I cannot believe how attractive Raymond Cloutier is in this movie!!!!! it has made me want to delve further into the story of Riel as a wonderful Che Guvera like figure in Canadian history. The ten -point scale doesn't even begin to describe the brilliance of this film. it combines the brilliant Canadian landscape with the epic struggle of the Metis people to achieve a government that respects their views and accepts them as people equal to the English running Canada at that time. It shows Riel's legendary faith in God(he was catholic)and his close communication with God. he is also a great thinker before his time as he wishes for Canada to be a place where all people are equal not just the WASPS running Canada at the time.

After watching this film, I cannot say that it was very well made in terms of the characters who were portrayed in it. For example, Thomas Scott didn't look anywhere close to the actor who was given the role of playing his part. As for Riel himself, he had a beard and moustache for the most of his life but in the film he's clean shaven. But it is quite hard to depict every single detail in a film so as a result there will be some misconceptions (some more intentional than others). In addition to that, some of the battles that occurred during the conflict in 1885 were misconstrued. The visit to Ottawa that Riel and Dumont took together in the film probably never happened in real life. Well....... anyways......... that's the reason why I gave this film a 6 out of 10.

As Canadian fare goes, this is very good. The original historical story is already very dramatic, so little was added for the screenplay. Also, the fictional parts were usually plausible enough. The film's strongest feature was Plummer's performance as John A.My biggest complaint was the makeup on Raymond Cloutier (Riel). He should have had a moustache, and perhaps a beard at some times. The physical appearance of the historical Riel is very familiar, and I found it annoying that the film did not respect it.It is unfortunate that there isn't the money to make a really top-notch production based on the Riel story. I found myself thinking of the excellent visual images in films like Dances with Wolves and Last of the Mohicans. Perhaps this story will find its way into the cinema again in the future.

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.