A Disappointing Continuation

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Riverworld is an strange alien world with one large river where everyone on earth who dies wakes up around the same age and speaking the same language or rather that they all understand each other's words. There are metal cannisters which contain clothing and dispensers which give food. People who have resurrected earlier have built primitive societies some of them barbaric.Riverworld is based on the 5-book series by Philip Jose Farmer which had a very interesting concept but was poorly executed, terribly padded, bland characters, and had a very anti- climatic ending.This movie actually got me interested in reading the series to see how it ended but I quickly realized that this film adaptation was actually better than the book.For one thing the hero in the film is a 21st century astronaut who is familiar with technology and the concept of aliens and thus was the audience's go-between into this strange new world with famous people in history. In the book it was the 19th century explorer Richard Burton. The human villain in the film is the megalo-maniac Nero whereas in the books it was King John who was not a very convincing bad guy historically or even in the book series.Already I saw the hero-villain aspect had been improved from the book. The astronaut guided by the mysterious beings of the planet wants to travel down river while Nero wants to establish a new empire for himself.It's a shame the series never got off the ground because I would have liked to see how they would have improved upon the original concept.All in all I recommend this film for a lazy Sunday viewing - however I cannot recommend the book series. While the first book is interesting, it quickly goes downhill from there and is not worth the time.

I do agree that the 2003 Riverworld is a poor adaptation of the books. I don't think however that it was that bad as a standalone. It is vastly superior to the 2010 Riverworld which was a mess both as an adaptation and on its own merits. There are major problems with this Riverworld, the story does read of not just two books condensed into one movie but also of a pilot of a series that never happened. The telling of it suffers from important plot-points changed, skimmed over or cut, incongruous clichés, many predictable scenes and uneven pacing, having moments where it was rushed and others where it plodded. The script is lazy and stilted, the CGI Riverboat was poorly rendered and the characters have little of their interesting or likable traits, coming across as cardboard. However, technically the film doesn't look too bad, unlike the 2010 movie it did have striking sets, had good photography and most of the effects were decent. The music has that fantasy-adventure sort of atmosphere without being over-bearing or generic and the acting from a largely unknown cast is above average. In conclusion, an okay film but leaves much to be desired. 5/10 Bethany Cox

This film took serious liberties with the Riverworld series of books written by Phillip Jose Farmer.However, unlike the 2010 version starring "Dollhouse" star Tahmoh Penikett, the basic structure of the Riverworld is basically intact. I find just now, that this first Riverworld film was actually the Pilot for a TV series on Sifi/Syfy which was never aired.The centerpiece of the original Riverworld book, "To your Scattered Bodies Go" - Has Sir Francis Bacon waking on the Riverworld and glimpsing the mysterious "Waystation" which might hold the answers to what the Riverworld is and who made it - But he dies and resurrects before he can get to it. In his wanderings and attempts to get back to the Waystation he hooks up with Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens who is searching for his beloved Livvie, and a huge English-Speaking Neanderthal man. They begin a huge "Riverboat" project with several other historical figures including the notorious King John and Hermann Goering, who turn out to be a skags of epic proportions and steal the original Riverboat. In the following volume "The Fabulous Riverboat" - Twain has found his Livvie who is living with Cyrano de Bergerac, and the Politics of the Riverworld is explored as several cultures clash and the Riverworld inhabitants begin an industrial complex.Part of this survives in this Made-for-TV Pilot, but the addition of other extraneous characters, like Nero and other Romans, and an Alien who apparently died on Earth right before it was destroyed - Add confusion to the general storyline - Perhaps if this would have run as a Series, some of these inconsistencies would have been explained, but as a one-shot it strays from the general story.As it stands, this film tries to work in elements from three Riverworld novels and falls short due to time constraints.As with most novels re-written for screen, the writers try to "modernise" the story by adding a contemporary "introduction" - things that never happened in the book - Involving characters who were not part of the original story - An astronaut "Jeff Hale" played by Brad Johnson is flying a Space shuttle which is destroyed by Meteors and crashes. The next thing Johnson knows is that he is on a beach naked with other people and there is a huge blue-light-emitting "Grail" there which is doling out food and clothes. There is actually a Neanderthal on the beach, but it is not the same Neanderthal from the book, this one grunts and squeals and tried to steal someone else's food, and "Nero" (Jonathan CAKE) kills him, much to Johnson's distaste, thus setting up the major conflict of *this* version of Riverworld.The Ressurectees are rounded up by "Valdemar" (Kevin Tod Smith - "Ares" from Xena: Warrior Princess) and locked up, to be used in entertainment-fights and as slaves. But Nero/CAKE kills Valdemar and takes over the Bad Guy camp, making it worse. Johnson escapes and hooks up with Clemens who is building his Riverboat with his Alien Pal, when Cake attacks the good guy camp with his Resurrected Roman Legion, but Johnson kicks his arse and kills him by slicing him up withy a sword, but it looks like CakeNero got resurrected.The most disappointing part of this for me was when "Valdemar" is killed unceremoniously with great humiliation by Nero/Cake. I just thought it Ironic for the great "Ares" from Xena Warrior Princes to be killed off by a guy named "Cake" But the main idea of Riverworld, that they build a Riverboat so they can search for answers, is intact. The Renegade "Elemental" is shown a few times, helping Johnson out- In the book, the Elemental visits Sir Francis Bacon.Horrible CG Riverboat at the end, but it shows a high-shot of the boat on the Riverworld River, and he high unclimbable walls that enclose the river - This image, at least, survived into this version.

RIVERWORLD is the collective title of a series of short stories and novels about life along the banks of, and on and in, a vast river where everyone who was ever born is reborn and watched over -- and occasionally manipulated by -- unseen aliens. PJ Farmer wrote some fascinating stuff in the first two or three books and then worked the theme to death, continuing on when he should have stopped. The first book in the series, TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES GO, is a classic and readily available in most major bookstores. The rest of the series is is no longer completely available, more's the pity. I used to own the complete collection in paperback. Next to ER Burrough's JOHN CARTER OF MARS series, the first book of which (A PRINCESS OF MARS) also is readily available and another series I also used to own in paperback, RIVERWORLD is the greatest sci-fi collection you can possibly own. Suffice it to say, the Sci-Fi Channel's adaptation of the first book or two is an abortion, and bears little resemblance to the source material. The main character, the legendary adventurer Sir Richard Burton, is missing as are several other key historic figures. The lead here becomes a typical American hero who does not exist in the books, played by Tom Berenger-lookalike Brad Johnson, who has trouble acting his way out of any paper bag he may encounter along the river. Mark Twain is on hand, but he is not the Mark Twain of the books. The magic and mystery of Farmer's novels is completely missing. Read the first three books, if you can find them, and skip this atrocity.