Waterworld Movie Review 1995

"The Man From Atlantis" meets "Mad Max." Industry knives sharpened with glee before release, with some insiders calling this luck-impaired project "Fishtar" and "Kevin's Gate." Most of the estimated $150 million budget seems to have ended up on screen, which makes for a visually striking, and at times daunting, film. Costner, who did just about everything but cater the meals, stars as Mariner, a mutant man-fish who reluctantly helps human survivors search for the mythical Dryland since the polar ice caps melted, flooding the earth. The bad guys are the Smokers, led by the evil Hopper, who can play these roles in his sleep. Entertaining, but not riveting, as the budget and PR hype leads one to expect. The floating set was anchored (not very well, apparently) off the Hawaiian coast and was lost once during a tropical storm. Costner bet the boat on this one and lost more than just money.

Distribution

Universal Studios Home Video, 100 Universal City Plz., Universal City, CA 91608-9955, Phone: (818)777-1000, Fax: (818)866-1483, URL: http://www.universalstudios.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 135 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Post-Apocalypse, Sea Disasters, Sail Away, Pure Ego Vehicles, Sci Fi, Deep Blue, Flood, Survival, Tattoos

Screenplay

Peter Rader, Marc Norman, David N. Twohy

Cast

Jack Kehler, Zakes Mokae, Sab Shimono, Jack Black, Kim Coates, John Toles-Bey, Ari Barak, Sean M. Whalen, Robert LaSardo, Lee Arenberg, Kevin Costner, Dennis Hopper, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tina Majorino, Michael Jeter, R.D. Call, Robert Joy

Cinematography

Dean Semler

Director

Kevin Reynolds

Music

James Newton Howard

Producer

Kevin Costner, John Davis, Chuck Gordon, Jeffrey Mueller, Andrew Licht, Ilona Herzberg, Mark Huffam

Awards

Golden Raspberries 1995: Worst Support. Actor (Hopper).