See Below
Video Grade: See Below
Audio Grade: See Below
Extras Grade: A+
Overall Grade: A+

https://viavision.com.au/

Review

[Editor’s Note: This is a Region-Free Australian 4K Ultra HD import.]

Wolfgang Petersen’s 1984 adaptation of Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story is a beloved family film that celebrates the power of the imagination, in no less imaginative fashion. Not only does it present fantastic sights and sounds that have been burned into the consciousness of anyone who first saw the film as a young person (with the Gmork and the demise of Artax perhaps fueling a nightmare or two in the process), but imagination itself is the central theme of the film. That theme is handled a bit differently in the film than it was in Ende’s book, but no less successfully (although the author disagreed with that contention). Petersen and Herman Weigel’s screenplay only covered the first half of the book, which left the door open for two sequels: George T. Miller’s The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter in 1990 and Peter MacDonald’s The NeverEnding Story III in 1994 (although the latter had little to nothing to do with Ende’s original source material). Yet neither one of them had a fraction of the cultural impact that Petersen’s film did. Yes, it made great changes from the book, but Petersen and all of his collaborators executed everything with undeniable panache, and the results speak for themselves.

Bastian (Barrett Oliver) is a solitary child who loves the worlds of fantasy and imagination, but his father (Gerald McRaney) wants him to keep his feet on the ground. Bastian is the frequent target of bullies from his school, and one day while he’s eluding their unwanted attention, he ends up in a bookshop where he encounters a cantankerous bookseller (Thomas Hill) who warns Bastian to avoid a particularly dangerous book. Bastian helps himself to it anyway, and launches into the story of a child warrior named Atreyu (Noah Hathaway) who goes on a quest to save the realm of Fantasia from being swallowed up by The Nothing, all while hoping to save the Childlike Empress (Tami Stronach) in the process. Yet the more that Bastian reads, the more that the lines between the book’s fantasy and his reality blur, and he ultimately discovers that the story never ends because he’s become an integral part of it. The NeverEnding Story also stars Patricia Hayes, Sydney Bromley, Moses Gunn, Deep Roy, Tilo Prückner, and Alan Oppenheimer (who voices not just Falkor, but Gmork and the Rockbiter as well).

While The NeverEnding Story was a major international success, burning itself indelibly into the memories of fans both young and old, Michael Ende wasn’t particularly happy with the adaptation, calling it a "gigantic melodrama of kitsch, commerce, plush and plastic." He objected the tonal and narrative alterations that Petersen and Weigel made to his source material, and he succeeded in having his name removed from the project. To be fair, he wasn’t entirely wrong in questioning some of their changes, and yet his core theme about the power of the imagination still shines through loud and clear in the final film. No amount of kitsch or plastic could ever change that fact.

Even more importantly, Petersen’s film version of The NeverEnding Story demonstrates the ways in which imagination can provide not just a means of escape for burdened individuals, but it can also provide a sense of hope for all of humanity as well. Those who lack imagination are always at risk of sinking into despair, and whether it’s in Ende’s Swamp of Sadness or Bunyan’s Slough of Despond, there’s no escape for those who give into it. Imagination gives hope, and hope can keep mankind free. That’s a welcome message in any family film, and the circular nature of the storytelling in The NeverEnding Story allows that kind of hope to continue through its infinitely repeating layers, as the Childlike Empress explains to Atreyu:

“(Bastian) doesn’t realize he’s already part of The NeverEnding Story. Just as he is sharing all your adventures, others are sharing his. They were with him when he hid from the boys in the bookstore. They were with him when he took the book with the Auryn symbol on the cover in which he’s reading his own story right now... He doesn’t understand that he’s the one who has the power to stop it. He simply can’t imagine that one little boy could be that important.”

When we allow our imaginations to be fully engaged, we share in the adventures of others, then others can share in ours, and the cycle continues. We’re all important to that process. If Hope really is the thing with feathers, then Imagination is the finest-feathered friend that mankind can have.

