The Wild History Behind the Strangest Star Wars Movies Ever Made
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2024
- If you love how The Mandalorian shows-off the strangest side of Star Wars, but still miss the charm of the original trilogy, then you MUST rediscover the Ewok Adventure movies! Even if you've already seen just how wild they get, things get even wilder as we explore the surprising history behind the scenes.
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![I Watched The Ewok Movie [and its SURPRISINGLY DARK Sequel]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZPM9X8k444I/mqdefault.jpg)
When Ewok Adventure (and later, Battle For Endor) aired it was the first time I had ever heard a show in stereo at home, because it was simulcast on FM radio and I was able to listen to it through the stereo console in my room. I was sooooo blown away by that. My father was like , “someday all shows will be in stereo”. That seemed so futuristic to me.
And now we live in Dolby Surround or could tell Alexa to play the whole house. I Remember trying to record VHS movies with my Tape recorder to create that effect. How many times my little sister would interrupt and ruin my taping sessions I can’t count.
I was a Kid when those movies aired. AND I LOVE THEM! In my opinion it has way more Star Wars in it, than the new corporate Disney Star Wars Movie. It channels perfectly the 80s charme of a fantasy / Sci Fi adventure with the spirit "it doesnt matter how big or strong you are, it matters how biog your heart is and friendship and love can overcome anything". I really like that message! Of course, it is not a big epic Star Wars movies and it doesn't has the quality of those iconic films, but there is still the message, dedication and it has those influences of myth and story from any culture in it. Sure, not a s clever as Star Wars, but it's an 80s TV (B-Movie-ish) Movie and I think its a perfect representation of those days. And it has some memorable scenes that I still remember (like the death of the main villian in part two). I rewatched those movies 5-6 years ago with my girlfriend, and DAMN the beginning of "Battle for Endor" has one of the darkest beginnings ever!! 😄Damn, we were shocked.. It doesnt had that impact when I was a kid, but now as a parent.. that was tough to watch!😃Long story short: In those days Star Wars Media was very unique and I really loved the Ewok Stuff (even the cartoon series with those ultra catchy theme song) and those movie were a big adventure for me. Watching them now, I really appreciate the heart and failures of that 80s movies. I love bad stuck motion and bad puppets more than bad cgi stuff. And I love the landscape drawings and the real locations. Its a small little Ewok Story of friendship and adventure. I dig that 🙂...And I watched it in the theater, but we had to leave early, because the spider scared the sh*t out of me, so we had to leave the cinema😅 ps. Thank you for this video and your research. You did a fantastic job!
The Battle for Endor is exactly my STAR WARS.
More. MORE!!
That's definitely the one to go with!
Interestingly enough, both the bluurg & the witch that first appeared in 'Battle for Endor' are now very much part of Star Wars canon. The former is in Clone Wars & The Mandalorian, while the latter Nightsisters of Dathomir have been in Clone Wars & the latest Star Wars Jedi games.
I'm here for it. The more Ewoks canon the better.
@@theothervault EWOKS-4EVER.
I STILL Have My Old Playsets,
Banks & Wicket Phone... Along
with Many, MANY Plush Animals!
Huh? What episodes for the witch?
@@AmityvilleFan There Were
2-EWOK Films (3-Counting ROTJ) &
A Cartoon Series By: DiC in 85/86.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ewoks_(TV_series)
@@AmityvilleFanThe witch was in the 2nd ewok film with Wilford Brimley.
This movie directly showed the expanded universe on Endor. It was violent af too. Loved it!
It’s crazy to think that when Battle For Endor was made Wilford Brimley was ten years younger than Tom Cruise is right now.
Or that paul rudd is the same age as wilford brimley was in cocoon!
@@joshfacio9379Wil Wheaton is now older than Patrick Stewart was when Next Generation began. Time is relentless.
The best freak-out moment ever 1:39
A trick of Course 21:44
Diabeetus
These films were my gateway drug to Star Wars as a small child. I’d watch them all the time, although Gorax and Terrak terrified me.
