Waterworld

This article is about the 1995 film. For other uses, see Water World.

Waterworld
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Kevin Reynolds Uncredited: Kevin Costner
Produced by	Kevin Costner John Davis Charles Gordon Lawrence Gordon Andrew Licht
Written by	David Twohy Peter Rader (co-writer) Joss Whedon (rewrites)
Starring	Kevin Costner Dennis Hopper Jeanne Tripplehorn Tina Majorino Michael Jeter Kim Coates
Music by	Mark Isham (original score) James Newton Howard
Cinematography	Dean Semler
Editing by	Peter Boyle
Studio	Davis Entertainment Tig Productions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	July 28, 1995 (1995-07-28)
Running time	135 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$175 million
Box office	$264,218,220

Waterworld is a 1995 post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Kevin Reynolds and co-written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. It was based on Rader's original 1986 screenplay and stars Kevin Costner, who also produced. It was distributed by Universal Pictures. The film was the follow-up project to the previous collaboration between Kevin Costner and Kevin Reynolds, who worked together on Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in 1991.

The setting of the film is the distant future. Although no exact date was given in the film itself, it has been suggested that it takes place in 2500. The polar ice caps have completely melted, and the sea level has risen many hundreds of meters, covering virtually all the land. The film illustrates this with an unusual variation on the Universal logo, which begins with the usual image of Earth, but shows the planet's water levels gradually rising and the polar ice caps melting until virtually all the land is submerged. The plot of the film centers on an otherwise nameless antihero, "The Mariner", a drifter who sails the Earth in his trimaran.

Waterworld was released to mixed reviews, despite being moderately successful at the international box office. The film's release was accompanied by a tie-in novel, video game, and three themed attractions at Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Singapore, and Universal Studios Japan called Waterworld: A Live Sea War Spectacular, which are all still running as of 2011.

Plot

In the future, the polar ice caps have melted, and the sea level has risen hundreds of meters, covering every continent.

An antihero drifter known only as "the Mariner" (Kevin Costner), sails the seas in his trimaran. He enters an artificial atoll seeking to trade dirt, which is a precious commodity. It is later revealed that he is a mutant with webbed feet and gills, an evolutionary step to accommodate the changes in climate. The fearful atollers vote to "recycle" him by drowning him in a yellow sludge brine pool. At that moment pirates, known as "Smokers", raid the atoll, having been tipped off by a Smoker spy posing as a trader (Gerard Murphy), known as "the Nord".

The Smokers are searching for an orphan girl named Enola (Tina Majorino), who has what appears to be a map and directions to Dryland tattooed on her back. The girl and her guardian, Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn), the atoll's shopkeeper, plan to escape with Gregor (Michael Jeter), the atoll's expert inventor, in the hopes of finding Dryland. Unfortunately, Gregor's escape method, a hot air balloon made of old rags, launches too early with him on it, leaving Helen and Enola stranded. Instead, they escape with the Mariner, who agrees to take them with him because they saved his life. He is ill at ease with their company, as he prefers solitude, and he finds them to be a nuisance. Chasing them is "the Deacon" (Dennis Hopper), who is the captain of a derelict oil tanker, the Exxon Valdez, and the leader of the Smokers. He wants the map to Dryland and has a number of skirmishes with the Mariner while trying to get Enola. After Helen's naive actions during a battle with the Smokers results in significant damage to the Mariner's boat, he angrily cuts their hair very short. After this incident, the Mariner gradually warms up to them and teaches Enola to swim.

Helen, convinced that Dryland exists, demands to know where the Mariner finds his dirt. The Mariner, able to breathe underwater, puts her in a diving bell and swims down to the ruins of Denver. While they are underwater, the Deacon and his Smokers board the boat. The Mariner and Helen escape as the Deacon burns it and captures Enola. Since Helen cannot breathe underwater, the Mariner breathes for the both of them, resulting in an underwater kiss of life. They resurface and board the wreckage of the Mariner's trimaran, where they are later rescued by Gregor. He takes them to a new makeshift atoll where the survivors of the first atoll attack have regrouped.

