The Clan Of The Cave Bear Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
At the dawn of mankind, a woman led the way.
Natural changes have the clans moving. Iza, medicine woman of the "Clan of the Cave Bear" finds little Ayla from the "other"'s clan - tradition would have the clan kill Ayla immediately, but Iza insists on keeping her. When the little one finds a most needed new cave, she may stay - for now. As it turns out later, she's a bright child, but has a hard time to keep her place in a clan with different customs. She has to hide her intelligence because she's a woman.
| Daryl Hannah | Ayla |
| Pamela Reed | Iza |
| James Remar | Creb |
| Thomas G. Waites | Broud |
| John Doolittle | Brun |
| Curtis Armstrong | Goov |
| Martin Doyle | Grod |
| Tony Montanaro | Zoug |
| Mike Muscat | Dorv |
| John Wardlow | Droog |
| Keith Wardlow | Crug |
| Karen Austin | Aba |
| Barbara Duncan | Uka |
| Gloria Lee | Oga |
| Janne Mortil | Ovra |
| Michael Chapman |
4.80 out of 10 (2128 votes)
Visitor Reviews
A mildly convincing but generally lifeless, prehistoric tale
posted on 13 Apr 2008Based on Jean M. Auel's novel, Clan of the Cave Bear is essentially a Tarzan premise, only instead of apes, our protagonist (the young Cro-magnon girl Ayla) is raised by a clan of Neanderthals in Ice Age Europe of 35, 000 years ago. This was around the time when the two species first came into contact.Critics say never expect a history lesson from Hollywood: how about a prehistory lesson? Compared to Quest for Fire, this movie is somewhat sub-par, but next to last year's 10, 000 b.c, with dreadlocks and horses, it feels more convincing, or at least it would to anyone who hadn't studied anthropology. The plot has several inaccuracies. For example, it is made clear that the Neadanderthals forbid women to use weapons, but science has proved that not only did Neanderthal women participate in hunts, but it was one of the reasons for the demise of the species. In the earliest social units, our own species divided the workload based on gender, leading to a more organized, better prepared society (men hunt, women sow, make clothing and make tools). Neanderthals, while they were good hunters, did not lead such organized lives. What bothers me most about Clan of the Cave Bear is not the scientific errors, but the way the story is told. It kind of plods along, with no general sense of direction. Quite noticeably, the editing is sloppy and the transition between scenes is awkward.Some of the other challenges however which the book sets for the movie are executed with competence. There are numerous fights with Ice Age animals, including muskox, lions, wolves and bears. Anyone who knows the film process will know that working with animals is a challenge of epic proportions. To make it even more difficult, most of these scenes are shot in forest and challenging terrain to set up camera and gear in. Animals tend to get restless when in such conditions. These scenes are pretty much the only parts where the film has the skill to scale to a good level of drama and tension. Quite frankly most of the picture is dull in addition to plodding, It occasionally offers moments of charm and rising tension, but The Clan of The Cave Bear doesn't really come alive. It is neither a complete failure nor a success, but if you are looking for adventure or education, you'll only find a little of either here.
