Post by Quorthon on May 23, 2006 13:03:20 GMT -5
Waterworld
Science Fiction/Action
1995
Color
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Directed by: Kevin Reynolds
USA
Back when this film was made, it was the most expensive movie ever. It cost over a hundred million bucks to make. Small fries by todays standards, huh? Where Troy cost $200 million for no real apparent reason. CG films don't cost that damn much, and that's mostly what that was. But at the time, it was a big controversy. One could actually see people with the attitude that "if it costs that much, it must really suck." It was also plagued with nasty rumors of going way over-budget, having a lengthy running time (just over two hours), and stories that Kevin Costner was in it. Well, he was, and this was before his reputation was heavily damaged with stuff like "The Postman." He was still riding high on the success of "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves."
This film takes place in the distant future, long after we modern humans have totally fucked up the planet and global warming melted the ice caps and covered the world in a spiffy layer of one giant bottomless ocean. Humanity now lives on boats and floating villages in sparse little populations. Basically, humanity is on it's last legs. Costner is our hero--all action, little talk, gruff and selfish. The bad guys are called "smokers" and they're led by the ever entertaining Dennis Hopper as he uses rhetoric and cigarettes to keep his minions in line. They wander the globe on the crusty Exxon Valez oil tanker, which was apparently repaired just in time for the end of the world. And everyone's after one little girl who has a tattoo on her back leading to mythical "dry land."
Here’s the breakdown:
The Good:
--Impressive sets. The floating "city" called the "Atoll" is actually pretty impressive. More impressive yet is the fact that they actually built this thing for the movie and used it as a sort of floating "crew quarters" during filming.
--Good acting all around. The little girl is one of the better child actors I've seen, and her character is portrayed quite realistically. Pretty much all of her actions are what you'd expect from a stubborn little kid.
--Jeanne Tripplehorn's brief nudity!
--Costner doing a lot of his own stunts, thinning hair and all!
--Very nice musical score.
--Tons of action to keep us entertained. Complete with rampant gun violence and explostions.
--Dennis Hopper is extremely entertaining--the majority of the film's best dialog belongs to him.
--Good atmosphere and decent cinematography throughout. A lot of underwater shots, as one would expect. A lot of tracking and action shots as well.
--Interesting story, especially for being released theatrically. These days, this kind of stuff is now relegated to half-assed Sci-Fi Channel films.
--Overall, good special effects and make-up. Costner's gills look good, but his webbed feet not quite as good--but we hardly see them.
Didn’t Hurt It, Didn’t Help:
--Despite the decent acting, the dialog is occasionally somewhat cumbersome and clumbsy. Not nearly as bad as something George Lucas would write, but not exactly perfect.
--Some cheesiness here and there. In the writing, dialog, or characters. Granted, these futuristic humans don't have a whole helluva lot going for them, and a lot of them are getting pretty crazy.
--A few shots containing CG elements which, while they don't look perfect, for some reason, they still look a lot better than some of our modern CG-laden films. *cough*vanhelsing*cough* One involved Costner "fishing" for a large sea creature for dinner, which I actually did not remember being in the film way back from my original viewing.
--Decent compositing work on some underwater scenes. Nice visuals on the now ancient ruined cities beneath the waves.
--Not exactly scientifically accurate about the realities of such a scenario--with the earth flooded over and all. (In reality, the atmosphere would likely be so dense with moisture that breathing would be next to impossible.)
The Bad:
--Costner's ego, while somewhat under control, does creep into the foreground now and then.
--Very cheesy action elements during the film's climax--including a bungee cord.
The Ugly:
--Dennis Hopper's replacement eye!
Memorable Scene:
--Seeing the ruined ancient city underwater. (Note the submarine inside the city.) Thankfully, it's not something cliche like showing us New York City all ruined. That's been done to death in films of this nature. Planet of the Apes, A.I., The Day After Tomorrow...
Fun Fact:
--Waterworld is the only motion picture to have a game licensed on Nintendo's ill-fated Virtual Boy gaming system.
Acting: 8/10
Story: 9/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Cinematography: 8/10
Character Development: 8/10
Special Effects/Make-up: 8/10
Nudity/Sexuality: 2/10
Violence: 7/10 (quite a bit for a PG-13 film)
Gore: 2/10 (extremely brief)
Dialog: 7/10
Music: 8/10
Direction: 9/10
Cheesiness: 3/10
Crappiness: 0/10
Overall: 8/10
Overall, this is a good, solid, movie. A bit formulaic maybe, but then again, what isn't these days? A negative reputation has kept it largely overlooked by most people these days. As a plus, it can be found in Wal-Mart's $5 bin now--and is one of the best deals in there. Also, Kevin Costner. His hit-or-miss career may turn away a lot of people. Trust me when I say that, despite it's box-office "failure," this is one of his better films. Also good: Robin Hood, Open Range, and Dances With Wolves. Recommended mostly to Science Fiction fans.