Using a jet ski, the Mariner chases down the Exxon Valdez and boards it. There, the Deacon is having a celebration, tossing gifts of cigarettes and Smeat (cans of Spam) to the crew, proclaiming they have found the map to Dryland. After they have all gone below decks to row, the Mariner walks out onto the deck and threatens to drop a flare into the oil reserves unless the Deacon releases Enola. The Deacon, believing that the Mariner is bluffing, refuses. The Mariner drops the flare into a vent of the oil reserve tank.

The ship explodes, and the Mariner escapes with Enola by climbing a rope up to Gregor's balloon. The Deacon, still alive, makes a grab for Enola, but Helen throws a metal object which strikes him in the forehead, causing him to fall into the water. He pulls out his pistol and shoots at the balloon, hitting one of the lines, causing Enola to fall into the sea. The Deacon and two other Smokers, all on jet skis, converge on Enola. The Mariner ties a rope around his ankle and bungee jumps down to grab Enola, pulling her out of the water just as the jet skis collide and explode.

Gregor deciphers the map, translating the Asian symbols using an old and tattered China Airlines magazine. He realizes that they are latitude and longitude coordinates, and steers his balloon in that direction. The group finds Dryland, which turns out to be the peak of Mount Everest, which is still above sea level. Gregor, Enola, Helen and the others land on the island and find the skeletons of Enola's parents. They begin civilization anew on the island, but the Mariner decides he must leave. Enola, saddened to hear the Mariner is going, asks why. He explains that he does not belong on land, and that the ocean, his only home, calls to him. He builds a new wooden boat on the beach and sails off.

Cast

• Kevin Costner as The Mariner
• Dennis Hopper as The Deacon
• Jeanne Tripplehorn as Helen
• Tina Majorino as Enola
• Michael Jeter as Old Gregor
• Gerard Murphy as The Nord
• R. D. Call as Atoll Enforcer
• Kim Coates as Drifter #2
• Robert Joy as Smoker Ledger Guy
• John Fleck as Smoker Doctor
• Jack Black as Smoker Plane Pilot
• John Toles-Bey as Smoker Plane Gunner (Ed)
• Zitto Kazann as Atoll Elder #3
• Zakes Mokae as Priam
• Sab Shimono as Atoll Elder #1
• Rick Aviles as Atoll Gatesman #1
• Leonardo Cimino as Atoll Elder #2
• Jack Kehler as Atoll Banker
• Robert A. Silverman as Hydroholic
• Neil Giuntoli as Hellfire Gunner (Chuck)
• William Preston as Smoker Depth Gauge Guy
• Chris Douridas as Atoller #7
• Sean Whalen as Bone
• Robert LaSardo as Smitty
• Lee Arenberg as Djeng

Factions within the film

Atollers

In the film, the ice caps have melted and flooded the Earth, causing the end of civilization. Remnants of the human race who survived live in large floating islands made of scrap and debris found floating on the ocean; these settlements are called atolls. The atoll dwellers are primitive and superstitious.

The atollers refer to anybody from outside as "outwaters" and are very suspicious of them. On occasion, drifters are permitted temporary entry, but only if they prove they have something of value to trade, such as food, plants, cigarettes, paper, soil, or fresh water ("hydro").

Due to the dearth of living space and resources in the settlements, the atoll elders limit the number of citizens to a constant number, avoiding the issue of overpopulation. Since there is nowhere to bury the dead, the bodies are recycled in a yellow brine pool. Occasionally, drifters are asked to mate with the women of the atolls to expand the shallow gene pool, in an attempt to avoid inbreeding. However, the only time women are permitted to try for a child is when a citizen of the atoll dies, thus keeping the population number steady.

Drifters

Drifters travel in various kinds of boats. They have a tradition that whenever two drifters come across each other, something must be traded between them, although many try to steal from each other. Drifters are usually loners. Some drifters are driven insane by their long solitude.

