This kind of documentary approach in "Cave Bear" will not thrill those who want a stone age comedy-romance, "Caveman", or a special effects absurdity of prehistoric people fighting lots of dinosaurs, "One Million BC", (which is historically impossible). And sadly we know that they are doomed (except for a few Neanderthals who possibly interbred with Cro-Magnons). They were scratching and clawing (literally) just to eat and raise children. But the bottom line for these people is survival and that was a very difficult thing to accomplish. "Cave Bear" also shows some of the ritual of stone age culture with the Shaman and the hunting rites of passage.
What makes it bearable for me is how the Darryl Hannah character is able to deal with this and eventually over come it. There is prejudice, oppression and abuse in full force. The flaws in human nature are shown in all their rawness in this movie. I've seen documentaries about the Neanderthal and was surprised how accurately "Cave Bear" showed that time. It captures the brutality of prehistory very well for a fiction film. The later Auel stories become more romance novel fodder and to some that may be more entertaining. To me the film takes the best part of Auel's story and makes a pretty good movie. I am not trying to compare "Cave Bear" to the books by Jean M. "Quest for Fire" is the best movie of this kind in my opinion but "Clan of the Cave Bear" is a close second. It is rare to find a decent movie about prehistoric peoples. Otherwise I can't find any serious flaws. If the movie lacks anything it is the beauty of the photography in films like "Quest for Fire" and "Windwalker".
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