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Info for... the Ewok films: 'Battle For Endor' and 'Caravan Of Courage'...

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Anyone know what the quality is on the laserdiscs and vhs tapes, as i have the recent dvd release, and their are parts of the two features that have wonderful video quality and then it drops out in places where the video quality is poor. Any way for a fan to do a remaster using all the available formats? If not I hope lucasfilm will digitally remaster the both of them, and do a 5.1 soundtrack. If you viewed the laserdiscs ripped to dvd verses the official release would the picture quality differ, i am asking this because at one point the fan preservations were available and are not now. I think these 2 little gems of films deserve just as much as the other star wars projects to be preserved. Does anyone have the theatrical trailers, they were not on the official release. Were they on any of the laserdiscs?

to all of you star wars fans on originaltrilogy.com, i thank you for your time in anwering these questions.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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I, as well would like to see these films given the fan-preservation effort. They are many times overlooked and put down by up-tight star wars fans. The DVD release was a rushed one, for all DVD's involved in the November 2004 release. I have never seen any copies but the DVD release, due to the fact that I couldn't find them anywhere. Kind of like the holiday special, I had heard of it, but couldnt find it. I had actually put up a list of changes Lucas made to the films for the various dvd, laserdisc, and VHS releases over the years, but no one seemed interested at the time. A preservation would be great, yet another time-worthy contribution to OT.com!

I have the trailer for COC, it's not the greatest quality, I downloaded it from some nastalgia site a while back. I can upload it if you are interested. Also, someone else asked a while back for the original TV opening for COC, and the file was uploaded. I have that as well.
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I would be very interesting to see the trailer.
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i was asking for somebody else to take the reins, because i don't have the resources or knowledge on how to do this. I have a really old crappy computer with no dvd rom or dvd burning and i have no laserdisc player or capture equipment, or the laserdiscs. I thought someone on these forums might be able to do it. I know rikter use to trade the discs for caravan of courage or battle for endor, but has ceased doing so because of the official release. Rik if your out there if those discs you were offering before were good quality, could they be used in a restoration project?

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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I for one am very interested in seeing the original versions of these movies, however small the changes were. Forum member s7en was kind enough to upload the original "Ewok Adventure" credits for "Caravan of Courage", so if nobody else does, I'll eventually be mailing an original DVD version to Rikter (with original logo but DVD picture for the rest of it). Because really, the DVD version is not true to either version of the film. "Ewok Adventure" was in full-screen and "Caravan of Courage" was in widescreen. The DVD has "Caravan of Courage" in full-screen, which makes it a third version.

I'm very interested in the lines they changed for "Battle for Endor"; I just don't have access to the original mix or cut of the film.

Episode II: Shroud of the Dark Side

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“Back when we made Star Wars, we just couldn’t make Palpatine as evil as we intended. Now, thanks to the miracles of technology, it is finally possible. Finally, I’ve created the movies that I originally imagined.” -George Lucas on the 2007 Extra Extra Special HD-DVD Edition

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I'm pretty sure the LD of Ewok Adventure does not have a trailer on it. Been ages since I watched it. As for aspect ratios, since both films were made for tv here and theatrical release in Europe, wouldn't they have been shot open matte and matted for projection?
I'd personally like to see someone make use of the misleading Japanese poster art for Battle for Endor.
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In an attempt to revive this thread and this project, I will post the known changes which have been made to these two films over the years, courtesy of TheForce.Net (http://www.theforce.net/latestnews/story/caravan_of_courage_dvd_changes_88058.asp) and the IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089110/alternateversions). If anyone attempts to restore these two, you must keep in mind a couple of things. First off, there have been three different releases on home video, which were the 1990 VHS release, the 1990 Laserdisc release, and the 2004 DVD release. Also, Caravan of Courage was released both theatrically, and on TV. And it might be helpful if anyone has any home-recordings from the original TV airings, or happen to have any prints of the films. You would have to decide which version you intend to restore (Also I must note that the theatrical version of COC was NOT in widescreen, it was merly reformatted from its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio to a 1.78:1 aspect ratio). The changes were very minor to these films, but there indeed were several changes:

Caravan of Courage:

-The original TV version had the title of "The Ewok Adventure," rather than "Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure." The "Caravan" titles were only present for the theatrical release in the UK and Australia.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Adamwankenobi/ewokcoc2.jpg

-The original TV version credited Bob Carrou as writing the "teleplay," rather than writing the "screenplay."
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Adamwankenobi/ewokcoc3.jpg

-The TV, VHS, and Laserdisc versions did not open with the 20th Century Fox fanfare, but the DVD does, since it was taken from the theatrical version. The laserdisc and VHS had merely cut straight to the movie from the opening logos.