English and Hindi are still spoken. Another language used on Waterworld is "Portugreek", which is a mixture of Portuguese and Greek.

Aquatic human mutants

Some humans have developed genetic mutations which allow them to deal with the aquatic environment. In addition to their speed and stealth, they are very strong. They have the sense of electroreception either above or below the water, and are able to tell when it is about to rain. They have webbed feet, which enable them to swim at high speeds, and gills located behind the ears, allowing them to breathe underwater. This lets them explore drowned civilizations, and scavenge for supplies and materials. In the film, Gregor refers to these gills as "isotropic gills", and functional as opposed to vestigial.

Gregor refers to these genetic mutants as Ichthyus sapiens (Latin for "wise fish"). The Deacon refers to the Mariner in this way, calling him an "Ichthy-demon". The other less-educated atollers refer to them as "mute-o".

The Mariner is such a mutant, although no other mutants are seen in the film. However, from certain lines of dialogue it is clear there are more of his kind. The leader of the Smokers, the Deacon, refers to the protagonist as a "guppy freak", and believes that no such "abominations" should exist in nature. It is stated that Ichthyus sapiens can go days without eating.

Smokers

The pirates are commonly known as "Smokers" because of the smoke from oil-powered machines, such as personal water craft and airplanes, which they use. They appear to apply great cultural significance to the smoking of cigarettes.

The Smokers obtain many of their wares by raiding floating settlements. Many Smokers appear to be sadistic and revel in murder and carnage.

The base of the Smokers is the rusted carcass of an oil tanker, referred to as the Deez, which is revealed to be the Exxon Valdez in a brief shot. Although the tanker no longer has any functional engines, the Smokers still have a large supply of crude oil aboard, and apparently a small oil refinery, as they are able to refine the crude oil into gasoline and diesel fuel to power the jet skis, planes, and other machines they make use of. The Deacon mentions refining but states that they are quickly running out of "black stuff" and "go-juice", and that they only have "two lunars" left of it. The Smokers have hoarded large quantities of firearms, heavy artillery, ammunition, Smeat (Spam), paper, tobacco, cigarettes, whiskey, and "Black Death" Vodka aboard the tanker. The Smokers move the tanker by means of dozens of oars that stick out of the barnacle-encrusted hull.

The captain of the tanker cum leader of the Smokers is looked up to as a messianic figure, as he has promised to lead the Smokers to the mythical Dryland. Consistent with this quasi-religious nature, he is referred to as "the Deacon" or "Deac". He has an intense hatred of sails, instead preferring machines, and believes that the raiding of atolls is a "crusade". He teaches his men a philosophy of "take and ye shall receive". The Smokers also worship a former historical captain of the tanker, "Saint Joe" (original Exxon Valdez Captain Joseph Hazelwood).

The Deacon's inner circle is well organized and includes a man with medical knowledge, and a man in a bowler hat who follows the Deacon with a ledger to record for posterity everything that happens; he also informs the Deacon of various statistics he needs to know. The Deacon's second-in-command is a large and imposing man of Scandinavian descent, referred to as "the Nord", who is reminiscent of a Viking. The Nord likes to be in the thick of the action and delights in murder, leading the raids on atolls and posing as a spy for reconnaissance. Smokers refer to each other as "cousins".

The primary goal of the Smokers in the film is to find an orphan girl named Enola, who as myth states came from the legendary Dryland, and has directions to it tattooed on her back. What the Deacon plans to do with Dryland is unclear. In the extended cut, the Deacon claims he wishes to create a "church of eternal growth" for the Smokers.

Slavers

Although not seen in the film, slave traders are talked about and mentioned throughout. The extended cut of the film makes clear that the Mariner's initial intentions are to sell Helen and Enola to slave traders, but his attitude changes as he comes to know them.

