I don't know what I was doing in 1995 the prevented me from going to see this in theaters or even a few years later when it was released to DVD but I never saw this movie until yesterday. I have heard over the years that the movie was awful and I took that to heart. After watching it yesterday, I can see where people get that opinion from but I don't entirely agree with the idea that this movie is without merit.
It's hard to believe that this film is 25 years old now yet only recently made it into the Netflix library. I would imagine the streaming service was able to pick it up at a massive discount and there must have been quite a few people out there like me that had never seen it before because it was number 9 on the charts for my region when I switched it on.
I would be willing to bet that most people are at least somewhat familiar with this movie but in the event that you are one of the few that isn't, I can sum it up in one sentence: It is The Road Warrior if Mad Max took place on boats - that's basically the entire story.
Just like Max, the lead character in this film is a loner who keeps to himself and tends to not really want to have anything to do with the power-struggles of the good guys and bad guys, but gets roped into it the same way that Max did. Instead of transporting fuel, he is transporting a little girl who holds some sort of secret tattooed onto her back. Instead of being pursued by a gang on various odd vehicles through the wasteland the same thing happens but on water.
Instead of Lord Humungus (the muscular guy with the mask in Road Warrior) who is in charge of a violent but mostly very stupid gang of baddies, we have "The Deacon" (played by Hopper) who is a not muscular guy who is in charge of a violent but mostly very stupid gang of baddies.
Instead of a guy in a helicopter than provides support at key moments when it seems all hope is lost, Waterworld has a guy in a hot air balloon contraption or zeppelin that provides support at key moments. Searching for the similarities between the two films and coming to the conclusion that Waterworld copied a LOT of elements from Road Warrior is part of the reason why this movie is fun.
To be honest, years later Mad Max would return the favor by showcasing "Immortan Joe" as a leader who keeps the population under control by way of providing them with sustenance, which is exactly how Hopper's character is in Waterworld.
[src](https://c4.wallpaperflare.com/wallpaper/685/482/567/movie-waterworld-wallpaper-preview.jpg)While the movie was largely panned and I agree with a great deal of their criticism, the movie has it's strong points. The sets are amazing and the action at times is pretty world-class. I speak mostly about the sequences that take place during battles on Kostner's boat (his character doesn't have a name, or at least he never reveals one if he does.) The lavish scenes and settings are why this movie ended up being absurdly expensive to produce and it wasn't until international ticket sales and later DVD sales were made that this movie even broke even. It was considered one of the biggest financial disasters at the time.
There are a few things in the movie that make it a little bit difficult to appreciate if you are expecting a great story:
- Where are the bad guys getting their seemingly endless supply of bullets and fuel? Everyone else seems to be subjected to wind power and spears. Unless I missed something this is never addressed.
- The little girl with the tattoo (little girl with a tattoo? really?) is the main prize that everyone is after, yet no one can interpret what the tattoo actually means - it doesn't seem to really help anyone and once it is figured out by someone it is a person that this little girl has known for years... why did he wait so long to check this out?
- When the tattoo is figured out, it is such a stupid eureka moment that you just don't care
- There's a lot of physical impossibilities that happen in the movie such as jetskis exploding when they run into one another.
- Despite the massive budget, some of the scenes look extremely fake, even by 1995 standards.
I couldn't find a better quality version of this and it must be because of copyright. But you get the idea.
So it seems as though I am mostly trashing this film for its story and that is because the story is very weak. It can actually make you mad at points. However, I feel as though the good outweighs the bad and I am glad I watched it.
Should I watch it?
If you aren't looking for a great story but can appreciate some good action, much of which is whimsical in nature and especially if you would like to see the long list of similarities between this movie and "The Road Warrior" I would say that yes, you should watch it. It is kind of a piece of history because at that point in time the financial losses were unprecedented.