women leaders
posted on 10 Apr 2008I wish the powers that be would continue the series. The Clan Of The Cave Bears is A great movie,showing how women can be great leaders in life too! Yes the struggle can easily reflect the struggles a girl can go throughout life and will go through in the future. This movie shows when you(man or Woman) believe in yourself there is no obstacle that can restrain the will to fight to live. Beside I would love to see Miss Daryl Hannah star in another blockbuster not only is she hot she is wickedly talented! I don't want to forget the director and producer and all the other people who this movie. Because of every individual in even the smallest way added enough of themselves just so perfectly it has inspired me to stand up and tell someone,anyone this is a really fucken cool movie about people for people yeah its dated,but thats why we have Hollywood! please take me away for an hour or two today my work week was tough. Thank You. Michael
Dull
posted on 28 Sep 2007Young Alya loses her mother in a landslide and wanders alone across the country. She is discovered by the bear tribe and taken in. However she is not one of them and many of the clan don't accept her and she must fight to gain their trust within the tribe.This is a pretty weak film. There's no spoken dialogue - the clan have their own language and the small amounts of talking is subtitled, however there is a narrator throughout. The plot is very thin - girl isn't accepted by tribe etc, not much actually happens. The plot is helped either by having characters who have no redeeming features or personalities. I know they're meant to be cavemen but the scenes of them in makeup are just funny, while the scene where one tries to take Daryl Hannah from behind but fails to "get it up" is just stupid.The performances are pretty poor - however everyone having to grunt and do sign language all the time under huge wigs makes it difficult for anyone to do well. It's interesting to see Hannah in an early role, however she doesn't bring anything other than her looks - which isn't reason enough to watch.Overall a boring film that will have you feeling glad that you didn't live during this time in history. If only because everyone wore huge wigs and spoke funny.
A good looking disappointment
posted on 12 Jun 2007I first saw 'Cave Bear' when it first came out on video back in 1986 and quite enjoyed it, though it did wander far from the novel. Having recently bought it on DVD as an adult I can honestly say the film still looks great but the film makers took a powerful, epic story and turned it into a one dimensional piece of fluff that never succeeds in enthralling us. I have always been a huge fan of Daryl Hannah, and though she really seems to be doing her best here, I believe she was miss cast. Ayla was meant to be a young teenage girl - Daryl was far too old. The fault here of course is not with Daryl but with the Director and Producers. The main saving grace of the film is the cinematography - it looks beautiful and must have been a difficult film to light considering it all had to look natural and ambient. The DVD release was aweful - it wasn't in widescreen and looked little better than video. It was released by 'Force Video' (never heard of em') and didn't even feature a scene selection function. I know that Jean M. Auel was not entirely happy with the film (I wrote to her once and was thrilled to receive a letter back from her, some of it even hand written by her!) so perhaps one day the entire series of 'Earth's Children' books could be made into a mini-series for television.
Not that bad...
posted on 15 Feb 2007Everyone who seems to have commented here, did so in the negative form. True, it was a very rudimentary movie, with many no name actors, but in my unprofessional opinion, still did a damn good job...Daryl Hannah aside, look for sneak appearences by Nicole Eggart, later of Baywatch fame, and a young James Remar, made to look like an elderly disabled man, better known for his role as Rayden in Mortal Kombat 2.The score is wonderful, haunting and scene appropriate, beautiful filming location in Canada.I still can't understand how they recieved word that the clans were gathering, what did some random cro-mag wander the entire continent looking for people to invite to the shindig?? LOL...and, alas the movie starts too quickly, with the totally unbelievable death of Aylas mother, who can totally avoid the huge hole in the ground...and just dives in headfirst..accident my ass...and what is Brouds PROBLEM? Spoiled little b*****d who likes to push down old guys and a very violent way of pulling the old little boy likes girl so he hits her on the playground way...a near hit, and sometimes miss, but overall a good movie, worth watching late at night with the lights off...7 out of 10
Quite underrated, anthropologically interesting drama
posted on 22 Aug 2006I saw this movie for the first time in 2000, and was pleasantly surprised. This movie employs almost no dialog in English (there are subtitles to combinations of uttered proper names and sign language), but the viewer becomes accustomed to this quickly. I recommend this movie to anyone with an interest in prehistory, anthropology, or heroic drama -- it's a very underrated movie.
Did not do justice
posted on 01 Aug 2006While the story of The Clan of the Cave Bears is a magnificent tale the movie did very little to capture that story. The film attempted to capture a deep and intricate epic story in the flash of a moment... and unfortunately failed grandly. I was hoping to see some of the wonderful scenes, written by the author Jean Auel, come to life but instead found an overview, a weak one at that, of the story in a very low quality format. Not even Daryl Hannah could save the film. If you want to know The Clan of the Cave Bear read the book... You will not be disappointed!