Border outposts

Although there is no longer any land, certain areas of Waterworld are set out as territories for the various factions and groups who dwell on the water's surface. The borders of these territories are delineated by outposts along the borders. It appears they also act as trading outposts, repair shops, and lighthouses. Only one such outpost is seen in the film, in which the keepers have been killed by Smokers in an attempt to lay a trap for the Mariner.

Production

The film was the follow-up project to the previous collaboration between Kevin Costner and Kevin Reynolds, who worked together on Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in 1991. The film was co-written by David Twohy, who went on to write G.I. Jane, Pitch Black and The Chronicles of Riddick. Twohy cited Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior as a major inspiration for Waterworld. Both films employed Dean Semler as director of photography. Gene Hackman, James Caan, Laurence Fishburne, and Gary Oldman all turned down the role of the Deacon.^{[citation needed]} Anna Paquin was the first choice to play Enola.^{[citation needed]}

During production, the film was plagued by a series of cost overruns and production setbacks. Universal Pictures initially authorized a budget of $100 million, but production costs eventually ran to an estimated $175 million, a record sum for a film production at the time. Filming took place in a large artificial seawater enclosure similar to that used in the film Titanic two years later; it was located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii. The final scene was filmed in Waipio Valley on the Big Island, also referred to as The Valley of Kings. The production was hampered by the collapse of the multi-million dollar set during a hurricane. Additional filming took place in Los Angeles, Huntington Beach, and Santa Catalina Island, and the Channel Islands of California.

The production featured different types of personal watercraft (PWC), especially Kawasaki jet skis. Kevin Costner was on the set for 157 days, working 6 days a week.^{[citation needed]} At one point, he nearly died when he got caught in a squall while tied to the mast of his trimaran.^{[citation needed]} Laird Hamilton, the well-known surfer, was Kevin Costner’s stunt double for many water scenes. Hamilton, who commuted to the set via jet ski, was temporarily lost at sea when his jet ski ran out of fuel between Maui and the Big Island. He drifted for hours before he was being spotted by a Coast Guard plane and rescued.^{[citation needed]} When the abandoned jet ski washed up on shore on the island of Lanai, he retrieved it and drove it home. Stunt coordinator Norman Howell succumbed to decompression sickness while filming an underwater scene and was rushed to a hospital in Honolulu by helicopter. He recovered quickly from the potentially life-threatening sickness and returned to the set two days later.^{[citation needed]} Tina Majorino was nicknamed "Jellyfish Candy" by Costner after she was stung three different times by jellyfish during production.^{[citation needed]}

Mark Isham's score was reportedly rejected by Costner because it was "too ethnic and bleak", contrasting the film's futuristic and adventurous tone; James Newton Howard was brought in to write the new score. Joss Whedon flew out to the set to do last minute rewrites on the script and later described it as "seven weeks of hell".

The state of Hawaii had more than $35 million added to its economy as a result of the colossal film production. Rumors abound that, after the filming ran notoriously over-budget, Kevin Costner fired Kevin Reynolds as director and shot the last few scenes himself.^{[citation needed]} Other rumors suggest Reynolds was not fired, but simply walked off set with two weeks of filming left.^{[citation needed]} Their partnership ended with this film.

Inspired by racing trimarans built by Jeanneau Advanced Technologies' multi-hull division Lagoon; a custom 60 foot (18 m) yacht was designed by Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot-Prevost and built in France by Lagoon. Two versions were built, a relatively standard racing trimaran for distance shots, and an effects-laden transforming trimaran for closeup shots. The first trimaran was launched on 2 April 1994, and surpassed 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) in September of that year. The transforming version was first seen in the film as a sort of raft with a three-bladed egg-beater windmill. When needed, levers could be triggered that would flatten the windmill blades while raising a hidden mast to full racing height. A boom emerged, previously hidden in the hull, and the two sails were automatically unfurled. Once the transformation was complete this version could actually sail, although not as well as the dedicated racer. The first boat is stored in a lake at Universal Studios Florida, and the second is in private hands in San Diego, California.

