Just an FYI this disc is region free and contains the longer version (101 mins.) of the film minus the US chart-topping "Neverending Story" single -- in English for the first time!
I've never seen the extended cut before and the transfer is a bit waxy and DNR'd, but not bad (not as good as the US version however). The credits are in German but the audio is still in English without burned-in subs. Extras seem to be in German.
Definitely recommended, though for the folks nostalgic for the original song, you'll be out of luck.
Mostly little additions -- but, probably as significantly, no Moroder, neither the song nor his "pop" synth tracks show up at all. For that reason more than any other, it definitely has a different vibe to it with Doldinger's score restored to its original length.
AndyDursin wrote:For that reason more than any other, it definitely has a different vibe to it with Doldinger's score restored to its original length.
That makes it worth it for me. I've always been a fan of Doldinger's score, and I could never see why portions of his score were replaced. I'm assuming Moroder was hired to provide something more "commercial", but Moroder's cues were (ironically) mostly orchestral and certainly didn't sound like an attempt to invoke to the pop music trends of the time.
Not surprisingly, Germany saw the first theatrical release of The Neverending Story in the Spring of 1984 in a version running 102 minutes, featuring a soundtrack comprised entirely of Doldinger's score. International rights holder Warner Bros. made some fairly dramatic alterations before the film was released everywhere else, including numerous small edits throughout the running time which brought it down to 94 minutes. A new, upbeat main titles sequence was added (versus the more somber white and black in the original cut) featuring an insanely catchy theme song by Limahl, former lead singer of Kajagoogoo, which became a pop standard (including a great cover version by Echo Image) and was composed by dance legend Giorgio Moroder. In a move that would be repeated more drastically with Legend the following year, the score was also changed considerably with several new pieces by Moroder adding a poppier sensibility (and weirdly sounding like outtakes from his work on 1982's Cat People). For some reason Warner had no problem reissuing the film in every video format over the years (including scope versions on laserdisc, DVD, and Blu-ray) but never felt the urge to create a special edition, perhaps due to sore feelings over their ill-fated final teaming with Petersen on Poseidon. In fact, the Warner Blu-ray (available in most major territories) doesn't even contain a trailer; you just get a reasonably solid HD transfer (from a somewhat dingy but crisp print) with audio options in English, French and Spanish, plus a slew of additional subtitle options.
Meanwhile in Germany, the substantially longer version was released with the (very good) German dub and no English-friendly options on VHS and DVD, including a double-disc set pairing it up with the international cut. However, fans were upset in 2011 when a Blu-ray was released from Universum containing the 94-minute version with the German and English soundtracks, and it quickly went out circulation. Finally in September of 2013, the second German Blu-ray from its original distributor, Constantin, proved to be a welcome surprise as it contained the original longer version in both German and English (in DTS-HD 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 mixes) with the complete original Doldinger score intact on both. (And it's region free, too!) Now that we have the chance to evaluate an English-language version, how does it compare? Well, the cuts themselves are far too numerous to list here (though the IMDb has a pretty good rundown), but the main difference (apart from the credits and soundtrack) is the much stronger melancholy feeling weaving throughout the film, including a more lingering emphasis on Bastian's sadness at the beginning and, in the most obvious addition, a greatly extended version of the Swamps of Sadness scene which already left many young viewers devastated in its shorter form. Both versions have their merits, of course (especially depending on how much one likes the added Moroder music), and while it's jarring to lose the Limahl song in its more appropriate placement over the end credits here, this may be the one fans go back to more often.
