As far as I recall I'd never seen it. And to be honest I'm not sure why I watched it now. Morbid curiosity maybe. It just happened to be on HBO late and night, and it's been panned so badly I thought it was going to be the worst movie of all time. And I gotta admit that after watching it I'm kind of wondering what all the bad buzz was about. I've seen way, way, way worse movies. I can't remember much from 1995, but I'm wondering if it was one of those dogpile instances, where dumping on it was just the hip thing to do. I'm not saying it's a great flick or anything like that, but it was entertaining enough to keep me watching the whole time. I was expecting much worse than I got. Something historically bad rather than marginal. [Reply]
so its the 20th anniversary of this film....wow, i feel old....
Costner had some interesting things to say about it.
I began with Costner by texting the following: “As you know or may remember I was reporting and hammering pretty hard on Waterworld when I was writing for Entertainment Weekly in the mid ’90s. And it kinda seems better now than it did back then. The one-line review that I recall someone saying after the first screening was ‘it doesn’t suck.’ Which may have sounded cruel from your perspective but was actually an acknowledgment that for all the toil and trouble and headlines, the movie itself wasn’t half bad. Anything you want to say or reflect upon 20 years later?”
Costner: “If [that] quote was designed to offer some measure of support at the time, it didn’t. I’m not sure you know how hard people work [on films]. I’m not sure you know how beloved the movie is around the world. Being hard [on a film] is really easy if you don’t know the underbelly of what [went into it]. When you do know the forensics of a movie — the participation and decisions of others that one has to stand in front of — you can’t help but see it differently.
“That said you have reached out. You are looking back and only you know why. I know that people might think of Waterworld as a low point for me. It wasn’t. It could have had a better, more obvious outcome. The thing I know is that I never had to stand taller for a movie when most were going the other way. The movie with all its imperfections was a joy for me…a joy to look back upon and to have participated in.”
Wells: “I know very little about making films, Kevin, but I do know that even making something that’s passably good or relatively decent or which at least hangs together in a competent way…I know that even this is incredibly difficult. Making a first-rater or a near masterpiece like Open Range or Field of Dreams or Dances With Wolves or JFK is a whole ‘nother realm. I respect Waterworld as far as it goes, and I think most people are on the same page. The gotcha tone of ’90s press coverage (which I was part of back then, I regret to say, as I was looking to compete and survive in a rough-and-tumble profession by doing the bidding of my masters) led to perceptions and tagging that may not have been fair in some respects. I hope you know and understand that I am a relatively free man these days & have been since I started my column back in ’98. I’m an admirer of much of your work and will remain so in all likelihood.”
Costner: “I understand. I hope you have a chance to watch Waterworld again on a very minimal green screen. That was me flying around the boat, up and down on the mast and in the water. Not overly dramatic but just the way it was. Again good luck to you. ‘Nothing’s free in Waterworld'”
Waterworld and the Postman were quite possibly the best movies I liked, that nobody else liked. That an Oblivion. But Oblivion was 10x better than Waterworld and the Postman. All 3 movies have something in common, where they are headed by an overexposed actor. [Reply]
I really liked The Postman. I remember it got blasted for being too slow, but that didn't bother me.
What DID bother me, though, was the scene with the little boy handing him the letter as he rides by. The boy is in his yard, and he sees the Postman riding fast on his horse, coming from the RIGHT. The boy takes his letter and tries to run to the fence in time to meet the Postman, but he's too late and the Postman rides past him to the LEFT. The Postman, being the caring soul that he is, slows down, turns around, and comes back to dramatically grab the letter out of the kid's hand. He then keeps riding to the RIGHT, which is where he came FROM.
Hah. I love necro threads. I thought Waterworld mostly sucked but it had some really cool visuals, I thought his catamaran was the most kickass boat ever, and Jeanne Tripplehorn gives me wood. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
Waterworld and the Postman were quite possibly the best movies I liked, that nobody else liked. That an Oblivion. But Oblivion was 10x better than Waterworld and the Postman. All 3 movies have something in common, where they are headed by an overexposed actor.
Huge fan of the Postman. I thought it was great. [Reply]
Yup, it's true: infamous Kevin Costner bomb WATERWORLD is getting a sequel...as a TV series. Dan Trachtenberg attached to direct. Via @JamesHibberdhttps://t.co/SccG5A7EVP
Originally Posted by listopencil:
I thought Waterworld sucked pretty badly. I don't care if cost a dollar to make, I just didn't like it. I read The Postman and enjoyed the book well enough. I've been meaning to get around to watching the movie.
I stand by this comment. Waterworld was crap. I think I did get around to watching the movie version of The Postman and as I recall it suffered from translation, from one media to another. Could have used a better screenplay. The book is enjoyable though. [Reply]
