Why Chris Pratt never wants to see his favourite movie ever again: “I’ll never know”
Chris Pratt has undergone a wild career change over the past decade or so that nobody could have predicted.
For the longest time, he was known mainly for his role as the lovable oaf Andy Dwyer in Parks & Recreation. He was a comedy character through and through, until Marvel told him to hit the gym for his role as Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy. Since then, he has become a bona fide top star in the Hollywood sphere. His films have generated billions of dollars worldwide, and he commands a hefty price for his once laughed-at visage.
Long before he was an Avenger (or Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son-in-law), Pratt worked a number of odd jobs to get by as a struggling performer. He found work as a stripper after he dropped out of college and waited tables at a Maui branch of the Bumba Gump Shrimp Company, which is where he was discovered by actor and director Rae Dawn Chong. Through it all, he had always had a passion for movies, with one film in particular standing out amongst the pack.
Speaking as part of a Q&A session on Reddit, the actor revealed that his favourite ever movie is the classic 1984 fantasy adventure The NeverEnding Story. Pratt would have been just five years old when the film came out, so it’s no surprise that it holds such a special place in his heart. However, for that exact reason, he cannot bring himself to watch it as an adult.
“I’m sure it doesn’t hold up, but I’ll never know,” the star wrote, “I’ll never watch it again, cause I hate when movies that I loved as a kid don’t hold up. For instance, Tango & Cash, just terrible.” The original post makes less sense than that, as Pratt seems to be allergic to commas or capitalising the first letters of nouns. We tidied that up for you.
The NeverEnding Story is based on a 1979 novel by German author Michael Ende. It follows a young boy named Bastian, played by Barret Oliver, who discovers that he is a prophesied warrior who must save the land of Fantasia from an evil force known as ‘The Nothing’. The film is very much in the same vein as other 1980s high-fantasy hits like Labyrinth and Willow. Some elements haven’t aged particularly well, but they’re a damn sight better than the other film Pratt mentioned.
While people liked The NeverEnding Story when it first came out, nobody cared about Tango & Cash. This buddy cop film pits Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell against a criminal genius who has framed them both for murder. Unfortunately, the only thing murdered was the movie. It underwent serious issues behind the scenes, taking on four different directors and a bunch of damaging script rewrites. It was a complete disaster, and critics saw right through it, although it turned a tidy profit at the box office. It was the ’80s; nobody knew what to do.
Pratt first revealed this information about a decade ago. It’s unclear whether or not he’s broken his promise and gone back to his former favourite, or if he’s still haunted by the idea that it might be rubbish. If he hasn’t, then at least he’ll save himself the trauma of that horse dying. We’re still not over it.
