Waterworld: Theatrical Cut (1995)

Director: Kevin Reynolds

Cast: Kevin Costner, Dennis Hopper, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tina Majorino, Michael Jeter

Country: United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 136 minutes

Waterworld is one of the most infamous big budget flops of all time. Critics, the media, and movie fans can't even talk about this movie without bringing up its disappointing box office numbers or infamous production issues.  Some people like to judge a movie based on its troubled production and bad reviews for some reason. I remember watching this film as a kid on T.V. a long time ago and really enjoying it. I vividly remember there being a huge water based action scene at the beginning of the film and a scene where Kevin Costner blows up an entire boat full of bad guys. However, I have heard nothing but bad things about this film and its star Kevin Costner over the years. A discussion of the "fall of Kevin Costner" is best saved for another time because I want to focus on just the film in this review and not review the film solely based on the gossip surrounding it.

Most faults with Waterworld can be laid on Universal Studios. The film originally ran at 3 hours. However, Costner's previous film, Wyatt Earp, ran over 3 hours and was a huge flop. Waterworld had also gone $75 million over budget. Therefore, the studio fired director Kevin Reynolds and edited the film down to 2 hours and 16 minutes in order to be able to show the film more than once in a day in the theaters. However, all the studio did was fill the film with more plot holes and make it worse than whatever the 3 hour cut would have featured. They essentially shot themselves in the foot in the process of trying to save their own butts.

While there is an extended cut of Waterworld available on DVD, it is a heavily edited television cut. Even though 40 minutes of deleted scenes have been restored, all violence, cursing, and nudity have been stripped from the film. It also goes for high prices that I am not willing to pay. Therefore, I settled for the cheap and affordable theatrical cut on Blu Ray. Now that we've got that backstory out of the way, let's get on to the review!

Costner stares in disbelief at the film's box office receipts.

Waterworld is an adventurous action film that will be best enjoyed by fans of post-apocalyptic cinema and Kevin Costner. The film presents a post-apocalyptic society where all of the polar ice caps have melted and flooded the Earth. Therefore, the Earth has turned into a "waterworld" of sorts. The Mariner (Costner) is a mutated drifter with an awesome sail boat and the ability to breathe underwater. When he travels to an Atoll (a circular trading outpost), the local citizens have him sentenced to death for being a mutant and causing trouble in their town. 

However, the Mariner's death is cut short when "Smokers" (scavenging murderous thieves) attack the Atoll. A woman named Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and her daughter Enola save the Mariner from death but only if he will take them with him in search of the mythical "Dry Land." The leader of the "Smokers," The Deacon (Dennis Hopper), wants Enola because she has a map on her back that leads to "Dry Land." The Mariner's lonely and simple life quickly turns hectic as he has to protect Enola and Helen from the many "Smokers" on the sea and help them discover "Dry Land" as well.

Waterworld can be easily summed up in one statement: "Mad Max on water." Waterworld owes everything to George Miller's masterful post-apocalyptic trilogy in every way, shape, and form. From the character designs, to the world building, to the lingo, to the vehicle designs, to the weapon designs, everything is inspired by Mad Max. And hey, I am completely fine with that! Mad Max on water is an awesome idea for a movie! You could say that Waterworld is an obvious rip-off of Mad Max just as Under Siege is an obvious rip-off of Die Hard.

"I'm the Lord of the Harvest!"

I love the opening scene of the film. The Mariner stands on his boat at sea and pees into a plastic cup. He than pours that pee into a machine of his and cranks out clean water. He drinks half of the water and than gargles the other half. The Mariner than spits out the rest of that water into a pot growing a lime tree. Man, small details like this go a long way for me! I love the Mariner's set up on his boat. I love how he has developed a way of surviving out at sea. I also enjoy all of the Mariner's collectibles on his boat. He has a car mirror, a jar of dirt, an old spear gun, old issues of National Geographic, and much much more. Details like this really nail home the beauty of what makes a post-apocalyptic film so much fun to watch. I get a lot of enjoyment out of watching people making a life for themselves the best they can even though the world has fallen apart.

The first act of Waterworld is exhilarating, exciting, adventurous, and sweeping. James Newton Howard's masterful score turns the film's action scenes into something that Raiders of the Lost Ark would be jealous of. The big Atoll action scene near the beginning of the film is one of the most impressive stunt driven set pieces I have ever seen in all of action cinema. The Atoll is a huge circular floating village surrounded by tall walls. When the "Smokers" attack the Atoll, they start by unleashing a turret on the walls. They than set up a ramp and launch "Smokers" on jet skis and water skis over the walls and into the Atoll. It is seriously one of the coolest action scenes I have ever seen before!

I have to stress that Waterworld's strongest asset is its practical sets and action scenes. The massive village sets, boats, and on sea locations are so impressive that it is no surprise that over $175 million was poured into this movie. Because all of the action and images on the screen are real, the film feels far more exciting and engaging than any CGI action scene Michael Bay could have conjured up. Real stunt men and real sets go a long way in immersing the audience into a film's unique world. Contemporary films should take note of this because all of the green screens and CGI in the world can't make something more engaging or realistic than a practical set. Whenever I see a film that is heavily animated (Star Wars Prequels, the Transformers series), I feel so distant from everything in the film. And I am not talking about stylized films like Sin City or 300 that use CG to create comic book styled imagery. I am talking about films that exist in a realistic world where real characters get in on the action.

