Customer Reviews

The Clan of the Cave Bear (Widescreen/Full Screen)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I have been reading the series of books which is why I got the movie. What a waste of money. It is reallly very bad. Very poor acting, the special effects - oh yea there weren't any...were just awful. It is an interesting storyline, and I hope that perhaps someday someone will pick it up again and try to do a better job at the movie.

As a fan of Jean Auel's Earth's Children series, I thought I would watch The Clan of the Cave Bear again (I had watched it in the 80's but had forgotten it completely). I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I was hesitant since movies often don't measure up to the book not only because of the time constraints within 90 minutes of film but the risk of not connecting and translating the essence of the book to film. But The Clan of the Cave Bear succeeded in bringing this wonderful story to film. Many scenes were exactly how I had envisioned them while reading the book, and Daryl Hannah is great in this role as well. The Neanderthal's sign language and simplified speech is portrayed just right. For a film from the 80's the cinematography is quite nice. There were a couple of things that differed from the book but that happens in film and it's to be expected. It would have been great to see this in a mini series to be able to experience more of the detail from the book, but then it might not have had the quality that one movie could provide. It helped that they mostly used real animals in this film rather than cheap looking models, and the musk ox hunt was impressive in this aspect. Because of this I missed seeing any extinct creatures like mammoths, sabre tigers, whooly rhinos etc. If this movie was made today these would have been encorporated with CGI for sure. A fun movie to watch, and a nice change from today's over done and over stimulating movies that lack substance.

Few movies are as good as the books they're based on, but this is one of them. This movie actually improves on the book in that it takes out most of the soap-operish qualities of the original, even though it does, by necessity, edit and change the story a bit. It's difficult to make a popular and appealing movie about cavemen. Most people even get bored watching National Geographic. I disagree with the Amazon review; the subtitles are anything but laughable, and the sign language used seems plausible and natural. There are not a lot of caveman movies, but this one, along with Quest For Fire, is one of the best. Anyone watching this movie or reading the book will learn a lot about the lifestyle of our ancestors. The story elements make it entertaining for all ages, and the scenery is gorgeous.

I have read the series of books before buying this movie and I must say I was a little bit dissapointed with the overcome. But to say the truth, I'm glad I have it in my collection of DVDs because actors are good and creation of atmosphere is not too bad. I also love the music score. Personnally I would not have chosen Darryl Hanna as the main character, but I guess she was all right. Not too many movies have been made on prehistoric people and this one is quite descent, even if not a ''chef-d'oeuvre''.

This DVD of Clan of the Cave Bears was well made and gave a very close insight to the book.. I enjoyed the show just as much as I did the book and hope that they will make DVDs about the rest of the books. If they do I for one will not hesitate to buy them for my collection.

I've read the entire series twice,if not more.Love Jean Auel &
really hope she decides to add to this historic adventure.
The movie was fair.....but how can you bring such a great series to
the screen.Still enjoyed very much.
Diane & Jerry

Rated R: Not for sale to persons under age 18.
Studio: Warner Studios
Video Release Date: September 1, 1998

Cast:

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

Lycia Naff ... Uba
Linda Quibell ... Aga
Bernadette Sabath ... Ebra
Penny A. Mesa ... Ika
Penny Smith ... Ika
Joey Cramer ... Young Broud
Rory L. Crowley ... Durc
Nicole Eggert ... Middle Ayla
Emma Floria ... Young Ayla
Pierre Lamielle ... Brac
Mary Reid ... Ayla's Mother
Samantha Ostry ... Young Uba
Shane Punt ... Young Vorn
Christiane Boyce ... Baby Durc
Catherine Flather ... Baby Durc
Amy Cyr ... Young Girl #3
Colin Doyle ... Young Boy
Natino Bellantoni ... Gorn
Rick Valiquette ... Voord
Alan Waltman ... Norg
Paul Carafotes ... Brug
Salome Jens ... Narrator
Bart the Bear ... The bear

The setting is prehistoric, and the theme revolves around the clash between Neanderthals and pre-human Cro-Magnons, who supposedly existed side-by-side for some time, the one destined for extinction and the other for our ancestry.

The film has drawn so much attention among my friends and family that I thought for awhile that it was destined to be a "cult" film.

Daryl Hannah plays a Cro-Magnon girl who is abandoned in infancy and raised by Neanderthals, who are jealous of her blond good looks and intelligence, which they don't understand.

I would suggest that you watch this one first without the kids, as some parts are pretty explicit, but the language is clean--except that they have their own, of course: as in, "ug! uga boo uga boo boo ugga"--but it is a thought provoking film, nevertheless.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre

author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books

with the exception of her nasty turn in blade runner, daryl hannah gave her best & most underappreciated performance here in hollywood's adaptation of auel's earth children novel. while perhaps not as spiritual(or a religious experience as tom has written), the clan of the cave bear is a beautifully choreographed story with many unrealized rewards. orphaned as young girl, ayla is adopted by iza(played beautifully by pamela reed)under the clan of the cave bear. ayla grows up to understand the ways of the clan but never truly feels as if she is a part of the family for fear of angering the spirits. in a time & place where neanderthals existed prior to cro-magnons, ayla learns very quickly that knowledge is forbidden to anyone but great leaders(or leaders to be) & weaponry is completely forbidden to women. she discovers too what many women discover later in life & tries to stay alive in a male dominated land. with the exception of one gory & violent hunting scene where the clan attacks a cave bear or a brutal rape scene, this film could've easily been a family classic perhaps worthy of many viewings. i disagree with tom in that clan is certainly not a film for lovers of traditional pop culture or popcorn films in general. there is a certain degree of knowledge & common sense which one must have to appreciate or even respect such a film as this. unfortunately, this film will never go down in history as anything truly memorable but i've found the film to be compulsively watchable & i'm actually incoined to read one of the books in the earth children series now after having watched this twice on dvd. for anyone interested in pre-historic dramas or feministic films with women in caves, clan is a marvelous film for you & at a reasonable cost too. ofcourse, daryl hannah completists will most likely want to own this one as well & who could blame them. this is absolutely better than her mermaid performance in splash. long live the legend of ayla which should inspire, strengthen, & encourage us to survive in a strange land.

I did not think the movie did justice to the book. The movie omited and changed very important things like the birth of Durc and how she was sentenced to the final death curse. Those things were the basis for feelings in the following books. If they wanted to move to the next book, it could only be worse, because of the lack of attention given to vital parts of the movie. Granted, they cannot include every detail, and naming each plant would have taken up too much time, but I think it could have been done with a little more care for the story line. If I hadn't already read the book, I would not have been interested in reading it after the movie.

I didn't think this movie was bad. How much can you do with people who don't speak. It tried to stay as close to the book as it could. Of course it wasn't as good as the book but what movie is. But it is a good movie the first time you watch it. I wish someone would make a movie about the rest of the books in this series.