``Waterworld'' The ocean masterpiece that everyone knew was a ``failure'' due to the ``water'' of Hollywood movies.

"Waterworld" synopsis

A futuristic world where the earth is covered in ocean after centuries of environmental destruction. Humanity was desperately trying to survive on a floating city called Atholl. However, some people believed that there was a legendary dry land that had been passed down from generation to generation like a myth. Deacon (Dennis Hopper), the leader of the brutal pirate group the Smokers, also believes in the legend, and is after Enola (Tina Majorino), a mysterious girl with a map carved on her back. The map on Enola's back is the only clue to reach Dryland. One day, a lone wolf named Mariner (Kevin Costner) arrives in Atholl, where Enola and her adoptive mother Helen (Jean Tripplehorn) live. And the three of them get caught up in an unimaginably terrifying battle...

Index

• Water, the demon gate of Hollywood movies
• Risks of filming on the real sea
• Misfortunes and troubles faced by ``Waterworld''

Water, the demon gate of Hollywood movies

For Hollywood movies, ``water'' is the devil's gate. This is what past cases have shown us. For example, ``Popeye'' (1980), which has a huge harbor set, and ``Hurricane'' (1979), whose climax is a huge wave during a storm. Regardless of the reviews of the films, these films were considered "failures" at the time of their release because they were unable to recover the huge production costs (though there is now some reappraisal).

The culmination of this is `` Cutthroat Island '' (1995), which was released as a blockbuster marine adventure movie. The film was based on a low return rate, as it was said to have cost $150 million in production and advertising costs (of which $98 million was for production), but the box office revenue was only $10 million in North America. It was such a ``failure'' that it was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the movie with the largest loss at the box office.

On the other hand, there is a precedent for ``water'' being considered a demon even in works that were commercially successful. For example, `` Jaws '' (1975) and `` Titanic '' (1997) are set in the ocean. Director Steven Spielberg insisted on actually filming the movie in the ocean, and as a result, the robot shark malfunctioned due to the salt water. The production costs and shooting dates ended up far exceeding the schedule.

Also, in the case of ``Titanic,'' directed by James Cameron, even though no one had seen the completed work yet, the film was released due to the jinx that ``movies set on the ocean are not successful.'' Even before its release, there was a lot of heartless negative press reporting that it would be a ``failure''. Of course, Cameron's case was also influenced by the box office failure of The Abyss (1989), which was set in the deep sea (it only made about $54 million in North America, despite the production cost of about $70 million). .

"Waterworld" preview

``Waterworld'' (1995), starring Kevin Costner, depicts an adventure in a near-future Earth where the surface of the earth is covered with an ``sea'' and a map marking the location of the legendary dry land. It was a work that was viewed as a ``failure'' even before its release, as it significantly exceeded its production costs.

In order to realize the world set in the story, the first thing that needed to be done was filming on the open ocean, so far away that you couldn't see the land. ``Waterworld'' was released at the exact midpoint between `` Jurassic Park '' (1993) and ``Titanic,'' which revolutionized CG expression. As you can see from watching the video, scenes that could have been expressed using CG in today's world were shot using real water in this movie, and many scenes were shot on the real ocean. There is.

Risks of filming on the real sea