50 Fun Facts About Waterworld

Which infamous real ship, now a rusting hulk, serves as the Smokers' floating base in Waterworld?

The Exxon Valdez, the tanker behind Alaska's 1989 oil spill, is where the Smokers make fuel, ammunition and cigarettes. They even treat its real-life captain as a patron saint called Saint Joe.

Which future comedy star has an early small role as a Smoker seaplane pilot in Waterworld?

Jack Black flies the Smokers' scout plane, one of several bit parts he took in the mid-1990s. School of Rock made him a leading man eight years later.

Which director, burned by his own ocean shoot, warned Kevin Costner not to film Waterworld at sea?

Steven Spielberg spoke from experience, because filming Jaws at sea had plagued his own production. The advice went unheeded, and Waterworld's planned 96-day shoot stretched past 150 days.

In Waterworld's opening scene, what does the Mariner filter through a homemade still and then drink?

His own urine is what the Mariner distils and drinks in the film's first minutes. The scene shows at once how scarce fresh water has become on an Earth covered by salt sea.

What rare commodity does the Mariner bring to trade for supplies at the atoll in Waterworld?

Dirt is so scarce on the flooded Earth that it works as currency. The Mariner gathers his from the sea floor, a place the other traders cannot reach.

Which animated sitcom mocked Waterworld's budget with an arcade game demanding 40 quarters a play?

The Simpsons had Milhouse feed 40 quarters into a Kevin Costner's Waterworld machine, take two steps and lose. In 2022 a fan turned the joke into a real, full-length video game.

Which mutation do the atoll's residents spot on the Mariner before they turn on him in Waterworld?

Gills, along with webbed feet, mark the Mariner out as a mutant made for the sea. The frightened atoll dwellers attack him, and he kills one of them in self-defence.

Which post-apocalyptic film did Waterworld's first writer name as his script's direct inspiration?

Mad Max was the model, and writer Peter Rader hatched the idea while discussing a rip-off of it. Waterworld even shares a cinematographer with that desert saga's first sequel.

Off the coast of which US state was Waterworld filmed, inside a huge artificial seawater enclosure?

Hawaii hosted the shoot off the west coast of its Big Island, and the final scene was filmed in the island's Waipi'o Valley. The production added more than $35 million to the state's economy.

Waterworld was the most expensive film ever made until which 1997 blockbuster took the record?

Titanic took the record in 1997 with a budget of $200 million. Like Waterworld, it was shot in a vast seawater tank built specially for the production.

Which Easy Rider star plays the Deacon, the leader of the Smokers, in Waterworld?

Dennis Hopper had just played the mad bomber in Speed, a villain that won him an MTV Movie Award. As the Deacon he leads the pirate gang that raids and destroys the atolls.

What type of sailing vessel, built in two versions for filming, is the Mariner's home in Waterworld?

A trimaran, 60 feet long and custom-built, carries the Mariner across the flooded Earth. One version was a pure racer used for distance shots, and it topped 30 knots under sail.

In Waterworld's backstory, what caused the seas to rise and swallow nearly all of Earth's land?

Melted polar ice caps drown every continent in the film's backstory. Generations later, the survivors live on floating atolls and treat dry land as a myth.

What skill does the gruff Mariner teach young Enola in a bonding scene in Waterworld?

To swim is what Enola learns from the Mariner, a sign that the loner is warming to his passengers. He had only taken her and Helen aboard as the price of his own freedom.

In Waterworld's extended cut, Dryland is revealed to be the summit of which real mountain?

Mount Everest is named as Dryland only in the longer version, which adds scenes fleshing out the characters and setting. The cinema release never says where the green island lies.

In Waterworld, where are the directions to Dryland that the Smokers are hunting for hidden?

On a girl's back is the answer, because young Enola carries the route as a tattoo. It turns out to be a set of map coordinates written with the directions reversed.

What does the Mariner drop into the oil hold to destroy the Smokers' ship in Waterworld?

A lit flare does it, after the Deacon wrongly decides the Mariner must be bluffing. The Deacon was sure nobody would set fire to a ship while still standing on it.

Which injury does the Deacon suffer when the Mariner fights his way out of the atoll in Waterworld?

A lost eye is the result of an explosion the Mariner sets off while escaping. The half-blinded Deacon then chases him, Helen and Enola across the open sea.

Which theme park company has staged a live Waterworld stunt show since the year the film came out?

Universal opened the show in Hollywood in 1995 and later added versions in Japan, Singapore and Beijing. It won a Thea Award for themed entertainment in 1996.

Which magazine's old photos show the Mariner that Enola's drawings depict real things in Waterworld?

National Geographic issues survive in the wreck of the Mariner's burned boat. Matching their pictures to Enola's doodles convinces him that she has seen dry land.

Which actress, fresh from Basic Instinct and The Firm, plays the atoll dweller Helen in Waterworld?

Jeanne Tripplehorn had made her film debut in Basic Instinct only three years earlier. Her Waterworld character was named in a direct nod to the Helen of Greek legend.

Which post-apocalyptic flop did Kevin Costner direct and star in two years after Waterworld?

The Postman cast Costner as a nomad who finds a postal uniform in a ruined America. It earned back less than half of its roughly $80 million budget.

Waterworld's cinematographer Dean Semler had won an Oscar for which earlier Kevin Costner film?

Dances with Wolves earned Dean Semler the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Costner hired the Australian again for his ocean epic five years later.

Which drowned American city does the Mariner show Helen on the sea floor in Waterworld?

Denver, a city famously a mile above sea level, lies in ruins on the ocean bed. The sight crushes Helen's belief that Dryland exists.

In Waterworld's extended cut, which name does Helen finally give the nameless Mariner?

