Line #4 Film/TheNeverEndingStoryIIIEscapeFromFantasia


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/neverending_3.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''[[{{Tagline}} It's a brand new beginning in the adventure that never ends!]]'']]
3
4	->''"Well, if Balthazar could make up anything he wanted to happen in Fantasia while he read this book, maybe we could make a few things happen to him..."''
5	-->-- '''Slip'''
6
7	''The [=NeverEnding=] Story III: Escape from Fantasia'' (usually referred to as just ''The [=NeverEnding=] Story III'') is a 1994 film that serves as the third and final installment in ''Franchise/TheNeverendingStory'' film series. Though the first two movies take plenty of plot elements from [[Literature/TheNeverendingStory the source material]], this film is almost entirely an original story, with the only element taken from the book that hadn't already been used in the previous films being the introduction of the Old Man of Wandering Mountain.
8
9	Bastian (Jason James Richter) has reluctantly settled into a new life after his dad married a new mom, dealing with a new town, a new sister, and an annoying set of bullies. When he unexpectedly stumbles upon Carl Coreander and his ''[=NeverEnding=] Story'' book again, he uses it to escape back into Fantasia as a means to outrun the bullies. Eventually, the bullies, known in the book's world as The Nasty, have figured out that the book has a world all of its own. With a new threat facing Fantasia, The Nasties, led by Slip (Creator/JackBlack), plan to exploit the book's ability to grant wishes. Now Bastian, with the help of many familiar faces in Fantasia, must stop the Nasty before they cause chaos on Earth and doom Fantasia as they know it.
10	----
11	!!''The [=NeverEnding=] Story III: Escape from Fantasia'' contains examples of:
12	* AdaptationExpansion: Unlike the first two films, the third movie was an original plot that is DenserAndWackier than its predecessors.
13	* AdaptationPersonalityChange: While the previous film attempted to retain Falkor and the Rock-Biter's original personalities, they are completely altered here. Falkor has turned from a wise sage to TheDitz of the team, while the Rock-Biter changed from a GentleGiant to a BumblingDad.
14	* AllThereInTheScript: Aside from Slip and Dog, none of the Nasties are named onscreen. The credits reveal the other three are nicknamed Rage, Mookie, and Coil.
15	* ArbitraryEquipmentRestriction: A rare non-video game example: What's the Childlike Empress' answer as to why Bastian can't wish the Fantasians back into Fantasia before just wishing the book away from the Nasties and restoring their world? A simple scolding "No Bastian!" ...and that's all the excuse we and he need to hear apparently. It becomes totally pointless in the end as Barky, the bark troll, uses the AURYN like a ResetButton to reverse the damage that's been done to Fantasia.
16	* AsYouKnow: Bastian does this to himself when recounting what he experienced in the previous films.
17	* AwardBaitSong:
18	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPlMZpgmeAs Mission Of Love]] by Jacqueline Nemorin.
19	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf05hgwP6ps Shortcut To Forever]], sung by Phillip Ingram & Siedah Garrett.
20	* BatmanInMyBasement: Bastian has to keep Rock Biter Jr. in his house.
21	* BigBad: Slip, the leader of the Nasties. One of Jack Black's few villain roles also.
22	* BrokenBird: Attempted with Bastian's stepsister -- she doesn't [[PokeThePoodle want one of his crystals]].
23	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Atreyu is nowhere to be seen, though he was originally meant to star in it.
24	* DenserAndWackier: Helped by [[AdaptationExpansion being an original plot as the previous two adapted the book]]. The characters were used more for comedy than drama, pop cultural references abound, and there was intense VillainDecay (from an EldritchAbomination and a dangerous sorceress to... a school bully!).
25	* FauxAffablyEvil: Slip when he first meets Bastian acts rather nice before tormenting him.
26	* {{Flanderization}}: This film takes any minor aspects of the returning characters and exaggerated them to a psychotic degree.
27	* HalloweenEpisode: The climax is set on Halloween.
28	* {{Hypocrite}}: Bastian's stepsister doesn't like any New Age Garbage but is seen playing a {{Wangst}} song on guitar.
29	* InformedFlaw: While the school is TotallyRadical, the movie treats Bastian's gel-spiked hair as an affront against humanity, when that 'do in the mid-90's was commonplace. And, in fact, other characters have it.
30	* ItsTheJourneyThatCounts: Possibly why the Empress won't let Bastian take shortcuts.
31	* JerkJock: Slip acts like this toward Bastian while bullying him, becoming the fact of The Nasties.
32	* JustEatGilligan: Bastian asks a perfectly reasonable question, "Why can't I just ''wish'' the problem was solved?" the empress says no, because the characters lost would not be returned. Bastian then asks "Why can't I just wish them back?" the empress simply responds with "No." Bastian has to go through the entire movie premise just because the empress just didn't feel like it.
33	** In the original draft, the Empress actually explained why Bastian couldn't wish them back to Fantasia: the AURYN was incapable of teleporting multiple beings somewhere while in separate locations. It still doesn't explain why he couldn't wish them separately, but it's still better than "No, Bastian".
34	* LargeHam: Jack Black plays a generic school bully as if he's a ''diabolical mastermind'', hell-bent on getting Bastian with a determination [[Literature/MobyDick Captain Ahab]] would be proud of.
35	* NeverMyFault: After the Nasties are expelled for locking Bastian in the boiler room, they blame him entirely for ratting them out and not the fact that they were breaking school rules after repeated warnings.
36	* NotSoHarmlessVillain: The Nasties are a group of typical High School Bullies who aren't exceptionally bright or clever, so you probably wouldn't expect them to be much of threat compared the Nothing or the Emptiness. Here's the thing though: unlike the former two, they are from the human world, and therefore have the ability to [[RealityWarper completely control or alter what occurs in the NeverEnding Story Book]], thus ironically making them possibly the most dangerous villains in the whole series!
37	* SeriesContinuityError: Bastian's father does not seem to know about the book or the reality inside of it, even though he learned in the second film.
38	* TookALevelInDumbass: Falkor, who is supposed to be a very ''smart'' character. He is a smart character in the first film and still somewhat smart in the second. In this film, however, he becomes a downright moron.
39	* TotallyRadical: Nicole saying that Bastian's hairstyle is so "Un".
40	* TwoGirlsToATeam: Mookie and Coil of the Nastie's.
41	* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: The Rockbiter's wife speaks in a weird mix of Jamaican and Irish, while the Rockbiter baby literally sounds like Pikachu, saying, "Pika-pee! Pika-pee!"
42	* YeahShot: The movie ends with Bastion and Nicole giving each other a high-five and shouting, "YEAH!"
43	* YouDontLookLikeYou: Most of the non-human characters look radically different than in the first two movies. The Rock Biter is probably the most extreme example: he's a lot skinnier, seemingly now has ''hair'' made out of rock, and, even weirder, wears a "shirt" that's also somehow made of out of stone.

Context Film / TheNeverEndingStoryIIIEscapeFromFantasia