One of those films that is so bad it's good.
posted on 11 Jul 2006Having just seen this film for the first time on TV, I came away reeling and breathless with laughter.This film can evaluated at first glance by the cliche of actors in "ugly masks" attempting to be Neanderthals by grunting, yawn. No, what made this film to die for were the subtitles as the apemen hammed it up.These must be seen to be believed and will have everyone but the completely credulous in tears of mirth. Sample "He will be the son I could never have." This from an apeman ??If you fancy a laugh, this is for you.
They Have to Make the Rest of the Series
posted on 21 May 2006The rest of the series of the books are far different and better than this first story. The "Clan of the Cave Bear" lays the foundation for a magnificent story. They are perhaps one of the best series ever written. I would love to see each story be a mini-series of it's own because the books are so phenomenal, a 2 hour movie could not do it justice. They would not have to be entirely sub-titled either because she finds the `Others' ands learns to speak their language.
Clan of the Cave Bear
posted on 03 May 2006Ayla, a Cro-Magnon(Daryl Hannah)tries her damnedest to become a part of the Neanderthal "Clan of the Cave Bear" tribe, but is met with constant resistance because many are secretly afraid of her. The film clearly dictates that Ayla is superior in many ways to the Neanderthals for she can indeed depend on her own abilities while the women of the tribe often are subservient in every way. She tries to adapt, but her greatest foe is Broud(Thomas G. Waites), a warrior of the clan who may be groomed as leader one day. Broud seems threatened by Ayla and uses his clout in the clan(mainly his being male)to often force her into unfortunately uncomfortable situations. Ayla, though, is gutsy and determined. She isn't dumb and is able to learn how to use hunter's tools even though if she is indeed caught even touching them it means certain death. We see that the Neanderthal tribe live by their belief in spirits in every conceivable way. The spirits determine their course of action in many arenas of life including specific choices they desire for the group. Creb(James Remar)is a scar-faced "Mag-or" who becomes quite fond of Ayla and Iza(Pamela Reed)becomes her surrogate mother. Ayla lost her mother to a hideous earthquake and was scratched on the leg by a lion while hiding in a small crack in stone. Ayla, if left to her own devices, probably would've perished if Iza hadn't pitied her. The film's theme is quite adjacent to the thinking of today. A woman can change the ways men often believe should stay as they are. Ayla plays such an archetypal role as Ayla. What she does over the course of the film is challenge an inferior way of life and in the end comes off as being very right. In the opening paragraph(..and throughout Salome Jens' narration)we understand that Ayla's memory would remain long past the declining Neanderthals that would soon vanish. If you can not change then you're sure to vanish away with the dust in the wind..I guess that is how I perceive John Sayles's script from the novel being in a round-about way. Sayles seems, to me, to be using the Clan as a metaphor for us in modern society. The mores and ways of the tribe are challenged and considered fodder for certain extinction because they could not change and grow. Ayla was the way of doing just that and in ways her upending of Broud proves that the Clan could've improved if they had followed her path. The film can probably be seen two different ways. Those who approach it seriously understanding that Sayles and Chapman wanted to create something unique and interesting or as a laughable exercise. It is not at all a critics' darling..anything but. I have to say though that I enjoyed it and found it interesting to watch. I liked the approach at having the clan speak this native talk with us following along in subtitles..and yet this could be found laughable if the person can not accept it. I think the film is flawed in how the clan is portrayed. I myself do not believe this could happen. I certainly can not envision a young woman getting away with what Ayla does, but I didn't mind it because I felt I could see Sayles' reason for doing so(..that is if he was using the Clan as a metaphor for our more intelligent modern society and how we and many other countries still have our resistance against change). Many complain about Hannah being in this film, but I liked her myself. It's also wonderfully shot by cinematographer Jan de Bont. I think the movie's acceptance will come down to each individual viewer. What one is willing to accept in regards to how the film portrays this people and their confrontations with Ayla.
