Quest for Fire is a 1981 film adaptation of the 1911 Belgian novel by J.-H. Rosny aîné . Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and adapted by Gérard Brach, the film stars Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nameer El-Kadi, and Rae Dawn Chong. It won the Academy Award for Makeup. Michael D. Moore was the associate producer in charge of action & animal scenes. It is set in Paleolithic Europe, 80,000 years ago, its plot surrounding the struggle for control of fire by early humans. The film begins with a raid by the apelike Wagabu tribe on the Neanderthal Ulam tribe, who possess fire in... the form of a carefully guarded small flame which they use to start larger bonfires. Obtained from a natural source, it must be fed constantly to keep it alive, for the Ulam do not know how to make their own fire. Driven out of their home after a bloody battle with the Wagabu, the surviving Ulam escape but are chased into a marsh by a pack of wolves. The Ulam fire tender escapes with the tribe's remaining fire, however after crossing a marsh, the moisture and wind douse the embers, leaving the tribe doomed to die from exposure and starvation.
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| Release date: | 1982 |
| Directed by: | Jean-Jacques Annaud |
| Rated: |  |
| Runtime: | 100 Minutes |
| Producer: | Denis Héroux, Jacques Dorfmann, John Kemeny, Véra Belmont |
| Editor: | Yves Langlois |
| Music by: | Philippe Sarde |
| Cinematography: | Claude Agostini |
| Screenplay by: | John Hughes, Gérard Brach |
| Estimated budget: | $12,500,000 |
| Adapted from: | Quest for Fire |
| Genre: | Adventure, Fantasy |