Box office and reception

The film debuted at the box office at No.1. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound (Steve Maslow, Gregg Landaker and Keith A. Wester).

Problems encountered during filming led to a massive budget overrun, and it held the dubious distinction of being the most expensive film ever made at the time. Some critics dubbed it "Fishtar", and "Kevin's Gate" alluding to the flops Ishtar and Heaven's Gate.

With a budget of $175 million (not including marketing and distribution costs), the film grossed a $88 million at the U. S. box office, which seemed to make it the all time box office bomb. The film, did much better overseas, with $176 million at the foreign box office (for a total of $264 million).

After bringing in disappointing numbers in the US, the film was nominated for four Razzie Awards including Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Kevin Costner), and Worst Director, with Dennis Hopper winning the award as Worst Supporting Actor.

Contemporary reviews for the film were mixed. Roger Ebert said of Waterworld: "The cost controversy aside, Waterworld is a decent futuristic action picture with some great sets, some intriguing ideas, and a few images that will stay with me. It could have been more, it could have been better, and it could have made me care about the characters. It's one of those marginal pictures you're not unhappy to have seen, but can't quite recommend." James Berardinelli of Reelviews Movie Reviews was one of the film's few supporters calling it "one of Hollywood's most lavish features to date". He wrote: "Although the storyline isn't all that invigorating, the action is, and that's what saves Waterworld. In the tradition of the old Westerns and Mel Gibson's Road Warrior flicks, this film provides good escapist fun. Everyone behind the scenes did their part with aplomb, and the result is a feast for the eyes and ears."

At Metacritic, the film has a "metascore" of 54/100, in the range of "Mixed or average reviews". At Rotten Tomatoes, the film is rated "rotten" with a Tomatometer score of 42% and an averaged rating of 5.1. However, among the "Top Critics" on the film's page, the film is certified "fresh" with a score of 75%, and an averaged rating of 6.4/10.

Alternate releases

Extended cut

The initial filmed script ran at over five hours. The original director's cut of the film was trimmed and submitted to the studio at a length of around three hours. It was further trimmed to 136 minutes by the studio and Kevin Costner, against the wishes of director Kevin Reynolds. Costner re-shot or re-edited some major plot points.

In 1998 that the ABC network premiered Waterworld as a two-night event with an additional 40 minutes of footage that was rarely seen during its theatrical run; part one aired on Sunday night March 15, and part two aired on Thursday night March 19).^{[citation needed]} These additional scenes make for a more solid cohesion of the film and fill some previous plot holes. This extended version was shown at some theaters and pre-releases, but eventually all theaters ran the 136 minute version of the film. Despite being much longer than the theatrical cut, the ABC cut was heavily edited for language, violence, action, and nudity. Some examples of this are:

• The opening shot of the Mariner urinating
• The shot in which the Mariner shoots the gatesman of the atoll (Rick Aviles) through the foot with a harpoon gun
• Helen undressing on the Mariner's trimaran
• The shot where the gunner of the Smoker airplane is speared through the chest by the harpoon gun
• The shot where the Mariner crushes the Smoker referred to as "Smitty" (Robert LaSardo) with a jet ski
• Swear words are replaced with less offensive words such as "toilet" and "slimeball".

Despite these edits, the 176-minute version was praised by fans for the previously unseen footage it contained. It was widely bootlegged, and increased in popularity as the extended cut was syndicated on stations like Bravo, USA, and AMC. However, most of these stations only included 20 to 30 minutes of the extra footage, and not the full 40 minutes of the extended ABC cut. Scenes were still missing in some broadcasts, including the Mount Everest ending. It wasn't shown in its entirety until the full ABC cut, with commercials, was shown on the Sci Fi Channel. The Sci Fi cut remains the most complete cut of the film to date.

