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Waterworld is a 1995 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Kevin Reynolds and co-written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. It was based on Rader's original 1986 screenplay and stars Kevin Costner, who also produced it with Charles Gordon and John Davis. It was distributed by Universal Pictures. The setting of the film is in the distant future. The polar ice caps have completely melted, and the sea level has risen over 7,600 m (25,000 ft), covering nearly all of the land. The plot of the film centers on a nameless antihero, "The Mariner", a drifter who sails the Earth in his trimaran. The most expensive film ever made at the time, Waterworld was released to mixed reviews from critics, who praised the futuristic setting and premise, but criticized the execution, including the characterization and acting performances. The film also was unable to recoup its massive budget at the box office despite being one of the highest-grossing films of 1995; however, the film did later become profitable owing to video and other post-cinema sales. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Sound at the 68th Academy Awards. The film's release was accompanied by a novelization, video games, and four themed attractions at Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Singapore, Universal Studios Japan, and Universal Studios Beijing called Waterworld: A Live Sea War Spectacular, all of which are still running as of 2024. Plot In 2500, as a result of the sea levels rising over 7,600 metres (24,900 ft), every continent on Earth is now underwater. The remains of human civilization live on rugged, floating communities known as atolls, having long forgotten about living on land. It is believed that a mythological "Dryland" exists somewhere in the endless ocean, though some refuse to believe that it does, calling it a myth. The Mariner, a lone drifter, arrives at an atoll on his trimaran to trade dirt, a rare commodity, for other supplies. When the atoll's residents see that the Mariner is a mutant, with gills and webbed feet, they decide to "recycle" him by drowning him in a pit of organic sludge. The atoll is then attacked by the Smokers, a gang of pirates seeking a young girl named Enola. According to their leader, the Deacon, she has a map to Dryland tattooed on her back. Enola's guardian, Helen, attempts to escape with her on a gas balloon dirigible created by inventor Gregor, but the balloon is accidentally released before Helen and Enola can get on, and is shot down by the Smokers. Helen quickly frees the Mariner, insisting he take both of them with him. The three escape to the open sea aboard the trimaran, pursued by the Smokers. Helen's escape results in damage to the Mariner's boat, and he angrily refuses to take her to Dryland. He then cuts her hair and then Enola's as punishment but decides to take them anyway. During their quest, the trio encounter a drifter approaching them and being killed by the Mariner after a trade, trap set by the Smokers, finding a large mutated shark, and discover Enola's drawings of various Dryland objects that the Mariner recognizes from National Geographic magazines. Later, Helen explains that she believes humans once lived on land and demands to know where the Mariner collected his dirt. He provides her with a homemade diving bell to show her the underwater remains of Denver, Colorado and the soil on the ocean's floor, seeming to disprove Helen's belief. When they surface, they find that the Smokers have caught up, threatening to kill them if they do not hand over Enola, who is hiding aboard the boat. The Smokers abduct Enola and try to kill Helen and the Mariner. The Mariner takes Helen, diving underwater to avoid capture, with the Mariner's gills helping Helen breathe. When they resurface, they discover his boat has been destroyed. Helen and the Mariner have sex and later, Gregor manages to find them and takes them to a new makeshift atoll inhabited by the survivors of the first attack using his gas balloon dirigible. The Mariner takes a captured Smoker's jet ski to chase down the Deacon aboard the remains of the Exxon Valdez. The Deacon sends the crew to start rowing the "Deez" after bluffingly announcing that he has decoded the map on Enola's back. With all of the Smokers below deck to row the tanker, the Mariner confronts the Deacon, threatening to ignite the oil reserves below unless he returns Enola. The Deacon calls the Mariner's bluff, knowing that it would destroy the ship, but to his surprise, the Mariner drops a flare into the oil reservoir. The ship is engulfed in flames, and begins to sink. The Mariner rescues Enola, escaping via a rope from Gregor's balloon with Helen and the Atoll Enforcer aboard. As the Mariner climbs with Enola, the Deacon grabs the rope to escape the sinking ship. He is kicked off into the water but climbs aboard a jet ski. Firing upon the balloon shakes Enola into the ocean. As the Deacon and some of his men converge on Enola, the Mariner makes an impromptu bungee jump from the balloon to grab Enola right before the Deacon and his men collide on their jet-skis, dying in an explosion. Sometime later, Gregor identifies Enola's back tattoo as coordinates with reversed directions. Following the map, Gregor, the Mariner, the Atoll Enforcer, Helen, and Enola discover Dryland, which is revealed to be the top of Mount Everest, covered with vegetation and wildlife. They also find a crude hut with the remains of Enola's parents. The Mariner, feeling that he does not belong on Dryland, takes an old wooden trimaran and departs, as Helen and Enola bid him farewell. Cast Production Writer Peter Rader came up with the idea for Waterworld during a conversation with Brad Krevoy where they discussed creating a Mad Max rip-off. Rader wrote the initial script in 1986 but kept it shelved until 1989. Rader cited Mad Max as a direct inspiration for the film, while also citing various Old Testament stories and the story of Helen of Troy (with the main female character being named Helen in a direct reference). It is also widely believed that inspiration was taken from Freakwave by Peter Milligan and Brendan McCarthy, a "Mad Max goes surfing" comic strip first published by Pacific Comics in Vanguard Illustrated #1-3 (November 1983-March 1984), and continued by Eclipse Comics in Strange Days #1-3 (November 1984-April 1985). McCarthy himself had unsuccessfully tried to sell Freakwave as a movie in the early 1980s; he would go on to co-write Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). After several rewrites, Kevin Costner and Kevin Reynolds joined the Waterworld production team in 1992. The film marked the fourth collaboration between Costner and Reynolds, who had previously worked together on Fandango (1985), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), and Rapa-Nui (1994), the latter of which Costner co-produced but did not star in. Waterworld was co-written by David Twohy, who cited Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior as a major i.... Discover the Peter Rader popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Peter Rader books.