L'Homme des cavernes

In the Stone Age, the strong caveman Tonda (John Matuszak) is the leader of a hostile tribe and the outcast Atouk (Ringo Starr) feels unrequited desire for Tonda's mate Lana (Barbara Bach). One day, Atouk is walking with his best friend Lar (Dennis Quaid) and they meet the cavewoman Tala (Shelley Long). They save her blind father Gog (Jack Gilford) 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.

"Caveman" is a hilarious silliness and is among the silliest movies ever made. But is funny and makes laugh a lot with the gags. The movie has its own language that is very easy to translate and understand the meaning of the words. Shelley Long is very beautiful and this movie introduced Ringo Starr to Barbara Bach that married each other in the end of the release year (1981). In the end, it is worthwhile watching this entertaining comedy. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Caveman – O Homem das Cavernas" ("Caveman – The Caveman")

Some have been a bit harsh with this little film and totally missed the point. We all know that dinosaurs and man didn't coexist but that is beside the point. This film refuses to take itself seriously and why should it? What I found charming was the language the cave folk used,not until a man from the land of the rising sun,seemed to help us viewers with some of the more obscure words. Like the difference between"Aloonda and Zugg-Zugg". (There's a difference?). It figures that the Japanese man would offer the translation,but he gives up and goes along with their slang. John Matuszak,former NFL player,was a perfect casting as Tonda. Some of their very important "discoveries" are a real hoot too. Look for a surprise actor playing the Snowman!

Some movies are to be taken serious, this is not one of them. It's a comical look at prehistoric life. It's not supposed to be accurate in historic detail, it's supposed to make you laugh and this movie did just that. Ringo Starr is great as the unlikely hero Atouk and his wife at the time, Barbara Bach plays the sexy prehistoric temptress wonderfully. Watch for scenes with Shelley Long and Dennis Quaid and you get a glimpse of their early careers.

Deliberate no-brainer comedy stars none other than Ringo Starr. Ringo plays Atouk, a caveman in one zillion b.c. who is considered inferior by the bigger and stronger men of his tribe, including the leader Tonda (John Matuszak). Cast out for attempting to get with Tondas' mate Lana (Barbara Bach), whom Atouk lusts after, Atouk forms his own tribe with misfits such as his good buddy Lar (Dennis Quaid), friendly stranger Tala (Shelley Long), and her blind father Gog (Jack Gilford).

The movie is co-written by Rudy De Luca and Carl Gottlieb, the latter recognizable for having contributed to the script for "Jaws" and having played Meadows in that classic. It's often silly and childish, sometimes a little tiresome, but it's not attempting to be anything more than a goofy good time for comedy fans.

The dialect spoken by our heroes and antagonists is most amusing: "aloonda" means love, "macha" means monster, "ool" means food, etc. "Zugzug" means...well, I think you can figure that out. It's not really that necessary to have a translation handy. The gags aren't always that successful, but the ones that work are pretty funny. One has to love the cartoon physics every time that Tonda tries to throw something heavy.

The cast is lively and engaging. Ringos' hangdog looks are perfect for his hard luck character, and Dennis Quaid is a total hoot as another guy who often can't seem to catch a break. Both the stunning Bach and the sexy Long look good in skimpy cavewomen clothes. The real highlight of "Caveman" is the fantastic effects work of Jim Danforth and David Allen: those dopey dinosaurs are just hilarious and endearing. Note that the critters are credited as playing "themselves", with the exception of the Abominable Snowman, who's played by Richard Moll of 'Night Court' fame.

Lalo Schifrin's music score is most amusing - the main theme is insidiously catchy - and there's plenty of fine location shooting in Mexico.

Incidentally, this is where real-life married couple Bach and Ringo met.

If you attempted to play a drinking game for every time a character name is uttered - especially Tonda - you'd be drunk before long.

Seven out of 10.

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.