Waterworld (1995)

Elevator Pitch: In the far future, after the land on earth has been submerged by the melting icecaps, a community lives on a floating fortified atoll, and is threatened by seaborn scavengers, the Smokers. During a visit to the atoll for trade by “the mariner” in his seagoing trimaran, it is attacked and so the mariner has to escape with the help of a young woman and a child.  They sail away, and despite some hostility between them, learn to survive together, but can they overcome the Smokers and their mad leader?

Content: There is just a bit of nudity and distantly viewed sex. There is drinking, but only of water. A whole variety of set pieces, some of them quite dramatic and virtually all of them admirable in some way. The attack by the Smokers on the atoll is fantastic. It is very like Mad Max 2, but on water. The trimaran sails impressively and its various added capabilities are ingenious. There are a number of under water scenes which might make you hold your breath.

A View: Of course this movie was a famous disaster which went way over budget at over $200 million, and also was notorious for the involvement of the star in all aspects of the production. But if you could suspend disbelief, particularly in relation to the fact that, despite the trimaran being capable of over 30 knots, the mariner and his passengers are never able to get away from the Smokers, it is worth a watch even at the cost of a download.

Additional Info: There is a lot of trivia available but no-one has mentioned the involvement of the Exxon Valdez, the Smoker’s base in the film. It was a crude oil carrier which went aground in Alaska in 1989, with a resulting serious oil spill. So a sort of ironic tribute.