The Clan of the Cave Bear
Warner Bros. | Release Date: January 17, 1986 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
34
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
0
Mixed:
7
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Orlando SentinelJay Boyar
Director Michael Chapman, an experienced cinematographer, is skilled in conveying ideas through pictures -- quite an advantage in a movie about people who aren't especially verbal. And Chapman's cinematographer, Jan De Bont, has a varied palette that responds to the visual demands of a world in transition. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
[It] has a gentle approach to its characters and an occasionally striking visual style. What it doesn't have is much momentum or originality. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesSheila Benson
After much time with this soggy, quarrelsome clan, your sympathies may lie entirely with the bear. Read full review
40
EmpireJB
Greater drama and prehistorical weight are to found in the earlier Quest For Fire or the BBC's Walking With Cavemen, and without so much as a trailer for extras, this feels like a relic. Read full review
40
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
The Clan of the Cave Bear is a dull, overly genteel rendition of Jean M. Auel's novel. Handsomely produced on rugged Canadian exteriors, this is the story of pre-history's first feminist. Read full review
40
Washington PostStaff (Not Credited)
Mostly, though, the problem with the movie lies in the story, which is slow and episodic. Ayla learns how to use a sling (even though women aren't supposed to hunt). Ayla learns the tricks of the medicine woman. Ayla goes to a Neanderthal convention. Read full review
40
Time Out
Devotees of John Sayles' witty, literate screenplays will be disappointed by the repartee of subtitled grunts, while beneath the film's apparent plea for tolerance lies the offensive (if quite possibly true) assumption that tall, tanned Californian blondes represent the highest form of human life. Read full review
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