Riverworld (film)
Encyclopedia
Riverworld is a sci-fi/fantasy
feature-length pilot episode for a series that was never produced. It aired on the Sci-Fi Channel
in 2003. It was loosely based on the Hugo Award
-winning "Riverworld
" saga by Philip José Farmer
. Production began in 2001. It was rebooted in 2010, under the same title
.
astronaut
Jeff Hale (Brad Johnson
). He awakens inside a jade-green bubble beneath the surface of a body of water filled with them. A mysterious cloaked figure pierces his bubble with a staff pressing it against his forehead, forcefully filling his mind with images to come. Dazed and in pain, he soon finds himself crawling nude onto a beach littered with metal canisters; the canisters contain unisex
outfits of clothing. Soon dozens of people from different lands and historical eras emerge from the water, also nude, and they begin distributing the mysterious canisters. Remarkably, they understand each other's language, all except for a lone Neanderthal
man, who lacks the capacity for speech.
Hale learns that the "known world" is the bank of a massive river. Anyone who has ever lived on Earth
at any time in history is qualified to start life anew on Riverworld, reborn in his or her prime of life. It is not immediately clear whether Riverworld is Heaven
, an extraterrestrial planet
, or some other dimension
. Other cloaked figures are seen fleetingly, but their purpose is unknown. Food is provided, and the climate is clement. The need for shelter is easily provided by available resources and simple manual labor.
Hale meets and makes close friends with some of his fellow castaways, all of them from different time periods: a young lady named Alice Liddell Hargreaves
(Emily Lloyd
); Mali (Karen Holness), a former slave of the pre-Civil War
era; and Lev Ruach (Jeremy Birchall
), a Jewish victim of the Nazi Holocaust. The Neanderthal among the castaways is later killed by a man introducing himself as Lucius Domitus Ahenobarbus (Jonathan Cake), a citizen of Ancient Rome
. When Hale begins to argue with Lucius about the latter's brutal social ethics, Lucius attacks him for the leadership role, but their fight is interrupted by a group of warrior slavers under the rulership of one Valdemar (Kevin Smith), who has erected his own empire and still plans to expand by using the new arrivals as his slave force.
While in captivity, Hale and the others are joined by two more prisoners: Monat (Brian Moore
), an extraterrestrial who died - along with the rest of mankind - in a cataclysm in the year 2039 he tried to warn Earth about; and a young girl named Gewnafra (Nikita Kearsley), the only known human being in Riverworld reborn as a child. During the night, Hale is freed by the hooded stranger he saw upon his reawakening in Riverworld, manages to hide from Valdemar's men, and follows his fellow resurrectees to Valdemar's fortress. While freeing his mates, he witnesses Valdemar holding gladiatorial games
for entertainment and for weeding out the "weak" from the "strong"; but then the despot is challenged and killed by Lucius, who reveals himself to be none other than the historical Nero
and subsequently takes over Valdemar's forces.
Monat leads his fellow captives to a community of fugitives he is associated with, which is led by the aloof and cocky Samuel Clemens
(Cameron Daddo
) who has built a riverboat
christened the Go For Broke, augmented by Monat's technological expertise, to explore the river. Nero, however, learns about and intends to use Clemens' riverboat to extend his dominion downriver. With the aid of a traitor in Sam's ranks, he invades the fugitives' camp, imprisons Hale and his comrades, and forces Clemens to show him how to operate it. Hale and the others fight back against and overcome Nero and his men, reclaiming the riverboat, and Hale personally kills Nero in combat.
Following their liberation, the band heads upstream to explore the mysteries of Riverworld. Sam gives command over to Hale, who has realized Sam's more popular name, but Sam asks Hale to keep it a secret from everyone else. Thus Hale becomes the Captain of the Go For Broke, while Clemens is content with just being its pilot. However, Nero is subsequently shown being resurrected in a new body somewhere else underneath the river.
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
feature-length pilot episode for a series that was never produced. It aired on the Sci-Fi Channel
Sci Fi Channel (United States)
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
in 2003. It was loosely based on the Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
-winning "Riverworld
Riverworld
Riverworld is a fictional planet and the setting for a series of science fiction books written by Philip José Farmer . Riverworld is an artificial environment where all humans are reconstructed. The books explore interactions of individuals from many different cultures and time periods...
" saga by Philip José Farmer
Philip José Farmer
Philip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his award-winning science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories....
. Production began in 2001. It was rebooted in 2010, under the same title
Riverworld (2010 film)
- Caretakers :The caretakers appear as blue-skinned robe-clad figures who watch over the humans. They were the beings who created Riverworld and are occasionally described as "demons." The caretakers are mostly divided between two separate factions: the Salvationists and the Second Chancers -...
.
Plot
In the year 2009, a meteor shower above Earth claims the life of AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
Jeff Hale (Brad Johnson
Brad Johnson (actor)
Brad Johnson is an American actor and former Marlboro Man.Johnson's first acting credit was in the low-budget biker film The Nam Angels , and shortly after he had his first co-starring role in a major film when he played the role of Ted Baker in the 1989 film Always, directed by Steven Spielberg...
