Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985) (TV Movie review)

  After “Star Wars 6: Return of the Jedi” first premiered in 1983, and introduced fans to those cute and furry Ewok characters, it immediately ignited a new Star Wars Ewok faze that continued throughout the mid 80’s. First in 1985, there was the animated “Star Wars Ewoks” cartoon series that ran for two seasons, and before that the Ewoks got their own live-action movie spin-off titled “Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure”. However, I’ve already reviewed that movie in full, so now it's time to look at the 1985 sequel titled “Ewoks: The Battle for Endor”, which the Ewok saga of the 80's, and isn't half-bad, as far as spin-off "Star Wars" movies go.

  Our story begins shortly after the events of the first film, with Cyndal and her family living among the Ewoks, but they’re not planning on staying much longer, as the parents have made their final repairs on their spaceship. Unfortunately, before they depart, the Ewok village is suddenly attacked by a savage group of aliens called Marauders. The leader of the Marauders learned of their spaceship, and seeks to control its power of flight and space travel ... and he’s whiling to do whatever it takes to seize that power. 

Soon, all the villages are set to flames, the Ewoks are all imprisoned, and Cyndals parents are tragically gunned down in front of her ... yeah, I’ll talk about that again in a moment. Now orphaned, Cyndal escapes the siege with her closest friend Wicket the Ewok, and together they try to survive in the woods, as well as come up with a plan to rescue the imprisoned Ewoks. While trying to stay alive in the forest, Wicket and Cyndal meet an old man named Noah who’s been stranded on the planet and has lost his closest friend, who was the only family he had. Noah’s a grumpy old man who doesn’t want the kids to be around, but as you would expect, he begins to love them, and he even begins to look at Cyndal as a doubter. In return, Noah becomes a new father for her, teaches her the values of being strong, and comforts her with the knowledge that the ones we love will never really leave us. From there, the story continues to build with kidnappings, a big rescue, and a full scale war that will determine that fate of the planet Endor. 

  Right off the bat, I want to give this movie some serious Kudos for taking a much darker, and livelier approach then its predecessor. There are still just enough cheerful moments to keep the film from becoming a complete downer, and it never gets too silly the same way I felt the first “Ewok Adventure” did. There’s some mature storytelling here, and like I stated above, there's some really dark moments. The death of Cyndals family was a legitimate shock, especially sense our hero's spent the entire first movie trying to rescue them. Even Cyndals older brother Mace, the main character of the last movie, is killed-off in the first three minutes. There’s an especially touching moment just before the father dies, in which he tells Cyndal that she’s going to have to be strong, and live like a new bird leaving a nest. The pacing is also really good, as there’s never a dull moment, and plenty of action, but there’s also just enough moments for the characters to breathe, and play to our emotional sides.

  Cyndal is especially likable in this film, and while the actress’s performance is a little hit and miss, she’s certainly likable enough to care for. The old hermit Noah, while also is conventional archetype, is still a really likable character. I always love it when a grouchy old miser has a change of heart, and it’s done relatively well here. He and Cyndal have good chemistry, and I like their relationship, despite feeling incredibly rushed at times. Noah is played by Wilford Brimley, and he’s just wonderful in the role, supplying the character with a lively personality to balance out his cranky bead side manner.  

  

  Warwick Davis makes his third appearance in the role of Wicket the Ewok and thankfully, he’s given far more screen time, and attention in this film than he did before. In a nice twist, Wicket can actually speak English in this film. This admittedly has me questioning the continuity of the series, because this film supposedly takes place before “Return of the Jedi”, and the Ewoks clearly couldn’t speak beyond their own dialect in that movie. Then again, who really cares about the continuity between these mostly stand alone Ewok movies, and the original Star wars trilogy? Noah also has this pet creature named Teek who kind of looks like an albino Ewok, and can run laps like the road runner. This character has become a small iconic character in the Star Wars universe, and has been featured in other Star Wars memorabilia, including the Disney land attraction “Star Tours”.    

  The villains are something of a mixed bag. They obviously function as a threat to our hero’s, because these guys shoot first and ask questions later, but they just look so silly. Something about their designs makes me think of the chimps from “Planet of the Apes” if they raided the costumes from “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome”. Give the Storm Troopers some credit, they at least looked cool. The leader of the Marauders is named Terak, and he’s a serviceable villain at best. The performance is a little exaggerated and his voice is really silly, but he at least has some cool moments in which he comes off as intimidating. 

  Much like its predecessor, this film borrows more elements of fantasy, in fact, it looks and feels just like any of those sword and sorcery movies that dominated the 80’s. There’s more exciting encounters with stop-motion monsters, and while they look cheesy by today’s standers, there’s still a charm to this craft that never looses it's appeal. Some of these creatures would make appearances in future "Star Wars" productions, including "The Mandalorian", which is awesome. There's also a humanoid sorceress wielding a magic ring that can transform her into anything ranging from birds, or even a beautiful princess. Yeah, this character definitely feels like a clichéd stereotype sorceress that belongs in 80's fantasy films like “Willow” or “Wizards of the lost Kingdome”. It is fun to think that she's part of the expanded universe that's taken shape in the decades sense ... no doubt there's fan speculation that she's from the Night Sisters clan.  

  As you'd expect from the title, the movie builds to a climactic battle sequence, with Teraks army on the move, stop-motion creatures running around, bombs are being thrown, laser cannons are blasting, Noah uses the guns on his ship as weapons, and it’s awesome! For a TV made movie, this is a pretty impressive battle sequence, and it really feels like "Star Wars". 

Obviously, it’s not as epic as what the theatrical movies offer, but it is still exciting, and definitely echoes the final battle from “Return of the Jedi”. In traditional "Star Wars" fashion, the battle concludes with a one on one sword-fight between Terak and Noah, however there are no lightsabers in these films, so this is a traditional duel with swords. It's not bad, as there's some intensity, and I'm a sucker for sword fights in forest settings. This duel also highlights an old man putting up a fight, which is a welcome change-up. Teraks death is also pretty cool, a little random and confusing, but it's still a cool looking death. 

  The ending is nice, bitter sweet send-off for our heroes, and it's hard not to think of "E.T. The Extra Terrestrial", but in reverse, as this time it's the humans ascending into space saying goodbye to the aliens on their planet. Warwick Davis once said that there were plans for a third live-action Ewok movie, but that production never met the light of day. Besides, this film ended on just the perfect note, and I couldn’t imagine them topping it with another movie. This small series of live-action Ewok movies may not be the best installments released under the "Star Wars" name, but I've always felt they have their place. I like that these movies are more fantasy based, with just a hint of Sci-Fi, as it just makes the universe feel much bigger.

  Overall, “Ewoks: The Battle for Endor” is a surprisingly decent film, and while it’s no masterpiece or anything demanding to see ... I still feel it tried harder then it needed to. The story is engaging, the characters are fleshed out, the drama is strong enough, and the whole project was just handled with a mature grip. Some of the effects are obvious, but the locations and visuals are still very impressive by TV standards, especially for the time. Despite being aimed at younger viewers of the series, it still took some risks and had an edge. While this obviously isn’t going to be a film for all fans, I'd still recommend it. Watch it once at least, as it’s worth that much for any "Star Wars" junky.

Thanks for reading my review of the 1985 Star Wars movie “Ewoks: The Battle for Endor” ... and continue to enjoy the movies you Love!