First off, the death-knell for any movie, TV or otherwise, is having the Sci-Fi channel involved in any way, shape or form, in the production of it. They've yet to turn out anything that has aroused anything but scorn in my heart. What's more, they seem hell bent on taking the greatest of fantasy and sci-fi fiction and reducing it to mindless drivel suitable only for retarded morons.

Riverworld, based on Philip Jose Farmer's books, is a rich fantasy/scifi world deserving of far more than the atrocious mauling it received here.

Normally, I can gloss over minor deviations from the book, if the spirit of the work is maintained intact. But here there are so many "minor" deviations that it got ridiculous. Plus, the spirit of the books has clearly been exorcised in favour of cheap action and even cheaper effects.

Gone is King John. Gone is Richard Burton. Gone is Hermann Goering. The Grailstones look like some kind of weird fungus. There are horses on Riverworld. The Grails apparently float about on the river and get washed ashore along with the new arrivals. People are resurrected at different times, instead of all at once. All complete nonsense.

People are resurrected naked (which is true to the books) but with a complete head of hair (not true to the books). What's worse, this hair springs magically into an appropriate hairstyle at the beginning of each day, regardless of the lack of modern amenities to style/shape/cut it.

And what was with the Grails producing clothes straight off? If I recall, it was some weeks before the Grails produced clothing.

But putting aside all these inaccuracies (sorry...re-imaginings) how could you take this material and make a movie that is D-U-L-L. The cast blunder from one tedious scene to the next. There is no real sense of wonder or excitement at any of it. It just plods along like a substandard episode of "Days of Our Lives".

And why axe Richard Burton? Most people seem to think it was to appease the American audience by having the main hero more identifiable. But whilst this may be partly true, I propose another reason. The writers believe that we're all too stupid to figure out who Richard Burton was. Anyone that is capable of butchering this material so badly is also quite capable of thinking we'll all confuse Richard Burton the Adventurer with Richard Burton, the Actor.

Further, what was with Sam Clemens being reduced to a "Please Sir! I only want to steer the boat!" character. A far cry from the version portrayed in the books. But then....can't be two strong male leads in a movie...no, no, no! Might confuse us poor souls as to who we're supposed to be rooting for. Bah! The acting is, as you might expect, of TV movie standard. Unfortunately the main character played by Brad Johnson bore a striking resemblance to Reb Brown, another muscley actor who starred in the dire Space Mutiny. Even the acting styles were similar. Given this, I found it hard to take Brad seriously in his role.

The rest were OK in the acting stakes. But why did the alien have a facial tic? It became increasingly irritating as the film went on and served no purpose whatsoever. And why was the black 17th century slave also a martial artist? These questions (and many more) will no doubt be glossed over casually if the series ever gets greenlit. Here's hoping it never does.

With costumes and sets left over from episodes of Xena and Hercules, you might begin to get the idea of what you are in for if you watch this rubbish. Take my advice. Read the books instead.

And to any authors out there who get approached by the Sci-Fi Channel....I don't care how much money they offer you! Just say No!

... that is, until I read the novel.

While not a great film or a stunning film, it had seemed OK and had potential for sequels. The story seemed interesting enough to prompt me to read the book.

After the book I realized just how far off the mark this adaptation was. I took with a grain of salt the other comments which stated such opinions. I wished to read for myself.

And now I agree. I thought of it as a 5/10 movie before, but in light of how poorly it reflected on the novels, I now give it a 2/10.

I finally came to a startling conclusion. I think I'm a fan of would be epics that are made for Television. There is something imaginative and fun about these films that have to work with smaller budgets and might not feature state of the art effects or big movie actors. Riverworld was a whole new concept to me, I have not read the books nor had I ever heard of it before. I kept looking at it in the video aisle and thinking about seeing it.

Riverworld is the story of a dimension, planet, other worldly place of some sort where those who die are resurrected under water onto a lush, beautiful landscape with many others who have died. There are higher powers at work but they perform mysteriously from the outside without revealing themselves. They release the people from under water cocoons when they are "reborn." The planet is inhabited seemingly by those only resurrected but some have been there longer than others giving them time to try and dominate everyone else. Jeff Hale who died while doing a tour of space for Nasa finds himself trying to bring together the other people who are resurrected at the same time he is including none other than Emperor Nero. They are quickly captured and forced to slavery by the current ruler of Riverworld Valdemar. Hale escapes with the help of a mysterious being and by the time he rescues everyone else Emperor Nero has overtaken Valdemar and created his own empire in the hopes of rebuilding Rome on Riverworld. Hale leads the others with the help of a mysterious Alien being who also died and was resurrected on the planet, to another group of people led by Sam who are building a riverboat in order to explore the world more. When Nero attacks them Hale and others must fight him off in order to escape and find out what lies beyond in Riverworld.

Although short the movie is well directed and beautifully shot and uses some very nice special effects even if they are low budget. Brad Johnson who I love as Rayford Steele in the Left Behind films does a really great job. He's a terrific, very under rated actor who looks the part of a big star. He commands the screen and is a great leader. Jonathan Cake as Nero is equally as great. He appears to be someone who should be in an Epic about Rome and instead is dropped into Riverworld which is perfect for this part. This film definitely cries out for sequel or series and mostly this was made as an introduction so I hope they don't stop it here, otherwise this film is really pointless on it's own but it's a great introduction. Fortunately the film is short enough that it never has to hold your attention for very long. The gore is minimal and never shows any serious violence despite the sword play. The main focus is on Johnson's character and he holds his own quite well. I am definitely looking forward to sequels. Check this out for something low budget and a good time.

7/10