The Film: Waterworld: Extended Cut (1995)
The Principals: Director: Kevin Reynolds, Kevin Costner, Dennis Hopper, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tina Majorino, Michael Jeter, Gerard Murphy, R. D. Call, Jack Black, John Toles-Bey, Robert Joy, John Fleck, Noelani Eidse, Leonardo Cimino, Zakes Mokae, Kim Coates, Sab Shimono, Jack Kehler, Lanny Flaherty, Rick Aviles, Sean Whalen, Elizabeth McNamee, Lee Arenberg,
Robert LaSardo, William Preston, Chris Douridas
The Premise: In a post-apocalyptic Earth where the polar ice caps have completely melted, all land has been covered by the resulting deluge. Small pockets of humanity survive on small boats and floating islands made up of rusting debris called atolls, with no real knowledge of their origins other than rumor and superstition. The Mariner (Costner) is a nameless drifter who is among the first generations of humans who have adapted gills and webbed feet as a precursor to a pending evolution of humanity in response to the new planet’s environs. He sails the world, preferring solitude to the company of humans, and is one of the few who knows the secret of how the planet became flooded. When he happens upon an atoll, he meets Helen (Tripplehorn) and Enola (Majorino), a young girl with a tattoo on her back that shows the way to Dryland, the only place in the world left that’s above sea level. Pirates called Smokers soon attack the atoll with an impressive array of mechanized hardware adapted from old relics, looking for Enola. After Mariner, Enola and Helen escape the atoll during the attack, they spend the rest of the movie on the run from the smokers and their crazed leader, Deacon (Hopper), who are determined to capture her so they can find Dryland for themselves.
Is It Good: Depends really on if you liked the theatrical cut or not. I’ve always liked Waterworld, despite the shellacking it took from the press before it even opened. I was working at a movie theatre at the time and got to screen a copy before it opened and really liked it. It’s got plenty of hallmarks of co-writer David Twohy, and I always admired the practical effects, sets, vehicles and production design of the movie. It had a good concept, namely man trying to survive on a planet completely covered by water. Twohy once remarked that his inspiration for the film was The Road Warrior, and the cinematographer on that film was the same as this one: Dean Semler. Also liked James Newton Howards score (even bought the soundtrack years back).
I’m sure you all probably already know the film from seeing it. What you may not know is that there’s an extended cut that was released on DVD a few years ago and shown once or twice on TV. It’s some 40 minutes longer and fills in a lot of plot holes and paints a more vivid picture of the societies of both the Atollers and the Smokers. Both factions were really more ignorant and superstitious than depicted in the theatrical cut. For instance, after Mariner was captured, the Atollers ransacked his boat and found many of the unique items he recovered from the ocean floor, like a yo-yo and a Thighmaster, thinking they’re tools for murder and torture.
The extended cut added more character development moments, such as the fact that Deacon did quite a bit more preaching to the Smokers than just on the wheelhouse deck of the ship when he conned them into rowing for Dryland (i.e. nowhere). He stated to the Smokers that the world was created as a ball of water and evolution was impossible. The situation of the survivors was also painted to be more dire, with even the Deacon saying that prior attacks on atolls seemed to be more worthy exploits, indicating that they had already raided many more and the returns on the attacks are diminishing. And a drifter to the atoll is turned away before Mariner gets there because he has nothing of real value to offer. There is also a population control on the atoll. The family offering Mariner their daughter could only have another baby after the woman that was being recycled had died. Helen also had to give up having a baby in order for the atollers to allow Enola to stay when they found her.
Mariner was also presented to be even harder than he initially was in the theatrical cut. The outpost where the smokers were waiting to ambush the trimaran was actually a slaving outpost to which Mariner was planning to barter Helen and Enola for supplies. He also didn’t initially want to go save Enola from the Smokers after they captured her. In fact, he left the mini atoll and returned to the trimaran wreckage, where he’s then shown to find Enola’s drawing of the tree, which he compares to the National Goegraphic picture on his boat. Mariner also referred to his boat as his only friend, for which Helen pitied him. Also, if you were wondering how Mariner got a Smoker’s jet ski and found the Smokers’ HQ, he had dispatched two of them that were attacking the mini-atoll and lit the jet ski’s oil trail aflame, which he traced back to the Deez. That mini-atoll scene is also minutes longer and explains that the planet underwent a pole shift, turning the world upside down.