Ugh.
posted on 15 Jan 2006I am giving four stars for the acting and cinematography, which were excellent.What bites is the degree to which the movie strayed from the book. Now, I realize that some of this would be inevitable. But the screenwriters took it too far, as if they didn't get the spirit of the books. They essentially made it an altogether different story with the same names. The movie lost me after the first scenes depicting the earthquake and the cave lion attack, which were done well. After that, I didn't recognize it. I'm talking about major differences in both plot and character.Plot: The movie says Ayla is "the first of the Others that the Clan had seen." What about the man with the broken arm, whom Iza's grandmother had treated for his injuries? It is The Mammoth Hunters, the third book in the series, that finally reveals just who the man was, but the story is told in CotCB.Plot: Ayla is not pregnant at the time of her exile. She does not give birth in solitude. As a matter of fact, she doesn't even reach full adulthood until long after she is caught using the weapon, the crime for which she is exiled (death cursed) in the first place.Plot: The movie suggests that no one would provide for Durc simply because Ayla had no mate, and her adopted father could not himself hunt. In fact, the baby was half Cro-Magnon. The Neanderthals had never seen a mixture before and didn't understand the combination of features. They saw Durc as hideously deformed, even more so than Creb. It was for that reason that the men of the Clan had wanted to leave him to die, not just because he would be a welfare child.Character: Broud has been raping Ayla repeatedly. Like modern rapists, he is actually getting his jollies from making Ayla do something she hates. Finally, during the last rape, she is so happy about being pregnant that she doesn't care anymore and doesn't react. To put it as delicately as possible, this completely deflates Broud, and he can't continue. So far so good. But then one of the women who are watching immediately takes a dig at Broud's wife Oga, using a stick in her hand to illustrate her point, and the women giggle. Mrs. Auel had made it clear in her book that 1.) The Neanderthals were not able to smile or laugh, and 2.) The women are genetically programmed to be so submissive and fearful of the men, that they would never have laughed about a man's shortcomings even if they could.Character: Brun also is seen smiling, something that he should not have been able to do.Character: Blond, blue-eyed Ayla is seen as terribly ugly by the Clan, because she is so drastically different. Her height and her propensity for hunting make her, though she seems the ideal of feminine beauty to us, appear to the Clan as something of a butch. So why would Brug, the blue-eyed Clan (which is doubtful) have ignored Uba, a young woman from the highest line of medicine women, in favor of so-called ugly and unladylike Ayla? The movie suggests that had Brug not been killed in the bear ceremony, he would have possibly pursued a mating. I have trouble adapting to that. Which leads me to-- Plot: There is no Brug in the Clan of the Cave Bear book. It was Gorn who was killed in the bear ceremony. Brug doesn't come along until Plains of Passage. He is also known as Brugar, and then he is a different person entirely.Plot: The hallucination Ayla experiences after she follows the mog-urs into the cave is nowhere near the book. Also, the movie shows Ayla being summoned to the cave, drawn by Creb/Mog-ur's voice calling to her by name. Actually, for her to be there was deadly taboo. The movie did not make this clear.Plot AND Character: After making Broud leader, Brun would not have had the power to then fire him. And Broud's falling to the ground in abject humility after Brun's chastisement of him would not have happened.The playing-with-the-echo scene, I understand, is simply a method by which they showed the passage of time as Ayla grew to be a woman. Seemed a little cheesy to me, though. I had wondered why in the heck she would be standing there repeatedly calling out her own name. It took me a few viewings to realize that she was, in fact, playing with an echo.Kudos to the actors, to the makeup artists, to the people in charge of scenery, etc. Not-so-kudos to the screenwriters. I think they blew it.
