Disturbing yet enthralling

An absolute waste of money

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Hi, this is a bit disappointing but watchable. Surely with better cinematography now a days they could do a better film and series of all the books. I want to watch more. Would love to see more of the following books to movie. Do want to see what happening to Ayla on the movies. Have read the books, now want watch a movie. Hope you will think of doing more movies. You just need a better movie writer or the original movie writer to to think of a better way to write this that will actually bring people to watch the movie. And maybe use some of the original actresses and actors, but use them as older versions of them. Would love to see more. I like this movie, but would love it if you decided to do them.

it was announced some time ago for an Extended version SE Laserdisc set, but never arrived. The movie must have been much longer, but test screenings gave the studio cold feet and they cut it down to a mere 98 minutes-impossible to even sketch out the basic plot in that amount of time.... "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

I agree with the first reviewer that this is an excellent film and I also enjoyed the book. I have always found the epoch it is set in fascinating and this film makes a good stab at suggesting how life might have been. It strikes me as reasonably credible anthropologically and its message about the value of human intelligence and initiative is positive and valid. Primitivism is not idealised but shown as what it is - a set of obstacles. It's also in the great and good tradition of entertaining Hollywood films about prehistory starring babes, e.g. 2000 Years B.C. Another interesting aspect of these films is the approach to language, and I like the subtitle solution. I should mention that the cast are good as well as Daryll Hannah. A fine film on a challenging subject.

Based 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, this film is the Godfather. There are still some scientific inaccuracies however. 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 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 just dull. 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.