In the final scenes, Helen gives Mariner a name: Ulysses, explaining that she’ll be waiting for his return one day. And it’s also revealed that the Dryland is the top of Mount Everest, as denoted by a plaque commemorating the summitting by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on 29 May 1953. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the extended cut on TV, but overall, it’s a much better presentation of the movie, even though there were cuts made to the extended cut like Helen’s brief nudity and some language and violence. But I want the real extended cut on DVD. So how about it, Universal?
Random Anecdotes: Laird Hamilton was Costner’s stunt double for certain scenes in the movie. He commuted to the set via jet ski and got lost at sea for several hours when his jet ski ran out of gas. He was eventually picked up by a Coast Guard plane.
Cinematic Soulmates: The Road Warrior, The Postman
12 comments
Hi David, sorry to burst your bubble, but I own the extended cut on DVD. The draw back (if you want to call it that) is it’s only available on DVD, so no Blu-Ray love. I’d say it’s been available for about three years now. Amazon has it listed for about $16 new. Having said that, I like this movie a lot and always considered it to be under appreciated.
From what I understand, it’s still the “ABC Extended Cut” that came out on DVD. I’m talking one that’s extended, but not edited for content. Does yours have the following in it (via Wikipedia):
– 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’s 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.”
It’s a magnificent mess of a film. I actually like it more than that other Costner/Reynolds collaboration Prince Of Thieves.
I’m going to have to double check. I thought it had all of that. I seem to remember it was lot more violent. It might be the ABC cut, but I wouldn’t imagine a more violent film being shown on broadcast TV.
I fully admit to having liked this movie. I would really like an extended cut of this. I admit to having thought Tripplehorn was pretty decent looking in this flick too, which doesn’t jive with how I felt about her in pretty much everything else.
It’s definitely better than its reputation. The extended cut would probably solve quite a few of the problems I had with it originally, since it felt like the studio panicked when they saw how over-budget they were, and edited it with a machete. And don’t feel weird for owning the soundtrack – I got it too, as I appreciated the swashbuckling feel to Howard’s score.
I really enjoyed the movie (despite the fact it was such a derivative of Road Warrior) when it came out. It took a beating for being so costly, but my ticket cost as much as all the other movies in the cineplex (unlike today’s 3D scam). However, I do have one issue with the description of the extended version. The city the mariner visits under water was Denver. It’s fairly obvious and well known. If Dryland was Everest, they sailed half way ’round the world. A bit much. I assumed that Dryland was a 14,000 ft + peak in Colorado, keeping all the sailing at a realistic distance… did I say realistic?! Sorry. Anyway, an extended version looks worth seeking out. Thanks.
Yo-yos were originally weapons, and Thighmasters make more powerful the most lethal weapons of womankind.
You know, I just realized recently that two actresses from Big Love were in Waterworld … Jeanne Tripplehorn and Tina Majorino. How cool is that.
This is by far one of my favorite films of all time, flaws and all. The flaws I will lay at the feet of Kevin Reynolds, as I’m more than willing to absolve Costner for all the film’s sins. I don’t know if that has any basis in reality (as disastrous casting like that of Enola – the worlds worst and most annoying child actor of all time – is something over which he’d no doubt have had veto power), but his Mariner is one of the most iconic cinema bad asses of the past 30 years and for that he earns my loyalty. The Mariner WAS hard, harder than any normal “hero”, and I respect him for it. Like Enola says: “He doesn’t have a home, or people to care for. He doesn’t have a name…. so death can’t find him. . He’s not afraid of *anything*, men least of all. He’s fast and strong like a big wind. He can hear a hundred miles and see a hundred miles underwater. He can hide in the shadow of the noon sun. He could be right behind you, and you wouldn’t even know it ’til you’re dead”
The music, world building, the little lime tree, *the amazing trimaran*, all of it is one of a kind and instantly unforgettable. I’m not ashamed to say I’m in love, in a wistful, wildly romantic way with WATERWORLD, though I lament the missed opportunities… it could have been so much better. Had that hurricane not taken out the slaver set (rumored to rival the Atol set in sheer size), how cool would that sequence have been (the set sunk to the bottom of the ocean)? Had Enonla not made you want to gouge your ears out.. had they just combined Helen and Enola into one character… what could have been? I don’t really like Hopper at all either, as he’s so corny it’s just awful… but what if they’d had someone with a real animal menace in the role? Someone who truly seemed like they’d gone crazy from too many years baking under the unrelenting sun of Waterworld?
