Deathlands: Homeward Bound
Encyclopedia
Deathlands: Homeward Bound is a 2003 Sci Fi Channel
television film based loosely on the Deathlands
series of books. The film stars Vincent Spano
and Traci Lords
, and was directed by Joshua Butler
.
), after which his son Harvey Cawdor (Alan C. Peterson) kills his one of his brothers and partially blinds one of his young brother Ryan Cawdor(Vincent Spano
), who manages to escape.
After spending twenty years in the wastelands, the one-eyed Ryan returns to Front Royale accompanied by his girlfriend Krysty Worth (Jenya Lano
), the teenage half-mutant Jak Laurent (Nathan Carter
), and weapons specialist JB Dix (Cliff Saunders
), to face his mother and brother and avenge his father's murder.
wrote that when compared to other films made for television, this one was "a low-budget mish-mash of elements from Dune
and The Most Dangerous Game
and was worse than expected, though "moderately entertaining" and something that could be apreciated by fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000
. It was found that the acting and visual effect were poor, and compared it to Ed Wood-type experiences, "where you just marvel that the turkey was ever release". The reviewer sumarixed by writing the film "is really, really bad - so bad that it's actually entertaining if you want to laugh at movie-making ineptitude."
Hal Erickson
of Rovi
made note of the popularity of the book series upon which the film is based, and that the film seemed aimed at long-distance truck drivers.
on May 17, 2003, and was released on video in Argentina
in 2005. It has its United States DVD premiere in February 2008. It worldwide release under different titles: Campos de Morte Brazil
, Deathlands Argentina
, Deathlands, le chemin du retour France
, I gi ton nekron Greece
, La tierra de la muerta Spain
, and Pusztító atomcsapás Hungary
novel, Homeward Bound
, it departs in a number of notable ways. Dr. Theophilus Tanner
and Lori Quint are completely absent from the film, and Jak Lauren is specifically identified as a mutant, versus simply being an albino as in the novels. J.B. Dix is also changed, being significantly more talkative than his character in the novels, where he is described as a man who "would never use three words when two would do the job." The purpose of redoubts is not clearly explained, and the film makes no mention of the MAT-TRANS
facilities typically found in redoubts and used by Ryan and his friends to travel throughout most of the novels.
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...
television film based loosely on the Deathlands
Deathlands
The Deathlands is a series of novels published by Gold Eagle Publishing. The first novel 'Pilgrimage to Hell' was first published in 1986. This series of novels was first written by Christopher Lowder, under the pen name Jack Adrian. Mr. Lowder became ill after developing the plot and writing most...
series of books. The film stars Vincent Spano
Vincent Spano
Vincent M. Spano is an American stage, film and television actor, and film director and producer. He received a Cable Ace Award nomination in 1988 for his role as Mark Ciuni in Il cugino americano.-Backround:...
and Traci Lords
Traci Lords
Traci Lords , also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American film actress, producer, film director, writer and singer...
, and was directed by Joshua Butler
Joshua Butler
Joshua Butler is an American film and television director, film and television producer, film editor, and screenwriter best known for directing the 2001 film Prancer Returns, for which he received a DVD Exclusive Awards nomination for 'Best Director'.-Career:As a television editor, Butler worked...
.
Synopsis
Earth is devaststed by a nuclear war in 2084. The sky is red from chemical waste, and was once the United States has become "Deathland"s inhabited by mutants. Communities ruled by powrful survivors are called "viles", and the one known as "Front Royale" had being ruled by a good man, but he is killed by his wife, Lady Rachel Cawdor (Traci LordsTraci Lords
Traci Lords , also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American film actress, producer, film director, writer and singer...
), after which his son Harvey Cawdor (Alan C. Peterson) kills his one of his brothers and partially blinds one of his young brother Ryan Cawdor(Vincent Spano
Vincent Spano
Vincent M. Spano is an American stage, film and television actor, and film director and producer. He received a Cable Ace Award nomination in 1988 for his role as Mark Ciuni in Il cugino americano.-Backround:...
), who manages to escape.
After spending twenty years in the wastelands, the one-eyed Ryan returns to Front Royale accompanied by his girlfriend Krysty Worth (Jenya Lano
Jenya Lano
Jenya Lano is a Russian-born actress and comedian, best known for her recurring role as Inspector Sheridan on the American television series Charmed .-Career:...
), the teenage half-mutant Jak Laurent (Nathan Carter
Nathan Carter
Nathan Carter is a Canadian actor born in Toronto, Canada. He is best known for his starring roles in Radio Free Roscoe as Travis. He has also guest starred on The Famous Jett Jackson and PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal.-Filmography:-References:...
), and weapons specialist JB Dix (Cliff Saunders
Cliff Saunders
Cliff Saunders ' is an American sports radio personality based in St. Louis, Missouri. Cliff is the co-host of the St. Louis Rams Post Game Show on 101 ESPN...
), to face his mother and brother and avenge his father's murder.
