Director: Kevin Reynolds
Release Date: 1995
Running Time: 2hrs 15 minutes
Genre: Adventure
Rating: 12
Format: Netflix
Synopsis:
In the future where the polar ice caps have melted and Earth is almost submerged, a mutated mariner fights starvation and outlaw smokers and reluctantly helps a woman and a young girl find dry land.
It's been reported that "Waterworld" was one of the worst movies to have been made in the early nineties. Essentially it is "Mad Max" on water, however no two movies are the same, no matter what people may say to you. A fair amount of movie fans dislike the movie due to it's unrealistic storyline. Forgive me, but I don't remember director Kevin Reynolds claiming it to be scientific or to be a representation of the near future. It's a movie. It was made purely for entertainment purposes, not for NASA to analyze at a later date. Unfortunately if you go in with this sort of mindset you never going to enjoy it for what it is. As a member of the audience you are not told what year "Waterworld" is set in, however personally that is what makes it all the more entertaining. It could, essentially be thousand upon thousands of years into the future. As if we have a right to judge what may or may not happen?
In this post apocalyptic waterworld, people are living primarily on boats. How these people came to survive is a mystery, however that's part of the fun. I don't know about you, but I don't always want my questions to be answered. Mariner (Costner) finds himself surrounded by a community of people living on an island made from the rubble of what was once Earth. Helen (Tripplehorn) believes that he knows where dryland is. When their island is attacked by "smokers" Helen and Enola escape with him in search of dryland. A place they believe to still be inhabited by humans. Will they make it there in time though before the thieving "smokers" catch up with them? The "smokers" live on board an old oil tanker, that seems to have an infinite supply of oil and cigarettes. Interestingly, the "smokers" refer to the oil as black stuff. Are they aware of it's full potential?
Kevin Costner delivers a good performance, although it's not one of his best performances, he slips into the main role of the mariner very well. Costner pulls off action sequences brilliantly and proves once again he's the ultimate hero. Dennis Hopper delivers an excellent performance as Deacon, head of the smokers. Hopper is very good at playing the bad guy, although he found himself type cast throughout most of his career, he had an excellent way of bringing charm and humour to his more often than not, psychopathic characters. Tina Majorino steals the show as young Enola, beautifully innocent and fearless she works excellently alongside Hopper and Costner. Character development is very interesting throughout. As the human race, is this how desperate we would become to find dryland?
Although "Waterworld" certainly wouldn't go down as a piece of art, it should be for it's spectacular cinematography, something that really shouldn't be missed, considering the problems the actors faced during production. It's clear a lot of work went into the production of this film, in making it look as authentic as possible. I found myself asking a lot of questions during the viewing of this film. Where did Mariner get dirt from? Has he actually seen dryland, despite saying he hasn't? Perhaps he didn't want to disappoint others into believing there was more then there actually is? 99% of the Earth is submerged underwater. Does Enola know more than what she is letting on? Sometimes we don't need to know the answers to the questions we ask when viewing a movie for the first time. Half the fun can be trying to figure out what sort of message the director was hoping to give. A lot of effort went into making sure this film made it onto the big screen. Don't judge too harshly, I think you might be pleasantly surprised.
4/5
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