Episode 48 - Waterworld (Kevin Reynolds, 1995) (with Simon Brew)

Waterworld (Kevin Reynolds, 1995).

The Fantasy/Animation podcast takes listeners on a journey through the intersection between fantasy cinema and the medium of animation. Available via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and many of your favourite podcast hosting platforms!

Episode 48 is a mid-1990s feast of action, water, and a drenched Kevin Costner, as Chris and Alex attempt to stay afloat for their visit to Waterworld (Kevin Reynolds, 1995), the ill-fated post-apocalyptic action adventure that has earned its place in U.S. film history seemingly for all the wrong reasons. The special guest for this instalment is Simon Brew - founder and editor at Film Stories magazine/podcast - who joins Chris and Alex to discuss the pleasures of high-concept blockbuster filmmaking in the 1990s; Waterworld’s notoriously troubled production that dominated the Hollywood trade press before, during and after its release; the industrial context shaping Reynold’s film (including its application of physical sets in an era of encroaching digital technology and computer animation); the challenges of world-building on water; VFX connoisseurship and audience reception; and how the environmentalist discourse regarding melting polar ice caps pushes the Waterworld away from disaster/science-fiction territory and into science fact.

Suggested Readings

• Goldman, Michael. 2006. “CGI gets unreal.” Variety (July 26, 2006), available at: https://variety.com/2006/digital/markets-festivals/cgi-gets-unreal-1200338960/.

• Lesher, Dave, and Robert W. Welkos. 1995. “‘Waterworld’ Tests the Water: Movies: An unfinished cut of the Kevin Costner film gets a sneak preview in Sacramento. Fans give it a mixed review.” LA Times (May 11, 1995), available at: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-05-11-ca-64834-story.html.

• Mulvey, Laura. 2007. “A Clumsy Sublime.” Film Quarterly 60, no. 3: 3.