Quest for Fire

Original title: La guerre du feu

1981
R
1h 40m

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

25K

YOUR RATING

Ron Perlman, Rae Dawn Chong, Nicholas Kadi, and Everett McGill in Quest for Fire (1981)

This story takes place in prehistoric time when three tribesmen search for a new fire source.

Play trailer1:06

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Quest Survival Adventure Drama

This story takes place in prehistoric time when three tribesmen search for a new fire source.This story takes place in prehistoric time when three tribesmen search for a new fire source.This story takes place in prehistoric time when three tribesmen search for a new fire source.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.3/10

25K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 11 wins & 8 nominations total

Trivia
Both Ron Perlman and Everett McGill suffered frostbite; luckily they were able to heal completely. Despite the working conditions, they both enjoyed making the film.

Goofs
The movie is set 80,000 years ago, and appears to show the one tribe has made pottery. Fragments of ancient pottery found in southern China date back to only 20,000 years, making them the world's oldest known pottery. However, the vessel shown is actually a dried hollow gourd.

Quotes
[first lines]
Title Card: 80,000 years ago, man's survival in a vast uncharted land depended on the possession of fire. / For those early humans, fire was an object of great mystery, since no one had mastered its creation. Fire had to be stolen from nature, it had to be kept alive - sheltered from wind and rain, guarded from rival tribes. / Fire was a symbol of power and a means of survival. The tribe who possessed fire, possessed life.

Alternate versions
All UK versions are cut by 8 secs and are missing a shot of a wolf on fire.

Connections
Featured in À propos de 'La guerre du feu' (1981)

User reviews123

Review

Featured review

Absolutely unforgettable

"Quest for Fire" (1981 - 100 minutes), under Jean-Jacques Annaud direction and written by Gérard Brach, was based on the book of J. H. Rosny. The movie develops a travel in time showing one of the biggest conquest of human kind: the domain of fire. It's a 80 thousand years ago beautiful drama. The Ulan tribe lives nearby a natural source of fire. When the fire went out, three members of the tribe have to search for a new flame. After several days of walking and having to face many dangerous situations like wild animals, down temperatures and even cannibal tribes, they found the Ivakas, a more evolved human group that had already discovered how to "make" fire. With locations in Kenya, Scotland, Island and Canada, the movie was based on scientific knowledge, showing convincing habitats and characters. The preparation work of the actors body language was done by the Anthropologist Desmond Morris and Anthony Burgess took care of the "talking" of these human ancestors. Almost an Anthropology documentary, this excellent movie shows at the end a scene that suggests the "discovery of love" between male and female. Absolutely unforgettable.