Now... while The NeverEnding Story was a German-American co-production, it was filmed in Germany, and the version that was released in that country ended up being revised for international release. The German cut of The NeverEnding Story runs 104 minutes, while the U.S. version was cut down to 94 minutes. The differences mostly come down to minor trims and scene extensions. As a result, the German version feels a little more leisurely, while the American cut is tighter and better focused. The most impactful alteration is that composer Klaus Doldinger’s title theme was removed and replaced by a song written by Giorgio Moroder and Keith Forsey, performed by Christopher Hamill under the alias Limahl. (The black backgrounds in the German titles were replaced by a montage of cloud tank effects.) Moroder also wrote a few new cues for the rest of the film. While many people assume that the longer versions are usually better, that’s not necessarily true in this case, and the Limahl song has become so iconic that most American viewers will have a hard time accepting the film without it.

(For a detailed list of all the changes, see a breakdown at the Movie-Censorship website.)

Cinematographer Jost Vacano shot The NeverEnding Story in 35mm using Arriflex 35 BLIII and 35 III cameras with Zeiss anamorphic lenses that were supplied by Technovision. Visual effects footage and plates were shot using large format VistaVision cameras with spherical Nikkor lenses instead, in order to reduce the impact of the generational losses from the abundant optical printing (Vacano told American Cinematographer that there were roughly 300 blue screen shots in the film). The blue screen work was shot on Eastman 5247 with wide-open apertures and plenty of lighting, while everything else was shot on faster 5293 instead. The NeverEnding Story was released theatrically in 35mm at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, although there are unconfirmed reports of at least one 70mm blowup print (it was advertised that way at the Century Plaza, but for opening weekend only). It may (or may not) have received a 70mm release in Germany as well. In any event, this version (or these versions, to be precise) are based on 4K scans of the original 35mm camera negative(s), cleaned up and graded for High Dynamic Range in both Dolby Vision and HDR10.

The NeverEnding Story was a complex production, so it’s important to keep that in mind when assessing the video quality of this 4K presentation. While it’s a massive upgrade when compared to the problematic Blu-ray releases from Warner Bros., the levels of detail and grain can vary from shot to shot. At its best, the image is beautifully crisp and clear, with textures like the costuming showing plenty of detail. The optical work looks noticeably softer in comparison, and while the use of VistaVision certainly helps, the matte shots still stand out. Vacano also used silks on the lenses for some shots, so those appear completely smooth—don’t waste your time looking for details in the complexion of the Childlike Empress, because there were never intended to be any in the first place. The version of the German cut included here does utilize a different encode than Constantin Films used for their own 2021 UHD release, and while that version seemed to have had some noise reduction applied, it may simply have been a matter of an inferior encode. In this case, the quality is similar to that of the American cut (although unlike that one, it’s HDR10 only).

The contrast range is excellent, with deep blacks and much more detail in the darkest areas of the screen than was ever visible on the crushed Warner Bros. Blu-rays. The HDR grade also adds subtle depth to some of the colors, with Falkor’s pink hues standing out clearly, and his scales looking more iridescent as well. The harsh orange filtered look that marred some scenes on the Blu-rays is gone here in favor of a more natural appearance. There’s still a slightly brownish/amber tint to some of the flesh tones, but that’s not out of character with Vacano’s style from the period. Taken as a whole, there’s little to complain about here, with most of the deficiencies being inherent to the original production.

Audio for the American version is offered in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 stereo LPCM, with optional English SDH subtitles. The NeverEnding Story was released theatrically in Dolby Stereo (once again, it’s not verified if there ever actually was a 70mm six-track mix). Yet the 5.1 mix is the clear winner between the two, sounding more robust and better balanced, with a few split surround effects added in order to enhance the immersion. It also has significantly deeper bass extension—almost too much so at a few points. Limahl’s title song has more kick to it, and vibrations like the Rockbiter’s tricycle(?), thunder, and the earthquakes have some real room-shaking rumble to them (it’s in the latter case that it goes a bit too far and verges into boominess). Even accounting for level differences between DTS-HD Master audio and LPCM, the 5.1 track still sounds more robust overall.

