Waterworld made quite a few headlines in the 1990s before it was even released. The film was plagued with a bloated budget (over 175 million dollars), natural disasters destroying sets, and a major feud between director Kevin Reynolds and star Kevin Costner.
Costner eventually finished directing and editing the project and Waterworld was released in 1995. Although the film earned some harsh criticism, it did eventually make its money back but Kevin Costner's career took a severe hit in the process. Waterworld finally appears on Blu-ray 14 years later and is an enjoyable and good-looking popcorn movie.
The Movie
Waterworld is set hundreds of years after the polar icecaps have melted and covered the world in water. Humanity has adapted to the changes by building outposts called atolls that serve as floating villages. Kevin Costner plays a drifter called the Mariner. He sails the world on his boat trying to get by and make the best of his life. The Mariner is what they call a ‘muto’ — he has developed gills and webbed feet and can survive in the water or on land like a true amphibian.
We are introduced to the Mariner as he encounters another traveler. This one attempts to double cross him and the mariner is able to outwit him and leave him to the mercies of the Smokers. The Smokers are a group of anarchists based on an old oil tanker and led by the scenery-chewing Deacon (Dennis Hopper). The Smokers are the boogeymen of the water and are feared everywhere.
The Mariner makes his way to an atoll and we are introduced to the pivotal plot-focused characters, Enola (Tina Majorino) and Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn). Enola is an orphan girl cared for by Helen; she has a strange tattoo on her back that seems to be a map to dry land. This information has made its way to Deacon and he wants the girl so dry land can belong to him and the Smokers. The Mariner happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and helps Elona and Helen escape the atoll as Deacon's forces are assaulting it.
The rest of the movie is your typical reluctant hero against overwhelming odds adventure. The Mariner has to come to grips with Elona and Helen as he tries to stay alive, outwit the Smokers, and find dry land. The story is fairly vanilla at its heart but much of the atmosphere helps it to be very enjoyable at times.
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