Caveman (1981)

A cave-man seeks revenge on a much larger competitor for the hand of a beautiful cave-woman.

Director:

Carl Gottlieb

Writers:

Rudy De Luca (as Rudy de Luca), Carl Gottlieb

Stars:

Ringo Starr, Dennis Quaid, Shelley Long

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 Daughter
Sara López Sierra	...	Folg's Younger Daughter (as Sara Lopez Sierra)
Esteban Valdez	...	Folg's Son

Storyline

In the Stone Age, the strong caveman Tonda is the leader of a hostile tribe and the outcast Atouk feels unrequited desire for Tonda's mate Lana. One day, Atouk is walking with his best friend Lar and they meet the cavewoman Tala. They save her blind father Gog from a tar pit and Tala fells unrequited affection for Atouk. Soon the smart Atouk becomes the leader of the misfit tribe and dispute the leadership of the whole clan and Lana with Tonda. But in the end, the leader needs a worthwhile mate.

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Plot Keywords:

caveman | spoof | prehistoric times | slapstick comedy | cavewoman | 

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Taglines:

A pre-histerical comedy!

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA Mexico

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 April 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

El cavernícola

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Box Office

Gross USA:

$15,965,924

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$15,965,924

Company Credits

Production Co:

Estudios Churubusco Azteca S.A., Turman-Foster Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jim Danforth, special effects designer of the stop-motion animated dinosaurs (the dinosaur and effects designer), apparently left the production of this movie about two-thirds of the way through because the Directors Guild of America allegedly disallowed his already contracted co-director credit alongside director Carl Gottlieb. Therefore, Danforth is not credited as a director on this picture, only for special effects and second unit director.

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Goofs

The stab wounds and burns that Atouk inflicts on the Tyrannosaurus all seem to completely clear up in less than twenty-four hours.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Atouk: Macha! Macha! Macha!

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Crazy Credits

The Critters Abominable Snowman ... Richard Moll Tyrannosaurus Rex ... Himself Big Horned Lizard ... Himself Pterodactyl ... Herself Howling Lizard ... Himself

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Connections

Referenced in DVD-R Hell: Cavemen (2013)

User Reviews

Silliest Movie of 1981

Like airline disaster movies, one staple of 1970's cinema that was ripe for spoofing was the sub-genre of pre-historic melodrama influenced by "Korg: 1,000,000 B.C."(1966). Enter, "Caveman," a movie as willing to stick it to this genre as "Airplane!"(1980) was willing to do so to the Airport series, and countlessly similar movies and made-for-TV movies. You won't exactly find humor on the level of Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Young Ones, or Daria here, but it's still good for some laughs.

Atouk(Ringo Starr) has a huge crush on his tribal leader's wife Lana(Barbara Bach), but even if he didn't he's severely mistreated by Tonda(John Matousak), just because he can do so. Tonda is a huge thug who'd rather allow his fellow tribe-members to get eaten by numerous dinosaurs(which they call "Machas"), than try to save them. After he tries to "zug-zug" with Lana, he's kicked out of the tribe, and on the way finds Lar(Dennis Quaid) who was previously left to die after being injured fleeing a Macha.

Along the way they run into Tala(Shelly Long) and her blind father, Gog(Jack Gilford) who nearly drowns in a tar pit until Atouk and Lar save him. Tala immediately falls for Atouk, but he's not interested, which is a shame because she was gorgeous. Shelley Long has never looked as good as she does here. If I were in Atouk's position, I'd dump my aloonda for Lana and zug-zug Tala till she screamed like a Macha, and perhaps even afterwards. Evan Kim is interesting as Nook, the leader of the much more articulate cavemen, who are NOT all WASP heterosexuals of normal size, and and decides to join Atouk and his growing clan as they team up to eventually battle Tonda and his clan for both Ool(food) and pride. Atouk is admired by many other primitive people he comes across, partially because he discovers fire, chiropractic medicine, hallucinogenic plants, and rhythm, which is why Starr is perfect for the role.

The big disappointment here is the fact that the DVD has no translation card of the primitive language, which was originally offered to patrons of the movie when it was first released. At least they could've made a translation section as one of the special features. Other than that it was as silly as hell, and well worth seeing.