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

Risks of filming on the real sea

``Waterworld'' was filmed off the coast of Hawaii. In other words, a huge set was built on the ocean. Of course, depending on the scene, the background may be composited with a set built on land, or scenes may be shot using elaborate miniature sets. Additionally, in the action scene on the ruined tanker, you can see from the footage that the angle was designed to hide the sea surface as much as possible. In this scene, a real tanker was brought to the airport and the digital "water" was synthesized. Mark Stetson, the miniature supervisor, calls this technology "Digital Water," and says he is proud of the fact that the expression predates "Titanic."

However, many of the scenes were filmed there, traveling by boat for six hours each way to reach the huge set set on the sea. Of course, filming requires more time and money. Ironically, screenwriter Peter Rader has testified that ``the idea for ``Waterworld'' was originally conceived as a low-budget film.''

The original intention was to film a movie like `` Mad Max '' (1979) in South Africa. When they decided to aim for a ``Mad Max'' set in the ocean, a number of miscalculations began. By the way, the first draft of this movie was written in 1986. Although the project was once abandoned, in 1990 it was revised as a ``sea western drama'' reminiscent of `` Shane '' (1953), while quoting the setting of ``Mad Max.''

“The Road Warrior” preview

This script caught the attention of Lawrence Gordon. As a film producer, he made `` 48 Hours '' (1982) and `` Die Hard '' (1988) hits in the 1980s, and established Largo Entertainment with investment from Victor Japan. It was a time when I distanced myself from being a producer. The script for ``Waterworld'' caught his attention. Indeed, this is a project that Lawrence Gordon, who has worked on action films that are still loved today, such as `` Commando '' (1985) and `` Predator '' (1987), seems to like this project.

His younger brother Charles Gordon also serves as a producer on ``Waterworld.'' Charles first teamed up with his older brother Lawrence when he participated in Die Hard as an executive producer, and then ` `Field of Dreams '' (1989) became their first brother-produced work. Yes, the leading actor in this movie is Kevin Costner.

The Gordon brothers approached Kevin, and Kevin approached Kevin Reynolds, with whom he had deepened their bond by directing his starring role before his big break, `` Fandango '' (1985). (See Fandango article). "The Two Kevins" made " Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves " (1991) a hit, and Reynolds directed "The Mystery of Moai" (1994) with Costner serving as producer (but not acting). In addition, Kevin, who will not only star in Waterworld but also serve as a producer, will work with Dean Dean, who was the cinematographer on his own film Dances with Wolves (1990), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Semler was asked to take the photo. Coincidentally, Semler also has a connection to the film because he was the cinematographer for The Road Warrior (1981). The production system was set up smoothly thanks to a series of connections between people.

"Waterworld" (C) 1995 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

The problem is the production cost. The initial budget for the film amounted to $135 million, which was close to the highest price ever for a film at the time. Of course, Universal Pictures, which was contracted to distribute the film, was reluctant. As a result, filming was greenlit with a budget of $65 million (later approved up to $100 million). However, due to budget overruns, the production cost rose from the original $135 million to $175 million. Why did it go so far? In addition to the negative factors associated with actually filming in the ocean, there were numerous troubles surrounding the cast and staff.

Misfortunes and troubles faced by ``Waterworld''