NeverEnding Story: Hybrid Cut, The

A great combination of the original German cut and the US cut that I grew up with. I think that the longer edits and original music not included in the US edit often add more depth and emotional weight to the story.

Paranoid Android ties these two edits together seamlessly. Any critical feedback from me is more around personal preference than about errors in the edit itself.

This made me see one of my childhood favorite films in a new light, and I appreciate it!

So this edit was quite something! You must understand that I am someone who grew up with the international cut of the movie, I've never actually seen the German cut before so quite a few things in this cut were new and a surprise to me.

In terms of audio and video quality, I think this was top tier. The image quality is the clearest I've seen out of other versions of the movie, puts the official releases to shame. The audio quality is also great, you get to hear the painful groans of Gmork clearly in this one along with the actual name Bastian calls out to save the Empress which is heard a lot more clearly and can be made out here than what could ever be heard in the international cut.

In terms of visual editing, I never noticed any cuts or glitches at all. Same goes for the audio editing, it was all seamless and parts that cut abruptly are just how the official releases had it also, so zero issues on that front. With all the extra editing of visual and audio, it didn't alter the narrative or drastically change it one bit, it all flowed nicely and I had no issues in that regard.

My enjoyment is slightly lowered from a 10 to a 9. This is not actually a fault of the editor, it's actually an issue I personally have since I grew up with the international cut. There are certain parts that opted for the German version (namely the opening credits being black instead of the awesome visuals we get in the opening credits of the international cut, and changed audio to the German audio in the Atreyu riding the horse montages). Both of these things always stuck with me throughout my enjoyment of the international cut and seeing these replaced made my heart yearn to have those things back. But granted the purpose of this new cut was to give the international cut a more German flavor so I can't really fault it.

I do recommend this edit, quite a few scenes are longer and they put the international cut to shame for making the scenes shorter than they actually are. I would say that this particular cut is 95% better than the original movie, but this is for me personally. You might watch this cut and find it 100% superior to the original, and I absolutely could not fault you for thinking that.

I had never seen the original German cut of the film. Although not much footage is added, it does change the tone and pacing and oddly, it seems more suited to this story than the cut I'm familiar with. Regarding the film itself: although it's a pretty simple story with a novel twist (ha), there is perhaps no other children's film that illustrates better the importance of creativity and imagination. The puppets, sets, and special effects show their age but nothing that the film's target audience would mind. Adults will perhaps notice more about the story than children will. It wasn't until I rewatched the film as an adult that I realized who the 'others' were that accompanied both Atreyu and Bastian on their journey through Fantasia (hint: you know one of them very well ;).

The film's imagery can be a bit emotionally wrenching in places, but as far as Eurocentric children's fare goes, at least it's not Watership Down.

Technically, didn't find any visual issues. The reincorporated/alternate music was edited well. Might be my imagination, but G'mork seemed to have a new voice? The only potential audio issue I heard was right around the final voiceover line in the film; seemed like the music suddenly muted during the line. I couldn't tell from memory whether this was endemic to the original.

Still a one-of-a-kind film. Really enjoyed this edit.

This is the best version. The songs are the part I enjoyed the most, they make this version really shine.
Editing looks great throughout it.

This is a very good edit I like most of the choices the editor makes and the film flows nicely, its an enjoyable watch. Technically I didn't spot any of the edits, admittedly I was focused on the story not trying to spot the edits, but you could have told me this was a studio cut and I would have believed it.