Anyone who grew up watching the original (1984) and then watched the sequel 6 years later probably had a few things to say. But at least they stuck with the main storyline so you can relate. It was tolerable enough that I watched it to the end.Although the Empress in the first movie explained very clearly that Fantasia is made up of wishes and dreams, so the more wishes the better. Then they decided no, wishes are going to eat away at his memories. Hey producers! These movies are supposed to inspire kids to imagine and dream. There was a hidden meaning in the whole "wish" thing. Instead you make it so the next generation of kids think twice about wishing, dreaming, imagining. Besides, they stole the creatures from Krull.Now here comes #3. This one on the other hand actually angered me it was so bad.1) The father-son relationship was well done in the 2nd movie, now suddenly dad is clueless and married to an airhead? Since dad discovered the secrets of the book from movie #2, it would've been nice if they built on that. But no, he completely forgets everything that happened and is now in LaLa Land.2) Originally the fantasy-reality connection that allowed Bastian to appear in the story was simply a child's active imagination mixed with a few unexplained coincidences in the real world. But he never actually left the attic. Now Bastian can simply talk to the book and teleport like Star Trek? Seriously?3) Engywook and Urgl shrunk even more! Before they were about 3 feet tall, now they're not even 12 inches?4) Falkor #3 no longer tucks his legs in when flying, making for quite a sloppy looking show. It doesn't even look like Falkor. He has a Col. Sanders goatee now. He's supposed to be a "Luck Dragon" not a "Luck Flying Dog". I know he's a dragon that looks like a dog, but he's still a dragon, and should fly like one. At least Falkor #2 looked like #1 and flew like it too. #3 looks and flies more like Falkor's cousin from the trailer park sipping moonshine in between flights.5) The whole Rock Biter (now Rock Chewer apparently) scene should've been cut and burned and buried. This whole sequence by far doesn't even mesh with the rest of the film. If there was any seriousness in the film, this sequence takes it all away and turns it into a kid's Saturday morning TV show. You know those stories of people getting too drunk and waking up with a mysterious tattoo? This is what happens when the Director gets drunk. The kid's watching a cartoon in the wall? They have a Flintstone ATV? Singing "Born to be Wild"? I need a drink.6) To play the now-grown-up Empress they hired a UK actress who insists on pronouncing Fantasia (fan-tay-shuh) the UK way with an extra syllable (fan-tay-zee-ah). Now don't misunderstand me, I'm all UK myself and am proud of it. But I'm more proud of my theatrical experience and knowledge. And I know that if a significant word in the script (especially a name important to the plot) is pronounced a significant way by everyone involved, you DO NOT go on saying it your way just because you believe it's "proper English". That is, if you have any interest in having a lengthy acting career. You can tell by the way she puts emphasis on it several times at her first appearance that she does not care. These mistakes and her arrogance make the character seem like an unintelligent demanding snob. What happened to the sweet and compassionate Empress?7) The Bark Troll sees a tree being cut down and says "talk about a chainsaw massacre". This movie is intended for a very young audience. Yet they use a reference to a very graphic adult horror film. Obviously the Director doesn't know how children think. They will wonder "what does that mean?" if they don't already know, and ask around or look it up. And I'm sure half of those will be curious enough to want to watch it at such a young age. Even in 1994 it was easy enough to do some research, talk to the older kids, find out it's the name of a horror film, rent the movie albeit under-age (via naive parents or naive rental clerks), and then have nightmares for weeks.If there is one good thing to say about this movie, it's that Jack Black (early in his career) was very funny from beginning to end. But that is the ONLY thing. The rest of it is a film student's nightmare.

Fans of The NeverEnding Story are likely to be disappointed by this third installment which differs completely from it's predecessors in turns of characterization and tone. Whilst the first sequel may not have lived up to some expectations, it did at least contain that same sense of wonder and fantastical charm that enriched the original. This third entry abandons our awe in favor of gags and goofs. Bastian this time around is played by Jason James Richter of 'Free Willy' fame. His father has remarried and he has subsequently acquired a teenage step-sister. It's not long before Bastian and his extended family are caught up in Fantasia, his land of imagination. Particularly when a group of comical high school bullies, led by Jack Black, steal The NeverEnding Story book and create havoc in both Fantasia and our world. The creature design this time is by the Jim Henson workshop. Sadly, their renditions of the inhabitants of Fantasia and indeed their personalities are inconsistent with the previous entries. For example, Falkor is reduced from being a noble and brave luck-dragon to a whiny and cowardly puppy dog. And this is what hurts the film the most. To the younger viewer it will be a mildly amusing affair, but to those who have followed the film series, it will appear to be a complete deviation that will have you aching for the Fantasia of old.The actors all turn in good performances but you feel they would all be best served by a more earnest script that employed plot lines from Michael Ende's novel. Still, it's far superior to the live action television series that would later follow.

The first movie wasn't too bad, the second movie was not as good, this one is just plain awful.Let's start out with the villains. They have a level of retardedness as in a lot of children's' movies where they crash into each other a lot and can't keep control of their limbs on every corner as if they're running on ice.Many of the characters that were in the original have had their looks and personalities changed, even some have had their names changed, and there's many inconsistencies. Where's Atreyu? And Bastions' family has for some reason changed from having a dead mother to a dead father. Even the cover for The Neverending Story book has changed and is much thinner than it used to be.The puppetry looks ridiculous and the costume design has the same cheese factor as the early episodes of The Power Rangers. Falcor is no longer the wise luck dragon we remember but is now a clueless abomination that looks stoned. Rock Biter has somehow shrunk from being the size of a 3-story house to the size of a door.I couldn't watch this movie all the way through. It was poorly scripted, poorly acted, the costumes were poorly designed, and the whole movie in general was just plain stupid and dumb and totally destroyed the magic.I'm not surprised that Warner Bros. decided against distributing this, after watching it themselves they probably wanted to gouge their eyes out and have themselves hit on the head with a baseball bat to give them amnesia to forget what they saw and never have to see ever again.

Why oh why didn't they try a little bit more.Just a little....Or maybe they did try...Because you have to try hard to have such a shitty and boring story and to destroy the main characters in such an extent.And the villain...The nasties...Really....It went from the Nothing to the Emptiness and end up in the school bullies?Going from abstract meanings symbolizing the disappearance of imagination to the school bullies?The first time i saw it i actually stopped watching it in the "bike scene".Unfortunately i made the mistake of continuing it some other day...Wish i hadn't...Go watch the first movie again which is a masterpiece of children fairytale movies and don't ever touch this one....PS And all you trolls reviewing this saying it is fantastic and tricking people in to seeing this awful thing...YOU ARE TERRIBLE HUMAN BEINGS!!!!