Synopsis of Movie

“Back when you had to beat it before you could eat it...”

Nothing too cerebral about that tagline. Well actually, there was nothing too cerebral about this movie – but the nice thing was, no one pretended that there was. Bumbling cavemen, sexy cavewomen, a dinosaur eating narcotic berries, a gigantic mosquito, and various prehistoric scatalogica…Caveman was a loin-skin romp, darn it, and proud of it.

Atouk loves tan and leggy Lana, but Lana belongs to brawny tribe leader Tonda. And Tonda, to his credit, knows potential girlfriend trouble when he sees it, so he kicks lusty Atouk right out of the pack. Atouk’s homeless for a bit, but then with friends Lar and Tala, he forms a new tribe – a place where a good-hearted misfit caveman can finally feel good about himself! Together, his tribe discovers fire, makes music (starring caveman Ringo Starr, of course, handling the percussion duties), and fry a gigantic reptilian egg for what could be cinema’s biggest over-easy.

Writer/director Carl Gottlieb was perhaps best known for his contributions to Spielberg’s Jaws script, but there was no need to fear the presence of man-eating creatures in this one – the dinosaur animation went for laughs, not chills. Cliché moments of more serious-minded dinosaur/caveman movies past were roundly mocked. And when the star T-Rex is as old and dopey as Caveman's, you know you don’t have too much to worry about.

Some people think that when they walk out of a comedy like this, they’re just a little bit dumber than they were when they walked in. Au contraire! There was hardly an English word spoken in this movie (Ringo himself supposedly having created the caveman patois used throughout), which meant we actually learned an ancient and foreign language while we watched. Thank you, Ringo.

Movie Release History

1981 - Caveman

Movie Sub Categories

live-action
comedy

Movie Studio

United Artists

Cast

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

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