The Clan of the Cave Bear

Release Year: 1986

Director: Michael Chapman

Review: I'll give this film credit.  It tried.  It tried really hard.  Based on a popular novel, 'The Clan of the Cave Bear' is a prehistoric drama set at the time when both Neanderthals and Cro-Magnum both walked the Earth.  After a serious earthquake, Ayla (Daryl Hannah), a Cro-Magnum, is orphaned and found by a clan of Neanderthals who take her in.  Never quite feeling like she belonged in the clan, Ayla tries extra hard to fit in, becoming as good as, if not better than any man in the clan.  Despite her obviously superior abilities she is continually brought down by the other members of her clan.

It's a fairly by-the-books, fish out water, type story set in an unusual time period.  There was a lot of care taken to be as authentic as possible, which I appreciate.  The problem is that it takes itself too seriously while at the same time being over the top.  It comes off as corny rather than sincere, and it ends up being a pretty brutal experience.  Just as 'Caveman' had done five years prior, it made the unfortunate mistake of trying to make up a prehistoric language which was a mixture of sign language and grunts.  The problem is, unlike its predecessor, this isn't a comedy.  Every step it takes seemed overdone, overused, and really awkward.  Sorry, I just couldn't take Daryl Hannah running around grunting seriously, and it has nothing solid to fall back on.
Rating: 2/5