1984's Ewok movie, Caravan of Courage proved to be a decent enough of a success to warrant a sequel. Ewoks: The Battle for Endor was aired on TV in the United States in 1985 (also receiving a theatrical release elsewhere) and was written and directed by Jim and Ken Wheat (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) and stars Wilford Brimley (The Thing), Warwick Davis (Star Wars: Episode VI- Return of the Jedi), and Aubree Miller (Caravan of Courage).
Cindel (Aubree Miller) and her family are still stuck on the planet Endor when some marauders invade and kill Cindel's family and also capturing some Ewoks. Apparently these Marauders are interested in some sort of power source for a spaceship (but they don't seem to be aware of this). Cindel and her Ewok friend Wicket (Warwick Davis), meet up with (a mountain man?) Noa (Wilford Brimley) who could help save the captured Ewoks and keep away from the Marauders.
Needless to say, I find Ewoks: The Battle for Endor to be quite a significant improvement over Caravan of Courage which I found to be nearly intolerable. Going in, I was not expecting much. Within the first 10 minutes the film managed to give me a few surprises. First off, having a well known actor like Paul Gleason (Die Hard and The Breakfast Club) is in a film primarily made for kids and of this magnitude really surprised me. The other thing that surprised me was that they killed off Cindel's family (whom the whole first film devoted it's time to have get rescued and whatnot). Personally, I found the family to be unbearable that I wasn't mad at all. In fact, right after the first 10 minutes, a much darker tone is established which is something that is drastically different in comparison to the sunshine and rainbows of Caravan of Courage. I was really hoping this film was not of the same quality as Caravan of Courage and a change of tone relieved me of any worry. The film is a sci fi, fantasy, hybrid with, it seems, to be a much heavier focus on the fantasy elements. I have seen many compare this film to Willow of which George Lucas wrote and yeah, it makes perfect sense to me. Ewoks: The Battle for Endor was a sort of test put on by Lucas to see if he was any good at writing dark fantasies. Granted, much of the criticism I have seen directed towards this film say the presence of witches and magic should not belong in a "Star Wars movie". Ewoks: The Battle for Endor is it's own thing and I have a bit of enjoyment for that. It's also funny to see another well known actor like Wilford Brimley to pop up in a film like this and he does add a bit of enjoyment into the film. The overall plot of the film involving the Marauders and their obsession with this power supply of sorts is a bit goofy in my mind but perhaps outside of their more intimidating appearance, should suffice in entertaining the kids. They are bad and intimidating enough to feel somewhat threatening that for the kids, should find the final act to be very pleasing. Yeah surprisingly, this film has a Return of the Jedi forest battle for it's final act and it is very surprising as well considering Caravan of Courage was nearly devoid of substance in general. It was overall nice to see some blaster play in this film. Any sort of negatives mostly revolves around the poor acting (mostly towards Aubree Miller who played Cindel), the fact that Wicket speaks English for some reason, and the stop motion effects which I did not find charming in any way. The film has a bit of story flow problems where the film slows down when Wicket and Cindel meet Noa for the first time (Context: earlier they were worried about saving the captured Ewoks and after meeting Noa they seem to forget all about that until they finally leave).
Ewoks: The Battle for Endor is a film that is leaps and bounds better than Caravan of Courage in that there is actually a film with substance this time around. It's not one that not every Star Wars fan will enjoy but I'd at least keep an open mind for this one.
Cindel (Aubree Miller) and her family are still stuck on the planet Endor when some marauders invade and kill Cindel's family and also capturing some Ewoks. Apparently these Marauders are interested in some sort of power source for a spaceship (but they don't seem to be aware of this). Cindel and her Ewok friend Wicket (Warwick Davis), meet up with (a mountain man?) Noa (Wilford Brimley) who could help save the captured Ewoks and keep away from the Marauders.
Needless to say, I find Ewoks: The Battle for Endor to be quite a significant improvement over Caravan of Courage which I found to be nearly intolerable. Going in, I was not expecting much. Within the first 10 minutes the film managed to give me a few surprises. First off, having a well known actor like Paul Gleason (Die Hard and The Breakfast Club) is in a film primarily made for kids and of this magnitude really surprised me. The other thing that surprised me was that they killed off Cindel's family (whom the whole first film devoted it's time to have get rescued and whatnot). Personally, I found the family to be unbearable that I wasn't mad at all. In fact, right after the first 10 minutes, a much darker tone is established which is something that is drastically different in comparison to the sunshine and rainbows of Caravan of Courage. I was really hoping this film was not of the same quality as Caravan of Courage and a change of tone relieved me of any worry. The film is a sci fi, fantasy, hybrid with, it seems, to be a much heavier focus on the fantasy elements. I have seen many compare this film to Willow of which George Lucas wrote and yeah, it makes perfect sense to me. Ewoks: The Battle for Endor was a sort of test put on by Lucas to see if he was any good at writing dark fantasies. Granted, much of the criticism I have seen directed towards this film say the presence of witches and magic should not belong in a "Star Wars movie". Ewoks: The Battle for Endor is it's own thing and I have a bit of enjoyment for that. It's also funny to see another well known actor like Wilford Brimley to pop up in a film like this and he does add a bit of enjoyment into the film. The overall plot of the film involving the Marauders and their obsession with this power supply of sorts is a bit goofy in my mind but perhaps outside of their more intimidating appearance, should suffice in entertaining the kids. They are bad and intimidating enough to feel somewhat threatening that for the kids, should find the final act to be very pleasing. Yeah surprisingly, this film has a Return of the Jedi forest battle for it's final act and it is very surprising as well considering Caravan of Courage was nearly devoid of substance in general. It was overall nice to see some blaster play in this film. Any sort of negatives mostly revolves around the poor acting (mostly towards Aubree Miller who played Cindel), the fact that Wicket speaks English for some reason, and the stop motion effects which I did not find charming in any way. The film has a bit of story flow problems where the film slows down when Wicket and Cindel meet Noa for the first time (Context: earlier they were worried about saving the captured Ewoks and after meeting Noa they seem to forget all about that until they finally leave).
Ewoks: The Battle for Endor is a film that is leaps and bounds better than Caravan of Courage in that there is actually a film with substance this time around. It's not one that not every Star Wars fan will enjoy but I'd at least keep an open mind for this one.