Last night I decided to revisit one of my favorite films as a child: The Neverending Story. I was a little nervous that the movie wouldn’t be as good as I remembered, but thankfully it was. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, this 1984 film was met with mostly positive reviews upon its release. While the film grossed less in the U.S. than it cost to make, worldwide it pulled in more than $100 million and went on to become one of the best-selling home video releases ever.

The Neverending Story is based on the first half of the fantasy novel of the same name by Michael Ende. While I plan on reading the novel, I have yet to do so; therefore I can’t compare the two. However, nearly 30 years later, the movie is still as visually stunning as I remember. Watching Atreyu traverse Fantasia in search of a way to save the Empress, was as spellbinding as I remembered. And the wonderfully majestic score, composed by Klaus Doldinger, brought back great memories, as well as the title song, which was composed by legendary disco producer Giorgio Moroder.

If you’ve never seen this movie, I highly recommend it. While some of the special effects look dated, the majority of them are still wonderful. More importantly, the acting is excellent and the story is charming. It’s a wonderful film for those young and old, and it still ranks high on my list of all-time favorite films.