Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #245216 in DVD
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: German

Amazon.com
Every statuesque, beautiful blonde woman has spent more time in the company of Neanderthals than she cares to remember. Seems it's always been that way: Clan of the Cave Bear, a 1986 feature scripted by John Sayles and based on Jean Auel's bestselling novel set in prehistoric times, stars former mermaid Daryl Hannah as an intelligent Cro-Magnon woman adopted and raised by lesser-evolved Neanderthals. Berated for her brains, sexually exploited, and generally treated as uppity chattel, Hannah's character sets out for the far country to see who else is there. Eventually, she finds more Baywatch-like gods and goddesses similar to herself, including an Aryan-looking stud with whom she discovers how good sex can feel with a warm, caring, proto-human. Sayles's writing on this project is forceful but cheeky. It's hard not to laugh at a number of scenes that shouldn't, in the strictest sense, be laughed at (the use of subtitles to decipher caveman grunts and clucks may or may not be an intentional running joke), but one gets the feeling Sayles looked upon this challenge as a pop exercise instead of (as many of the book's fans would have preferred) a religious experience. Michael Chapman, ace cinematographer of Mean Streets and The Wanderers, directed with an eye toward primitive exotica and made this a terrific-looking movie. Author Auel was reportedly unhappy with the final results on screen, but the film is well worth a fascinated look. With Pamela Reed and James Remar. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

A Great Movie
I have read all of the books based on Ayla and loved them all, have read them many many times. There is no possible way that you could take the book and make it into a movie without leaving out a lot of details. I feel they did a wonderful job with the movie and I have watched it many times. To be more true and accurate to the book you would have to make a Mini-series and I for one would love to see that!!! It would make for a much more interesting night of television than most of the junk that they have on now. Daryl Hannah was an excellent Ayla but the entire cast had their work cut out for them but I was also very impressed with James Remar as Creb, wow did he bring Creb to life. For those that nit picked this movie apart then I suggest that you don't watch it again, for myself I will watch it again and again. Would really like to see a sequel!!

Save your money, buy the book
As so often happens with screen adaptations of books this one is a real loser. From start to finish the writers/producers seem to have taken the general plot outline and characters and dropped most of the actual story.
It will do all right as a way to spend an afternoon if you haven't read the book (at this writing the paperback is $2 cheaper)but too much is so unlike what Ms. Auel wrote. I know that lot's of detail had to be removed for times sake but at what cost to the story? Little Ayla's orphaning resembles the book as does her discovery by the Clan but the way the Neanderthals behave isn't like the book. I don't even remember all of the scenes but when Ayla gives birth to her son Durc, that's conpletely different, although good. Later in the story when Ayla's adoptive mother Iza (Pamela Reed unrocognizable in makeup)is too old and frail to go to the CLan Gathering Ayla is sent in her place, they made a real mess of that one.
Daryl Hannah is very well cast as the adult Ayla, she's the best reason to watch ths movie.

As an Auel Fan, and a very picky person, I love this movie.
I read the whole series long before I saw the movie, and as a person who frequently reads before she sees any movie editions, I can be disappointed at times, and not for nitpicking reasons.

However, this time I was not only plesantly surprised, I was blessed with this movie. I happen to think that many film adaptations of books are not very well done because of how much has to be cut out, rewritten, etc, for the sake of a movie.

This one, however, was wonderful. Yes, some things were changed, but the book managed to keep Auel's talents alive within the film. I loved the genuine-feeling prehistoric atmosphere the movie portrayed, and the sign language mixed with the type of verbal words that would be typical of the Clan as described by Auel--it's excellent. There was not even a large need for subtitles, the body language says it all. Unlike Splash, Daryl Hannah did a superb job with this movie. I would reccomend it to anyone unless they feel like doing the old nitpick. If you do, this movie's not for you.