The NeverEnding Story

1984 fantasy classic about lit-buff boy Oliver who obtains an "unsafe" book that ends up being the ultimate escape tool for dealing with his mother's death and the bullies at school... or perhaps, the adventures taking place in Fantasia are really a reflection of his own life and conflicts? A fun flick to ponder, but it would perhaps be clearer and hold up better if it didn't end at the halfway point of the Ende book in which it is adapted from. Epic for its time, but dates rather poorly compared to something like Ridley Scott's LEGEND made only a year later. Most expensive film made outside of USA or USSR at the time of its release. The soundtrack is marvelous.