It’s a fantasy movie that really delivers! I recently saw this on the big screen because of its 40th anniversary re-release—it's the second film I've experienced in theaters since *Trainspotting* was brought back earlier this year. That Danny Boyle film from 1996 is wonderful, and so is this Wolfgang Petersen movie from 1984. Before seeing it, I wasn’t entirely sure what to anticipate; I only knew about the genre …

I first encountered this movie years ago – largely because of Limahl’s popular theme song, and I found myself liking it a lot. Drawing on only the initial portion of Michael Ende's book, it tells a sweet fantasy story about a young boy—"Bastian" (Barret Oliver)—who is being picked on by three other kids. After finding someplace to escape one day in a bookstore, the shop owner shows him an unusual book that he takes a…