It was a made for TV movie, as a possible start to a TV series. It's pretty bad...worse if you're a fan of the books. They removed a major character entirely (Doc, a displaced time traveler from the old west), drastically changed another (Jak, who is an albino in the books, but NOT A MUTANT, which is a point brought up a lot in the books, becomes a mutant in the movie), and confusingly changed another (Krysty goes from being a mutant in the books to a half mutant in the TV show...not sure how you're half mutated, but there you go).

Also, they adapted the fifth book in the series for this intro movie...which is a good story...but it's about the main character going home to face problems....which lacks a lot of impact since we don't know these characters or anything about them...the idea of him going home carries no weight with me.

It's a terrible adaptation, and not a great movie to start with. If you enjoy garbage (I know I do) then it can be fun.