Us
Captain Marvel
Widows
The Walking Dead
Log in with Facebook
OR
By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies, and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango.
Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password.
We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your account. Just leave us a message here and we will work on getting you verified.
Please reference “Error Code 2121” when contacting customer service.
No consensus yet.
All Critics (10) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (1) | Rotten (9) | DVD (1)
This is Reader's Digest prehistory, though at least director Chapman (cameraman on Raging Bull) makes sure the murky caves look nice. Feb 9, 2006 | Full Review…
This is Reader's Digest prehistory, though at least director Chapman (cameraman on Raging Bull) makes sure the murky caves look nice.
The filmmakers made no effort to empathize with their prehistoric characters, to imagine what it might have really been like back then. Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 1.5/4 | Full Review…
The filmmakers made no effort to empathize with their prehistoric characters, to imagine what it might have really been like back then.
Roger Ebert
A goofy and ill-made movie that wants to be deadly serious and acts incredibly daft, and the average between these two points is of a joyless, dull nothing. Jul 16, 2012 | Rating: 4/10 | Full Review…
A goofy and ill-made movie that wants to be deadly serious and acts incredibly daft, and the average between these two points is of a joyless, dull nothing.
Tim Brayton
As the cave wall says, stay with the book. Nov 1, 2004 | Rating: 2/5
As the cave wall says, stay with the book.
Steve Crum
Imagine a chick-flick "Quest for Fire" that makes no sense. Jul 26, 2002 | Rating: 2/5
Imagine a chick-flick "Quest for Fire" that makes no sense.
Scott Weinberg
A catalogue of second-best decisions Jan 1, 2000
A catalogue of second-best decisions
Shane Burridge
I've seen some bad reviews of this and even the author of the book, Jean M. Auel, on which the movie is based evidently didn't like it. I did like it though. The make-up work rivals that of The Planet of the Apes. I thought the minimal use of spoken dialogue and consistent primitive sign language was well done. The subtitles did not distract: they helped because the characters do not use a known language. I identified with the theme of Ayla having to walk alone in the end because she questioned the ways of the clan too much. Critic Roger Ebert says, "[The movie] never quite makes them seem frightened and ignorant and vulnerable and bewildered." In a way the clan is subject to nature and these qualities, especially Brun who's primary fault is the way in which he deals with the feelings that Ebert mentions by being close-minded and macho. But I don't think Ebert has a legitimate critique because most cultures won't show these traits because they think they have it all figured out. The series of books are all about how ancient peoples who lived in caves are not so primitive as we might assume. And so, their culture just like ours and every one in between has a certain pride in their own customs and norms that help them avoid those scary feelings. Ebert also sees the fact that "every one of these people has motives that are instantly recognizable and predictable" as a fault. He misses the point by coming to the movie with expectations that it would perhaps be more like One Million Years B.C.. I think the point of the story is that the books were bestsellers because they are about how human motives have always been the same.
Super Reviewer
What did I just watch? This is strange and I really wasn't that interested.
Slow and pointless. Lacks great elements like Quest for Fire, which had Ron Pearlman and tons of monkey people fights.
The perfect movie for Darryl Hannah. She does an excellent job with use her sign languages in her character as a cavewoman by communicating each other.
There are no approved quotes yet for this movie.
View All