After petitions and pleas from Waterworld fans, Universal reissued it in November 2008 on DVD in a two-disc set. Despite being devoid of extras except for the theatrical trailer, the set contained a new anamorphic widescreen transfer and the extended cut of the film. However, the DVD cut was not an unedited and major restoration. Despite being in a widescreen format, it was a transfer of the ABC cut, which had been heavily edited for profanity and violence and had a poorer picture quality.

As of 2012, there remains to be released a major restoration of the film which is not subject to heavy edits.

Additional scenes

The original cut of Waterworld contained additional character development and clarified plot points. Most of these were included in the first broadcast on ABC and syndicated versions of the extended cut, but some were missing or dropped to accommodate a three-hour block with commercials. This cut was the version that was syndicated until the Sci Fi Channel acquired the rights to air the full cut. Some theaters showed the extended cut during the initial release, although most theaters showed the heavily edited version due to concerns about the running time. At the time of the film's production, the producers believed that a three-hour running time would prevent much of the targeted audience (teen boys) from wanting to see the film, as the only three-hour films released in the 1990s were "serious" artistic films targeted for adults.

The edited version is the only one available on DVD and on NetFlix. The following is a detailed highlight of what was added:

• Prior to the Mariner's arrival at the atoll, an elderly drifter with long white hair and a beard is shown outside the gates to the city, and wants to barter his hair for a small portion of hydro. The guards do not grant him entrance, as they say they already have enough traders, just as they do at first with the Mariner.
• After the Mariner shows the guards of the atoll his gadgets and jar of dirt and is permitted entry, shots are added of the guards blasting the other drifters at the gates with giant water hoses to prevent them from entering while the Mariner is let in.
• A slightly longer version of the bank scene, where the Mariner grabs all the chits and leaves an amazed crowd
• The bar scene is much longer, and it begins with an additional moment of a barfly telling Helen how impressive the Mariner's dirt is. This includes a new shot of the Mariner approaching, and footage of him buying more hydro. The Nord has more lines, some spoken in Norwegian. It is clearer that the Nord suspects the Mariner of being a mutant. Enola's tattoo is seen more clearly for a few more seconds.
• When a family offers the Mariner their daughter, there is an additional line from an elder explaining that when a member of the atoll dies, they gained the social right to give birth to another family member.
• A scene is added in which the Mariner stands trial. At a night meeting, an atoller shows some of the items they confiscated from the Mariner's ship, which are gadgets from a previous civilization, and gives a negative interpretation for each one, believing the Mariner to be a murderer and a Smoker spy. The atollers believe a yo yo to be garotte wire, a ThighMaster to be a torture device, and a clarinet to be surveillance equipment. Helen defends the Mariner, knowing that he might know where Dryland is. Helen claims that they need to find Dryland quickly, if it exists, as their atoll is dying, their way of life ending, and other similar atolls have died out. She argues that the Mariner may be the only one capable of leading them to Dryland. But, the council ignores her pleas and decide the Mariner's fate. They also bay for the blood of Enola, as they have heard the rumor that the Smokers are looking for her.
• A group of children menace the Mariner and tease him with a fish., but he scares them off. This cuts to a scene where Gregor calculates the meaning of Enola's tattoo, but finds himself cornered again. Helen shows up, and there is more dialogue between the two, as Helen fears that the atollers may eventually set them all adrift.
• The attack on the Atoll is much longer, with more footage of the atollers preparing for the assault (with sharp bills of swordfish as melee weapons), Gregor assembling the flying machine, a woman demanding they give Enola over to the Smokers and her death, and Gregor running up the stairs and leaping into the flying machine.
• The Deacon arrives at the remains of the atoll, as Smokers are raiding the water supply and cutting down trees with chain saws. His record-keeper reports the spoils of the raid, much to the disappointment of the Deacon, who feels that the previous attacks were more "worthy". When he is told the atoll contains no cigarettes or ammunition, the Deacon states that they are savages. He also states that his "crusade" is coming to an end, as there are barely any atolls left to plunder.
• A scene is added in which the Deacon summarizes the origin of the world in a sermon, stating that the world was made as a ball of water by God and that mutations cannot be possible as the concept of evolution is false, all while interrogating two prisoners. The Smokers say amen at the conclusion of the Deacon's sermon.
• A shot of the Mariner fixing the bullet holes beneath the water line is followed by additional dialogue between him and Helen, and added footage of Enola exploring the lower deck of the Trimaran.
• A scene where the Mariner makes some fresh hydro and waters his plant is included. He explains that he does not make hydro out of seawater because it is harder on the filters. He gives what's let to Enola after Helen asks for it, who in return thanks the Mariner with a hug. Enola also thanks him for not throwing her and Helen overboard to save his hydro. The Mariner responds by shoving Enola aside, and Helen warns Enola to stay away from him.