Audio for the German cut is also offered in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 2.0 LPCM, with optional English SDH subtitles, but keep in mind that they’re not the same mixes as the American cut, and it’s not just the music that was altered, either. There are differences in the sound effects as well, and there’s none of the extra bass sweetening, with the low end extension sounding similar to the Dolby Stereo track instead. There’s also some different English dubbing for the supporting characters—Teeny Weeney has a distracting Southern accent in this version. And no, there’s no Giorgio Moroder or Limahl, but on the flip side, Klaus Doldinger’s ominous opening title theme has merits of its own. The good news is that both the 5.1 and 2.0 mixes are offered here with lossless audio, while the Constantin Films release utilized DTS-HD HR and Dolby Digital instead, respectively. (On the other hand, their release also offered the actual German-dubbed audio, which this one does not.)

U.S. THEATRICAL CUT (FILM/VIDEO/AUDIO): B+/A-/A-
GERMAN EXTENDED CUT (FILM/VIDEO/AUDIO): B/A-/B+

Via Vision Entertainment’s Region-Free 40th Anniversary Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD release of The NeverEnding Story is #365 in their Imprint Films line. It’s a five-disc set that includes: one UHD and one Blu-ray with the U.S. theatrical cut; one UHD and one Blu-ray with the German extended cut; and an additional Blu-ray with the 2024 documentary Life After The NeverEnding Story. The discs all come inside a hinged-style Amaray case (so they aren’t stacked, which is always a bonus), and that’s housed in a 3D lenticular hard slipcase. And would you believe it, O my brothers and sisters and only true friends, that’s just scratching the surface of what Via Vision has done in celebration of four decades of The NeverEnding Story.

There are swag sets and there are swag sets, and then there’s this one, which puts the capital “S” in Swag. Ready? It includes a heavy-duty laminated 27” x 40” foldout reproduction of the theatrical poster and eight glossy 11” x 14” lobby card reproductions, all of which are kept in their own laminated folder. It also includes an A4 reproduction of the original press kit, with seventeen glossy publicity photos and typeset cast, crew, and production information (stapled together in vintage fashion, which is another nice touch), all of which is also kept in its own laminated folder. And all of that comes housed inside a massive 11.6” x 14.5” reproduction of The NeverEnding Story book as seen in the film, with leatherette texture, gold foil stamping, and metal accents including the Auryn emblem right above the title. Grab a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, tuck yourself into your attic on a rainy day, and you’re all set.

Everything that’s inside will keep you busy the whole school day, too. The abundant extras for The NeverEnding Story are spread across the first four discs, while Life After The NeverEnding Story has its own slate of extras on the fifth disc:

DISC ONE: UHD (U.S. THEATRICAL CUT)

Audio Commentary by Wolfgang Petersen
Audio Commentary by Paul M. Sammon
Theatrical Trailer (Upscaled SD – 1:25)

DISC TWO: BD (U.S. THEATRICAL CUT)

Audio Commentary by Wolfgang Petersen
Audio Commentary by Paul M. Sammon
Finding Fantasia: Adapting The NeverEnding Story (HD – 13:28)
Flights of Fancy: Inside the Scores of The NeverEnding Story (HD – 16:29)
Reimagining The NeverEnding Story (Upscaled SD – 25:14)
The Making of The NeverEnding Story (HD & Upscaled SD – 17:23)
A World of Fantasies (Upscaled SD – 56:57)
The NeverEnding Story Limahl Music Video (Upscaled SD 3:44)
Theatrical Trailer (Upscaled SD – 1:25)

DISC THREE: UHD (GERMAN EXTENDED CUT)

Storyboard Comparison (HD – 4:39)

