Cavemen capers

Three Ages, Buster Keaton, 1923. The silent era legend also starred in his first feature film, which sees him travelling to prehistoric times, along with ancient Rome and the modern day Photograph: Kobal Collection

One Million Years BC, Don Chaffey, 1940: Tumak the caveman manages to get exiled by two different tribes in a short space of time. But things start to look up considerably when Rachel Welch decides to join him in his lonely quest not to get eaten by anything nasty Photograph: Kobal Collection

The People That Time Forgot, Kevin Connor, 1977: In this sequel to the classic The Land that Time Forgot, Major Ben McBride organises a mission to Antarctica to rescue a missing friend. Apparently the producers forgot that the south pole is actually full of lots and lots of ice, rather than lots and lots of cavemen and dinosaurs Photograph: Kobal Collection

Caveman, Carl Gottlieb, 1981: Ringo Starr met his future wife Barbara Bach whilst filming this spoof of the genre Photograph: Allstar

Quest for Fire, Jean-Jacques Anneaud, 1981: Considered by some to be one of the greatest examples of the genre, this is the dialogue-free tale of three members of a primitive tribe who set out to find a new source of flame Photograph: Kobal Collection

Conan the Barbarian, John Milius, 1982: OK, so not strictly a caveman flick, but Arnold Schwarzenegger's debut as a leading man certainly features plenty of loincloths. Based on the novels by Robert E Howard, this is a swords and sorcery classic to rival Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy Photograph: Public domain

Iceman, Fred Schepisi, 1984: Explorers find a 40,000 year old man in an Arctic glacier and attempt to do bad things to him in the name of scientific research Photograph: Kobal Collection

Red Sonja, 1985: Based on the Marvel comic books, this is the tale of a female warrior, played by Brigitte Nielsen, who must battle a tyrannical queen in an age of barbarism Photograph: /Allstar

The Clan of the Cave Bear, Michael Chapman, 1986: Daryl Hannah plays a young human woman raised by neanderthals. The film won an Oscar - for best make up Photograph: Allstar

California Man, Les Mayfield, 1992: Two high school misfits discover caveman Brendan Fraser in their yard. Cue a serious of 'hilarious' scrapes and misunderstandings as the prehistoric dude tries to come to terms with American high school life Photograph: Kobal Collection

10,000 BC, Roland Emmerich, 2008: Mammoth hunter D'Leh sets out on a mission to rescue his beloved from evil slave traders, on the way battling a host of creatures who could not possibly have existed during his lifetime.

• 10,000BC is in cinemas today Photograph: Public domain