If you are someone who is interested in the origin of man, you will watch this movie and be intrigued. If you are someone with an anthropological background, you will watch this movie and either laugh hysterically or groan tremendously. Apart from being riddled with inaccuracies as far as science is concerned (such as the tiny fact that these four types of early hominids did *not* exist at the same time, nor in the same areas of the world), the Australopithecus afarensis look like extras from "Plant of the Apes", the Homo erectus are big, oafish cannibals, and, naturally, the archaic Homo sapiens are sophisticates with a well-developed fertility culture.
The protagonists of "Quest for Fire" are three Neandertals who go searching for fire after being attacked by the troll-like A. afarensis and losing the ember with which they always begin their blazes. Whilst the film does a good job of telling the story without a single word of any recognizable language, the storyline is disturbing (and disturbingly inaccurate) at times, particularly when our heroes stumble upon H. erectus gnawing on the arm of a (still-living) H. sapiens, or when the Neandertals had the urge for a little coital action. Still, when one considers what was known by paleoanthropologists in the 80's (when this movie was made), some allowance can be madea tiny, miniscule fraction of allowance. Altogether not a *bad* movie, just don't watch it and expect to ace your Physical Anthropology final.
The protagonists of "Quest for Fire" are three Neandertals who go searching for fire after being attacked by the troll-like A. afarensis and losing the ember with which they always begin their blazes. Whilst the film does a good job of telling the story without a single word of any recognizable language, the storyline is disturbing (and disturbingly inaccurate) at times, particularly when our heroes stumble upon H. erectus gnawing on the arm of a (still-living) H. sapiens, or when the Neandertals had the urge for a little coital action. Still, when one considers what was known by paleoanthropologists in the 80's (when this movie was made), some allowance can be madea tiny, miniscule fraction of allowance. Altogether not a *bad* movie, just don't watch it and expect to ace your Physical Anthropology final.