 Tagline: Beyond the horizon lies the secret to a new beginning. See one of the screen's biggest action-adventure epics like never before - on Blu-ray Hi-Def! Set in the future when Earth is completely covered in water and the human race is struggling to survive, mankind's one remaining hope for a better future is a drifter (Kevin Costner) who gets caught up in a battle between the evil Deacon (Dennis Hopper) and a child's secret key to a wondrous place called "Dryland." Featuring groundbreaking special effects, Waterworld is a visually stunning, futuristic thriller beyond your wildest imagination! Storyline: The polar ice caps have melted, and the earth is covered by water. The remaining people travel the seas, in search of survival. Several different societies exist. The Mariner falls from his customary and solitary existence into having to care for a woman and a young girl while being pursued by the evil forces of the Deacon. Written by Robbie Smith Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman on October 22, 2009 -- Isn't it interesting to look back and see how one film can so drastically alter a career trajectory? By 1995, when Waterworld hit metroplexes, Kevin Costner was arguably the biggest male movie star in the world. Yes, he had had a few misses or at least not-quite-hits. But he had starred in a remarkable string of smashes, including The Untouchables, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams and his multi-Oscar winner Dances With Wolves. Paired again with his Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves partner Kevin Reynolds (which may have been the "first clue" for the more prescient filmgoers out there), Costner's starring and producing turn in Waterworld was supposed to be the surefire box office behemoth that year, in a film which melded a quasi-Mad Max ethos onto a somewhat ahead of its time ecological underpinning. But those in the know can tell you that while Hollywood may delight in crafting happy endings for its onscreen stories, frequently the "truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" of the behind the scenes fracases that make up the literal nut and bolts of filmmaking is often the stuff of Greek tragedy. And in this regard, Waterworld is something of a legend. Costner's career has never really totally rebounded after its release, despite some impressive portrayals in the intervening years. And so it becomes more than a bit difficult to come to the film with an open mind. If you were around when the film was originally released, there's virtually no way you could have missed the blistering press the film received pre-release, press that focused on its gargantuan budget (a budget which then ballooned to almost twice its original size, making it the most expensive film of its day), as well as the not exactly top secret tension between Costner and Reynolds, tension that ultimately resulted in Reynolds, depending on whom you believe, either quitting or being fired before the film wrapped, leaving Costner to pick up the pieces. When the film actually opened, it received its fair share of decent reviews (along with its fair share of brickbats), but the damage was already done in the public's eye, at least stateside. Waterworld was damaged goods, and the United States boxoffice was meager (the film went on to rather respectable numbers worldwide and has always been a strong seller in its various home video incarnations). Seeing the film now from a decade and a half later, Waterworld is neither as bad as a lot of its detractors claim, nor as good as its fiercest proponents continue to insist. This story of a nameless mariner (Costner), adrift in a world waterlogged by global warming and the resultant melting of the polar ice caps is aces in the production design and basic story elements departments. Production Designer Dennis Gassner and Art Director David Klassen do stellar work throughout Waterworld, populating the film with such great props as the incredible trimaran the mariner sails around the watery expanses. Reynolds (and/or Costner, since he evidently did direct large swaths of the film) crafts a totally believable post-apocalyptic world filled with rusted out "atolls" on which the hapless remnants of the human race attempt to live out their days, and also resolutely refuses to "gloss up" the proceedings, lending the entire enterprise a sort of gritty look that befits its subject matter. Costner himself has never been more athletic, leaping and jumping to and fro and bringing a visceral feel to his portrayal of The Loner as Everyman-Savior (that's a lot of capitals, but it helps to convey how portentous Waterworld can be at times). Also strong, if ridiculously over the top, is Dennis Hopper's turn as the nefarious bad guy, The Deacon, the commander of the ruins of the Exxon Valdez (I kid you not), in one of the funnier, if simultaneously silly, cultural references Waterworld delights in. Another cultural icon, albeit a somewhat less oily one, The Wizard of Oz, also merits a passing visual nod in supporting character Gregor's (the late, great Michael Jeter) hot air balloon, which provides at least two escapes during the film. While Jeanne Tripplehorn's Helen is woefully underwritten, the actress brings a certain toughness mixed with tenderness that makes the character believable, as far as her minimal screen prospects go. Where Waterworld goes awry is in too many dangling plot elements, including the silly tattoo-as-map trope that amazingly was part and parcel of another 1995 floperoo, Cutthroat Island. For a film whose rough cut evidently came in at around three hours, a lot has obviously been left on the editing room floor, giving Waterworld an at times haphazard, anecdotal feel that fails to establish any real connection with any of the supporting characters, let alone the Mariner, on whose broad shoulders any emotional resonance with the audience must fall. For all its sweep and epic ambitions, Waterworld is curiously uninvolving, somewhat akin to watching a mime depicting an action film rather than actually experiencing one. The extended director's cut has never been officially released on home video (the television presentation which attempted to reproduce it, and which was later released on DVD as the putative extended cut, was itself heavily edited for language and content), though the film's most ardent adherents insist it restores a lot of these missing elements and helps the film to cohere better as well as actually touch its audience with more than mere waterlogged bombast. Alas, that longer cut is nowhere to be found on this Blu-ray release, leaving me to wonder if Universal has simply decided Waterworld deserves to slowly sink in the Blu-ray marketplace. Waterworld tries hard (perhaps too hard, frankly), and occasionally manages to catch enough of a breeze to carry it over its own pretensions to deliver on its action-adventure ambitions. Ultimately, though, I can't see rabid fans wanting to invest in this bare bones release, despite decent picture quality and excellent sound quality. Cast Notes: Kevin Costner (Mariner), Chaim Girafi (Drifter [as Chaim Jeraffi]), Rick Aviles (Gatesman), R.D. Call (Enforcer), Zitto Kazann (Elder / Survivor), Leonardo Cimino (Elder), Zakes Mokae (Priam), Luke Ka'ili Jr. (Boy), Anthony DeMasters (Boy), Willy Petrovic (Boy), Jack Kehler (Banker), Jeanne Tripplehorn (Helen), Lanny Flaherty (Trader), Robert A. Silverman (Hydroholic), Gerard Murphy (Nord), Dennis Hopper (Deacon). IMDb Rating (10/21/09): 5.7/10 from 48,725 users
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