The Ewok Adventure (1984)

I would not call Caravan of Courage (1984) bad exactly. It has some charm reminiscent of The Hobbit or an old, dark fairy tale. The Ewoks aren't annoying as they are in Return of the Jedi. The plot does meander but there are cool moments, like a creepy monster spider in the climactic battle.The only thing that keeps this movie from rating a respectable seven out of ten with me are the kid actors. The little girl playing Cindel is wooden as can be, but considering she was five years old, I can forgive her a little, especially when she improved so much in the sequel. The official protagonist, Mace, however, is just obnoxious. Actually, I won't blame the boy playing him; he does well with what he is given and let me tell you it is not much. Mace is whiny and rude. I so wanted to slap him and he changes at the last minute.Otherwise this is a competent movie; however, its sequel, The Battle for Endor, is much superior, with a stronger sense of fantasy, emotion, and character.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie over and over as a child. Back then in the 80s we didn't have cable or VCR, we had what you call a BETA tape. You'd be lucky if it worked and luckily our Ewoks tape worked a lot during its course.Anyway the movie starts off giving us a hint of what happened to our protagonist's parents. It gives us also a mere glimpse of the beast as well. It then flash forwards us into what happened to the 2 kids, Cindel and Mace. Cindel is a very cute and friendly kid, whereas her older brother Mace is protective and seemingly narrow-minded.Throughout the movie you'll probably develop a distaste for Mace, and deep fondness for Cindel and the Ewoks.A great family movie, they re-mastered this on DVD and I got it as soon as I could. Brings back great memories, without the rewinder.

George Lucas made a shrewd marketing move in the early eighties; changing the creatures to feature in 1983's Return of the Jedi from forest-dwelling Wookies, to small, cute and furry Ewoks. Lucas knew where the majority of his money was coming from: Merchandise. Ewoks were the cross-gender Star Wars 'commodity'. Figurines could be manufactured for the boys, so that they may interact with their existing toys; and a cuddly version could also be produced. However, after the release of Return of the Jedi, they no longer had a vehicle of promotion. So, Lucas pens "An Ewok Adventure" (story only), and cheaply produces a TV-movie.Mace (Eric Walker), a mini-Skywalker, and his little sister Cindel (Aubree Miller), a sickening Curly-f*****g-Sue, are stranded on the forest moon of Endor after their space cruiser crashed. Their parents Jeremitt (Guy Boyd) and Caterine (Fionnula Flanagan) have been kidnapped by the giant Gorax. The Ewoks discover the ship and take the kids back to their village. Eventually they join forces and form a quest to save the parents. This is aimed directly at kids of course. In 1985, both the "sequel" TV movie Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, and Ewoks: The Animated Series were produced, further exacerbating the kids "nag factor" element of toy marketing.Oh, how times have changed! Well, I can certainly see this crass cash-in for what it is now that I'm a pseudo-adult. But at the age of 8, this was related to Star Wars. It could well have just been Chewbacca shitting in a basket (or even The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)), but I would have loved it anyway. In hindsight, yes the Ewoks were rubbish anyway. But I admit this was not the case at the time (the shame!). What's even more shameful, is now that I've just watched it for the second time, I have now wasted three hours of my life on it. There are a few, good-for-the-time special effects. But this does not redeem a product of greedy capitalism.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

I know people say that the ewoks movies were a stupid waste of time and money, but I totally disagree. I think that if you are a child at heart, and still know how to use your imagination, then you would love these movies. 7.4 out of 10.