I finally came to a startling conclusion. I think I'm a fan of would be epics that are made for Television. There is something imaginative and fun about these films that have to work with smaller budgets and might not feature state of the art effects or big movie actors. Riverworld was a whole new concept to me, I have not read the books nor had I ever heard of it before. I kept looking at it in the video aisle and thinking about seeing it.
Riverworld is the story of a dimension, planet, other worldly place of some sort where those who die are resurrected under water onto a lush, beautiful landscape with many others who have died. There are higher powers at work but they perform mysteriously from the outside without revealing themselves. They release the people from under water cocoons when they are "reborn." The planet is inhabited seemingly by those only resurrected but some have been there longer than others giving them time to try and dominate everyone else. Jeff Hale who died while doing a tour of space for Nasa finds himself trying to bring together the other people who are resurrected at the same time he is including none other than Emperor Nero. They are quickly captured and forced to slavery by the current ruler of Riverworld Valdemar. Hale escapes with the help of a mysterious being and by the time he rescues everyone else Emperor Nero has overtaken Valdemar and created his own empire in the hopes of rebuilding Rome on Riverworld. Hale leads the others with the help of a mysterious Alien being who also died and was resurrected on the planet, to another group of people led by Sam who are building a riverboat in order to explore the world more. When Nero attacks them Hale and others must fight him off in order to escape and find out what lies beyond in Riverworld.
Although short the movie is well directed and beautifully shot and uses some very nice special effects even if they are low budget. Brad Johnson who I love as Rayford Steele in the Left Behind films does a really great job. He's a terrific, very under rated actor who looks the part of a big star. He commands the screen and is a great leader. Jonathan Cake as Nero is equally as great. He appears to be someone who should be in an Epic about Rome and instead is dropped into Riverworld which is perfect for this part. This film definitely cries out for sequel or series and mostly this was made as an introduction so I hope they don't stop it here, otherwise this film is really pointless on it's own but it's a great introduction. Fortunately the film is short enough that it never has to hold your attention for very long. The gore is minimal and never shows any serious violence despite the sword play. The main focus is on Johnson's character and he holds his own quite well. I am definitely looking forward to sequels. Check this out for something low budget and a good time.
7/10
Riverworld is the story of a dimension, planet, other worldly place of some sort where those who die are resurrected under water onto a lush, beautiful landscape with many others who have died. There are higher powers at work but they perform mysteriously from the outside without revealing themselves. They release the people from under water cocoons when they are "reborn." The planet is inhabited seemingly by those only resurrected but some have been there longer than others giving them time to try and dominate everyone else. Jeff Hale who died while doing a tour of space for Nasa finds himself trying to bring together the other people who are resurrected at the same time he is including none other than Emperor Nero. They are quickly captured and forced to slavery by the current ruler of Riverworld Valdemar. Hale escapes with the help of a mysterious being and by the time he rescues everyone else Emperor Nero has overtaken Valdemar and created his own empire in the hopes of rebuilding Rome on Riverworld. Hale leads the others with the help of a mysterious Alien being who also died and was resurrected on the planet, to another group of people led by Sam who are building a riverboat in order to explore the world more. When Nero attacks them Hale and others must fight him off in order to escape and find out what lies beyond in Riverworld.
Although short the movie is well directed and beautifully shot and uses some very nice special effects even if they are low budget. Brad Johnson who I love as Rayford Steele in the Left Behind films does a really great job. He's a terrific, very under rated actor who looks the part of a big star. He commands the screen and is a great leader. Jonathan Cake as Nero is equally as great. He appears to be someone who should be in an Epic about Rome and instead is dropped into Riverworld which is perfect for this part. This film definitely cries out for sequel or series and mostly this was made as an introduction so I hope they don't stop it here, otherwise this film is really pointless on it's own but it's a great introduction. Fortunately the film is short enough that it never has to hold your attention for very long. The gore is minimal and never shows any serious violence despite the sword play. The main focus is on Johnson's character and he holds his own quite well. I am definitely looking forward to sequels. Check this out for something low budget and a good time.
7/10