Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The NeverEnding Crush

neverendingstorydvdcoverjpgHave you ever experienced something that seemed so good at the time, only to revisit that same thing later to find that it just isn't what you remember? I remember having this experience with backpacking food. I mean, when you've starved yourself for hours, walked through miles and miles of Uintah mountains with nothing but banana chips to snack on, and then finally sit down to a satisfying meal of powdered chicken alfredo from the box, of course it's going to taste good. It's going to be the best pasta you've ever had in your life. But then if you try to eat it again two weeks later, it just won't be the same. Sigh. Some good things just can't last.

But some can! Camber and I recently re-watched The Neverending Story. I hadn't seen it since I was very young, so I was naturally worried. I loved it when I was a kid, and the last thing I wanted was to find out that really, in the end, Falcor looks stupid (he's not bad), that Atreyu is a terrible actor (he's not), and that the Empress isn't hot (no comment). I've had some bad experiences lately watching movies I used to like only to realize they're terrible movies.

(Side note: Hoosiers is not as good as you remember. But Rudy is.)

So I was pleased to find that The Neverending Story is about as good as I remember it: a great film for kids that adults will actually enjoy. And of course it was fun to relive the excitement from years past. I leapt for joy when I heard Atreyu agreed to help the Empress; I only cringed slightly as Falcor and Atreyu flew by a bunch of obvious green-screen landscapes; and I of course almost wept when Atreyu's horse, Artax, succumbs to the sadness of the swamp and slowly sinks into it, and dies. (I also almost wept during that sad scene when the Rock Biter keeps saying, "They look like big, strong hands, don't they." Man...)

But nothing was so satisfying as reliving my young crush on the beautiful Empress herself. All you guys out there know what I'm talking about. The Empress was a cultural phenomenon for boys of my generation. That fox stole the hearts of us all. You know what I'm talking about. I'm talking about this lovely lady (and check out that head jewelry!):

empress



I think it's safe to say: we had excellent taste back then.

2 comments:

  1. Way way way cuter than Jennifer Connelly (sp?) in Labyrinth. Here's a bit of Trivia, Jack Black had his first movie role as one of the bad guys in Never Ending Story III, he wasn't too bad, but every one else sure was.

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  2. It's so true. She was the hottest thing around when we were in Jr. High. We would watch the movie just for her. It's pretty much a universal thing.

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