This movie presents an interesting piece of speculation about the life of prehistoric humans and sub-humans, and the possible interactions between them. I suppose credit has to go first to the makeup department, who made a pretty convincing set of these creatures. The story is interesting and well-acted, especially considering that the cast was working with the significant limitation of not speaking a word of English (or any other known human language) in the whole movie. As might be expected, given the context, the story is violent (and, at times, even brutal.) Somewhat surprisingly, there is also a more gentle touch included, especially contributed by the character played by Rae Dawn Chong - belonging to a tribe more advanced than the primary tribe of the movie, who introduces the lead tribe to more advanced human traits such as laughter and affection, if not love.
The presence of the various tribes was one of the weaknesses here as well, though. As best as I could make out, there seem to be three different humanoid species represented. What I know about human evolution is essentially what I remember from high school biology, but from the makeup the tribes appeared to be australopithecine (the ape men at the beginning of the movie), neanderthal (the primary tribe of the movie) and cro-magnon, essentially modern humans. The problem is that, from what I remember of those high school biology classes, I'm not sure those three species ever co-existed. I'm not sure that any three humanoid species ever co-existed in the same time and place. So that represented a bit of a muddle to me. The mammoths portrayed also lacked authenticity to me. I thought they looked exactly like what they were - elephants with makeup on.
Still, this is a good movie, if a bit fanciful and even with the possibility of inaccuracies. Although probably not made with this intention, I appreciated that the movie offered a good glimpse at the cause of conflict even in today's world. The tribes fought each other because they all wanted fire. Today's world generally assumes that conflict is about ideological or religious differences, which is nonsense. People fight because one side has what the other wants. The story also flows pretty well, and at 1:40 it's pretty easy watching. 7/10
The presence of the various tribes was one of the weaknesses here as well, though. As best as I could make out, there seem to be three different humanoid species represented. What I know about human evolution is essentially what I remember from high school biology, but from the makeup the tribes appeared to be australopithecine (the ape men at the beginning of the movie), neanderthal (the primary tribe of the movie) and cro-magnon, essentially modern humans. The problem is that, from what I remember of those high school biology classes, I'm not sure those three species ever co-existed. I'm not sure that any three humanoid species ever co-existed in the same time and place. So that represented a bit of a muddle to me. The mammoths portrayed also lacked authenticity to me. I thought they looked exactly like what they were - elephants with makeup on.
Still, this is a good movie, if a bit fanciful and even with the possibility of inaccuracies. Although probably not made with this intention, I appreciated that the movie offered a good glimpse at the cause of conflict even in today's world. The tribes fought each other because they all wanted fire. Today's world generally assumes that conflict is about ideological or religious differences, which is nonsense. People fight because one side has what the other wants. The story also flows pretty well, and at 1:40 it's pretty easy watching. 7/10