And water and fuel were the rare commodities everyone was after. Like much of "Waterworld's" look, the Mariner is obviously inspired by the character played by Mel Gibson in "Mad Max" and its sequels, "The Road Warrior" and "Mad Max Beyond Thunder-dome." In those films, the burned-out, post-apocalyptic future was in the hands of hapless, rag-tag innocents terrorized by evil mutant bikers who drove rusted, jerry-built vehicles. (Errol Flynn, whose cinematic heroics are evoked here, is no doubt spinning in his grave.) (They are played respectively by Jeanne Tripplehorn, of "The Firm," and the wonderful child actress Tina Majorino, of "Andre" and "Corrina, Corrina.")Įventually, the Mariner will redeem himself and become a bit more warm and fuzzy (even while he's taking out bad guys by the dozens), but throughout the first half of the film the character is more than a bit unsettling. And his treatment of Helen and Enola, a woman and her "adopted" little girl who are forced to accompany him, is mean-spirited, nasty and misogynistic. The Mariner is a surly loner, an outcast about whom it is said, "There are none of his kind." His origins are never explained, but it's clear that the Mariner doesn't like humans.
The Mariner is the protagonist in "Waterworld," which has been highly publicized as the most expensive movie ever made ($175 million in production costs - and you can tack on another $30 million for advertising).īut, surprisingly, he's not the most appealing movie hero we've seen. Back in the '50s, "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" was dubbed "The Gill-Man," a nickname that also applies to Kevin Costner's character in "Waterworld." As a futuristic mutant, Costner plays "the Mariner," who actually has webbed feet and gills behind his ears.