So, Kevin Costner made a movie back in the 90s. It was a surefire hit. The story line was a direct rip off of The Road Warrior, but instead of a desert it happened in the water. What could go wrong with Waterworld?
The movie became one of the bigger box office disasters of the century. It became a punchline like Ishtar or Howard the Duck. The facts are it isn’t a terrible movie and frankly, it made money if compared to the budget (however, marketing costs are another story)…in fact, it made more money than Ishtar and Howard the Duck combined.
Part of the marketing efforts for Waterworld was a tie-in to the developing Universal Studios property in Los Angeles. Universal had given tours for a long time, but by the 90’s they started eyeing Walt Disney’s successful (and relatively recession proof) theme park assets. It was time to get in the theme park business.
Since Waterworld seemed like an intellectual property that was as can’t miss as possible. Costner was hot from The Untouchables and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and as stated before it was a carbon copy of one of the most successful films of the 80s. It even had Dennis Hopper as a sarcastic bad guy.
So the cross promotion they chose was a stunt show, often a standard in upper level theme parks, based on the property. Previously, they had a Miami Vice stunt show but no one knew that property anymore by the middle of the 90’s.
So they retooled it to the theme of Waterworld where Kevin Costner’s Mariner character is pitted against the Deacon and his legion of “Smokers.” Basically, it is an excuse to blow stuff up real good and whip around on jet skis.
To tell you how good this show is, keep in mind, it replaced the Miami Vice show which had an old forgotten IP from the 80s. Waterworld was released in 1995 and mostly forgotten by 1996…and yet it is still running. It wouldn’t be still going if the show wasn’t just rock solid.
There are great stunts with fire, explosions, choreographed fights, and one gigantic stunt that stuns the audience on its scale EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
I think what really helps is that while most of the soundtrack is recorded and timed to the nanosecond, the main actors…especially Deacon…are miked and allowed to go with the flow of the audience and even improv. In this way, if they have a sleepy little audience, he can hype them up. If he has a wild audience, he can go with that flow. Prior to the festivities, a few of the Smokers also have fun heckling passers-by and on hot days, may even give them a squirt to remind them it is a water show afterall.
Once you see the show, you’ll never forget it. Check it out soon….Waterworld is worth taking in. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.
To see a fairly decent filming of the show, check this YouTube video: