Caveman (1981)

Director:

Carl Gottlieb

Writers:

Rudy De Luca (writer) and
Carl Gottlieb (writer)

Release Date:

17 April 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A pre-histerical comedy!

Plot:

A caveman seeks revenge on a much larger competitor for the hand of a beautiful cavewoman.

Plot Keywords:

Caveman | Gay Couple | Dinosaur | Spoof | Kicked In Butt

Cast

Ringo Starr	...	Atouk
Dennis Quaid	...	Lar
Shelley Long	...	Tala
Jack Gilford	...	Gog
Cork Hubbert	...	Ta
Mark King	...	Ruck
Paco Morayta	...	Flok
Evan C. Kim	...	Nook (as Evan Kim)
Ed Greenberg	...	Kalta
Carl Lumbly	...	Bork
Jack Scalici	...	Folg
Erika Carlsson	...	Folg's Mate (as Erica Carlson)
Gigi Vorgan	...	Folg's Older Daughter
Sara López Sierra	...	Folg's Younger Daughter
Esteban Valdez	...	Folg's Older Son
Juan Ancona Figueroa	...	Folg's Younger Son
Juan Omar Ortiz	...	Folg's Youngest Son
Anaís de Melo	...	Meeka
John Matuszak	...	Tonda
Barbara Bach	...	Lana
Avery Schreiber	...	Ock
Miguel Ángel Fuentes	...	Grot
Tere Álvarez	...	Ock's Mate
Ana De Sade	...	Grot's Mate
Gerardo Zepeda	...	Boola
Hector Moreno	...	Noota
Pamela Gual	...	Noota's Mate
Marco Antonio Arzate	...	Caveman
Miguel Ángel García	...	Caveman
Vicente Hueso	...	Caveman
Nicolás Jasso	...	Caveman
Raúl Martínez	...	Caveman
Gerardo Albarrán	...	Caveman (as Gerardo Moreno)
Humberto Olivares	...	Caveman
Martha Irma Gutierrez	...	Cavewoman
María Elena Novella	...	Cavewoman
Sabina Riba	...	Cavewoman
Xochitl del Rosario	...	Cavewoman
Diana Walther	...	Cavewoman
Michelle Wagner	...	Cavewoman
Richard Moll	...	Abominable Snowman

Directed by
Carl Gottlieb

Writing credits
Rudy De Luca		(writer) and
Carl Gottlieb		(writer)

Produced by
David Foster	....	producer
Lawrence Turman	....	producer

Original Music by
Lalo Schifrin

Cinematography by
Alan Hume

Film Editing by
Gene Fowler Jr.

Casting by
Lynn Stalmaster

Production Design by
Philip M. Jefferies

Art Direction by
José Rodríguez Granada

Costume Design by
Robert Fletcher

Makeup Department
Del Armstrong	....	makeup supervisor
Rosa Guerrero	....	makeup artist (as Rosa Guerrero García)
Lynn Del Kail	....	hair stylist
Tom Lucas	....	makeup artist
Hallie Smith-Simmons	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Donald Heitzer	....	production manager: Puerto Vallarta
Theodore R. Parvin	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Peter Bogart	....	first assistant director
Mario Cisneros	....	second assistant director
Jim Danforth	....	second unit director

Art Department
Antonio Mata	....	property master
Michael G. Ploog	....	illustrator
Michael G. Ploog	....	sketch artist
Ward Welton	....	painter

Sound Department
Keith Batten	....	boom operator
Claude Hitchcock	....	production sound mixer
Eric Lindemann	....	sound editor
Theodore Soderberg	....	dialogue re-recording mixer
Paul Wells	....	sound effects re-recording mixer
Jay Wertz	....	sound effects supervisor

Special Effects by
Dave Allen	....	special effects
Michael Arbogast	....	special effects prop maker
Roy Arbogast	....	special effects supervisor
Hal Bigger	....	special effects
Laurencio Cordero	....	special effects
Jim Danforth	....	dinosaur and effects designer
Gunnar Ferdinandsen	....	special effects plaster mold maker
Paul Gentry	....	director of photography: stop motion animation unit
Dale Kuippers	....	special effects sculptor
William Lee	....	special effects prop maker
Hal Miles	....	stop motion technician
James Nash Jr.	....	special effects
Dayton Osmond	....	special effects prop maker
Robert Riley III	....	special effects prop maker
Richard Ruiz	....	special effects plaster mold maker
Thomas R. Ward	....	special effects (as Thomas Ward)
David Wood	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Dave Allen	....	visual effects supervisor
Jim Aupperle	....	visual effects
Randall William Cook	....	visual effects
Dan Curry	....	matte artist
Spencer Gill	....	visual effects
Rocco Gioffre	....	matte artist
Jena Holman	....	matte artist
Pete Kleinow	....	visual effects
Laine Liska	....	visual effects
David Stipes	....	visual effects

Stunts
Gerardo Albarrán	....	stunts (as Gerardo Moreno)
Marco Antonio Arzate	....	stunts
Jeannie Epper	....	stunts
James M. Halty	....	stunt coordinator (as Jim Halty)
Nicolás Jasso	....	stunts
Raúl Martínez	....	stunts (as Raul Martinez)
John Meier	....	stunts
Jimmy Nickerson	....	stunts (as Jim Nickerson)
Patricio Pareda	....	stunts
R.A. Rondell	....	stunt coordinator
Ron Stein	....	stunt coordinator
Glenn R. Wilder	....	stunts (as Glenn Wilder)

Camera and Electrical Department
Leslie Bryan	....	key grip
Mike Frift	....	focus puller
Genaro Hurtado	....	director of photography: second unit
Jack Lowin	....	camera operator
Andrew D. Schwartz	....	unit still photographer
Andrés Torres Flores	....	camera operator: second unit
John Tythe	....	gaffer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Adolfo Ramírez	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Kim Fowler	....	assistant editor
Roy E. Peterson	....	assistant editor
Carlos Puente	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Daniel Allan Carlin	....	music editor
Douglas O. Williams	....	music re-recording mixer

Transportation Department
Emelio de Paz	....	transportation captain
Ricardo Gallarzo Jr.	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Anuar Badin	....	production advisor
Rita Damon	....	location auditor
Chip Fowler	....	production coordinator
Doris Grau	....	script supervisor
Chayo Lopez	....	production coordinator
Graciela Miramontes	....	production coordinator
José Luis Ortega	....	script supervisor: second unit
Peter J. Silbermann	....	unit publicist
Chris Walas	....	creator: abominable snowman

Production Companies

• David Foster Productions
• Turman-Foster Company

Distributors

• United Artists (1981) (USA) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1981) (Japan) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Japan (2007) (Japan) (DVD)
• CBS/Fox (video)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• SPO (2003) (Japan) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Effects Associates

Other Companies

• La Da Productions  music editing
• Pacific Title  title opticals
• Pelifilm  sound effects

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Company:

David Foster Productions

Trivia:

The film opens up with "One Zillion BC - October 9th" October 9th was John Lennon's birthday. This was in memoriam of Ringo Starr's former friend and former band mate with the Beatles.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Atouk take the fruit that causes him to pass out, we can see a glimpse of the mattress where he falls down, in the next shot the mattress is gone.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Lar: [whispering to Gog] Atouk alounda Tala.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in World of Warcraft (2004) (VG)

Truly one of the greatest films of the 80s

Very few films have the capacity to change the way we think and feel about the world around us. This is one of them.

This touching film is about daring caveman Atouk and his brave companion Lar, who are expelled from their tribes, journey through exotic, precambrian lands, learning about the people and world around them. Ultimately they form their own tribe and, more importantly, learn cameraderie, the heart of what it means to be human and to have love. Caught up in the chaos of a savage, ancient world, Atouk and Lar eventually have to struggle just to stay alive.

This movie lost the Best Picture Oscar in 1981, but history will likely remember "Caveman" for much longer. And with more fondness. The cinematography is excellent. Alan Hume's prehistoric world is photographed as a mystical paradise. Then, we see the horror of human greed, lust and cruelty, also stunningly photographed. There is also a nice scene with a bunch of people thrashing about in a large pile of dung. It looked so realistic, that for a moment, I felt like it wasn't a movie, but a documentary.

The acting is top notch, especially early performances from Dennis Quaid, who exposes his buttocks and Barbara Bach, who should have. In one scene, Dennis Quaid makes impressive use of method acting, urinating against a glacier. And Ringo Starr deserved the Oscar he unfairly lost to Dudley Moore that year.

Everyone needs to see this movie at least once. Although it might be a little disturbing, the violence is not gratuitous, the love affairs wistful and heartbreaking. Despite the tragic elements, however, the movie is inspirational. One of the best films to come out of the 80s!

It's underrated films like this that don't get any publicity and the over-rated, pointless films do. I guess that's just the way Hollywood operates. This is one of the saddest, most touching, most unsettling, most moving films I've ever seen. It's one of the best. It nakedly shows the rudimentary nature of humanity, by showing our primal origins, when a fire, meat and the warmth of a lover and support of friends was all that kept us from the brink of death. "Caveman" captures and horrifies the viewer. There is something classical about the plot of "Caveman." If Aeschylus was alive today and making films, he would have made "Caveman."

The vivid imagery and music is outstanding, but the acting and intensity shown is very realistic. This is one of the most harrowing, gripping films I've ever seen, reminding me of so many other films of the era. "Quest for Fire" being one, but "The Killing Fields" being another. "The Killing Fields" is a movie about people who weren't exactly on the front lines, nor are they exceptional warriors. They're everyday people, like you or me, who do what they can to help one another out. "Caveman" is like this.

I can't put my finger on exactly what it is about this film that gets to me so much, but it is THE most haunting, emotional film experience one could hope for.

Excellent performances from the cast. A brilliant score by Lalo Schifrin. Scenes of high emotion, tension, drama, horror and even one or two pieces of light relief, usually involving Shelly Long.

An excellent film. Certainly one of the best foreign films in recent memory, "Caveman" is ripe for a new Director's Cut edition, or perhaps a modern English-version remake featuring John Malkovich. I have only ever seen the original, undubbed and not-subtitled version (I never figured out what language it was -- probably Swedish) and had difficulty with some of the more elaborate dialogues.