TV Show Review: “Tales from the Neverending Story” Episode 1.5

Series Title: Tales from the Neverending Story
Episode: 1.5 “The Gift of the Name” (2001)
Director: Giles Walker, Adam Weissman
Lead Actors: Mark Rendall (as Bastian Balthazar Bux), John Dunne-Hill (Coreander), Noël Burton (Michael Bux), Stéfanie Buxton (Fly Girl)
Length: 44 minutes
Spoiler-free Synopsis: Bastian tries to figure out who stole $63 from his locker at school, while in Fantasia Atreyu and his new friend Fly Girl try to find the Southern Oracle, which they hope will tell Atreyu how to heal the Childlike Empress.
Reason for Beginning: I know, I know I said I wouldn’t watch any more of these after the catastrophe that was the first episode, but I saw that my On-Demand service had replaced Episodes 1-4 with 5-8, and I decided to try again. Which does mean that I have not seen episodes 2, 3, and 4. So in lieu of the fact that I cannot judge how the story has developed thus far, I will try to go a little easier on this episode.
Reason for Finishing: I think I finally learned to grin and laugh at the campiness this time around. It’s still terribly made, terribly acted, and just plain terrible on so many levels, but I have to admit that some parts were distinctly enjoyable in spite of themselves.
Episode Re-viewability: Maybe a little, for the entertaining overacting of two of the side characters.
Recommendation: Meh…only if you watched some of the previous episodes and found them enjoyable in their campiness. Otherwise, still no. I’m going to try to watch more of the series because it’s veering into “so bad it’s good” territory, but that’s hardly a recommendation.

TV Show Review: “Tales from the Neverending Story” – Episode 1

Copying "The Lord of the Rings" much?

Series Title: Tales from the Neverending Story
Episode: 1.1 “Heart of Stone” (2001)
Director: Giles Walker
Lead Actors: Mark Rendall (as Bastian Balthazar Bux), John Dunne-Hill (Coreander), Noël Burton (Michael Bux)
Length: 44 minutes
Spoiler-free Synopsis: Wherein Bastian Balthazar Bux, a young boy who loves books, experiences the tragic death of his mother and an increasingly awkward relationship with his father. Meanwhile, he finds the magical book The Neverending Story, the story of which begins to seem suspiciously similar to a bizarre dream he had.
Reason for Beginning: I saw it available free on On-Demand, and since I’m a fan of both Michael Ende’s novel The Neverending Story and the 1984 film of the same name, I thought I’d give it a whirl. Also, I’d never heard of this adaptation before, and was morbidly curious as to what a low-budget Hallmark TV adaptation of the inspired fantasy epic would look like.
Reason for Finishing: Gaahhhh! The horror! Can’t take my eyes off the unfolding catastrophe!