Delie und Brenton - Der Flussdampfer

I first saw All the Rivers Run on TV when I was a kid and loved it. It was great seeing a mini-series that was set and filmed in a place so close to home. Living fairly close to Echuca, I loved going to the historic port to see the paddle steamers. The first one I ever had a ride on was the Pevensy(Philadelphia in the movie). I love how it takes its time to let the events unfold. Nothing feels rushed as most movies are today. The acting was fantastic. All the Rivers Run was perfectly cast and I just love the crew of the Philadelphia. Mac is always amusing to watch with his trademark raw onion sandwich after a big night out. Easily deserves a 10 out of 10 and is one of my favorites mini-series of all time along with the Dirtwater Dynasty.

This was a great family movie with all the elements of good entertainment. There was action, drama, a touch of comedy, love, family, romance, intrigue and villainy, and triumph of right. The only thing I didn't like was the ending. It would be lovely if, all these years later, a sequel could be done bringing Cyrus and Philadelphia together again. After all she and her family had to go through at the hands of her charming but irresponsible husband, and after all Cyrus went through to rescue her over and over again only to have his heart broken over and over again, it would be great to see them finally be able to have the relationship both really desire to have. It would be great fun to see her travel as a mature woman now to the States and run into Cyrus and see if the sparks still fly between them.

Whereas the first series was a more family-oriented and charming production, the sequel depicted a more realistic, darker side of life. In fact, the plot was almost too miserable at times, but then again - no one said life is a rose garden. I have to say that Delie as portrayed by Nikki Coghill is just as good as Sigrid Thornton were in the first series (I have to pity her for not accepting to play Delie in the sequel). John Water's Teddy still is quite the charmer, but in the sequel he is allowed to show some darker sides as well. All in all, I think this second series was surprisingly good and far more realistic as regards the plot than the first series; they were both quite enjoyable though!

The first series was quite true to the Nancy Cato book, but here the writers have gone their own sweet way, concentrating on a fairly youthful Delie and Brenton. The trouble is too much of the story is away from the river, and concentrates to a large extent on Brenton. It's very episodic - we don't see the children noticeably age. Although we loosely cover the children's stay at Mrs Melville, we lose the detail about Meg staying on because she's infatuated with their older son - well, Meg here is only a little girl rather than the teenager she ought to have become.

All in all it's a good yarn, although the ending seems hurried and (without giving away the plot) unreasonable. I'd recommend reading the book in which Delie is a real three dimensional character, rather than a fairly cardboard figure. If you can find it, it's still worth giving this sequel a viewing - the acting and camera-work is brilliant, and the producers have done a fine job in creating turn-of-the-century Echuca.

As an adventure mini-series, this is about as good as it gets. I viewed it when it was originally shown on HBO. Sigrid is totally believable in her role as Philadelphia, and the whole production was first rate! See all 400 minutes of it if you can. I highly recommend this mini-series. Amazing that I can't rate it officially, but for you readers/users I will let you know it's a solid 10!