Riverworld (2003)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Really Surprised!

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

The first must-see film of the year.

Farmer's novels were brilliantly imaginative, exciting, and captivating. Everything this trash is not. This is not an adaptation of the classic work, it corrupts and blasphemes what Farmer wrote. The characters have been changed and now are lifeless stick figures. For a story that deals so deeply with the concept of the soul, this junk is amazingly soulless. The producers and writers were delusional when they came to the abominable conclusion that they could "improve" upon essential details of the saga but keep a perverted version of the basic premise. All the majesty and vision of Farmer's masterwork is gone, the heart of what made it truly great cut out until it has no life at all.

Sorry for my English (It's my 2nd language)Of course, we are not talking about a masterpiece. I really like the story and I am sad that this Pilot did not end up as a TV series. The actors are very average but the story is not affected. What's very interesting is the idea of something different than Hell or Paradise when we die. I personally don't believe in Hell but I think there something after life. But enough about religious beliefs...It's also very cool to see different historical characters interacting together. Visually, the effects are good if we go back to 1993 and with probably little budget. After watching this movie, I will definitely buy the book to see that happens at the end...

RIVERWORLD is the collective title of a series of short stories and novels about life along the banks of, and on and in, a vast river where everyone who was ever born is reborn and watched over -- and occasionally manipulated by -- unseen aliens. PJ Farmer wrote some fascinating stuff in the first two or three books and then worked the theme to death, continuing on when he should have stopped. The first book in the series, TO YOUR SCATTERED BODIES GO, is a classic and readily available in most major bookstores. The rest of the series is is no longer completely available, more's the pity. I used to own the complete collection in paperback. Next to ER Burrough's JOHN CARTER OF MARS series, the first book of which (A PRINCESS OF MARS) also is readily available and another series I also used to own in paperback, RIVERWORLD is the greatest sci-fi collection you can possibly own. Suffice it to say, the Sci-Fi Channel's adaptation of the first book or two is an abortion, and bears little resemblance to the source material. The main character, the legendary adventurer Sir Richard Burton, is missing as are several other key historic figures. The lead here becomes a typical American hero who does not exist in the books, played by Tom Berenger-lookalike Brad Johnson, who has trouble acting his way out of any paper bag he may encounter along the river. Mark Twain is on hand, but he is not the Mark Twain of the books. The magic and mystery of Farmer's novels is completely missing. Read the first three books, if you can find them, and skip this atrocity.

This movie sucks all the fun out of what fans of Farmer's series might expect. All is dreadfully serious (Sam Clemens, of all people, is boring...), the absurdity & whimsicality is sadly missing, and (just for instance) the ingenious "grails" have become mundane "canisters" (Does the sci-fi channel think we'll need a dictionary, or are they just afraid we'd be tempted to throw it at them if we had to get it out?) This last aspect is just one facet of a general tendency the picture has to take what it finds in the novels, dumb it all down to the level of a person who cannot read a novel, 7 go on from there. Plus the censors seem to have clipped the joints & dreamgum out of things (I may be wrong about this--there was a small part of this film I missed). Capital B Bleahh.