And for all the jokes made at Waterworld’s expense—the on-set disasters, the soaring production costs, the poor reviews, the underwhelming box office returns—it has, in some ways, transcended its less-than-stellar reputation. For one, thanks to home video sales and other revenue streams, Waterworld has reportedly managed to become profitable over time. Then there’s the Waterworld stunt show at Universal Studios Hollywood, which opened in 1995 and remains the longest-running attraction at the theme park. Waterworld doesn’t have the mainstream recognition of, say, a Marvel movie, but the longevity of wonderful nonsense like this proves that its cultural footprint shouldn’t be discounted, either.


As a well-documented lover of Ocean Cinema™, I was always going to have a soft spot for Waterworld, but I wouldn’t go so far as to claim that it’s a misunderstood masterpiece. Waterworld is still shamelessly derivative of better (land-based) action movies, and Costner, for all his strengths as a movie star, makes it hard to become invested in the adventures of a soggy sourpuss like the Mariner. But it’s also worth acknowledging that something of Waterworld’s scale and ambition could probably never exist today. Even if a studio were willing to take a chance on a pricey original tentpole, nobody would sign off on filming in the goddamn ocean. (It goes without saying: A modern, CGI’d Waterworld wouldn’t hit the same.)

Viewed one way, Waterworld was, like Ishtar and Heaven’s Gate before it, the kind of recklessly expensive vanity project that was always destined to fail. Conversely, you just need to look at James Cameron’s filmography to know that there’s a thin line between a disaster-in-waiting and a paradigm-shifting blockbuster, and 30 years since Waterworld’s release, I’d argue that it leans closer to the latter. There’s just nothing else like it. It’s impressive enough that Waterworld survived a production from hell and made it to the big screen—that it also manages to be a rip-roaring crowd-pleaser feels as miraculous as finding a pearl in an oyster. Or, I suppose, encountering a man with gills tucked behind his ears.


https://www.theringer.com/2025/07/28/movies/waterworld-movie-30th-anniversary-kevin-costner

ㅡ 1995.7.28.미국 개봉

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