They were scary af 😨 😳 😬
I was born in 1979 and grew up with the Star Wars trilogy on VHS at home. I vividly remember watching both of these Ewok movies as a kid on TV. Where they as good as Star Wars? LOL! No. Not at all. But for the time, they honestly weren’t that bad. For TV movies in 1984 and 1985 in fact, I’d even say they were pretty impressive from a special effects, costume, and cinematography standpoint. As I kid I watched them a lot, and really liked them. As the years passed, they seemed more and more dated, and as an adult I sort of chuckle at them. But back then, they were pretty much the only other live action view of the world of Star Wars that we had besides the original trilogy. And because of that, they were actually kind of exciting. It wasn’t a world of live action prequels, episodes VII through IX, Rogue One, Solo, shows like Mandalorian, Andor, or Obi-wan Kenobi, or any of the various animated shows like Clone Wars. So when we got these in the mid 80’s, especially as a kid, they were pretty darn cool. And you couldn’t just rewatch them either unless you had a VCR and recorded them. It wasn’t like streaming today. So you got a cool glimpse, and hoped it might re-air at some point.
This is great perspective. Thanks for sharing!
I was born in late 1978 and I can say the same. We even managed to acquire the second one on VHS and I think I wore that tape out.
Yeah. 1977 here. That was my experience. And the Gorax scared me WAYYY more than the Rancor!
1973, for me, I still love my Star Wars. In England, the Ewok movies just appeared at my local vhs rental, totally out of the blue. The disappointment was hard lol.
Thank you. I loved this is a kid and I am sure my 4 year old will too when he's old enough to watch it (he even thinks Jar Jar is hilarious so take that!). These movies were made for kids and people who try to analyze it as anything more than that are really missing the point.
We recorded these on VHS and watched them 100s of times when I was a kid. This was nostalgic.
I never understood why Lucas decided that The Forrest Moon of Endor was more like the world of Willow. I also have always been confused on why the Ewoks blatantly use magic. not the Force, but magic.
It’s crazy to think Disney decided to go out of their way to make Star Wars movies so bad just to make the Ewok spinoff movies look like masterpieces.
Haha - It was planned all along!
kek
You got that confused with the Holiday Special. The Ewoks were bonkers but goofy fun.
It's sad because 15 years ago, the title would have been "WORST Star Wars movies ever made" instead of "strangest".
Yes!
My god, that clip of Wilford Brimely in the action movie was one of the funniest things I have EVER SEEN! Thank you for that...thank you haha.
So happy to hear that you appreciated it!
Yeah he was awsome,.... the movie was called #HardTarget from 1993, i saw it in cinema back in the days
I remember watching these as a kid. They may not hold up for adults, but as kids movies from the 1980s they were phenomenal!
I remember watching this movie as a child. During high school I would always tell me peers that there was this weird Star Wars Ewok spin off where the main hero was some Hillbilly who wore GLASSES and fought with a cane, but my friend would scoff it off and not believe me.
Battle For Endor has one of my favorite throw-away jokes in any movie I've ever seen.
The bad guy has this moat with some kind of monster in it that eats whatever falls in. After crossing it with a rope, the good guys have this fight scene that ends with a couple of evil guards hanging over the moat from the rope and it cuts without showing them fall.
Later, the top bad guy comes into a room and he sees this rope stretching across it and it's in his way, so he casually cuts it so he doesn't have to go around. And in the background you hear "Waaaaagh!" *splash
They don't draw attention to it, nobody comments on it, the sound is in the background so you might miss it if you aren't following the movie. I love those kinds of jokes that reward you for paying attention.
Also, I love that it basically opens with Syndel watching her entire family get murdered. That is a ballsy move for a movie aimed at 5 year olds and I am HERE for it.
I love everything about ewok adventure! Why does it have to be another star wars empire vs jedi movie? Maybe it's the nostalgia, but it's perfect to me.
I love how the family gets it in the first 10 minutes of "The Battle for Endor". Much appreciated.
Just dark and brutal
@@chasehedges6775 Hello again.👋🏻
And somehow these two movies still manage to be more entertaining and more endearing than all of modern Star Wars.
I saw Caravan of Courage in the cinema and it was absolutely thrilling as a 6 year old. As was Battle for Endor. The movies were made for kids, not for adults.
That "magical" lake freaked me out as a kid watching back in the 80s. It's the main the thing I remember from these spin-offs to this day.