-The VHS and Laserdisc versions gave the company logo at the beginning as MGM, the DVD version has replaced it with the Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox company logos.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Adamwankenobi/ewokcoc1.jpg

The Battle for Endor:

-In a home video release, the following two scenes were deleted: when being chased by Terak's men, Wicket races for Noa's house but Noa tells him the only chance they've got is the star cruiser. Then a scene that happened shortly after where the men went inside and burned down Noa's house.

-When Cindel has a nightmare about bad guys coming into Noa's house after her has the following scene cut in a version on television in which Cindel rushes to Noa's bed to wake him up, but instead finds Terak in the bed then she wakes up, so on TV it just shows her waking up after the men breaking in.

-Cindel's lines: "Do something, Wicket! Use your sling! You hit the ring!" have been altered to "Do something, Wicket! Do something!" for the DVD release.

HERE ARE THE DVD COVERS FROM GRISAN:

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Adamwankenobi/caravan_of_courage_hires.jpg

posted at: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Adamwankenobi/caravan_of_courage_hires.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Adamwankenobi/battle_for_endor_hires.jpg

posted at: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a12/Adamwankenobi/battle_for_endor_hires.jpg
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WOW, Adamwankenobi nice to see you giving back Cool stuff, for real.
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I have the laserdiscs of both films. If anyone starts an official restoration project and needs access to them I may be willing to loan them out.

--RickWJ324
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I believe my parents have a copy of Battle for Endor on tape from the broadcast premiere here in the States, but I don't know if they still have it (it has been a couple of decades). I also don't know what quality it is...I'll see if I can do anything to find it.
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I would gladly take on this project if I had the resources. I thoroughly enjoy these two great films, even though I am not a young kid or a nastalgic adult. I hope someone comes along (Rikter? ocpmovie? ADigitalMan?) who can work on this project.
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Why the alterations between the different versions? Seems rather minor and pointless. I mean, I'm not surprised of course. Just curious.

Originally posted by: segaflip
WOW, Adamwankenobi nice to see you giving back Cool stuff, for real.

I think someone else found his password...

or a nastalgic adult


Okay, he got the pw back. It's NOSTALGIC.
We don't have enough road to get up to 88.
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I have them on DVD, just discovered them earlier this year. They show a part of Star Wars I had never imagined up until I first saw them. There's a certain quality to them that allows them to stand on their own as classics. Somehow, the use of stop-motion and the low-budget TV effects of the 80's gives them this certain, undescribable quality. Honestly, I don't see the point in making such small changes. Perhaps there were simply differences in the various versions originally released in 84' and 85'. Ell the Ewok, what versions did you get from eBay, the VHS/Laserdisc release, the DVD, or the TV bootlegs?
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there is also LASERDISC TO DVD rips out there, but coming from asia the quality was probalbly less than stellar.

I would love to get a new transfer straight from the laserdiscs, and have someone make the menus and such

I think there is some cool ewok artwork in the return of the jedi sketchbook, the art of star wars universe, and return of the jedi portfolio by ralph mcquarrie, and joe johnston that could be utilized.

Me and my sister used to watch them when they were on disney channel, and I have fond memories of those times.

“Always loved Vader’s wordless self sacrifice. Another shitty, clueless, revision like Greedo and young Anakin’s ghost. What a fucking shame.” -Simon Pegg.

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Rikter has one of the original TV spots for Caravan of Courage from Rarities 1. I've asked him if he could upload it, but he hasn't yet. But, here is the link I've found to the trailer for COC:

http://66.98.238.16/retro/media/19hiywjhx/trailers/the-ewok-adventure-1984.wmv

By the way, you might want to check out this site that made a fake press release of what they would like to see in a future release:

http://www.lucasfan.com/ewdr/pressrelease.html
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Where in the movies on the dvd version is the image quality poor? I've got the PAL dvd version and I didn't notice this.
Fez: I am so excited about Star Whores.
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The beginning of COC is HEAVY in grain. And at some points, the image gets very dark. Then, BFE almost looks black and white at the parts where Cindel hears the witch calling her name. And, overall, there is much grain in the movies. But, some places, especially those in pure daylight, look as if they were remastered or something.
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Was the original version of these movies ever properly preserved ? I don't have a laserdisc player myself, but I'd love to see the movies in the state in which they were before George re-did them for the DVD release

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I have Caravan of Courage taped off TV, though it hardly seems like a worthwhile effort, IMO.

But if anyone really really wants it, I can capture it.

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Does it have the original intro ?

 

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Question: what was the original format of these movies? Video? Film?

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I have the MGM 1990 VHS, Not Rated, version of "the Ewok adventure". 1 hour & 36 minute run time if it helps anyone with this.