To director Kevin Reynolds' credit, there are isolated moments in "Waterworld" that are pure magic. He is over- the-top and theatrical, mugging and raving but never more than a touch away from sarcasm: "Don't just stand there, kill something!" Haters also railed at Costners ego, and maybe even justifiably so.
Waterworld was shot in 157 days and cost roughly 175 million to make, an obscene amount of green that left its detractors in conniptions. The scene in which he takes the woman to the ocean floor and shows her the remains of a dead civilization is truly eerie.Ĭostner attacks the role of the Mariner as yet another in his gallery of troubled anti-heroes, a good guy coping with a world gone mad.Īs the evil Deacon, Dennis Hopper provides a healthy contrast to Costner's earnestness. I think most of the hate surrounding this movie had nothing to do with the quality of the movie itself. Because he can breathe under water, the Mariner is the only one who has been to the bottom of the ocean and knows that people once walked on land. A second later, the fireball is still growing but the wakes have totally subsided. As the fireball of their collision comes up, their wakes are still visible. The most intriguing aspect of "Waterworld" is Waterworld itself - the presentation of the engulfed Earth. Continuity mistake: After the Mariner rescued Enola, the Deacon and his goons collide.
And with its neo-Stone Age fashions and the inĬessant sound of drum machines punctuating key scenes, it's too flashy and trashy to be taken as seriously as it wants to be. The Mariner (Costner), a mysterious drifter, attempts to elude the savage 'Smokers' and escort Helen (Tripplehorn) and her daughter. Summary: In the future, the polar ice caps have melted, covering the Earth with water. Starring: Jeanne Tripplehorn, Kevin Costner. "Waterworld" exists in a limbo between "Road Warrior" and "Dances With Wolves." It's too earnest and ambitious for its sloppiness to go unnoticed. Universal Pictures Release Date: J PG-13. The pricey film stumbled domestically but nevertheless made 264 million globally. The film tells of their search for land, a search interrupted intermittently by violent attacks. On July 28, 1995, Universal unveiled its producer-star Kevin Costner's expansive epic Waterworld in theaters. Kevin Costner, as the Mariner, grows on the viewer Through a combination of circumstances, the Mariner finds himself with two passengers - a woman (Jeanne Tripplehorn) desperate to find dry land, and her munchkin-like adopted daughter ( Tina Majorino), who has a map to dry land tattooed on her back. The Smokers also smoke cigarettes, a slight inconsistency in a world where paper is almost obsolete. The Mariner is under attack by "the Smokers" - petroleum-burning pirates led by Dennis Hopper. Costner, who plays the Mariner, is no Charlie the Tuna, but he grows on you. In this ruthless sea of misery floats a trader known as the Mariner, a human mutation capable of breathing under water. The polar ice caps have melted and the Earth is submerged. It's the future, and the world is seriously unlivable. The film has a dark, distinctive look that conveys the grim resignation of trapped humanity.