La rivière infernale

A well made movie that absolutely was riveting once the bus and van entered the water. It did play with the facts a little bit, especially with some of the kids. I believe the movie was filmed in Australia. With that said, I was impressed with how much the locations for the the film looked like the Texas Hill Country. I also was impressed with the camera work once the kids were in the water. It was as though you were in the river with them. I was a reporter from the area that covered this tragic story and have kept in touch with a couple of the kids (now adults, many with families). and of all the stories I covered this one affected me the most and I appreciate that a movie was made about that July day so long ago.

I was only watching it at first because it had a few stars from australian soap "Neighbours" in, but the story was interesting so i carried on. Its a good movie, but very sad, i advise lots of tissues before you start the film. It's about a group of church kids on camp, that have to leave early because the rain is pouring down, and they need to leave otherwise they are going to get flooded. They leave ok but they have to cross a river, sadly the bus breaks down in the middle of the river, so all the kids have to get off. But by that time the river has gone higher up and it is forming a strong current. The bus goes down the river, and the children are left stranded untill help finds them! Very sad, but very good!!

I am one of the characters portrayed in the movie. My name is Linda Smith, the mother of Michael, Stacey and Tonya. The movie was well done, with some exceptions. Jerry Smith never was angry at his son, and he never told him to take care of his sisters. The young man who saved Jeff Bowman's life should have been given much more credibility. I knew him and he was a wonderful young man. He lost his life and his body was never found. He did receive the Young American's Medal For Bravery Award, given by Presidents Bush and Reagan. Also, the part about Tonya and her friend in the river really happened. It is good that the movie is shown twice a year because these ten young people deserve to be remembered. It can also serve as a reminder that you can't be two careful when young people are in your care. I appreciate NBC making the movie and especially thank David Kinghorn for his original screen writing.

This movie airs once or twice a year and every year I watch it and get caught up in it all over again. Based on a true life event, you can't help but get engrossed as you watch the kids struggling through the horrible flood that would take 10 lives. The film is not without its faults, primarily inaccuracies and embellishments that the film makers thought would make the story more "entertaining". First off, the bus never drove into a river as depicted and the driver got the kids off the bus much faster than portrayed. Secondly, the true "Hero" of the disaster in real life, a young man who saved several friends before last being seen and incidentally was never found, is portrayed as a bit of a "jerk". Unfortunately he never gets the acknowledgement that he truly deserves by the film makers (although in real life President Bush did present a posthumus award in his name). I think that the film would have been just as gripping if the story had been told as it really happened, in fact, it would probably have been even more gut-wrenching if we were allowed to really like and mourn the character. That being said, the movie is well written, well acted and really does pay tribute those 10 who lost their lives in the disaster and to the brave strangers who risked their lives to try to save them. I hope that this movie continues to air, year after year, so that these Children will not be forgotten. True lovers of this movie can now purchase it on DVD.

It's a good movie, I cried all the way through it, maybe because I'm a mom myself and couldn't bear it if anything happened to my kids. Being a "neighbours" fan (australian soap) I recognized a lot of the actors because this movie is australian, although I also spotted a few american actors.

Being a true story always gets to me. Besides, I love a good cry (when I'm alone)