So yes, it could have been much much better.. but you know what? Most of what is in the extended cut sounds like it would already improve the film by leaps and bounds. I’ve heard rumors that the original true director’s cut was 3+ hours, and if that were to someday hit DVD.. well I think the public at large would have to do a complete reevaluation of the movie. It would no longer be a punch line. As it is, I’ve seen bits and pieces of the TV cut, and even though not all the extra footage is there, what has been added is enough to make for a richer experience and I’d wholeheartedly recommend everyone check it out
Only a site like CHUD would write this article, and I thank you for it. Hopefully someday the misplaced “embarrassment” Universal and Costner feel over this will evaporate, and we’ll see the movie as he originally intended. It’s a damn bloody brilliant near masterpiece, and I am on a quest to see every last minute of it they shot! : )
PS You mentioned that there is additional evidence that the Atol way of life is dying that is shown in the partially extended cut.. well I wrote about this before at length on the MB, based on evidence I found in the theatrical cut, and how I believe the end of the film represents the Mariner going to his death. Check it out!
Kevin Costner had been, up until the end of the film, the future of humanity. As an ichthyus sapien, his mutation (gills behind the ears) showed that humanity was slowly (perhaps too slowly) evolving to deal with the deluge they brought on themselves. The Atoll way of life is dying (this point is made explicitly clear at several points in the film). Humanity scrambled to save itself as the waters rose, but it’s been hundreds of years and the supplies are now rusting to nothing. Food is scarce, and so is fresh water. Who knows how many more generations can survive on the open water? Probably not many. Like Helen says, they were not meant to live on water: “we have feet, and hands”. Humanity could endure, but not survive indefinitely under the conditions of Waterworld. Perhaps Costner represented a kind of future, one that may have held promise had evolution continued. The Mariner himself was not sufficiently evolved to live without the Atoll/barter system. He could not survive in the open ocean. He needed fresh water. He couldn’t even hunt the giant fish that roam Waterworld without left over dynamite. What happens when that is gone? Starvation. Kim Coates as the paper merchant, shows us that the situation in Waterworld is getting worse, and has been getting that way within Costner’s lifetime. Coates had a fishing pole that he was proud of and refused to trade. When Coster kills him and throws the pole overboard, Helen protests: Coster just shakes his head “There’s nothing you can catch with that”. He doesn’t say it, but it’s clear what the end of that sentence was: “Any more”. Perhaps there were fish to be caught at one time, but the remnants of humanity fished the oceans bare just like their ancestors had been doing before the poles melted
When The Mariner discovers dry land at the end, he knows that his branch of the evolutionary tree just became obsolete. Humanity now can — and will– survive without gills. The atoll life is still dying. That has not changed. Those left on the ocean will slowly die out, and the inhabitants of dry land have it in their interest to keep the terrestrial surface of the earth a secret. Costner is going back out to sea with supplies, that may last him a week, a month, a year… but ultimately he’s setting course for a way of life that has no future, knowing that he himself has no future.
So, in that sense, it’s not the mariner going home to the sea because he can’t deal with life on dry land, it’s the mariner doing what old Lakota elders used to do.. wander off into the winter to die of exposure, as to not be a burden on the living.
PPS: true fact: In conversation, I often will declare that “nothings free in waterworld” as if it were a profound truism! : P If you can make yourself laugh, you’ve got it made! : )
Waterworld is an all time favorite film from the opinioning music theme, the acting and the story itself. I have what I call the special edition but it’s jus the unreleased extended version of the film which was originally broadcast on ABC. I first recorded the extended version to VHS and later to DVD when the format change came along. It’s an extra 30minutes of footage and makes the film so much better than the theatrical release of the film.
The film is classic Costner and fits with his “The Postman” which I also thought was special along with his version of the extended cut of “Robin Hood: Prince of thieves”.
If you haven’t seen it watch it if you get the chance. Encore was the last channel tha showed the extended edition but haven’t seen it there for quite a while.
For all of you who are dissapointed that the official DVD only contains the censored ABC cut:
Google for “Waterworld – The Ulysses Cut – Revised Edition”
It’s an inofficial DVD made by a fan and is exactly what the official DVD should have looked like.
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