Practical stuff like this goes a long way for me.

Unfortunately, Waterworld has too little action in it. The Atoll invasion near the beginning of the film is the biggest and longest set piece in the entire film. It pulls you into the film right away and makes you not want to leave the couch (or the theater back in 1995). The only other action in the film are a few small beats in the second act and than the big finale on the Exxon Valdez. However, even the finale on the Exxon Valdez can't seem to excite me like the opening Atoll action scene. There are some very bad ass action beats in the finale though. My favorite occurs when Costner steals a jet ski and waits out in the fog outside of the Deacon's boat. A "Smoker" tells the Mariner to bring the jet ski in slow but can't tell who is on the ski. The Mariner guns it and rams the jet ski right into the "Smoker" and smashes him into a metal pole. For a PG-13 action movie, this is a totally brutal death that comes out of nowhere! I also love the scene where Costner swings on a chain and fires his gun at a moving car on the boat. If Waterworld had more action beats like this sprinkled throughout the film than the entire thing would be an unmissable action extravangaza.

As soon as the Mariner and Helen float out to sea away from the Atoll and the attacking "Smokers",

Waterworld enters into one of the most boring and pointless second acts I have ever seen. It was as if the screenwriters wrote this amazing opening act and a solid finale and than realized that a second act has to carry us into that finale. Because so much of the budget was poured into the opening act and final act, the second act features nothing but open sea shots and boats at sea. And that means lots of dialog between characters and pointless scenes that act as nothing but filler. This second act is truly dreadful and it makes me want to skip right ahead to the big finale.

There are also a lot of plot holes and unanswered questions in this film. Whether it's due to the poorly written script or the 40 minutes of missing footage, Waterworld leaves the interested viewer with a lot of questions. For example, why does Kevin Costner's character have gills that he can breathe out of? Are there more mutants like him? Where did they come from and why is Costner the only one that we meet? Also, what's up with the sea creature that Costner kills in one scene? Why don't we see more of these creatures and only one for merely an instant? How did the tattoo with the map towards Dry Land end up on the girl's back? And why does she get visions where she immediately starts drawing images of land and trees? How does Costner find the "Smokers" hideout at the end of the film and how does he end up with a jet ski too? Why movie, why?!

The final act of the film also feels extremely rushed. I got this feeling that numerous scenes were chopped out of the film and the studio simply wanted the film to end already. If the studio wanted to chop out any scenes, why did they let the boring middle act of the film run for so long? They could have easily chopped out plenty of scenes from there but instead chose to rush the finale. This kind of backwards thinking baffles me. 

Costner's boat is a home to be proud of.

Costner does a fine job in this film. He has the ability to play unique lead characters who aren't perfect and still makes them likable. The Mariner is very much like Max Rockatansky from the Mad Max films because he thinks about him self but gives into helping others because it is the right thing. Costner does a fine job in all of the action scenes too and clearly does many of his own stunts as he swings on ropes and slides down the sail of his boat. My favorite detail about his character was his love for potted plants. As he escapes the Atoll on his boat, he leans off the side of his boat and grabs his tomato tree as it starts to float away even though he is being fired upon by "Smokers." I love little touches like this.

Every other actor in the film isn't really worth discussing. They all do a fine job and occupy their roles. However, I have to mention the great Dennis Hopper as the hilarious and over the top villain. Hopper really owned the 90's as far as insane villains came (Boiling Point, Super Mario Bros. Movie, Speed) and his Waterworld performance is just as entertaining as his characters from films like Apocalypse Now, Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, and Blue Velvet. That's not to say that it is a great character, but he's darn fun to watch on the screen. What's even more hilarious is that the character of the Deacon isn't like many other villains in that he has a plan that the hero has to stop. He literally has no idea what he is going to do once he gets a hold of Enola who has the map on her back because he doesn't know how to read it. He's the worst villain ever!

Besides the impressive practical sets, Waterworld is blessed with one of the most beautiful and adventurous film scores of all time. James Newton Howard's many compositions are some of the most underrated film scores in cinema history and his Waterworld score is no exception. The adventurous title track that plays during the film's action scenes will take the viewer back to a time when high adventure and fun ruled the blockbusters of the 90's (Back to the Future Part III, Hook, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves). 

Costner threatens the Deacon with a flare to end it all.

Is Waterworld a flawed movie? Yes, yes it is. But it is also a really fun and exciting movie and you'd be cheating yourself out of the some of the biggest practical set pieces in movie history! I know many movie fans and critics would outright dismiss the film for its many plot holes, lack of any forward motion after the opening act, and silly characters. As an action and post-apocalyptic fan, there is no way that I can hate this movie. The adventurous score and the few but exciting set pieces make Waterworld a real thrill ride (in parts that is). Plus, the film features a hilarious Dennis Hopper performance and it all comes wrapped in a big budget 1990's bow. If you aren't a fan of post-apocalyptic cinema or Kevin Costner, you probably will not like this movie at all. Seriously. This is definitely one for the die hard fans.

Rating: 7/10 - Even though Waterworld is clearly flawed, suffers from obvious plot holes, and has a horrible 2nd act, its big budget proceedings, post-apocalyptic design, and adventurous action scenes propel it into the upper ecelean of post-apocalyptic action movies.