  The controversy surrounding the infamous Waterworld, starring Kevin Costner and a wildly-overacting Dennis Hopper, continues with the release of the new two-disc Extended Edition. |
The fun never ends for Kevin Costner’s folly, the ecological fable Waterworld. It is back with a new two-disc DVD which includes the less-than-legendary director’s cut.
So the controversy continues, especially for fans who treat Waterworld as a guilty pleasure. That is because this Extended Edition DVD, out this week, offers two versions — and neither is an unadultered long cut for purists.
Instead, you get the 136-minute theatrical cut on disc one and the 177-minute TV cut on disc two. That means, while it does have more scenes pumped in to turn the movie into a sprawling epic, this second cut is the one that was tamed for broadcast. While that is not indicated on the box cover, there is an on-screen disclaimer saying it was “edited for content.”
As a result, the profanity is still dubbed over and the nudity eliminated. Geek boys who worship Jeanne Tripplehorn’s bare backside are outraged. And it does seem like laziness. While it might have been difficult to polish the unfinished effects in the extra scenes, surely it would have been easy enough to jazz up the extended edition by restoring the language and brief nudity.
Any effort — easy or hard — would have required a commitment that Waterworld has apparently never inspired at Universal Studios. You can tell because this new DVD set has no extras. That means no discussion of the movie’s sordid past, no mention of rumours that Costner took over direction after Kevin Reynolds left the shoot with two weeks left, and so on.
That surprises me because every time I interview Costner about other films, he likes to mention that the image of Waterworld as a monumental flop is wrong. He may be right. While it cost a staggering $175 million to make, Waterworld did gross $264 million. Only $88 million of that, though, was in the U.S. and Canada, leaving the impression that the movie was a disaster.
Artistically, of course, it is. The extended edition just makes the agony last longer. There is a strange lure, however. Costner, channeling his inner grump, plays a loner mutant who has adapted to a post-apocalyptic, waterlogged Planet Earth by growing gills. That is cool, in an odd way.
But Waterworld is absurd, too. The story drowns in Costner’s inflated ego. The dialogue is silly. Dennis Hopper fiercely overacts as the villainous leader of the Smokers. The whole enterprise is a metaphor gone mad.
Still, it did not sink Universal, even if the studio sprang leaks. Cleopatra did not close 20th Century Fox, either, although it threatened to do so. And the infamous Heaven’s Gate did not put United Artists out of business all by itself. Here is a glance at studio epics that did, however, send shockwaves through Hollywood (all box-office numbers for North America only):
n Howard the Duck: This 1986 sci-fi comedy only cost $37 million to make. But it generated only $16.3 million. While it was not a studio killer, it was an embarrassment on a grand scale.
n Heaven’s Gate: This 1980 western cost $44 million and grossed a measly $3.5 million. It remains the poster boy for Hollywood self-indulgence even though it is guilty only of being boring.
Battlefield Earth: John Travolta’s Scientology vanity project cost $73 million to make in 2000. It generated loathing and only $21.5 million.
Cleopatra: Now an overblown favourite for its sumptuous visuals, and the romantic subtext involving Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, this 1963 costume drama cost $44 million and earned $58 million.
Town & Country: Not much discussed but should be! This terrible movie with Josh Hartnett cost $90 million in 2001 and earned only $6.7 million.
bruce.kirkland@sunmedia.ca
