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Ringo Starr, Dennis Quaid, Shelley Long, Jack Gilford, John Matuszak ... see more see more... , Barbara Bach , Marco Antonio Arzate , Erika Carlson , Ana De Sade , Miguel Ángel Fuentes , Cork Hubbert , Evan C. Kim , Mark King , Richard Moll , Paco Morayta , Gerardo Moreno , Jack Scalia , Avery Schreiber , Lynn Stalmaster , Gigi Vorgan , Ed Greenberg , Anais de Melo , Pamela Gual , Gerardo "El Chiquilin" Zepeda , Carl Lumbly

Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr plays a prehistoric, social outcast who, along with other misfits, forms his own tribe and finds various comic adventures. This spoof is mostly without dialogue besi... read more read more...des the expected neanthropic grunt. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

Flixster Users

51% liked it

9,153 ratings

Critics

20% liked it

15 critics

PG, 1 hr. 31 min.

Directed by: Carl Gottlieb

Release Date: April 17, 1981

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DVD Release Date: June 4, 2002

Stats: 471 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (471)


  • June 26, 2011
    Caveman, looks silly and sometimes presents a poor script. But this Carl Gottlieb's comedy is really funny together with his special effects and unforgettable scenes.
  • April 26, 2010
    This spoof of One Million Years B.C. with ex-Beatle Ringo Starr as the prehistoric hero is ridiculous and quite brainless fun because of the amount of sexual innuendo, it is definitely not recommended for kids. The delightfully ridiculous stop-motion animation dinosaurs le... read mored by David Allen are hilarious!
  • January 18, 2009
    One of my guilty pleasures.
  • January 5, 2007
    A guilty pleasure from my childhood -- but not guilty enough to rate higher than this...
  • December 25, 2007
    Hilarious!
  • June 23, 2007
    Back when you had to beat it before you could eat it
  • May 8, 2010
    I recently found this one to show to my daughter, who is a big Ringo Starr fan. Even though this film is now about 30 years old, we both still laughed and laughed. The jokes are juvenile, but well placed. Very much recommended!
  • March 1, 2010
    This film has a very special place in my heart. Whenever I was sick when I was growing up and my Dad was on 'Sick Kid' watch, he'd run out to the rental store and bring this home.

    This was a really big favorite when I had my tonsils removed in the 7th grade. A couple years ago J... read moreosh found this for me on DVD...when I'm feeling under the weather or sick, in the same old tradition, he offers to pop it in to watch.

    It was a simple script and the bulk of it has made it into my friends vocabulary. There's nothing better than running into others who laugh and nod as words like 'pookah' and 'zug-zug' tickles peoples memories and they join in with words they remember. It's especially fun to try and re-enact the fire pit music scene around the fire pit when camping. ;)

    This is a guilty pleasure flick for sure.
  • January 12, 2008
    the one movie i loved that had little to no words in the hole thing... it a funny layed back movie..
  • November 29, 2007
    There are plenty of funny moments, but it's the creatures that really steal the film. They're all animated by stop-motion and have the most ridiculously bulging golf-ball eyes.This movie is also almost entirely dialogued in "Caveman-ish" Apart from one scene, there's no English s... read morepoken at all. Most of the Stone Age films have been funny even if they were never made to be comedies: seeing animated puppet dinosaurs and listening to Stone Age people talking with silly grunts has usually proved to be too difficult task to perform properly, in case the film was meant to be taken seriously. Caveman does not suffer from this as it was already planned, to be a goofy parody of ancient humans and their misfortunes. Caveman is content to make parody of a Stone Age film without being a too serious film; not everybody will find it a pleasure because there are no clever jokes at all. More demanding viewers should be warned of puerile humor Caveman has in large amounts, but if you were especially looking for it, try this without hesitation. Dennis Quaid and John Matuszak sure were good-looking guys and able to handle comedy well. It's interesting considering the "reality" of the film.

Critic Reviews


Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

It has a basic problem, which is that there is no popular original material for it to satirize. Full Review

Janet Maslin
August 30, 2004
Janet Maslin, New York Times

All of this is handled ingeniously enough to let the movie feel colorful and whole, though it could so easily have been nothing but farfetched. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
December 26, 2007
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Even your typical neanderthal will find this spoof beneath him. Full Review

September 10, 2007
TV Guide's Movie Guide

[An] occasionally funny film. Full Review

Stefan Birgir Stefansson
July 14, 2007
Stefan Birgir Stefansson, sbs.is

the worst former-beatle-tryin'-to-rape-a-woman movie ever

May 24, 2003
Film4

The special effects are clever enough and mildly amusing, but the dumb humour on display here wears a little thin. Full Review

Ken Hanke
August 14, 2002
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

A long way from the Lester Beatle films

Scott Weinberg
July 26, 2002
Scott Weinberg, Apollo Guide

Dismiss Caveman as low-minded stupidity if you like, but I may be giggling too loudly to hear your complaints. Full Review

Shane Burridge
January 1, 2000
Shane Burridge, rec.arts.movies.reviews

I'm sure many a critic remarked at the time that the ex-Beatle's best acting performance to date didn't require him to speak

Philip Martin
September 30, 2005
Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

No review available.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Caveman Trivia


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