![](http://image.absoluteastronomy.com/images//topicimages/t/th/the_neverending_story_(film).gif)
fantasy film
based on the novel of the same name
written by Michael Ende
. The film was directed and co-written by Wolfgang Petersen
(his first English-language film) and starred Barret Oliver
, Noah Hathaway and Tami Stronach
. At the time of its release, it was the most expensive film produced outside of the USA
or the USSR
. It was then followed by two sequels: The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter
and The NeverEnding Story III: Escape From Fantasia.
Bastian Bux (Barret Oliver
), a quiet boy who loves to read, is accosted by bullies on his way to school.
Bastian: No, not again. No, not again!
G'mork: I am G'mork. And you, whoever you are, can have the honor of being my last victim. Atreyu: I will not die easily. I am a warrior.
Atreyu: Who are you really? G'mork: I am the servant of the Power behind the nothing. I was sent to kill the only one who could have stopped the nothing. I lost him in the Swamps of Sadness. His name was Atreyu.
Falcor: Never give up and good luck will find you.
Engywook: The sphinx's eyes stay closed, until someone who does not feel his own worth tries to pass by.
Atreyu: I didn't get in touch with an earthling! The Childlike Empress: Yes, You did. He has suffered with you. He went through everything you went through, and now he has come here with you. He is very close, listening to every word, we say.
The Childlike Empress: One grain of sand. That is all that remains of my once vast empire.