The Neverending Story

Rating: 7/10 (9 April 2010)

There is probably an exciting 90-minute movie lurking inside this never ending war epic about the search for a soldier. However, in an attempt to make a war movie to end all war movies, Spielberg did not leave anything on the cutting room floor, releasing the film with a running time of 17 hours or so. The much-admired battle scene depicting the Normandy landing is well done but what's the point of having it go on for 20 minutes, with gratuitous shots of severed limbs and guts literally spilling out? OK, war is hell, but many other films have made this point far more eloquently and succinctly. The acting is pretty good, although the characters are all war movie stereotypes.