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Waterworld

Waterworld

Adventure · Action · Science Fiction · 1995

In a futuristic world where the polar ice caps have melted and made Earth a liquid planet, a beautiful barmaid rescues a mutant seafarer from a floating island prison. They escape, along with her young charge, Enola, and sail off aboard his ship. But the trio soon becomes the target of a menacing pirate who covets the map to 'Dryland'—which is tattooed on Enola's back.

Movie details

Waterworld

“Beyond the horizon lies the secret to a new beginning.”

1995 Adventure · Action · Science Fiction 2h 15m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.3 / 10

222.9K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

61 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

56 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.2 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

In a futuristic world where the polar ice caps have melted and made Earth a liquid planet, a beautiful barmaid rescues a mutant seafarer from a floating island prison. They escape, along with her young charge, Enola, and sail off aboard his ship. But the trio soon becomes the target of a menacing pirate who covets the map to 'Dryland'—which is tattooed on Enola's back.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Waterworld?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Kevin Reynolds

Written by

David Twohy · Peter Rader

Kevin Costner

Kevin Costner

Mariner

Dennis Hopper

Dennis Hopper

Deacon

Jeanne Tripplehorn

Jeanne Tripplehorn

Helen

Tina Majorino

Tina Majorino

Enola

R. D. Call

R. D. Call

Enforcer

Gerard Murphy

Gerard Murphy

Nord

Michael Jeter

Michael Jeter

Old Gregor

Court is in session

Put Waterworld on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“Momentum is a formal choice.”

The velocity sharpens instinct and tension, making every beat land before self-importance can settle in.

The prosecution The Auteur Devotee

“Speed as an alibi.”

The film races past its weak spots and hopes acceleration will keep the audience from inspecting the evidence.