Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53223 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-11-16
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

Customer Reviews

Worst thing ever made by the SF Channel!
This show sucks. I am dumber for having watched it. I loved the entire series as written by Farmer but this version is a joke. If you ever intend to read the series don't watch this show.

Obviously a series pilot
I will say this - the film did inspire me to read the original five books which, despite their tendancy to lengthy pontifications, are still fun to read and full of surprises, as well as some unavoidable cliches.

As a sci-fi channel mini-series, it would have worked well if the studio had chosen to follow the novels and the original story, They did not. It used elements from the first two books, but the only characters who remained intact from the original were Alice, Sam, Lev, Gwenafra, and the alien Monat, though he is more or less combined with Joe Miller, the lovable hulk who follows Sam loyally through most of the series.

However, being a 90-minute TV production, it seems to have been clearly intended as a series pilot. For a continuous series of adventures, the cast of new characters would have been the most workable. They would not have been tied to the existing story line in quite the same way, and after all, in the Riverworld, everyone (and I do mean everyone) is there, so any characters can exist.

This film seemed to try having it both ways: new characters as well as old, a different story set within the same premise. Sam Clemens was a lot more likable than his book counterpart, as was the alien, Monat. But there were a number of things that I personlly found very bothersome. First of all, instead of all of the human race being resurrected simultaneously, the citizens of Riverworld seem to be arriving in waves every few years. There were also horses, which did not exist in the Riverworld at all. The grail canisters were a disappointment because in the books they provided not only clothing, but fine, full meals instead of the icky green-and-yellow strips of what looked like epoxy ribbons! But the most annoying part of all was the arrival of the Emperor Nero. He was a substitute for other characters in the books, probably because he was better known to most of the audience. But even so, this Nero had nothing whatsoever to do with the real Nero of history, and one of the more interesting things about farmer's books was his knowledge of the historical characters he portrayed.

The film is a mixed bag. It is enjoyable and fun on one level, but unsatisfactory on another. Best advice is to enjoy the film first, then read the books.

Resurrection
I read this book originally many years ago, I think it was written in the early seventies but its aged well. Many of us believe in the afterlife but rarely ever give much thought to the practicalities of what this afterlife could be like if,when, and where we are resurrected.
This series of books explores the idea of everyone who ever lived, all seven billion or so find themselves reborn again on the banks of a mighty river but in the best of health and young again. "I could go for that myself but knowing what I know now :)".
Basically it's a yarn about a diverse group of people and an alien who try to find the source of the river by building a riverboat and in doing so find out why they were resurrected in the first place. They have many adventures and managed to meet many interesting people from various epochs on the way. It can be quite violent in places but when people are killed they find themselves reborn on another section of the riverbank and usually within a different entnic group.
I have no problem recommending this series to anyone who likes ScFi or who has an interest in a good yarn.