The Forgotten Star Wars Movies You Can Stream Right Now
Are you one of the people who watched Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and thought, ‘Man, I would really love it if they made some movies about the Ewoks’? Well, now you can head over to Disney+ and watch two movies that feature the murderous little teddy bears. Both Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor are available to stream on the platform.
The first of the Star Wars Ewok films was Caravan of Courage, which follows the little fuzzballs helping two young human siblings find their parents after they get lost on the moon of Endor.
If you haven’t heard of either of these Star Wars films, that’s not all too surprising. They both came out after Return of the Jedi in 1984 and 1985, respectively, and they both initially aired on ABC before getting very limited special releases. Not too many people were scrambling to see a film about Ewoks, so these are definitely more for the diehard fans of the franchise.
The first of the Star Wars Ewok films was Caravan of Courage, which follows the little fuzzballs helping two young human siblings find their parents after they get lost on the moon of Endor.
The film was directed by John Korty and starred Warwick Davis, Aubree Miller, Eric Walker, Fionnula Flanagan, Guy Boyd, and Daniel Frishman, with a story by George Lucas and a screenplay by Bob Carrau. As you might expect, the film isn’t going to be anything mind-blowing, and it’s a fairly simple, straightforward story.
Still, the production work and visual effects by ILM and the world of Endor are as beautiful as ever, so there are certainly worse ways to revisit the world of Star Wars.
The film follows Cindel Towani, the human girl from the first film, as she helps defend the moon of Endor from attacking marauders.
While the reception of Caravan of Courage was about as muted as you would expect from a TV special, they ended up making a sequel titled Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, which was released in 1985. George Lucas would also come up with the story for this one, with Jim and Ken Wheat co-directing and co-writing the screenplay.
As the title of this Star Wars film might suggest, Ewoks: The Battle for Endor is a bit more action-oriented than its predecessor. The film follows Cindel Towani, the human girl from the first film, as she helps defend the moon of Endor from attacking marauders. Once again, the story isn’t too complex, but the visual effects are beautifully done, and it’s a nice film to look at.
This Star Wars film even made an appearance at the Emmy Awards that year, nabbing a win for Oustanding Visual Effects. Ewoks: Battle for Endor also got nominated for Oustanding Children’s Program and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Special.
Again, it’s not an incredible film by any means, but if you miss those practical effect fantasy/sci-fi films from the 1980s, then this film should hit the right buttons for you.
Star Wars has since come a long way in the TV department since the TV specials like Ewoks: Battle for Endor and the much-maligned/beloved Holiday Special. Nowadays, there are film-level budgets dedicated to full-on Star Wars series on Disney+, some of which have garnered quite a bit of critical acclaim.
Those who watched the Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978 probably never expected the franchise to create a TV show with the level of quality as something like Andor or The Mandalorian.
Now is a great time to check out some lesser-known Star Wars films like Caravan of Courage and Ewoks: Battle for Endor as we patiently await the next big TV series from the franchise.
Ahsoka Is On Its Way
We’re just under a month away from the premiere of the highly-anticipated Ahsoka series, which is set to hit the platform on August 23. Ahsoka will star Rosario Dawson as the titular character as she searches for the lost Jedi Ezra Bridger and investigates the impending threat of Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Along with Rosario Dawson, Ahsoka will star Lars Mikkelson as Grand Admiral Thrawn, Eman Esfadi as Ezra Bridger, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Hera Syndulla, Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren, Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker, and the late Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll.
Make sure to tune in to the series at the end of August. In the meantime, head over to Disney + to watch Caravan of Courage and Ewoks: Battle for Endor.