DISC FOUR: BD (GERMAN EXTENDED CUT)

Storyboard Comparison (HD – 4:39)

The extras for The NeverEnding Story kick off with two commentary tracks (on the theatrical cut only), one archival, one new. The archival commentary with Wolfgang Petersen was originally recorded for the 2014 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray release. It’s moderated by Christina Hagopian, who asks questions in order to keep Petersen going, although there are still plenty of gaps throughout the track. Petersen admits up front that he hasn’t seen the film in 30 years, but he rewatched it before sitting down to record the commentary, and he’s definitely enthusiastic (even if he needs occasional prodding by Hagopian). Petersen opens by discussing some of the differences between the U.S. and the German versions, crediting his friend Steven Spielberg for helping making the American version work. He’s also open about his disagreements with Ende, and offers plenty of stories about the challenges of making the film (both good and bad). Sparse or not, it’s still a great listen for fans of The NeverEnding Story.

The new commentary features author Paul M. Sammon, author of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner, so he’s no stranger to dealing with complicated productions. He dives even deeper into the differences between the American and German versions, as well as the differences between both films and Ende’s book—and doesn’t shy away from the disagreements between Petersen and Ende, either. Sammon provides biographical information about most of the cast and crew, breaks down the production itself, and analyzes the themes of the story as well. Sammon was clearly better prepared than Petersen, so he keeps his commentary moving at all times, and expands on what Petersen had to say.

In addition to Sammon’s commentary, Via Vision has also added two more new extras for this release, both of them produced by Daniel Griffith for his Ballyhoo Motion Pictures. Finding Fantasia: Adapting The NeverEnding Story is an interview with Lisa Downs, director of Life After The NeverEnding Story. Downs provides a brief overview of the production and also enthuses about her own experiences spending four-and-half years researching it while making her documentary. Flights of Fancy: Inside the Scores of The NeverEnding Story features soundtrack journalist Daniel Schweiger, who delves into the thorny relationship between the music in the German version and the international version—and no, it wasn’t simply a matter of adding the Limahl song and replacing the Klaus Doldinger score. The American soundtrack was more of an evolution of Doldinger’s work than a replacement of it (Doldinger used synthesizers as well, so Moroder’s sound wasn’t completely out of left field). Schweiger clearly prefers the revised soundtrack, and while your own mileage may vary, most non-German fans will probably agree.

The next extra was originally produced for the 2014 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray. Reimagining The NeverEnding Story is a retrospective examination of the whole production, featuring interviews with Wolfgang Petersen, Herman Weigel, Jost Vacano, Klaus Doldinger, Tami Stronach, Gerald McRaney, producer Dieter Geissler, and costume designer Diemut Remy, plus executive producers John W. Hyde and Mark Damon. It also offers some behind-the-scenes footage. It covers some of the same material as the commentary tracks, but it’s wonderful to hear it from the lips of so many people who were involved.

The Making of The NeverEnding Story and A World of Fantasies are both archival German-language featurettes on the making of the film, produced by Constantin Films. They include interviews with Petersen as well as various other cast and crew members, and an abundance of behind-the-scenes footage (some of which was reused by the newer featurettes). A World of Fantasies (aka 60 Millionen für Phantásien) is the oldest of the two, originally produced for German television back in 1984 as a way of promoting the film. It’s the kind of old school making-of documentaries that aren’t being made anymore, so it’s well worth a look.