• After the airplane assault, there is a longer version of the Deacon and the Nord plotting to capture the Mariner, which includes more lines from Jack Black's character, the Smoker airplane pilot, who is upset over the death of his friend Ed, the airplane gunner. He refers to Helen as "the atoll witch". It is also made clearer that the Deacon wants to capitalize the new land and convert it into a resort, and we see a drawing of it. This scene was split into two parts, with the second half ending the first part of the ABC TV cut.
• Prior to the bizarre Drifter's arrival, a sequence is added where the Mariner is eating a tomato, with Helen and Enola watching in hunger.
• The scene where the Mariner fishes is presented as a separate scene, where Helen teases him, saying that he "can't fish".
• The scene where Helen and the Mariner talk by moonlight is much longer, with a CD player the Mariner has repaired playing jazz music in the background. Helen explains that she is not Enola's mother, and how she found Enola in a basket floating on the waves. The basket was filled with dirt far darker and richer than any she had seen before, and so she believes Enola must have come from Dryland, along with the dirt. The other atollers wanted to shove Enola back out to sea as they wouldn't allow for another citizen, but in her compassion Helen promised the elders that she would raise Enola as her own and forfeit the right to have her own child instead. The Mariner doesn't understand this, and says that his only friend is his boat, which will never lie to him, or cut his throat when he is asleep. Helen says she pities him, so the Mariner looks up the meaning of the word in an issue of National Geographic magazine, where the definition of pity is given as the name of a bushman, leaving the Mariner even more confused.
• After the scene at the border outpost where the Mariner was shot, it is made clear that the place the Mariner was heading was a slaver colony, and that his plan was to sell Helen and Enola to them. Helen realizes this, and tells the Mariner there is nothing human about him, and he should have been killed at birth. The Mariner responds by saying "they tried".
• After finding Enola, the Nord presents the Deacon with the Mariner's National Geographic issues, and they all marvel at the pictures of Dryland.
• The scene where the Deacon talks to Enola is longer, as he explains that the Smokers are growing in number, that he needs more land in order to continue his development (which he calls his Church of Eternal Growth), and that he desires to make roads and highways. Enola suggests "making" fewer people and limiting the population to a steady number as in the atolls. The scene ends with the Deacon ordering Enola to be chained up, while she screams that the Mariner will come to save her.
• A scene is moved to a later point, in which the Mariner is looking over the remains of his boat and realizes that Enola may know where Dryland is. A scene is inserted wherein Helen claims she cannot go any further, but the Mariner will not quit. It then cuts to a shot of Gregor's ship flying in the clouds, following the smoke, and discovering the two, explaining how he found them.
• About four to five minutes of footage is restored, where the group joins the new atoll, and Helen has a hard time convincing them to save Enola. The Mariner does not want to save her, and returns to the Trimaran wreckage. He sees Enola's drawings and compares them to a National Geographic issue. He realizes that she does know where Dryland is. He returns to the New Atoll to find two Smokers terrorizing the group. He kills them, lighting one of the jet skis on fire, which creates a fire trail leading to the Deez. This explains how he managed to get a jet ski and locate the Deez in the theatrical cut of the film.
• In the above added footage, it is made clearer that a pole shift has occurred.
• After the Mariner crashes into the Smoker referred to as "Smitty" (Robert LaSardo) with his jet ski while docking inside the Deez, two Smokers appear and menace him for a moment. They change tune and congratulate the Mariner for killing Smitty, whom they found to be annoying, believing the Mariner (in disguise) to be a Smoker. One of these Smokers, Djeng, celebrates his succession of Smitty as commander of the lower decks of the Deez. Djeng is played by Lee Arenberg, who went on to have a part in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.
• As the Mariner is climbing up the inside of the Deez, there is an added sequence in which the Mariner notices a loudspeaker playing the Deacon's speech as he talks about settling and developing "Dryland". The Mariner is startled for a moment, not knowing what the speaker is, thinking the Deacon to be in close proximity. Realizing the speaker is the source of the voice, the Mariner responds by hacking it to pieces with a machete.
• Before telling the two Smokers to drive into Enola, the Deacon yells, "If I can't have Dryland, no one will!"
• After rescuing Enola, Gregor reveals a map he discovered, which he uses to direct the airship to Dryland with the help of a sextant.
• There is more dialogue in the final scene. Helen pleads with the Mariner to stay, but he refuses, saying that he does not belong on land. When Helen asks what the Mariner is looking for out at sea, the Mariner says he wants to look for more of his kind, because Gregor said it is likely there are more mutants out at sea. He tells Helen that she is responsible for finding Dryland, because she never gave up hope. If he finds any other humans at sea, he will tell them about Helen and where to find Dryland. Helen gives him a name, "Ulysses", because she hopes he will one day return.
• In the original ending, while watching the Mariner leave from a hill, Helen and Enola uncover a worn plaque that reveals Dryland to be the summit of Mount Everest. This is the same plaque laid down by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on 29 May 1953. This ending was only seen during the 1998 broadcast premiere on ABC. It was cut from other syndicated airings, until the Sci-Fi Channel restored it.