The Ewok movies have a nostalgic soft spot in our hearts, and funny enough, Lady Laci was the spitting image of Sindel when she was a little girl and would even wear her space (snow) boots everywhere because of that.
Battle for Endor was the first Star Wars movie I watched. When other kids were fantasizing about X-Wings and AT-ATs I was imagining warrior bear cubs on hang gliders...
I honestly think, Lucas saw criticism thrown at the Ewoks from Return of the Jedi, and decided to flip those critics the bird, and made two films specifically about Ewoks.
Ha! Love this idea!
A fun fact: In the continuation of the legends after Cincel, the little child, after leaving Endor, they went to the outer edge of the galaxy Later, when Cincel grew up, she was the old man, they separated and Cincel became a journalist for the New Republic, including doing interviews with the main pilots of the New Republic. Later she also investigated the crisis of the Black Fleet which was a powerful fleet of Imperial remnants later she also did an interview with a being called "the lost prophet" who in fact He was an old clone trooper pilot from the clone wars who piloted an Arc-170 that was destroying and this is where Cincel's story ends after these films.
Grew up watching these as a kid in the '80s. If it was not for these two movies, I don't think I would have become such a fan of Star Wars in my early teen years. The first time I watched Return of the Jedi, I was like: "Whoa! Wait, what? The Ewoks are in this??" So, for me, these movies were the start of Star Wars. The scene in Battle for Endor when the witch changes from the "siren" TERRIFIED me as a kid. Seriously, nightmares. But I loved Caravan of Courage just as much. I remember being incredibly thrilled/scared when Mace is trapped underwater and Cindel is stuck in the runaway "cart." These came out on DVD in the 2000s and I had them for a while until my roommates accidentally sold them at a garage sale. I was not happy, but luckily they are on Disney Plus now. I thought they were amazing as a kid and still love them now.
Droids never should’ve been cancelled. That show has so much charm.
Amazing video and bravo for the huge amount of work you did, I am sure you gonna get way more subs really soon
Thanks so much! Always great to hear when someone enjoys my stuff!
@@theothervault Yes thank you for all the work on putting this together. Had not thought about these in many years. thx again and great work on the editing man
I have fond memories of both of these Ewok movies along with The Great Heep animated Droids special. My dad recorded them all on vhs when they originally broadcast.
These movies were bizarre and bonkers, but still have a special place in my heart. Though I hated the second movie only cause they killed of the family in the beginning of the film. The son was my favorite character.
These do feel like proto-Willow fantasy adventure exercises. I still have them recorded on VHS, but yeah, I probably haven't watched them in like 35 years.
I enjoyed these as a kid, really will try to rewatch them. The first felt a bit odd to me as a kid but I loved the stop motion. The second was really shocking, nowadays it feels tame but the whole family wiped out. Even when it only feels kinda star warsy it's an interesting sci-fantasy with some nice even though dated effects! :)
I grew up with the Ewok movies but didn't see Star Wars until I was a teen in 1997. I love the special effects and the way the entire thing feels. It works well and I still live it. Great video, man!
I had a read a long book of the series and it scared me as a kid. Because of the noise is that they added in..
My cousins and myself were super pumped for this when it aired. All it made me want to do was watch the original trilogy.
I didn't give two flips for star wars as a kid. Loved space balls though...
And i loved the ewoks!! So when i saw those ewok movies i loved them 😂 still do. I bought them a couple years ago.
After 30 years of not seeing them.... i was stoked.
Even if the FX were dated and looked bad on my tv. I knew what i was getting into! ❤😊
I loved the ewoks, I love the ewoks adventures, it explains why the ewoks are so smart and such great warriors.
George Lucas: "Season 1 of Ewoks cartoon is too scary. Tone it down, make it super kiddie."
Also George Lucas: "In the 2nd movie, have evil looking vicious aliens kill off the little girls entire family"
I was born in 1979, and I vividly remember being 7-8 years old and trying to figure out how these fit into Star Wars canon. And coming to the conclusion that they made no sense. If the Ewok Adventure and Battle for Endor took place before RotJ; Wicket would've been able to speak English when he met Leia. But if they were after, there would have to be SOME indication that the end of RotJ happened; Death Star debris, destroyed AT-ST's, etc. This confused me to no end at that time.
