I saw this movie may years ago, and I loved it like many of those here who love it still.
With hindsight though, it is a rather muddled and confused affair. There were legal wranglings with the book author who hated the screenplay (and it kind of shows in the finished product). The ending is abrupt and screams that the budget ran out.
Really though, it works because of Noah Hathaway's on-screen presence. For sure, some of his acting is a little shaky, but this must have been a *huge* project for an eleven year old to carry. I imagine there must have been a lot of pressure on the kid at the time.
He is, to put it simply, beautiful. I think the fact that he looks so androgynous is no accident - the director must very much have wanted him to look that way. Long before Peter Jackson brought his fantastic Tolkien adaptations to the big screen, I remember thinking that Atreyu/Noah looked very much how I imagined Tolkien's Elves would be - sort of too perfect and almost in-human in a way.
Basically Noah single handedly carries this whole movie - along with some nice set pieces (swamp / oracle) and matte painting art work (which was very good for its time).
But the story? Am I the only one here who gets the irony of a story about the power of reading and imagination being made into an Americanised movie for a popcorn audience? And what is with that ending? Completely inappropriate, hurried and nonsensical after the previous hour and a half.
Lets be honest here folks, the source material is no great work of literature either, even if it was a best-seller in Germany (popular with adults and children). The "message" is about a subtle as being hit over the head with a plank of wood, and reads as rambling neo-romantic sentimental prattle. "Do what you wish?" Err, more than a little naive applied to most of the population of planet Earth I think!
So watch it for the extraordinary Atreyu, for the visuals, and if you're my age, to remember your childhood.
But there are no great insights into the meaning of life here (or in the book either).
And please Hollywood, can you now just leave it the hell alone? Two crappy sequels, some lame cartoons and a "re-imagined" TV series? Does the word "originality" mean anything to anyone out there in la-la land? Move on please!
With hindsight though, it is a rather muddled and confused affair. There were legal wranglings with the book author who hated the screenplay (and it kind of shows in the finished product). The ending is abrupt and screams that the budget ran out.
Really though, it works because of Noah Hathaway's on-screen presence. For sure, some of his acting is a little shaky, but this must have been a *huge* project for an eleven year old to carry. I imagine there must have been a lot of pressure on the kid at the time.
He is, to put it simply, beautiful. I think the fact that he looks so androgynous is no accident - the director must very much have wanted him to look that way. Long before Peter Jackson brought his fantastic Tolkien adaptations to the big screen, I remember thinking that Atreyu/Noah looked very much how I imagined Tolkien's Elves would be - sort of too perfect and almost in-human in a way.
Basically Noah single handedly carries this whole movie - along with some nice set pieces (swamp / oracle) and matte painting art work (which was very good for its time).
But the story? Am I the only one here who gets the irony of a story about the power of reading and imagination being made into an Americanised movie for a popcorn audience? And what is with that ending? Completely inappropriate, hurried and nonsensical after the previous hour and a half.
Lets be honest here folks, the source material is no great work of literature either, even if it was a best-seller in Germany (popular with adults and children). The "message" is about a subtle as being hit over the head with a plank of wood, and reads as rambling neo-romantic sentimental prattle. "Do what you wish?" Err, more than a little naive applied to most of the population of planet Earth I think!
So watch it for the extraordinary Atreyu, for the visuals, and if you're my age, to remember your childhood.
But there are no great insights into the meaning of life here (or in the book either).
And please Hollywood, can you now just leave it the hell alone? Two crappy sequels, some lame cartoons and a "re-imagined" TV series? Does the word "originality" mean anything to anyone out there in la-la land? Move on please!