Waterworld (aka Fishtar), 1995
Ugh, ok, probably going to have disagreements on this one but fine -- this was a solidly entertaining movie and I liked it. Honestly, I didn't just expect this to be bad, I expected it to be shit, with the reputation it has, and intentionally avoided it whenver it was on tv. I've never seen it until Dustin6595 made a fanedit request prompting me to get the BluRay, and I watched it yesterday.
44% n RT is pretty ridiculous for this movie to have. So as far as I read, most of the criticism for the movie per contemporary reviews are (1) we don't like Kevin Costner because he was apparently a prick on set, (2) we don't like Kevin Costner because he was divorcing his wife at the time, (3) the movie rips off Road Warrior, (4) it was the most expensive movie ever made, therefore it should have looked better, (5) Kevin Costner acts like he doesn't care about anything in the movie, his heart's not in it, (6) it was silly and over the top, (7) It's over 2 hours.. These are all pretty irrelevant reasons to hate on the movie, and some very silly too, like the actual film was 2h 7min excluding credits. 7 mins over 2 h is a huge gripe?
I don't care about Kevin Costner, just like I don't care about 'Mad Max' Mel Gibson-- they're characters in movies as far as I'm concerned, not people, so their personal lives mean jack shit to me. Nobody today cares about how much this movie costs,but it looks pretty damn impressive-- very few CGI shots unlike contemporary films of the time, lots of practical effects and sets which is always awesome. Costner's Man with No Name character is an unlikeable rogue (not Bull Durham, Silverado, Dances with WOlves or Field of Dreams dude)--he suggests child murder, forced prostitution and beats a woman into submission with a paddle--he is very reminiscent and clearly modelled on Eastwood's Leone character and even Max from Mad Max 2; angry loner type, but unlike the latter two who had charisma,Costner's Mariner was just flat out apathetic, cold and brutal in many scenes,something not all audience (including myself) warmed to at all, but that was the Character. And as for his 'heart not being in it', he reportedly put over 20 mil of his own money into making it, and did most of the stunts himself--actually more than any other star I remember--its clearly Costner sliding down or up pulleys and harnesses in those scenes which don't appear to have safety nets. He was in top form.
Silly and over the top? Well, it was no more silly and over the top than Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. Both films had eye rolling goofy and ridiculous moments (The Humungous?). Yea they're not The Insider or Schindler's List, they're action-adventure films, so they're going to be a little stupid. Waterworld has its share of ridiculous moments, but nothing worse than what you would find in any other/today's summer blockbusters.
The movie takes the Mad Max/ Road Warrior concept and applies it to a new world to make a very unique and interesting environment. This is infinitely more interesting to me than a reboot or sequel or rebooquel or whatever the fuck else hacks refer to it as nowadays. The movie writers also explicitly state they were influenced by the Mad Max trilogy-- I see this as a good thing as an interesting idea can be changed to conform to a new setting.
Plot-wise, (theatrical cut, which I feel is the definitive cut) the film does not drag (except after the climax for about 10 mins), all the scenes had something interesting, it was quite well directed, the music was good, the villains were great to watch. My only gripe was that it should have been more hardcore and amped up the violence and cursing for an R. These lines from the final cut for example: "You freaking re***d. What in the screwed-up world do you think you are?" really annoyed me, they should not have toned it down for a PG-13. There are things I would cut to tighten pacing, and of course the goofy acrobatics in one scene, silly dialogue by a little girl in another, etc.
It's not a great movie, or a masterpiece, and its not the Lord of the Rings story-wise, but it's a very enjoyable escapist flick which delivers 100% on its promise. It's hard to believe this movie has a rep as bad as it does. It's also definitely my favorite film from Kevin Costner (I don't like anything else he's been in, literally--yes all of them from Dances to Bull to Field to Silverado to 3000 miles to Jack Ryan and Man of Steel). But I love Road Warrior, and this movie did a pretty damn good job of being Road Warrior on water, which is fun to watch and I definitely will revisit again.
Score: 3/5 (enjoyable escapist fun)-- should be a 73% on RT
Note: Just reading the cutlist, I can tell the theatrical version is my preferred cut. The runtime is perfect and nothing really drags. I'm more interested in the characters' actions than why the world is the way it is, so I'll only be using the Theatrical bluray for the Ocean Warrior edit.