I mean, as a kid, the Star Wars universe has a Force that just ...makes magical shit happen. So the Ewok films having light fantasy movie elements made perfect sense to me. I think it's why I've always been much more open to weirdness in SW than a lot of fans. How is any of this lazer-sword pew-pew magical spaceship series NOT weird?
The Jedi Vs. Sith comics from 2001 would probably tickle your fancy. It’s basically medieval Jedi and is where Darth Bane became more than some background character George created.
Although I haven’t watched these Ewok movies since they originally aired, I have them on dvd. I think they are in the tradition of Star Wars, which is about myth and adventure.
I loved these films as a kid. I was a little girl, and had a big crush on Luke. I loved Leia. Other than her, however, there weren't a lot of female characters to identify with, and light sabers were cool and all - but I loved the Ewoks too. I was five. So I was all about the Ewok adventure and Battle for Endor, and Cindel was my new hero. They were sweet little stories set in an exciting sci-fi fantasy universe that I was already familiar with. Not everything about Star Wars had to be about Jedi and fighting with laser swords. A least, not to me.
I love these Ewok movies and their weirdness. George Lucas' dark fantasy phase was great.
Battle For Endor is 10/10
I saw this as a very little kid and it was so weird that for the longest time when I’d remember it, I honestly thought I was remembering a fever dream I might have had.
Cindel eventually became a reporter and was mentioned in Tyrant's Test, the third book in The Black Fleet Crisis trilogy, by Michael P Kube-McDowell.
She grew up to become Captain Phasma
@@Bean-vu6gp I know she's not phasma I was having a joke I think I hit a nerd nerve with you
@@Bean-vu6gp all good
I rewatched these two films just a couple nights ago for the first time in 40-ish years since I watched them “live” on TV in the 80s. I didn’t remember a lot of the details so, in a lot of ways, it was like watching them for the first time. And I loved them. Whatever Disney thinks of them, as far as I’m concerned they’re canon. (And they do continue to get referenced in the modern, mainstream canon in the current shows). So there’s no reason to ignore them or to ignore the cartoons (which I rewatched also) which fills in some rather interesting “lost” chapters of Star Wars lore, even if they are side quests, so to speak.
It has annoyed me in recent years for the internet to talk about how hated the Ewoks are. Since when?? Since recently, I guess, by people who didn’t grow up with them. They seem to be completely unaware that the Ewoks were once wildly popular-particularly among children. But then that seems to be their issue with the Ewoks. Anything appealing to kids is bad now. Which seems rather…immature.
Just comes down to multigenerational viewership and a franchise that's always going to try to remain relevent. I know plenty of people that grew up watching the original trilogy in theaters and the Ewoks just felt out of place and too cuddly for them. It wasn't their Star Wars. For me, I saw these on VHS for the first time, so Ewoks felt just as established as anything else in the SW Universe. Same thing happened with much of the prequel trilogy. Didn't feel like my Star Wars, but so many of the kids around me totally ate it up without issue.
Funny. They're only 30ish years old.
@@maximusprime3459 - 1984. That’s 39 years, which is one year shy of 40. Math is a helluva a thing.
What a wonderfully made video. Thank you and well done. You've a real talent for your craft.
Much appreciated!
I watched Battle for Endor two weeks ago, and its actually fantastic.
I actually really like Battle For Endor. I think it's a good 80's TV movie. Though I think Caravan of Courage is pretty boring as they just walk the entire movie, though I do like the end of that movie. I own the official DVD. I bought it pretty cheap from eBay many years ago, it was still new.
The Endor movies have always been weird, though they did allow the effects guys to try out ideas without burdening the main movies with the experiments if they didn't work out.
23:37 the puppet craftsmanship here is insanely good
Look at how its mouth moves to smile in this shot
I loved these movies as a kid watching them in the late 80s early 90s on the Disney channel. In retrospect they fit a bit better with the 80s fantasy genre than Sci-fi, obviously it's a bit of both but I think they're a lot like the similar genre bending movie Krull in that someone will either love it for its quirks and the shortcomings of the special effects or hate it for that very reason.
I loved the ewok movies as a kid,havnt watched them as an adult yet.
