Waterworld is a
futuristic, action-adventure film about a civilization 500
hundred years into the future. The water has covered the
earth's surface after years of global warming. The people live
in colonies on the water and survive by bartering for food and
supplies while looking for land.
The main character,
the Mariner, is an aquatic person that stays to himself
because people do not trust or want him around. After going to
a colony to trade for supplies he is taken prisoner when they
discover he is an aquatic person. When the compound is
attacked by bandits, a woman, Ellen, and a small girl, Nila,
rescue the Mariner, but the price he must pay is to take them
with him. Ellen believes he has been to dry land because he
brought dirt to trade with and that is a commodity that no one
has seen in many years. What she does not realize is that,
being aquatic, he can breathe under water for long periods of
time. Therefore, he can go to the ocean floor and retrieve
dirt when he needs it for trading.
After the bandits
keep pursuing him, he begins to realize they are after more
than his boat and the knowledge of where he got his dirt. The
small girl, Nila, has a map of sorts tattooed on her back and
people believe it is the map to dry land. The bandit's leader,
Deacon, will stop at nothing to get the girl and the map. He
kidnaps Nila after a struggle in which he believes he has
killed the Mariner and Ellen. He then keeps the girl prisoner
on his floating compound thinking that eventually she will
break down and show him how the map works.
Unbeknownst to
Deacon, the Mariner survived and is aboard his compound. After
fighting his way through the compound the Mariner finally
reaches Nila. However he must figure out a way to get them off
the vessel before it sinks. In his rescue attempt there are
some explosions which cause the compound to start sinking. The
Mariner's rescue of Nila looks to be a disaster when he fails
to find a safe way off the ship.
Just when all hope
looks to be lost, the Mariner and Nila are saved from the
sinking compound by Ellen and her friends in a hot air
balloon. After reading the map, they set sail in the balloon
on a quest to find dry land. Many days go by and they are out
of food and water when a pigeon flies up to their balloon and
sits on the ledge. The Mariner seeing the bird looks over the
edge of the balloon and sees the most beautiful sight he has
ever encountered, land, rich with trees and fresh spring
waterfalls. Thus ends their life on water and begins a new
generation of land living individuals.
Animal action:
Live animal action
is limited to the one scene where the pigeon flies up to the
balloon and sits on the ledge. This was an insert shot filmed
on stage before a blue screen. For this scene the trainer
simply released the bird who walked A to B. Sea monsters are
also seen. These, of course, were not real and were inserted
in post-production.
