Not suitable for children under 8 and parental guidance recommended for children under 10 due to scary, emotional scenes and disturbing imagery.
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Not suitable due to sad and scary themes and imagery (e.g. death of friends, threatening and dangerous situations, monsters) |
Children aged 8–10 | Parental guidance due to sad and scary themes and imagery (e.g. death of friends, threatening and dangerous situations, monsters) |
Children over the age of 10 | Ok for this age group. |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | NeverEnding Story, The |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | The content is very mild in impact |
Length: | 102 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
10 year-old Bastian (Barret Oliver) is a shy boy who lives alone with his father after the death of his mother. He is a loner and gets bullied at school. He finds solace in books, and one day, as he gets chased by the bullies, he escapes into a book shop. He is intrigued by a book that the owner is reading titled “The NeverEnding Story”, but gets told that this is no ordinary book, that it is dangerous, and that it is not for him. When the shop owner turns away to answer the telephone, Bastian steals the book and runs to hide in the attic of his school. Opening the mysterious book, Bastian is soon drawn deeply into its story about a magical world called Fantasia which is threatened with destruction by the all-consuming Nothing. At the same time, Fantasia’s leader, the Childlike Empress (Tami Stronach) is also suffering from an unknown, fatal illness. Fantasia’s only hope lies in a young warrior, Atreyu (Noah Hathaway), who is sent out to find a cure for the empress, and to stop The Nothing. Atreyu’s quest leads him to all parts of Fantasia, where he meets many new companions and fellow travellers, including the beautiful flying ‘luck dragon’. Together they face many challenges and dangers, and still there is no cure found. In his attic hideaway, Bastian gets drawn deeper and deeper into the story and with a shock he realises that he is more than just a passive reader or witness of the story. He might just be the chosen earthling child who alone has the power to save Fantasia and all its wondersome creatures from its demise.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Fantasy; Adventure; Supernatural; Death; Destruction of the environment; Bullying; The power of storytelling and language.
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is some violence in this movie, including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
The NeverEnding Story is based on the first part of the acclaimed youth fantasy-adventure book of the same title by German author Michael Ende. Since its release in 1984, the movie has been a childhood classic for generations of families. Even though the special effects are a little dated by today’s standards, it remains a gripping and fascinating family fantasy tale, featuring relatable characters and heroes and important positive messages. Parents should be aware that there are some fairly dark and depressing themes in this movie, as well as some sad and scary moments, so it is best suited to children over 8 with parental guidance to 10, particularly for sensitive children.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the importance of believing that every single person can make a difference, independent of age or status.
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
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Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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