Could have been better
posted on 01 Nov 2005I am not going to say it sucked because it was nothing like the book. I am merely going to say that if you have read the book, don't bother because it will only tick you off. And What ticks me off is not that it didn't follow the book closely enough, it didn't follow the book AT ALL. There are scenes that should have happened well after they did, and scenes that happened that would have explained other scenes that were in the movie that aren't. To the above commenter who said that the subsequent books were all romance fodder, first Valley was not, it wasn't until the end that most of the pleasures were added, with small intermittent scenes throughout. Yes, there are a lot of Pleasures scenes in the books, Yes, they could have been done without, but that doesn't mean that the rest of the story is not worth reading. That is not what I am writing a review on, however. I was more upset that the movie didn't even maintain a SEMBLANCE to the book, other than the character's name, almost as if the director skimmed the book, and took pieces from sections without thinking about how they would go together.
Where's the problem? It was pretty good.
posted on 15 Aug 2005After watching this movie, I was wondering why this was said to be so bad? I've never read the book, but as caveman movies go, it places a solid second to QUEST FOR FIRE. This was back in the '80's when make-up was cool, so I loved the make-up jobs. This was back when Jan DeBont was a great cinematographer, so the film was visually gorgeous. And Alan Silvestri's score was beautiful in a very '80's kind of way. Acting was pretty solid, and I thought Daryl Hannah was very good. (It must be very difficult to play a Neanderthal without feeling ridiculous.) The story was simple and wonderful. I have no reservations. If you like caveman movies, this is pretty good. If you don't, rent something else.
Good movie but read the book.
posted on 27 Mar 2005The movie deviates far from the book and cuts a majority of it out, so even though I have read the book a number of times I would not have had a clue what was happening in the movie had there not been narration.The acting is good, a sign of its times, and the characters are cast well, overall it's not a bad movie, technically. The plot is great if you have not read the book or for those who are not fans of books. I just felt there were many aspects from the book, such as hierarchy, that were not addressed properly in the movie. Hierachy was such a huge element in the development of the characters in the book and yet played only a minor role in character development in the movie. However I felt the ending of the movie was excellent, in comparison to most book to movie endings. If you could insert the movie ending into the book and write it in, the story would be perfect. So as good as the movie is if you have the chance, read the book there is so much more to the story.
A great Story
posted on 10 Feb 2005Jean Auels books are a piece of art, you cannot help but visualize what she has written as you read her books. The depth of the storyline and feelings that she pours into the books and the fact that she went and learned as well as researched living in the wild and also survive off the land so as to write the book more accurately is incredible. The movie tried to follow her book, but with a lot of masterpieces in literature it is often difficult to create a movie that follows it as closely as the book. Choosing Darryl Hannah I believe was done because of her hight as Ayla was tall and taller than anyone in the cave, I agree what one person said, Ayla was a teenager so Darryl Hanna looked too old in this part, sorry Ms Hannah. But she did a good job I wonder though how many of the actors who starred in this movie actually read the book? I hope that one day they will try to make this movie again maybe the director that did the Lord of The Rings, he would do it justice having endured creating such a marvelous piece of work such as that book, with the huge detail he put in to make sure he didn't leave anything out, someone like him I believe should make this movie someone that loves and cares about the richness and intricate story lines of the books and how important they are to convey in the movie.
Such a disappointment
posted on 05 Aug 2004I understand why this film has bad reviews. I wonder if all of them had read the book. You could not help but be disappointed with the film if you had. The film just didn't live up to it.I'm reading the last book again, and that made me think of the film. You know what, I thought it was that bad when I watched it, that I can't remember that much about it, I mostly just remember let down by the potential the story had for a really good movie.I thought Daryl Hannah was a good choice for the part of Ayla when I first heard about it, but when I saw the movie, I realised she didn't have a strong enough presence to carry off the part properly. I have a vague memory of Creb, but none of the other characters. I'm wondering now if I actually watched the whole movie. Thinking about it, I only really remember Creb teaching Ayla to talk with her hands....I love the books. I've read all 5 (3 or 4 times)and I'm eagerly waiting for the next one. I just hope that it doesn't take as long to come out as Shelters of Stone did. I do wish they'd kept with the original cover designs though, so they look better on the book shelf. :o) I hope one day,someone will decide to remake the movie. Maybe a mini-series. I think that would be better. There's too much in each book to fit into a film. Hopefully it would be good enough so that the other books were televised too.
