AKA: The NeverEnding Story III: Return to Fantasia
Here's something that never happens. The kid me would have given this a piece of shit rating, but nostalgic adult me is giving it a slightly higher grade. Why? Because it's a piece of history now, immortalized forever within me. It's not nearly as bad as I remember, even though it's worse than everything that came before. What can I say? I guess I'm getting soft in my old age.
The biggest difference here (aside from the sloppy writing and direct to video quality) is the fact that Jim Henson's Creature Shop took over the effects for this film, leading to a complete redesign of Falkor and the Rockbiter family. That's probably the biggest slight against it, even though the craftsmanship remains high quality, but try explaining that to a bitter 12 year old.
This was the final film in the franchise, followed by an animated series that ran for one season in 1995, a TV series (Tales from the Neverending Story) in 2001, and a planned reboot that has been stuck in development hell for years.
2 Nasties out of 5
Note: This is still the dumbest scene in the movie, but dammit if it don't lodge itself inside your brain.
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