Riverworld

TV Movie
2003
1h 26m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Emily Lloyd, Cameron Daddo, Karen Holness, and Brad Johnson in Riverworld (2003)

Hale, an American astronaut dies and is reincarnated with other persons who have lived throughout all of human history and end up on a mysterious planet called 'Riverworld'. The humans are l... Read allHale, an American astronaut dies and is reincarnated with other persons who have lived throughout all of human history and end up on a mysterious planet called 'Riverworld'. The humans are left to their own devices and create tribal fiefdoms and succumb to brutal wars and raids. ... Read allHale, an American astronaut dies and is reincarnated with other persons who have lived throughout all of human history and end up on a mysterious planet called 'Riverworld'. The humans are left to their own devices and create tribal fiefdoms and succumb to brutal wars and raids. A mysterious race of hooded 'beings' oversee them - sometimes intervening, but their motiv... Read all

Director
- Kari Skogland
Writers
- Philip Jose Farmer
- Stuart Hazeldine
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.1/10

2.8K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Kari Skogland
Writers
- Philip Jose Farmer
- Stuart Hazeldine
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination total

Photos28

+ 25

User reviews70

5.12.7K

Featured reviews

4hillglass

it ain't the book

Oh yeah, you know if you have read the very creative series of books by Mr. Farmer, that there are ideas and story snipets from the book, but I couldn't of imagined that the creators of the TV movie would make it so unwatchable to anyone not looking for a squared jaw man or exotic native women. There is so much imagination in the books, I was hoping that this show being on a Science Fiction Channel would try to appeal to a "sharper" audience. There was nothing memorable about the show. I suggest turning off the TV and reading this in the book.

3jeff-859

Don't waste your time - read the books instead.

Fans of Farmer's remarkable novels will be sickened by the butcher job done by the producers of this turkey. Outside of borrowing a few character names and the basic premise of the world-girdling river, the movie has practically nothing in common with the books. Every important story development concept is thrown away in favor of seemingly endless violence. And what isn't gory is one stale cliché after another. (The engine room scene near the end is taken lock, stock and barrel from at least a dozen Star Trek episodes). The ending obviously left itself open for a sequel or two. God, I hope not! A tragedy second only to Hollywood's rendering of Asimov's "Nightfall".

5TheLittleSongbird

Poor as an adaptation, okay as a standalone, much better anyhow than the 2010 movie

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

6sculptagain-1

Quaint and cute -

An obvious "Made For SciFi Channel" movie. Although completely controlled by clichés and incongruous chances, it is a quaint and cute movie. Many of the famous/successful sci-fi writers have used many of the ideas here for basis for their works. Riverworld is a conglomeration of many good stories. It is some what of a shame that many of the main characters (good and bad) had to be formed in such a hurry at the beginning. Most of the characters were performed well by the actors. Some were a bit silly - which only takes from a good story. Luckily the script was OK, scenery was super-excellent (New Zealand I guess), and very good 'store bought' props.

3eronavbj

Read the book

The movie does a great disservice to Farmer's series of novels.

The book's interesting story line is morphed into a series of martial arts choreographies for TV - typical 21st century emphasis on cartooning over substance. And how did an 18th century female slave from Africa learn Bruce Lee's moves? Forget the screenplay; read the book.

Storyline

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Trivia
Kevin Smith, who played Valdemar, died shortly after finishing this film. The film is dedicated to his memory.

Goofs
Alice is portrayed as a blonde. The real Alice Liddell-Hargreaves (1852-1934) had dark hair.

Quotes
Monat: My name is Monat.
[other prisoners gasp]
Alice: What is it? What are you?
Monat: I am not human, as you can see, but neither am I dangerous, I assure you.
Jeff Hale: [to the others] It's all right.
[turns back to Monat]
Jeff Hale: Incredible.
Monat: I am from a star system your astronomers named Tau Ceti.
Jeff Hale: Yes, Tau Ceti. Are there other extraterrestrials here?
Monat: Alas, I am the only one.
Jeff Hale: You died on Earth... You were on Earth.
Monat: You are 20th Century?
Jeff Hale: Yes, early 21st. I was an astronaut, just like you.
Monat: My ship charted a large asteroid approaching your planet. We hastened to warn your authorities, but your intentions were misread and we were shot down. I alone survived the crash. I tried my best under interrogation, but your scientists were skeptical of our advanced projections.
Jeff Hale: Chaos theory.
Monat: For your people, it was just that, a theory. For mine, it was a practice. As we predicted, the asteroid's course was deflected when it passed through the Jovian Belt. By then, it was too late to stop it. The impact would have equaled the detonation of 100 million of your hydrogen bombs. No life form could have survived.
Alice: Well, this is more preposterous than H.G. Wells.
Monat: Believe me. Ask around. Find someone who claims to have lived on Earth after June 18, 2039 AD.
Alice: What is it saying?
Monat: Use of masculine gender would be appropriate when addressing me.
Jeff Hale: He's saying the Earth, as we know it, is gone.