Costner changes his mind about pimping Tripplehorn out? That bugged me, since this was a post-apocalyptic world and I’d expect conventional morality to have completely evaporated. Similarly, when he tossed the kid, I hadn’t the slightest doubt he would turn around and get her. He’s a tough loner… but still a hero. Boring.
It felt to me like this film was trying to be several different movies: post-apocalyptic action movie, ecological warning movie, family movie… and not quite making it.
However, it was entertaining enough to watch once or twice.
Count me in as someone who thought the movie was good. I rather enjoyed the film.
Just wanted to add my two cents.
THe Earth does not have that much water. Not even if every piece of ice- including that last one in your Mint Julip- melts.
A race of people living entirely without land…and everyone was dirty.
But what about if you flattened out some of the mountains, or used all that water in the orbital vapour canopy? 
What ruined it for me was the idea that there could be a landmass that everybody completely failed to find, ever.
But but but…global warming…and and and the corporations! and…and Republicans!
[sub]:: head asplodes ::[/sub]
Hell, it was worth the matinee price just for that opening shot of waters rising on the Universal logo. I thought that was a brilliant transitional idea and someone should have gotten a bonus for thinking of it.
IIRC it was a trimaran (one main hull, two sponsons), not a catamaran.
I though the movie was OK. Not great, but not awful either.
Brian
It wasn’t that bad. Dennis Hopper was really good but he should have been played up in the marketing.
In Field of Dreams I hit home runs
In Robin Hood I flashed my buns.
But my new film gets me soaking wet
Cause it’s swimming in debt.
I’ll blow the budget at Waterworld
With a new set every day.
They’ll never recoup at Waterworld.
My career’s sunk anyway.
I was a wow, and made a million girls swoon
Now…I’m wrinkling up like a prune.
Gerald Alessandrini’s “Forbidden Hollywood”
My main problem was that Costner wanted to take the movie seriously, and nobody else did. The female lead felt it was a romantic, head-butting, you’ll-learn-to-love-me buddy film, Hopper thought it was a cartoon, the set designers thought it was Road Warrior, and Costner played it all stone-faced serious. I believe his original intention was to make a very serious film, and I think various producers and the director decided it wasn’t going to fly and tried halfway through to re-make it as a cartoon/romantic action-adventure extravaganza – just like Hudson Hawk.
Oh, hey…me, too! That’s what clued me into the fact that it must be this movie (even though I’d never seen it): When all the icecaps melted, my brain said, “I’ll bet this is going to be ‘Waterworld.’” That was a great shot.
I would have, too; and the fact that he initially was willing to trade her reinforced that. His change of heart could be seen as a moral reconsideration, or maybe he got what he wanted from the paper and didn’t need it anymore (aside from the rarity of paper, I didn’t get why it was so valuable, unless it was for the information it contained). Plus, I think he was starting to want the woman for himself by that point…not exactly a moral decision, but certainly a self-serving one.
I read that differently. I thought that he certainly would have left the kid (he started out by saying that they should ditch her, because she was an undue stress on resources). It was only because the woman went after her that he turned around, IMHO. He didn’t give a crap about the kid yet. It was only later, when he went into the Smoker’s ship to rescue the kid that the hero in him manifested (although maybe a bit earlier when he’s teaching her how to swim). So, not boring to me.
I see your point, but for me the calming effect of the ocean (and it was always calm: not a wave or storm in sight) had the effect of setting off the action by contrast and making it even more impactive. Had the same action been made in a harsh desert or a jungle or something, it wouldn’t have been as jarring, I don’t think. Set as it was against a tranquil ocean, it really stood out.
I didn’t recognize the guy’s name, but when the ship finally sank and I saw “Exxon Valdez” painted across the stern, then my brain went: “Aha! THAT’S who that guy was in the portrait!”
I also liked when Hopper was throwing cans of “SMEAT” to his crew. I guess the endorsment deal with Hormel fell through.
Heh…“SMEAT”.
(Thanks for all the posts, btw)
Yeah—what more can I add to what’s already been said? 'Probably just built of expectations for a huge epic when it was just a “hey, that wasn’t too bad” flick.
Plus, I thought they really should have left in more of the Dryland revelation at the end. Kinda added more to the story. (Not a LOT, true…)
And a check of wikipedia reveals that (in 2005 dollars), while it cost $229 million, it actually made $344 mil at the box office, worldwide (And not counting video or merchendise sales). If they’d been a LITTLE more careful with the production, they might actually have made a respectable profit.
Maybe that’s a thread to start…“How could you have filmed Waterworld under budget, and still not have it completely suck?”
One of the resons it went over budget was that a lot of the sets were damaged by a RL hurrican IIRC.
I didn’t mind the movie at all. T’was an enjoyable OTT piece of fluff. At the time though there were a lot of people who hated Costner for good and bad reasons. They saw a weakness and went for it.
The movie made a modest profit but if you ask most people they will tell you it’s one of the biggest flops ever. That’s the power of the media for you.
Word. That was a brilliant (if scientifically inaccurate) sequence. For that matter, how could Costner’s character have evolved gills in so short a time, evolutionarily speaking? Where did those sea monsters come from? Where did the bad guys get the gas to run their jetskis etc.? Why would the Exxon Valdez still be afloat?
Still and all, a not-too-bad dystopic scifi flick. And Jeanne T. was smokin’ hot (check her out in Basic Instinct, too, if she caught your eye).
I didn’t think anything was wrong with Waterworld. I didn’t see it in theaters because of the bad press. Then one day it came on television and I watched it and liked it. Now I wish I could have seen it in the theaters. I try to watch it everytime it comes on the TV just like the Fifth Element. It is a fun way to kill a couple of hours.
I thought The Postman was so-so, but then my friend convinced me to read the book- hundreds of per cents better. I heartilly recommend it, and now find it sort-of sad that the movie wasn’t closer to it.
On an earlier SDMB Postman thread, someone linked to the book author’s homepage, in which he had complimentary things to say about the movie. He regretted that the movie crew hadn’t contacted him during the screenwriting process or filming, though. He would’ve been glad to help them, but presumed they feared he’d get all angsty/book-protective with them.
I have never seen this movie all the way through, just random scene snippets on cable. So I won’t comment on its’ artistic merits. I do remember when the film was released, and the ‘anti-buildup’ it received. There was much noise in the media about it being the most costly & overweildly production in Hollywood history. Months before it opened, it was being ‘touted’ as the new Cleopatra. There was a definite segment of the audience who wanted it to fail.
There was a considerable backlash against Kevin Costner, who was supposed to be a major prick IRL but consistently cast himself as a sympathetic ‘nice guy’ lead character over & over again. One of the rumors swirling around the film was that a considerable amount of money went to CGI-ing Costner’s head so as to make it look as if he had thicker hair.
Something that seems to have gotten swept under the rug is the accusations of a ‘child molestation’ subtext. Apparently, the plot revolves around a little girl with a map to dry land (???) tattooed on her back. Thus, all the major characters want to get their hands on the tyke and undrees her. I recall reading that many of the preview & opening weekend audience folks who were polled said they were put off by it. But that was in the news for a while.