10,000 B. C

When a strange blue eyed girl child wanders into a tribe of Mammoth hunters, the local Wise Woman proclaims that she will herald a new era; when she is grown, the chief hunter will be her husband, and he shall lead the people against four legged demons, and change his people's way of life forever.

That's a whole lot of destiny. I'm surprised she got any dates.

But from the day she arrived, Evolet (Camilla Belle) had stolen the heart of D'leh (Steven Strait) D'leh may have been the son of the first hunter but he had not waited for the prophecy; he had left the tribe, and journeyed in the direction that the girl had come, seeking to meet destiny, and thereby influence it. This left D'leh in a less than enviable position.

As they grew up, it looked like Ka'Ren (Mo Zinal) would be the one to be the leader of the hunters and carry the white spear, but when it came time for the final Mantok (mammoth) hunt, by purest luck and happenstance; D'leh was the one who killed the Mantok. Thus he got the white spear, thus Evolet became his.

But Tik'tik (Cliff Curtis) the old chief hunter knows the truth, and D'leh can't live with the lie; he gives the spear back, though it means that Evolet may not be his.

Then, as Old Mother (Mona Hammond) predicted, they are beset by four legged demons! They are actually slavers on horse back, but to the primitive hunter gather it was close enough.

About half the tribe is drug away, leaving only the very old, the very young and the infirm. A few are spared by luck, hiding, or because they were away from camp sulking over having to give up the white spear. Evolet is among those taken.

Old Mother decrees that three would go to try to rescue the people; Tik'tik, Ka'Ren, and D'leh. However, the youth Baku (Nathaniel Baring) follows them, undetected until they are too far away to send him back alone.

In the hot lowlands, the hunters are surrounded by strange plants, and strange noises. They are now in sight of their comrades, but must hang back, waiting for their guard to fall.

And in the predawn light, D'leh can not exercise restraint and move to free Evolet. One of the slavers wakes, but they beat him unconscious.

But then they are attacked by terror birds! Baku, Evolet, and Ka'Ren are captured, and Tik'tik is injured. Only D'leh is unscathed.

So they follow. Will D'leh save his people? Will the one eyed slaver kill one of them? Will the leader have his way with Evolet? Who is responsible for this raid, and how will one unproven warrior and an injured hunter overcome them?

The Analysis; which contains spoilers.

The advance hype for this movie was intriguing, but they did something that usually is the kiss of death; they did not screen it for the critics. There is usually a reason they choose to do that; the movie stinks.

I had heard enough bad press to lower my expectations. And I'm glad I did. Not because the movie stank, but because I was able to enjoy it for what it was.

The complaints about this movie were bad acting, weak plot and historical anachronisms.

One; this movie used unknown actors, not bad actors. Admittedly, they spoke with this strange accent, but since they all did it, that is not a failure in acting, but in direction. I doubt that anyone will be taking home an Oscar, but I thought the cast did a good job of portraying Neolithic nomadic hunter gatherers. I especially liked the collectivist mindset they portrayed; there was individual ambition, but it took backseat to the greater good of the tribe. It is often hard for individualists to play collectivists. Oddly enough, collectivists can play individualists with no problem. That probably says something profound, but I'm not exactly sure what. The one thing that irritated me was how grubby everyone looked. Primitive does not mean dirty. Hygiene is very low tech.

The plot is supposed to be weak. It is not the tightly crafted jewel that Deathtrap was, but it worked. Simple and basic is not weak. There were some implausible elements; the prophecy, Old Mother's ability to watch over them and affect things, but this can be seen as something that we had and have lost as we moved away from nature. (It is true that nonlinear thinkers score significantly higher on Zinner cards and remote viewing tests than linear thinkers do.)

I also found the bit with the sabretooth a bit implausible. But to play devil's advocate, hunter gatherers feel a very deep connection to the animals in the world around them, and D'leh was depicted as rather sensitive. For the sabretooth's part, it is likely a pride hunter, a social creature used to acting cooperatively.

Okay, the bits with the sabretooth were hokey.

For the last part the allegation has been made that the movie is riddled with anachronisms and historical inaccuracies, I would just like to say, well, yeah.

So are the history books. This is not a documentary. Copper was not worked until 7500 B.C. much less bronze or iron. The pyramids are half the age or less, there is no evidence what so ever anywhere that Mammoths were ever domesticated. Big deal. It was a fun movie.

It's a boy meets girl, boy looses girl, boy overcomes all obstacles to be with girl movie. There is nothing wrong with that.

Was it a great movie? No. Was it a socially relevant movie? No. Was it a fun way to kill a few hours? Yes. Do I wish I had waited for DVD? Maybe, but the big screen makes the mammoths and scenery have a lot more impact. And the scenery and the special effects are wicked! The wet sabretooth was unbelievable from a technical standpoint. Fur is hard. Water is hard. Movement of musculature is hard. Combining each one adds another order of magnitude to the difficulty to the overall shot. Impressive.

So do I recommend this movie? Sure. But go to the matinee.