). He awakens inside a jade-green bubble beneath the surface of a body of water filled with them. A mysterious cloaked figure pierces his bubble with a staff pressing it against his forehead, forcefully filling his mind with images to come. Dazed and in pain, he soon finds himself crawling nude onto a beach littered with metal canisters; the canisters contain unisex
Unisex
Unisex stands for the meaning that either gender or sex will be able to, but can also be another term for gender-blindness.The term was coined in the 1962 and was used fairly informally...
outfits of clothing. Soon dozens of people from different lands and historical eras emerge from the water, also nude, and they begin distributing the mysterious canisters. Remarkably, they understand each other's language, all except for a lone Neanderthal
Neanderthal
The Neanderthal is an extinct member of the Homo genus known from Pleistocene specimens found in Europe and parts of western and central Asia...
man, who lacks the capacity for speech.
Hale learns that the "known world" is the bank of a massive river. Anyone who has ever lived on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
at any time in history is qualified to start life anew on Riverworld, reborn in his or her prime of life. It is not immediately clear whether Riverworld is Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, an extraterrestrial planet
Extrasolar planet
An extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, is a planet outside the Solar System. A total of such planets have been identified as of . It is now known that a substantial fraction of stars have planets, including perhaps half of all Sun-like stars...
, or some other dimension
Dimension
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a space or object is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus a line has a dimension of one because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it...
. Other cloaked figures are seen fleetingly, but their purpose is unknown. Food is provided, and the climate is clement. The need for shelter is easily provided by available resources and simple manual labor.
Hale meets and makes close friends with some of his fellow castaways, all of them from different time periods: a young lady named Alice Liddell Hargreaves
Alice Liddell
Alice Pleasance Liddell , known for most of her adult life by her married name, Alice Hargreaves, inspired the children's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, whose protagonist Alice is said to be named after her.-Biography:...
(Emily Lloyd
Emily Lloyd
-Early life:Emily Lloyd Pack was born in London, the daughter of Sheila , now known as , a theatrical agent who was a longtime secretary at Harold Pinter's stage agency, and Roger Lloyd-Pack, a stage actor, well-known as Trigger in the British hit sitcom Only Fools and Horses. Her grandfather,...
); Mali (Karen Holness), a former slave of the pre-Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
era; and Lev Ruach (Jeremy Birchall
Jeremy Birchall
-Voice-Over Roles:*Power Rangers: Ninja Storm - Snipster, Shimazu*Power Rangers: Dino Thunder - Sumo Wrestler & Morpher *Power Rangers: S.P.D. - Slate, Wootox-Television Roles:*Xena: Warrior Princess - Jett...
), a Jewish victim of the Nazi Holocaust. The Neanderthal among the castaways is later killed by a man introducing himself as Lucius Domitus Ahenobarbus (Jonathan Cake), a citizen of Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
. When Hale begins to argue with Lucius about the latter's brutal social ethics, Lucius attacks him for the leadership role, but their fight is interrupted by a group of warrior slavers under the rulership of one Valdemar (Kevin Smith), who has erected his own empire and still plans to expand by using the new arrivals as his slave force.
While in captivity, Hale and the others are joined by two more prisoners: Monat (Brian Moore
Brian Moore
Brian Moore may refer to:*Brian Moore *Brian Moore *Brian Moore , Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police, England...
), an extraterrestrial who died - along with the rest of mankind - in a cataclysm in the year 2039 he tried to warn Earth about; and a young girl named Gewnafra (Nikita Kearsley), the only known human being in Riverworld reborn as a child. During the night, Hale is freed by the hooded stranger he saw upon his reawakening in Riverworld, manages to hide from Valdemar's men, and follows his fellow resurrectees to Valdemar's fortress. While freeing his mates, he witnesses Valdemar holding gladiatorial games
Gladiator
A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...
for entertainment and for weeding out the "weak" from the "strong"; but then the despot is challenged and killed by Lucius, who reveals himself to be none other than the historical Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
and subsequently takes over Valdemar's forces.
Monat leads his fellow captives to a community of fugitives he is associated with, which is led by the aloof and cocky Samuel Clemens
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
(Cameron Daddo
Cameron Daddo
Cameron Peter Daddo is an Australian actor, musician and presenter. He is the brother of Andrew Daddo and Lochie Daddo.-Australian television:...
) who has built a riverboat
Riverboat
A riverboat is a ship built boat designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury units constructed for entertainment enterprises, such...
christened the Go For Broke, augmented by Monat's technological expertise, to explore the river. Nero, however, learns about and intends to use Clemens' riverboat to extend his dominion downriver. With the aid of a traitor in Sam's ranks, he invades the fugitives' camp, imprisons Hale and his comrades, and forces Clemens to show him how to operate it. Hale and the others fight back against and overcome Nero and his men, reclaiming the riverboat, and Hale personally kills Nero in combat.
Following their liberation, the band heads upstream to explore the mysteries of Riverworld. Sam gives command over to Hale, who has realized Sam's more popular name, but Sam asks Hale to keep it a secret from everyone else. Thus Hale becomes the Captain of the Go For Broke, while Clemens is content with just being its pilot. However, Nero is subsequently shown being resurrected in a new body somewhere else underneath the river.