Another connection between An Ewok Adventure and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, besides both being narrated by Burl Ives, is that both the Gorax and the Abominable Snow Monster are defeated by falling off a cliff.
I was a kid and I remember loving this movie!
why i have not heard of this, this is the sequel we wanted
and it’s non canon?
One of my Ukrainian friends learned Polish in under 6 months. Wicket COULD learn rudimentary English in that much time, but he'd have to be dedicated to some intensive lessons.
Don't hold your breath
I totally loved the Ewoks movie as a kid, especially the Battle for Endor. I was a bout 7 or 8, I think, and loved how much darker than Star Wars it got :D
It's not that much different from other cool (but cheap) fantasy movies from around that time, like Krull and Legend. And indeed, Willow, which I also loved as a kid, but has aged terribly.
Dude, i loved these movies! We had the first one taped off TV, and i only ever saw the second one once. But i always remembered the cool piranha/tyrannosaurus beast from it (the monsters are always my favorite part of SW), so i was SO PUMPED when they appeared again in the Mandalorian! Now if we could only get a Planet of the Hoojibs movie made...
These movies made more of an impression on me than TLJ or ROS. Cindel was a likeable protagonist, as was her brother. I was shocked, frankly, when the rest of the family died. As weird and silly and cheap as these Ewok movies were, they had a sweetness and charm and sense of magic that the old Lucas properties had (and the newer ones don't).
Loved these random movies as a kid..
Loved these movies as a kid when they came out, I've rewatched them recently and still enjoyed it 😂
Very cynical reason for making these. Gary Kurtz said that after ESB, Lucas became more interested in merchandising than in actually making good movies, and Hamill proves it in the clip you played. It also comes across as if Lucas loses all interest in the fans when they become too old to play with his crappy toys.
Yup. George's transition from artist to businessman was pretty out in the open.
What I found most remarkable with these movies at the time is that they put Earth and the Star Wars Galaxy in the same universe and roughly same timeframe, thus contradicting the "long time ago in a Galaxy far, far away" mantra of the whole franchise.
That this included a clip from Hard Target made me so happy. Great video and great channel
Thanks! Hard Target has been living in my head rent free for so so long...
When I first heard Burl Ives narrating, I honestly thought it was gonna be some sort of "Christmas on Endor" movie. I liked Ewok Adventure much better than Battle for Endor.
Let's not forget these came on the tail end of the Star Wars phenomenon. It was on its way out, and that was fine. People didn't expect franchises to get driven into ground by series and spinoffs like they are now. With every new Disney Star Wars project, I wish more and more the franchise had a dignified, natural passing in the late 80's.
They don't feel like Star Wars, but they feel a damn sight more like Star Wars than any of the tosh Disney has churned out recently.
I knew that there was a Star Wars Holiday Special where they celebrated "Life Day"that I actually watched on television once by the way, but most of this I had no idea about. This is kind of like a major Mandela effect experience to Me.
I can confirm that I’ve watched the Star Wars holiday special more times than anyone ever.
The Battle for Endor was a great family movie with much more fantasy elements.
23:11 Wonder if this is were Peter Jacksson got his idea for how Sauron was originally defeated.
500x better than any prequel sequel or disney series
Revenge Of The Sith is awesome and I love Battle For Endor
1000x better than the ST or any of the mediocre Disney plus shows
Mandalorian S1 and S2, and Rogue One and And or are good that's not saying much
I'm from Japan and I saw EWOK ADVENTURE in the theater when I was a teenager.
Man, it's a lot worse than I remember.
I wasnt there for the original airing of any star wars movies but i was a huge fan of this movie i cant count how many sundays i rented this to watch
I adore the Ewoks and I adore these films tbh :D
Teek is the best character. Change my mind. Remember The Jackalope? "Fast as fast can be! You'll never catch me!" That's who Teek reminds me of.
Edit/Note: Or maybe The Jackalope reminds me of Teek.
3:13 We still haven't seen a Star Wars flamethrower.
4:15 I had that whole set in the '80s.
12:32 The Ewoks and Droids Adventure Hour! That takes me back!
