Riel

OK this might be entertaining but it is not a very accurate portrayal of the life of Riel at all There is no evidence that Riel went to Ottawa, let alone signed in at the parliament buildings. Riel hardly knew Gabriel Dumont during the time of the first Rebellion, they are only known to have met once before the second rebellion. The film omits any mention of Riel's treachery such as when he convinced a number of illiterate settlers to follow him by "predicting" a solar eclipse. The reason that he knew there would be an eclipse is he read it in the paper! As has been mentioned before Riel's appearance is not very accurate. This was an ambitious effort by the CBC to create an epic Canadian mini series similar to the US series "Centennial". It succeeds in my opinion in being entertaining with pretty good production values and aside from Riel's life itself is quite good at portraying the history and the characters in it. However as Riel is the main character and is portrayed so inaccurately I can't give it more than a 5.

Edit to add new information:

Well you live and learn. I have since discovered that Riel did sign into parliament after all. I still cannot upgrade my rating for this series because the overall portrayal of Riel is still very inaccurate.

One thing that is impressive about the movie "RIEL" is its all-star, all Canadian cast, many of whom will be familiar to all movie goers. There's Christopher Plummer, Lloyd Bochner, Maury Chaykin, Don Francks, Arthur Hill, Leslie Nielsen, William Shatner, August Schellenberg,Dave Thomas and Kenneth Welsh, all well known actors outside of Canada. However, this is more than a spot-the-cameo epic wanna-be. Devoid of its stellar cast, the film would still be a classic docu-drama about a true Canadian cultural hero. The acting, action and production are all excellent and will keep you entertained and educated for over two hours.

When I saw this adaptation, I thought it had too many flaws for it come across as anything serious. Christopher Plummer was good as John A. MacDonald, but the corny concepts and atrocious historical inaccuracies make for hard viewing.

Poorly written by the same hack who wrote the deeply misogynistic slasher film, Black Christmas. The characters are shallow, the dialogue is artificial, and the acting is campy. Historical inaccuracies abound. The fact that the producers were able to draw some of the biggest Canadian-born talent in the industry to perform in this miniseries makes it all the more ridiculous. The mentality that everyone working on the production must be essentially Canadian is precisely the opposite of the multicultural ethos that permeates this pretentious nonsense. Thankfully, this trifle has been lost in the sands of time.

Some good cinematographic sequences, but the numerous historical inaccuracies and weak character representation greatly mar this film/miniseries. Not only that, but the drama is compromised as well. The role of Riel is sadly miscast and (not to fuss about it) the actor does not resemble him at all, which makes for a bad premise from the start. The roles and portrayals of Gabriel Dumont and John A. MacDonald (Christopher Plummer), have a bit more credibility to them. Sadly, it's a deformed look to what could have been a more serious or thoughtful outlook and consideration of Riel, his life, his struggle (and that of the Metis), as well as his unjustified end.