Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Ana_Banana I've just seen it for the first time and won't repeat the obvious (silliness, rubber dinosaurs, stage sets looking so artificial, simple plot, juvenile humor) - oh wait, didn't I just repeat that? Oh well, the pleasant surprise was the acting (in this, of all films), especially Ringo's (who would have thought of that?) and of course Shelley Long. Most of the actors were pretty expressive and as natural as they could in that zany spoof (except a few too well groomed hairdos). Even the simple plot is somehow telling with regard to the basic motivations lurking sometimes behind our fancy psyche. Maybe if they didn't want to make fools out of themselves, it all had indeed some potential of becoming a real, serious film about our ancestors' way of life.

Python Hyena Caveman (1981): Dir: Carl Gottleib / Cast: Ringo Starr, Barbara Bach, Dennis Quaid, Shelley Long, John Matuszak: Inventive comedy set in those prehistoric days of yesteryear. It regards the rise of man through his sense of learning. Ringo Starr plays Atouk who is banished from his tribe due to an uncontrolled lust for Lana, chief Tonda's woman. He forms his own tribe and they discover fire, music, cooking, and learn to hunt, which leads to the biggest egg yoke in history. Intriguing concept is detailed within a series of creative subplots that climax with both tribes colliding. Dinosaur jokes are hilarious complete with a nearby ice age. Director Carl Gottleib is inventive and backed with hilarious dinosaurs whom Atouk must outwit. Starr is very funny as a nobody booted from his tribe only to form another to a higher degree of sophistication. The only drawback is the simplistic use of violence to solve the plot. Barbara Bach as Lana represents society's fantasy of women but how she is finally dealt with is perhaps the film's dirtiest sight joke. Dennis Quaid plays Lar, Atouk's best friend whom experiences the nearby ice age. Shelley Long as Tarla is the woman destine for Atouk and she even goes so far as to confront Tonda regarding Lana's whereabouts. John Matuszak provides the massive brute frame of Tonda who cannot throw a rock and let go of it. Well intentioned comedy about the pains of prehistoric life. Score: 8 / 10

megunticook It's funny reading the external reviews for this film. Roger Ebert was such a sourpuss! Whereas Janet Maslin and Pauline Kael, both very serious critics as well, took it for what it was--a harmless, enjoyable little romp through the stone age. I'm sure in 1981 it would have been classed in the same category as "Holy Moses", "History of the World, Part I" and the like, an "adult" comedy filled with innuendo and sly scatological humor. These days it would probably be considered a family film. I was 9 or 10 when I saw it on cable at the baby sitter's house and it tickled me to no end. Watching it again recently it's a ghastly enterprise that would barely make the cut on Comedy Central but it does have its charms, chief among them Ringo Starr as the hapless hero. He's a great physical comedian, using only his face, body and a vocabulary of grunts to express himself. The dinosaurs that seem to be around every corner are goofily rendered in stop motion animation, yet they have twice the personality of any modern CG monster. It's all harmless fun and I wouldn't be horrified to show it to my 10 year old nephew.

Mutakk Bainless and silly, but with a few scattered laughs. The real "star" here are David Allen's stop-motion effects. He's no Ray Harryhausen, but the FX are more than competent. The acting isn't so great, though. Young Dennis Quaid tries, but Ringo and Shelley Long seem to be just walk through the movie, never really trying to get into the spirit of things. A few standout scenes though, most notably a caveman's charades about a recent dinosaur attack, and Ringo "inventing" rock & roll.Among the numerous scenes that simply fall flat, a caveman stepping in dinosaur poop and pronouncing, perfectly: "that's 5h!+." Woody Allen got away with spouting contemporary dialogue in ridiculous settings, like the Napolinac revolution, etc., because he actually made it funny. Mel Brooks did it a lot, failing almost every time. So did this director.Still, Caveman isn't a dog. It's certainly not Airplane with apes, but it's not Three Amigos either.