But wait, that’s not all! In addition to the undeniably cheesy Music Video featuring Limahl, there’s also a Storyboard Comparison that offers a split-screen comparison of the storyboards for one of the scenes with Atreyu and the gnomes to the sequence as it appears in the final film. And, yet, even that’s not all, because we’ve got one whole disc yet to go:

DISC FIVE: BD (LIFE AFTER THE NEVERENDING STORY)

Life After The NeverEnding Story (HD – 90:42)
Official Trailer (HD – 1:42)
Director Interview (HD – 13:46)
Deleted/Extended Scenes:
- Alan "The Ham" Oppenheimer (HD – 3:58)
- Alan Oppenheimer’s Early Years (HD – 4:04)
- Bobby Porter: "That’s Filmmaking" (HD – 2:03)
- Colin Arthur’s Mould Process (HD – 2:14)
- Colin Arthur and His Lucky Scissors (HD – 1:30)
- Fairy Queen (HD – 1:32)
- Film History with Jason James Richter (HD – 2:27)
- Gmork (HD – 1:05)
- Herman Weigel’s Deleted Character (HD – 1:09)
- Je M’appelle Limahl (HD – 1:23)
- Keith Coogan on the Coogan Law (HD – 4:47)
- Liverpool Comic Con: Extended Scene (HD – 8:45)
- Munich: Alternative Edit (HD – 15:51)
- Tami’s Makeup Challenge (HD – 1:47)
- That80sDude: The NeverEnding Yoda (HD – :45)
- The Screenplay Saga (HD – 10:09)
- The Sphinx Folklore (HD – :37)
- Timmy Gibson: Backtothe1980z (HD – 2:01)
- Wesley’s Movie Props Extended (HD – 12:59)
Once Upon a Time in... Treviso (HD – 7:50)
Life After Flash Trailer (HD – 2:17)
Life After The Navigator Trailer (HD – 2:50)

Life After The NeverEnding Story is a feature-length documentary produced and directed by Lisa Downs, director of both Life After Flash and Life After The Navigator. Like those documentaries, it focuses on the impact that The NeverEnding Story had on the life of one person, in this case Noah Hathaway. (The film was originally titled Life After Atreyu before being retitled to line up better with the other films in the series). Yet it also delves into the life and career of Tami Stronach as well. It includes interviews with Hathaway, Stronach, Alan Oppenheimer, Limahl, Deep Roy, and Jost Vacano, plus a raft of other people who were either involved with the original production or else impacted by it. That includes Hathaway himself, who has bittersweet memories about the making of the film—he says that when he appears at conventions with Stronach, they both end up representing the light and the dark of The NeverEnding Story. (Be forewarned that while The NeverEnding Story may be a family film, Hathaway’s interviews are anything but family-friendly.) Life After The NeverEnding Story is presented here in 1080p with English 2.0 stereo LPCM audio, with optional English and German subtitles.

While this isn’t clearly indicated in the disc menus, the majority of the extras consist of deleted, extended, or alternate scenes. The only exceptions are the interview with Downs, the trailers for Life After Flash and Life After The Navigator, and Once Upon a Time in... Treviso, which is a short subject directed by Downs that focuses on poster artist Renato Casaro. This appears to be the exact same disc as the on that’s marketed on the Life After Movies website, with the same extras, menu design, and audio.

There’s nothing significant missing here from any previous releases of The NeverEnding Story save for a German restoration featurette about 2012 Constantin Films restoration of the German cut, but the featurette is as dated now as the restoration was even back then. (It was slathered with noise reduction.) So, no loss at all. The Constantin Films UHD offered several trailers for unrelated German language films, so again, no loss here. In every single respect that actually matters, Via Vision’s 40th Anniversary Limited Edition release of The NeverEnding Story is the one set to rule them all. It’s not cheap, and international shipping from Australia can be genuinely painful, but it’s worth every penny for anyone willing to take out a second mortgage in order to buy it. Of course, Via Vision will eventually release a standard version as well, minus the swag and the packaging, but it’s not clear what might be included as far as the discs are concerned. It could be identical, but it could also omit either the German cut, Life After The NeverEnding Story, or even both. Time will tell in that regard, but in any event, if you want a 4K version of The NeverEnding Story with all the extensive love that Via Vision has lavished on it, then you’re just going to have to save up your pennies. It’s an amazing set.

-Stephen Bjork

(You can follow Stephen on social media at these links: Twitter, Facebook, BlueSky, and Letterboxd).