Ulysses is the name Helen chooses in the closing scene, which gives the longer version its nickname. It is the Roman form of Odysseus, the long-wandering sailor of Greek legend.

Which child actress, later Deb in Napoleon Dynamite, plays the young Enola in Waterworld?

Tina Majorino stepped away from acting after the 1990s so that she would not miss out on her childhood. She came back at 18 in Napoleon Dynamite and went on to play Mac in Veronica Mars.

Which director walked away from Waterworld before its release after heated clashes with its star?

Kevin Reynolds still received full credit as director, although the star oversaw the end of the edit. The two had earlier made Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves together.

Which script doctor and future blockbuster director flew to the Waterworld set for late rewrites?

Joss Whedon spent seven weeks on the set and remembered them as hellish. He said the job came down to slotting in the star's ideas without changing them.

Waterworld earned just one Academy Award nomination at the 1996 ceremony, in which category?

Best Sound was the lone nod, and the film went home without the statuette. At Britain's BAFTAs its single nomination came instead for special visual effects.

Which famous big-wave surfer worked as Kevin Costner's stunt double for Waterworld's water scenes?

Laird Hamilton doubled for the star in many of the water scenes. He travelled to the floating set each day by jet ski.

Which composer wrote Waterworld's final score after Mark Isham's unfinished music was thrown out?

James Newton Howard was brought in late, after Kevin Costner reportedly found the first score too bleak for an adventure film. He already had an Oscar nomination for the thriller The Fugitive.

What nearly killed Kevin Costner while he was tied to his boat's mast during the Waterworld shoot?

A squall caught Costner while he was lashed to the mast, and he nearly died. He was on the set for 157 days, working six days a week.

What happened to one of Waterworld's floating sets in heavy seas during the troubled shoot?

It sank and had to be repaired. Setbacks like this pushed a budget first set at $100 million to an estimated $175 million.

What does the Mariner choose to do at the end of Waterworld after finally reaching Dryland?

Sails off alone is his choice, because he feels he does not belong on land. He leaves in an old wooden boat from the island as Helen and Enola see him off.

Which stunt lets the Mariner snatch Enola from the sea ahead of the Deacon in Waterworld's climax?

A bungee jump from above plucks Enola out of the water just in time. The Deacon and his men then crash their jet skis into each other and die in the blast.

What makeshift device carries Helen down to the ocean floor with the Mariner in Waterworld?

A diving bell, jury-rigged by the Mariner, takes Helen down to see a drowned city. He makes the trip after she demands to know where he finds his trade goods.

How do the Smokers move their enormous rusting ship across the sea in Waterworld?

By rowing is the surprise, with the crew sent to their stations to pull. The Deacon orders them back to work after bluffing that he has decoded the map.

What death sentence do the atoll's residents hand the Mariner after he kills a man in Waterworld?

Drowning in sludge is the sentence, carried out in a tank of organic muck. A Smoker raid interrupts it, and Helen frees him in return for passage.

Which History Channel miniseries reunited Waterworld's director and star nearly two decades later?

Hatfields & McCoys aired in 2012, long after the pair's clashes on the ocean epic. Its first part drew the largest audience a History programme had ever had.

Which famous critic called Waterworld a decent action film but could not quite recommend it?

Roger Ebert gave it 2.5 stars out of 4 and wished it had made him care about the characters. He praised its sets and set the row over its cost aside.

Waterworld was the only film-licensed game ever released for which short-lived 1990s console?

Virtual Boy was a Nintendo console that reached shops in 1995, the film's own year. Nintendo dropped it in 1996 after only 22 games.

Which long-running anime staged a crossover with the Deacon at the Waterworld stunt show in Japan?

One Piece took over the stage for a seasonal show from 2007, starting with a full crossover. The Deacon teamed up with Buggy the Clown to fight the Straw Hat Pirates.

Which Emmy winner, later a Mr. Noodle on Sesame Street, plays the inventor Gregor in Waterworld?

Michael Jeter won his Emmy for the sitcom Evening Shade and a Tony for the musical Grand Hotel. Eccentric characters such as Gregor were his speciality.

Which future Sons of Anarchy actor plays the unhinged drifter the Mariner meets in Waterworld?

Kim Coates, later the biker Tig Trager, plays a drifter with cabin fever whose trade with the Mariner goes wrong. He appeared in Kevin Costner's western Open Range eight years later.

Which 1985 road-trip comedy was the first film Kevin Costner made with Waterworld's director?

Fandango gave Costner his first starring role, as one of five Texas students on a last road trip. It grew out of a short the director had made at film school.

Which Waterworld co-writer went on to write and direct the Chronicles of Riddick films?

David Twohy shares the Waterworld screenplay credit and later co-wrote G.I. Jane. His science fiction films as writer-director also include The Arrival.

Besides Lawrence Kasdan, which director did the studio want for Waterworld before its star chose a friend?

Robert Zemeckis was one of the studio's two preferred names, but the star picked a friend instead. Waterworld became the fourth film the two friends worked on together.

Which crime writer, creator of Road to Perdition, wrote the novelization of Waterworld?

Max Allan Collins also novelized the film Dick Tracy. His Waterworld book goes into more detail about the flooded world than the film does.

The 1997 comic-book sequel to Waterworld is subtitled Children of which sea monster?

Leviathan is also the name of the comic's new villain, who supplied the Deacon's gang. Kevin Costner would not lend his likeness, so the Mariner on the page looks different.

What eventually pushed the costly Waterworld into profit after its disappointing run in cinemas?

Home video and TV sales, with other later income, finally covered the film's huge costs. Its cinema run had grossed $264 million worldwide, only $88 million of it in North America.