The Neverending Story (1984)

This 1984 masterpiece may appear out of place in German director Wolfgang Petersen's oeuvre. A joyful fantasy frolic with dragons and other animals, a far cry from his usual gritty realism, appears to be a long departure from his usual gritty realism. However, behind the surface, "The Neverending Story" is a shockingly dark fairy tale. It is one of the best movies on magic.

The story is told through the pages of a storybook, with the perspective moving between the real world and the fantasy world of the boy reading it. Our protagonist is thrust into the world of Fantasia, a collapsing empire on the verge of collapse. A savage force is known only as "the nothing" threatens to annihilate Fantasia, prompting the story's hero, Atreyu, to embark on a quest to save the world. He is repeatedly confronted with unfathomable dangers along the road, all while being chased by nothing, who is withering the environment around him as he runs.