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.

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 Mariner, a lone drifter, arrives at an atoll on his trimaran to trade dirt, a rare commodity, for supplies.

Helen, a strong-willed atoll resident, tries to escape on a gas balloon dirigible with her young ward Enola and inventor Gregor.

The Mariner skillfully fights his way out, damaging the Smokers' forces and causing an explosion that blinds its leader, Deacon, in one eye.

Despite his initial reluctance and gruff attitude, the Mariner slowly warms up to his companions and has a bonding moment with Enola teaching her to swim.

She admits they are after Enola, for the supposed directions to Dryland tattooed on her back and demands to know where the Mariner collected his dirt.

In a jury-rigged diving bell, he shows her the underwater remains of Denver, Colorado and the soil on the ocean's floor, crushing her belief in Dryland.

Sorting through the wreckage of his boat, the Mariner sees National Geographic magazines and compares their images to Enola's doodles, realizing she was drawing Dryland objects.

The Mariner, feeling that he does not belong on Dryland, takes an old wooden catamaran from the island and departs, as Helen and Enola bid him farewell.

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.

[9] Waterworld was co-written by David Twohy, who cited Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior as a major inspiration.

[11] The production was hampered by difficulties in obtaining otherwise simple shots due to poor weather, safety concerns, and the camera crew being pushed out of position by waves.

Joss Whedon flew out to the set to do last minute script rewrites and later described it as "seven weeks of hell"; the work boiled down to editing in Costner's ideas without alteration.

When certain levers were triggered, the windmill blades flattened, and a hidden mast is raised to full racing height.

[21] Kevin Reynolds quit the film before its release, owing to heated battles with Costner over his creative decisions.

[23] Despite their reported clashes, the director and star reunited almost two decades later for the History Channel miniseries Hatfields & McCoys.

He commented that while its massive budget had paid off by genuinely creating the sensation of a world built on water, the film generally came off as a second-rate rip-off of The Road Warrior (Mad Max 2), with weaker, slower-paced action sequences and less startling villains.

[32] James Berardinelli of Reelviews Movie Reviews was one of the film's few supporters, calling it "one of Hollywood's most lavish features to date".

In the tradition of the old Westerns and Mel Gibson's Mad Max flicks, this film provides good escapist fun.

The site's critics consensus reads: "Though it suffered from toxic buzz at the time of its release, Waterworld is ultimately an ambitious misfire: an extravagant sci-fi flick with some decent moments and a lot of silly ones.

[37] In a 2020 retrospective, Ben Child of The Guardian described it as "a perfectly watchable sci-fi cult classic" that deserves reappraisal.

He acknowledged that much of the plot was illogical and absurd and some of the action set-pieces "preposterously ambitious", but argued that both of them offer excitement and B-movie charm.

"[39] Dennis Hopper also enjoyed it, saying "I thought Waterworld got a bad name for itself in the United States, but it did really well in Europe and Asia.

"[40] In retrospect, Director Kevin Reynolds said: "My own personal take on the picture is that I don't think it's any better, any worse than most summer blockbusters, it's somewhere in the middle.

The comic expands on the possible cause of the melting of the polar ice caps and worldwide flood, and introduces a new villain, "Leviathan", who supplied the Deacon's Smoker organization.

A Sega Saturn version of the game was also planned, and development was completed, but like its Genesis counterpart it was cancelled prior to release.

In the episode of The Simpsons titled The Springfield Files, Milhouse Van Houten is seen playing a fictional video game called Kevin Costner's Waterworld.

In July 2021, it was announced Universal Cable Productions was in early development on a follow-up TV series to be directed by Dan Trachtenberg.