THE NEVERENDING STORY [1984]

Director Wolfgang Petersen made his English language debut by bastardizing Michael Ende's fantasy novel The NeverEnding Story.
The tale, set in the modern day, of young Bastian who steals a mysterious book from a off-beat bookstore is still firmly intact, however the rest about the fantasy world of Fantasia (Fantistica for you book readers) is nearly unrecognizable from it's source material.
Here's the thing though: it might be painfully inconsiderate of it's roots but as a standalone film for children, it's filled with wonder and imagination that will hopefully serve as stepping stone towards other fantasy novels.  Like some of the Jim Henson films of it's time, NES isn't afraid to explore some pretty dark themes that might be a bit much for the younger ones.  It also has some sloppy pacing and clunky ideas that have nowhere to go considering it doesn't take the novel's conclusion into consideration.  In the end, it's about embracing your imagination and that's where the movie stands true to it's source material, nostalgia goggles or not.

3 swamps of sadness out of 5

Enemy Mine (1985)

EM is the old story of two warring individuals in a hostile environment being forced to set aside taught hate and instead cooperate in order to survive. It relocated the action to an alien world in the late 21st Century, pitting and pairing a xenophobic human with a spiritual, reptilian alien known as a Drac. The result is a classic, inspirational sci-fi adventure filled with heartfelt and thought-provoking moments that almost every sci-fi TV show has attempted to replicate at least once.
The last act feels like it belongs in a different film, but it doesn't detract from the almost perfect execution of the first two thirds.

4 universal truths out of 5