Science Fiction/Action
1995
Color
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Directed by: Kevin Reynolds
USA
Back when this film was made, it was the most expensive movie ever. It cost over a hundred million bucks to make. Small fries by todays standards, huh? Where Troy cost $200 million for no real apparent reason. CG films don't cost that damn much, and that's mostly what that was. But at the time, it was a big controversy. One could actually see people with the attitude that "if it costs that much, it must really suck." It was also plagued with nasty rumors of going way over-budget, having a lengthy running time (just over two hours), and stories that Kevin Costner was in it. Well, he was, and this was before his reputation was heavily damaged with stuff like "The Postman." He was still riding high on the success of "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves."
This film takes place in the distant future, long after we modern humans have totally fucked up the planet and global warming melted the ice caps and covered the world in a spiffy layer of one giant bottomless ocean. Humanity now lives on boats and floating villages in sparse little populations. Basically, humanity is on it's last legs. Costner is our hero--all action, little talk, gruff and selfish. The bad guys are called "smokers" and they're led by the ever entertaining Dennis Hopper as he uses rhetoric and cigarettes to keep his minions in line. They wander the globe on the crusty Exxon Valez oil tanker, which was apparently repaired just in time for the end of the world. And everyone's after one little girl who has a tattoo on her back leading to mythical "dry land."
Here’s the breakdown:
The Good:
--Impressive sets. The floating "city" called the "Atoll" is actually pretty impressive. More impressive yet is the fact that they actually built this thing for the movie and used it as a sort of floating "crew quarters" during filming.
--Good acting all around. The little girl is one of the better child actors I've seen, and her character is portrayed quite realistically. Pretty much all of her actions are what you'd expect from a stubborn little kid.
--Jeanne Tripplehorn's brief nudity!
--Costner doing a lot of his own stunts, thinning hair and all!
--Very nice musical score.
--Tons of action to keep us entertained. Complete with rampant gun violence and explostions.
--Dennis Hopper is extremely entertaining--the majority of the film's best dialog belongs to him.
--Good atmosphere and decent cinematography throughout. A lot of underwater shots, as one would expect. A lot of tracking and action shots as well.
--Interesting story, especially for being released theatrically. These days, this kind of stuff is now relegated to half-assed Sci-Fi Channel films.
--Overall, good special effects and make-up. Costner's gills look good, but his webbed feet not quite as good--but we hardly see them.
Didn’t Hurt It, Didn’t Help:
--Despite the decent acting, the dialog is occasionally somewhat cumbersome and clumbsy. Not nearly as bad as something George Lucas would write, but not exactly perfect.
--Some cheesiness here and there. In the writing, dialog, or characters. Granted, these futuristic humans don't have a whole helluva lot going for them, and a lot of them are getting pretty crazy.
--A few shots containing CG elements which, while they don't look perfect, for some reason, they still look a lot better than some of our modern CG-laden films. *cough*vanhelsing*cough* One involved Costner "fishing" for a large sea creature for dinner, which I actually did not remember being in the film way back from my original viewing.
--Decent compositing work on some underwater scenes. Nice visuals on the now ancient ruined cities beneath the waves.
--Not exactly scientifically accurate about the realities of such a scenario--with the earth flooded over and all. (In reality, the atmosphere would likely be so dense with moisture that breathing would be next to impossible.)
The Bad:
--Costner's ego, while somewhat under control, does creep into the foreground now and then.
--Very cheesy action elements during the film's climax--including a bungee cord.
The Ugly:
--Dennis Hopper's replacement eye!
Memorable Scene:
--Seeing the ruined ancient city underwater. (Note the submarine inside the city.) Thankfully, it's not something cliche like showing us New York City all ruined. That's been done to death in films of this nature. Planet of the Apes, A.I., The Day After Tomorrow...
Fun Fact:
--Waterworld is the only motion picture to have a game licensed on Nintendo's ill-fated Virtual Boy gaming system.
Acting: 8/10
Story: 9/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Cinematography: 8/10
Character Development: 8/10
Special Effects/Make-up: 8/10
Nudity/Sexuality: 2/10
Violence: 7/10 (quite a bit for a PG-13 film)
Gore: 2/10 (extremely brief)
Dialog: 7/10
Music: 8/10
Direction: 9/10
Cheesiness: 3/10
Crappiness: 0/10
Overall: 8/10
Overall, this is a good, solid, movie. A bit formulaic maybe, but then again, what isn't these days? A negative reputation has kept it largely overlooked by most people these days. As a plus, it can be found in Wal-Mart's $5 bin now--and is one of the best deals in there. Also, Kevin Costner. His hit-or-miss career may turn away a lot of people. Trust me when I say that, despite it's box-office "failure," this is one of his better films. Also good: Robin Hood, Open Range, and Dances With Wolves. Recommended mostly to Science Fiction fans.
