Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure
Did
you ever watch “Star Was: Return of the Jedi” and wonder, whatever happened to
those Ewok's? The furry little creatures that live on the forest planet and
help the rebels fight the Empire. They were cute and cuddly looking, but could
take down Storm Troopers and kick butt with the best of them. After Jedi ended,
they got a couple of their own spin off movies, the first of which was this one
“Caravan of Courage”.
My
memories of this film were so vague, I could hardly recall almost anything
about it. I remember it involved a boy and girl who were siblings, whose
parents get taken by a large monster that looked like a giant Chewbacca, only
meaner. And I remember watching it a lot when I was kid, probably because it
was aimed squarely at kids. Where as I got right into the action of Star Wars,
it had more talky moments and there were parts of the original trilogy I didn’t
understand as a kid, especially the more complex and story driven “Empire
Strikes Back”. So, I would watch the Ewok’s in their own movie, because it was purely
Star Wars for much younger viewers.
Watching
it again to write this review was like watching it for the first time. As it
went along, more and more became familiar to me. For example, the memory of an
Ewok hand gliding stuck in my head; a strange thing to remember, but right
enough, the film opens with an Ewok flying over the forest looking for his two
children. He finds them, and they also come across a space craft that seems to
have crash landed in the woods. They enter it to find a young girl hiding
inside, then her older brother arrives with a laser gun, threatening the
Ewok's, who jump him then tie the boy up to a log and carry him back to their
village.
Despite
their rough housing of the brother, the Ewok’s treat the little girl very well.
The humans try to communicate with the hairy little creatures, and it takes
some time, but eventually they manage to develop a line of communication. The
boy manages to tell the Ewok’s his sister is sick, which they understand and
manage to tell the boy what they’re offering will maker her feel better. There
are some other scenes where the kids simply interact with their new furry
friends, and come to explain that their ship crashed and their parents are
missing.
Only
hanging around long enough for his sister to get better, the brother takes off
with her to resume the search for their parents. But Endor is home to more than
just the cute little Ewok’s. The siblings are chased through the woods by a
giant, snarling dog-like creature, which they manage to hide from. The Ewok’s
come to the rescue and take it down. The humans realise that they need the help
of the Ewok’s to find their parents, but that won’t be easy as they are being
held by that giant creature we saw earlier, called the Gorax. Luckily, the kids
won’t have to fight the monster themselves, as the Ewok’s offer to help.
The
film is nicely narrated by some guy we never see, but he fills in the gaps that
aren’t explained. As the Ewok’s can’t speak English, the narrator explains to
us what they are doing or trying to say to the kids, so we can follow the
story. It’s a nice touch, and harks back to a way of classic storytelling. The
script for this movie itself was written by George Lucas. He didn’t direct it,
but his influence is certainly in the film. Apparently, this story was set
before the Ewok’s got involved in the fight against the Empire in “Return of
the Jedi” so I guess that explains why they were so battle ready by that film –
they got their practice in with this story.
The
second act of the film is all about the kids and their new Ewok friends making
the long trek to the land where the Gorax lives, and where their parents are
being held. They assemble a caravan of horses, supplies and themselves, hence
the title of the film “Caravan of Courage”. Starting off like a happy little
walk through the woods, as the brave siblings and Ewok’s are cheered off like
heroes, their journey soon turns dangerous as they edge close to the home of
the horrid monster.
Along
the way, the greatest challenges will come from the kids working out the Ewok
ways, and the Ewok’s themselves just being bumbling idiots. But when they’re
not hanging off tree branches or meddling in magic they can’t fully control,
they are still resourceful little guys, and continue to show the sceptical boy,
Mace, that they are there to help, as much as he disapproves of their approach.
As
the kids and Ewok’s reach the home of the Gorax, which is a giant cave, my
memories kicked back in. This was the part of the film I remember and stuck
with me most. Even before they battle the creature, they have to climb across a
giant spider web, and shake off big, black spiders as they dangle down from
above. They walk up a giant staircase after this, which I also remember. It
gives a sense of scale as to just how big the monster is.
Then
the Gorax shows up. He still looks scary today. Sixty feet tall, with long
black hair and sharp teeth, it also has a barrage of weapons. Sitting down at
his own stone table, he chews the meat off bones, and eyes off his next meal; a
couple of tiny humans trapped in a cage. It’s the kid’s parents. One of the
Ewok’s distracts it, while the boy works out how to save his parents.
Watching
this film again after I don’t how long, was the most nostalgic experience of
all the movies I viewed for this series of reviews. As I hardly remembered
anything about it, I was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining it was. I can
see why I loved it as a kid, but now all grown up, I found it hard to take off
my filmmakers hat; the special effects were very outdated, as it used stop
motion animation and very obvious green screen. The acting from the young
performers as brother and sister, was strictly amateur, and their thunder is
stolen by the Ewok’s; they own the show and whoever plays them does a great job
in their little suits, nailing the walking, talking, mannerisms and reactions
to everything going on around them. We only saw the Ewok’s for a short while in
Return of the Jedi, but here they get an entire movie of their own. We learn
more about the creatures with “Caravan of Courage” and they continued to earn
their place as some of the most comedic, cute, creative and clever creatures
made for a movie, ever. Will we see them again in the upcoming “Star Wars
Episode VII – The Force Awakens”? Maybe, as the new film is set 30 years after
the evens of Jedi. Bring back the Ewok’s I say!
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