My Favorite Movie…

How can you pick a favorite movie? It is very hard to choose just ONE movie. How can you describe your favorite when there are so many good movies out there competing?  There are movies that are simply eye candy, ones that are just for amusement, and then of course there are those that stay with you forever.  Since I can only choose one, I think I would have to choose The Never Ending Story.  Why? Well it brought to life my favorite thing in the world, books.  I saw it for the first time when I was five years old and it was visually stunning, funny, horrifying and emotionally gripping.  It pulled me into a fantasy world that lived inside of a book and allowed this imaginary world to invade the real world.  I loved it and remember it still as an experience as if I personally took the journey beside Atreyu.  The best movies are the ones that fully engage you, and for me, at five, this movie succeeded.

The world of Fantasia is seen by Bastian, a young boy who discovers a wonderful book.  This world he reads about is filled with fantastic creatures, giants and dragons and the beautiful Childlike Empress who lives in an ivory tower.  This beautiful world is being invaded by a darkness, The Nothing, a thing of childhood nightmares and a single hero, Atreyu, is sent to stop the Nothing.  Only he can survive and as he struggles through each trial, losing his beloved horse, Artax (yes, at five I cried and will admit I was somewhat traumatized by his death), the audience struggles with him.  At the end, after so much struggle, even Atreyu, the courageous hero doesn’t have what it takes and it is left up to a single, normal, human child who lives in our world!  Fantasy and reality collide and the child Bastian, who like the audience has merely observed the story is pulled into the world and only he can save the beautiful world, his imagination is the source of new life and Fantasia lives on, to never end.