Other versions

The film was repackaged in a number of forms, including a 1995 Gottlieb Amusements (later Premier, both now defunct) pinball machine

Video games

Video games based on the movie were released for the Super Nintendo, Virtual Boy, and PC. While the Super Nintendo and Virtual Boy versions were released by Ocean Software, the PC version was released by Interplay. The game received negative reviews; the Virtual Boy version was marked as the worst Virtual Boy game ever released out of the 22 games produced for it.

Novelization

A tie-in novel of the film was released to coincide with the movie's opening, which was written by Max Allan Collins and published by Arrow Books. The novelization goes into greater detail regarding the world of the film, and closes many of the apparent plot-holes therein.

Comic books

A sequel comic book four-issue mini-series entitled Waterworld: Children of Leviathan was released by Acclaim Comics in 1997. Kevin Costner did not permit his likeness to be used for the comics, so the Mariner looks different. The story reveals some of the Mariner's back-story as he gathers clues about where he came from and why he is different. The comic expands on the possible cause of the melting of the polar ice caps and worldwide flood, and introduces a new villain, "Leviathan", who supplied the Deacon's Smoker organization. The comic hints at the possibility that the Mariner's mutation may not be caused by evolution but by genetic engineering and that his origins may be linked to those of the "Sea Eater", the sea monster seen during the fishing scene in the film.

Theme park attractions

Main article: Waterworld: A Live Sea War Spectacular

There are attractions at Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Japan, and Universal Studios Singapore based on the film. The show's plot takes place immediately after the movie, as Helen returns to the Atoll with proof of Dryland, only to find herself followed by the Deacon, who survived the events of the movie. The Mariner arrives immediately after him, defeats the Deacon and, and takes Helen back to Dryland while the Atoll explodes.

Further reading

• Parish, James Robert (2006). Fiasco - A History of Hollywood’s Iconic Flops. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9780471691594.  359 pages

External links

• Waterworld at the Internet Movie Database
• Waterworld at AllRovi
• Waterworld at Box Office Mojo
• Script for the edited theatrical cut of the film at Script-O-Rama