15:07 We who were '80s kids in the '80s felt insulted by that sort of thing seeing as how we watched stuff like RoboCop, Street Trash, and The Toxic Avenger and thought all the melting, mutating, and mutilation was hilarious. 🙃
26:24 Because '80s.
I haven't thought of The Jackalope in a long time. It was a segment on America's Funniest People, a spin-off of America's Funniest Home Videos.
Missed Spaceballs "Fooled you!" joke involving the witch.
@@seatspud I used that joke in a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. video once.
th-cam.com/video/kd8LIO39kMU/w-d-xo.html (timestamp included)
Mad props for using that scene from Hard Target to introduce Wilford Brimley.
My family had these taped off of TV and I watched them all the time.
I liked the 1st ewok special. As an 8 yr old there were some scary parts.
I watched the films when they aired. The first one was full of Christmas comercials. I loved it...and everything that looks fake now...looked just as fake then. I still love them but clearly it's nostalgic because I would prefer to have the copies I had recorded from television so I could have all the comercials that aired during the broadcast. The comercial breaks are actually on TH-cam however the comercials for local businesses differ from region to region.
this was the first stereo simulcast? wow. that's pretty unreal thinking that everything before this was presented in mono 🤔
Back then a lot of people still didn't have color TVs, as they were pretty expensive. My family had one color TV in the living room and then a couple of little black and white ones in other rooms.
Teek should also be a returning character. But Disney is too incompetent to do that.
💯💯
I love Battle for Endor, it’s actually one of my favourite Star Wars movies. I like it better than Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Rise of Skywalker, that’s for sure.
💯💯💯💯. Definitely
Battle For Endor and Revenge of The Sith are my personal favorites
I was a teen in the 80s (class of '87), and I have absolutely no memory of any of these shows.
Wild! The first movie especially was marketed towards younger kids, so maybe it just didn't hit your high school radar...?
@@theothervault That's probably it. I was eight when ANH came out and eleven when TESB came out, and I was a huge fan of both like any kid my age, but by the time ROTJ came out I was fourteen and into other stuff.
Yeah, that makes total sense!
That prison break... sequence... was... EPIC!!!
OK, so this is the source of the random Star Wars memory that I have, but hadn't been able to locate.
That ending 🤣
I like how 20:59 was referenced in Return to Oz
Noah drops an f-bomb when trying to fix the spaceship
Cindel Towani should return as a hot mercenary character.
💯💯💯
I'd watch that, tbh
@@chasehedges6775 Would be awesome
These movies were amazing. I'll die on this hill
I mean, we all gotta have a cause. No hate from me!
Wilfred Brimley is also known for the Liberty Medical commercials "Diabetes" so.
When I was a kid... I thought these were some kind of weird prequal... It was the orange suit... I thought that was young Luke.
The Ewoks were going to keep the family around until famine, because I suspect there might have been issues with food trying to feed a whole death star and fleet above.
Bro you said goroax and I just instantly remembered100% of the fear I had for that thing when I was like 6 years old 😂😂 I have to say I was stoked for this as a 6 year old
Ewok Movies are Goated!!! More true to the Star Wars Universe than any of the last 10 years worth of Star Wars Movies and Shows!!! And how dare you hate on the Plot armor😂😂😂 Me and My Sisters love those freaking movies!!
💯💯. Battle For Endor is a 9/10
We had the Battle For Endor on tape and it was my main Star Wars viewing option for YEARS. Pretty sure we had access to that before getting the trilogy on tape at some point,
Honestly, this is probably why I still really like horror movies. I forget how utterly bleak most of this movie is.
The male character at the end looks like a mix of Cindels's dad (gun, outfit) and... Mace? Wonder if they were working off of an earlier draft where he survived for the poster...
Good theory!
With the atrocity that is The Last Jedi being something that actually exists, give me the Ewok movies any day.
ppl complain about the effects of the ewok movies as if they werent TV movies on a budget. 🤦When I was a kid they played on disney channel all the time, so they were as much "Star Wars" as the films. And the special effects in those tv movies are cooler than any CGI-sore film that comes out today.
I remember seeing the ewoks when I was a kid on tv and I loved it, and I was never a star wars fan.
Being born in 1974 i was the target market for this and as a kid i liked it, i haven't seen it since maybe it would be different to me now