Ten-year-old Bastien is obsessed with adventure novels. One day he steals an amazing artwork populated by extraordinary creatures. He rushes feverishly into the fantasy world of this book, which fascinates him… After reading the above, fans will surely recognize the plot of the beautiful never-ending story.
To be honest, we really didn’t expect the director of the huge war film Das Boot to be in the fantasy department with a film that has become a classic. A dragon once kind, a princess, a kingdom under threat… Wolfgang Petersen signed a work in 1984 that profoundly marked the childhood of an entire generation.
A work in which the world of childhood and the wonder that has no end collides with the world of adults, with nothing symbolic in the film. Performed with a wonderful score by Giorgio Moroder (song never ending story was a huge success and became an 80s classic) and much loved by actors starting with a young Barrett Oliver, never ending story is a movie to watch and/or re-watch.
Another discovery of the film was a young Noah Hathaway, even though he actually started his career in 1978 with an episode of Galactica. In Petersen’s film, he plays Atreyu, a warrior with the appearance of a child. A young warrior is tasked by the empress to find a cure for his illness and embarks on a perilous journey with his horse Artax.
“Something would be incredible today”
A shoot that was very difficult, especially for him when he was barely 12 years old. In fact, he almost died on the set… the actor spoke about this topic recently, in connection with the 40th anniversary of the release of the film.
“I always joke that they tried to kill me in this movie. But they came close a couple of times. I was training my horse before the shoot. He got embarrassed and ran and jumped a fence, and I did a somersault and the horse fell on me and broke my back. says the 52-year-old actor on the site’s microphone IndieWire.
add: “I spent two months under an elastic bandage in a German hospital before shooting one shot. It was difficult, but I got up and then we shot for almost a year.” Since then, he says he has continued to struggle with health issues after this fall.
In 2017, he had to undergo spine surgery; And he had launched a crowdfunding campaign to help pay for his colossal medical expenses… “Wolfgang was a maniac. We did 30, 40 takes, sometimes scenes like the tree falling. They were driving me crazy.”
According to him, Petersen insisted that the actors perform their own stunts. “Something would be incredible today” says the actor. Like during the famous (and heartbreaking…) scene in the swamp of sadness. “I was in the mud and there was no oxygen under the dry ice . I went under the mud. They took all those weapons out of their mouths. It was completely crazy. It would be impossible to avoid something like that these days.
We imagine that in the new adaptation, which was announced last March, the (young) actors won’t actually have to pay as much for their own…
Source: Allocine

Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.