An Affront to an Excellent Book!
posted on 28 May 2004I have seen this movie and I have read the novel that it is based on. Let me make this clear: this movie does not hold a candle to the book! Jean M. Auel's novel is a great piece of prehistorical fiction, and my personal favorite book (and it's in competition with books like "Huckleberry Finn," "Jane Eyre," and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"). I know that movies based on books are rarely as good as said book, but this is intense. The movie cuts, adds, changes, and mish-mashes things together, all of which is at a detriment to the story line (I know some part of that is grammatically incorrect). The movie loses all the depth and subtlety of Ms. Auel's novel, and it miscasts Darryl Hannah. Don't get me wrong, she's a fine actress, but she was also way to old to play the leading character. If you are interested in the plot or premise of the movie, read the book instead. Your braincells will thank you.
An intense story of a young woman's survival
posted on 16 Apr 2004If the movie lacks anything it is the beauty of the photography in films like "Quest for Fire" and "Windwalker". Otherwise I can't find any serious flaws. It is rare to find a decent movie about prehistoric peoples. "Quest for Fire" is the best movie of this kind in my opinion but "Clan of the Cave Bear" is a close second.I am not trying to compare "Cave Bear" to the books by Jean M. Auel. To me the film takes the best part of Auel's story and makes a pretty good movie. The later Auel stories become more romance novel fodder and to some that may be more entertaining. "Clan of the Cave Bear" is not romantic. It captures the brutality of prehistory very well for a fiction film. I've seen documentaries about the Neanderthal and was surprised how accurately "Cave Bear" showed that time. The flaws in human nature are shown in all their rawness in this movie. There is prejudice, oppression and abuse in full force. What makes it bearable for me is how the Darryl Hannah character is able to deal with this and eventually over come it."Cave Bear" also shows some of the ritual of stone age culture with the Shaman and the hunting rites of passage. There is some beauty in that culture. But the bottom line for these people is survival and that was a very difficult thing to accomplish. They were scratching and clawing (literally) just to eat and raise children. And sadly we know that they are doomed (except for a few Neanderthals who possibly interbred with Cro-Magnons).This kind of documentary approach in "Cave Bear" will not thrill those who want a stone age comedy-romance, "Caveman", or a special effects absurdity of prehistoric people fighting lots of dinosaurs, "One Million BC", (which is historically impossible). But if you can appreciate an intense story of a young woman's survival in the wild and her experience with a lost stone age culture, then I recommend "Clan of the Cave Bear". 9/10
And we thought that cavemen yelled "yabba dabba doo!"
posted on 02 Jan 2009This is one of the films that I grew up watching, and even now, I love it and admire its beauty as much as I ever did.First of all, comparing movies to their books isn't something we should do, because they are two different forms of entertainment, and can take different liabilities. What is important is if the movie still tells the basic story, and in the case of the Clan of the Cave Bear, it stuck to the original story in a very suitable fashion. I must admit that when I first saw this movie, I did not know that this was from a book. It wasn't until 15 years later that I read the book, and it confirmed my statement that the movie kept the story intact.As far as the acting was concerned, I have to admire a cast that had to convey throughout an entire script in a totally different language, and manage to keep it consistent. Watching the film, you can see that certain gestures always mean the same thing, as well as certain grunts and sounds.
Folks, that is the result of a lot of hard work, and to put down that part of the film is like looking at the Empire State Building as just the result of an erector set.The basic story of the movie is to show prejudice against what is new and not understood. Ayla's presence is meant to show the Clan what the future holds, which is the underlying reason why they fear and hate her, though they are unaware of the reasons. Ayla endures many trials throughout the movie in order to gain their trust and approval, which ultimately prepare her for a journey into the world without the Clan.A movie worth watching again and again. The book is great also, by the way, so I recommend them both.