Search - Riverworld on DVD

Don K. from BEAVERTON, OR
Reviewed on 9/13/2013...

2 stars, at best. The acting is lackluster, the storyline is uninspired and the production quality feels too much like a soap opera backdrop. This was obviously designed to act as a pilot for a low end TV series, and I suppose the producers didn't want too much of a disparity between the quality of the movie and the series. Just guessing, but the result is the same. I wanted to care about the characters, but really never did.

I'd suggest passing on this one.

Joseph M. (RoboticJoe) from TOLEDO, OH
Reviewed on 10/22/2010...

Great story line and movie. I highly recommend it!!!

1 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.

Enjoyable movie for all the family

Kali | United Kingdom | 02/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's a shame that this movie has been so slated by the critics, I really liked it and it's a double shame that a series didn't come out of it, because it was left wide open for that at the end of the movie.

All in all we have a good story-line and some very competent international actors and actresses.

Our main protagonist and hero is a man called Jeff Hale (a sexy American in the guise of Brad Johnson), once an astronaut who died in a crash and is reborn out of a bubble that is pierced with a spear along with other people who have lived throughout most of human history and who have somehow ended up on a mysterious planet called 'Riverworld'.

It seems that anyone who has ever lived and died on Earth comes to Riverworld rather than an afterlife and this does not exclude other world beings either. An extra-terrestrial call Monat (Brian Moore) has the unfortunate luck of dying on earth in 2039 when his space craft crashed and he too is "reborn" to Riverworld and all its mysteries and secrets.

The humans which include Emily Lloyd as Alice Liddell Hardgreaves, an African Priestess call Mali, (Karen Holness) and one Alien are pretty much left to their own devices and as you can imagine they end up becoming quite tribal in their outlook, especially as the Emperor Nero (the English actor Jonathan Cake looking pretty hot despite being a baddie!) has been reborn and he's looking to rule the "new born ones" in the only way he knows how, through the blade and sheer brutality,

A few of the "new born ones" get together and with Hale lead a revolt against Nero and in a river-boat designed by the mysterious Sam (Australian actor Cameron Daddo) set off to explore this mysterious new world made up of connecting rivers that lead to.....?

There is also a race of black hooded 'beings' who seem to have some sort of cosmic plan for the rebels in the riverboat but we aren't privy to what it is and this is a little irritating as there is no sequel to explain it all but that is what happens when a pilot movies flops.

All the same I really enjoyed this, and there is a nice little twist in the tale as you find out who "Sam" was in his previous life.

Not as bad as all the critics are making out, there are a lot worse Sci-Fi films out there, that is for sure!"

Clearly Unfinished

Dorable Dora | USA | 01/26/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This movie actually isn't bad, and is a pretty decent portrayal of the Riverworld series (well...the first two books anyway).

The problem is, that this "movie" was either part one of a miniseries, or a pilot of a series never made. At the end one is left with the feeling of, "That was great, when is the next part on?" Only to find that there IS NO NEXT PART.

So if you choose to buy this, hopefully you'll do so fully aware that you're buying something that feels like a multi-part series, of which you will only EVER get to see Part I, with absolutely NO conclusion of the main story issues, mysteries, etc. (Sub-plots are resolved, but the greater thread of the story is left glaringly unfinished).

I have no idea if another movie will ever be made, or if this will ever be made into a series by Sci-Fi, I wasn't able to find any information on it, and actually went to Sci-Fi to look up when the second part would be on...only to find there was no second part.

And I ran across this while looking up Phillip Jose Farmer's books, which I'd recommend buying instead. At least those are complete.

I'm giving this 2 stars, because it is not a "complete" movie, and I personally would be rather upset if I paid for it only to be left hanging. If it had been complete, I would have rated it much higher. It was good, certainly good enough for me to be interested in looking for the conclusion which was never made. :\"

A Disaster In Sci Fi Movie Making

Mountain Man | NC, Foothills | 05/05/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"If you read the complete Riverworld Series by P. Farmer, don't waste your time watching this pathetic SCIFI Channel movie. It was a total disappointment."