Cast
- Vincent SpanoVincent SpanoVincent M. Spano is an American stage, film and television actor, and film director and producer. He received a Cable Ace Award nomination in 1988 for his role as Mark Ciuni in Il cugino americano.-Backround:...
as Ryan Cawdor - Jenya LanoJenya LanoJenya Lano is a Russian-born actress and comedian, best known for her recurring role as Inspector Sheridan on the American television series Charmed .-Career:...
as Krysty Wroth - Colin FoxColin FoxColin Fox is the national spokesperson of the Scottish Socialist Party, and a former member for Lothian in the Scottish Parliament...
as Baron Titus Cawdor - Alan C. Peterson as Harvey Cawdor
- Traci LordsTraci LordsTraci Lords , also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American film actress, producer, film director, writer and singer...
as Lady Rachel Cawdor - Cliff SaundersCliff SaundersCliff Saunders ' is an American sports radio personality based in St. Louis, Missouri. Cliff is the co-host of the St. Louis Rams Post Game Show on 101 ESPN...
as J.B. Dix - Nathan CarterNathan CarterNathan Carter is a Canadian actor born in Toronto, Canada. He is best known for his starring roles in Radio Free Roscoe as Travis. He has also guest starred on The Famous Jett Jackson and PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal.-Filmography:-References:...
as Jak Lauren - Matthew Currie HolmesMatthew Currie HolmesMatthew Currie Holmes is a Canadian actor who has appeared in dozens of projects. He was a lead on the Canadian series Godiva's , as well as on the series Edgemont. His feature film credits include The Fog, Firewall and Wrong Turn 2: Dead End. He currently resides in Los Angeles,...
as Nathan Cawdor - Jeffrey R. Smith as Sergeant
- Park Bench as Young Harvey
- Heather Bertram as Young Lady Rachel
- Robert ClarkRobert Clark (actor)Robert Clark is an Americanactor. After building up years of experience in singing, stage and limited television work in the 1990s, he has gone on to receive critical and public recognition for his roles in various small screen productions, most notably The Zack Files and Strange Days at Blake...
as Young Ryan Cawdor - A. Frank Ruffo as Kenny Morse
- Rob Avery as Tom
- Max Danger as Jabez Pendragon Cawdor
- Peter Messaline as Ben
Critical reception
DVD TalkDVD Talk
DVD Talk is a website for DVD enthusiasts founded in January 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman when DVDs and DVD players were first beginning to hit the market.The site started as an online forum, an email newsletter, and a page of DVD news and reviews...
wrote that when compared to other films made for television, this one was "a low-budget mish-mash of elements from Dune
Dune (novel)
Dune is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert, published in 1965. It won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel...
and The Most Dangerous Game
The Most Dangerous Game
"The Most Dangerous Game", also published as "The Hounds of Zaroff", is a short story by Richard Connell. It was published in Collier's Weekly on January 19, 1924....
and was worse than expected, though "moderately entertaining" and something that could be apreciated by fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
. It was found that the acting and visual effect were poor, and compared it to Ed Wood-type experiences, "where you just marvel that the turkey was ever release". The reviewer sumarixed by writing the film "is really, really bad - so bad that it's actually entertaining if you want to laugh at movie-making ineptitude."
Hal Erickson
Hal Erickson
Harold James Erickson was a relief pitcher who played briefly for the Detroit Tigers during the season. Listed at 6' 5", 230 lb., he batted and threw right-handed....
of Rovi
Rovi
Ivor Parry was a Welsh magician. He was a Gold Star Medalist of the Inner Magic Circle, and was called 'a British legend' by Opus Magazine. Parry was born in Caernarfon.-References:...
made note of the popularity of the book series upon which the film is based, and that the film seemed aimed at long-distance truck drivers.
Release
The film premiered on the Sci Fi ChannelSci 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...
on May 17, 2003, and was released on video in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
in 2005. It has its United States DVD premiere in February 2008. It worldwide release under different titles: Campos de Morte Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Deathlands Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Deathlands, le chemin du retour France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, I gi ton nekron Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, La tierra de la muerta Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and Pusztító atomcsapás Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
DVD
The DVD includes four separate trailers for the movie, all similar in content and under the shorter title Deathlands, as well as a "production stills" gallery accompanied by music from the film's score, and an audio commentary track with director Joshua Butler who provides background on the film's production.Differences from the novel
While Deathlands: Homeward Bound closely follows the plot of the fifth DeathlandsDeathlands
The Deathlands is a series of novels published by Gold Eagle Publishing. The first novel 'Pilgrimage to Hell' was first published in 1986. This series of novels was first written by Christopher Lowder, under the pen name Jack Adrian. Mr. Lowder became ill after developing the plot and writing most...
novel, Homeward Bound
Homeward Bound (Deathlands novel)
Homeward Bound is the fifth book in the series of Deathlands. It was written by Laurence James under the pen name James Axler.-External links:*...
, it departs in a number of notable ways. Dr. Theophilus Tanner
Dr. Theophilus Tanner
Dr. Theophilus Tanner, or "Doc" as he is known, is a fictional character from the book series Deathlands. He is rescued by Ryan Cawdor and his people from the ville of Mocsin, where he was being kept captive by Jordan Teague, the ville's baron....
and Lori Quint are completely absent from the film, and Jak Lauren is specifically identified as a mutant, versus simply being an albino as in the novels. J.B. Dix is also changed, being significantly more talkative than his character in the novels, where he is described as a man who "would never use three words when two would do the job." The purpose of redoubts is not clearly explained, and the film makes no mention of the MAT-TRANS
MAT-TRANS
MAT-TRANS is short for Matter-Transmitter, a teleporter used as a plot device in James Axler's Deathlands and Outlanders series.The device is typically a six-sided room with walls, floor and ceiling made of "armaglass", a likely fictitious type of glass which is very difficult to break or shatter....
facilities typically found in redoubts and used by Ryan and his friends to travel throughout most of the novels.