History Film / Waterworld

* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: At one point in the movie the Mariner urinates into a container and puts his urine through some kind of small machine which filters it into drinkable water in less than a minute. Human urine on average has higher salt content than seawater, not to mention all the other elements that would need to be removed. That machine should easily be able to turn seawater drinkable as well. (Plus, if he has gills and is adapted to breathe underwater, would it be so farfetched that he could process seawater internally anyway?)

** [[spoiler: Mount Everest is shown to be an island that rises a few hundred feet above the sea. But Everest is hardly an isolated peak; there should be plenty more dry Himalayan mountain tops, all around]].

** The shores of the island at the end had sandy beaches. It takes a long time to erode rock to sand...

** Mount Everest is shown to be an island that rises a few hundred feet above the sea. But Everest is hardly an isolated peak; there should be plenty more dry Himalayan mountain tops, all around.

** Want to make it worse? An early screenplay version of the movie has a drawing that shows that for whatever reason the Moon really is that close to earth, and that it is in geostationary orbit. The reason why Dryland even exists is because the Everest was directly beneath, and the gravity well of moon pushed the water ''apart'' (instead of sticking out of the bulge).

* FantasticRacism: You'd believe that being able to breathe underwater would be quite a desirable asset in a ocean world, but people seemed to think otherwise. Downplayed in both the novelisation and the extended cut[[note]]People consider this mutation to be ''highly'' valuable, but it means an extra mouth to provide water for and the ruling clique of the atoll is paranoid about any disruption of the status quo that keeps them in charge.[[/note]].

* RagnarokProofing: Any technology that's still around, along with operable and floating vessels. But special mention should be given to the airplane the Smokers use.

* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: At one point in the movie the Mariner urinates into a container and puts his urine through some kind of small machine which filters it into drinkable water in less than a minute. Human urine on average has higher salt content than seawater, not to mention all the other elements that would need to be removed. That machine should easily be able to turn seawater drinkable as well.

** On the plus side the Atoll Enforcer, who saved the Mariner from an angry mob and tried to spare him from execution, is repaid during the Atoll's downfall when the Mariner kills a Smoker about to get the drop on him.

* ArtisticLicenseLinguistics: Just one word: Portugreek. And it sounds like neither.

* ViewersAreMorons: The OpeningNarration was added on Universal's insistance, despite the LogoJoke and title screen providing the exact same amount of information without saying a word. The narration is also responsible for half of all plotholes, since it's the only bit where ice caps meltdown is given as a reason why entire planet is covered in (salt) water.
* WastelandElder: A group of corrupt, power-hungry and thoroughly cowardish elders is ruling the atoll. Their vices are all that more apparent in the extended cut.

* RecycledINSPACE: It's ''Film/MadMax''... on JET SKIS!

An extended edition of the movie was also released, adding roughly ''one hour'' of world building and background information, which was cut before the theatrical release. The general consensus is that this version is ''much'' better than the theatrical one.

* IncestIsRelative: Discussed. The Atoll folk try to get the Mariner to impregnate one of their young women since all the local options would be inbreeding. Him turning the offer down after being so long at sea is what makes them suspicious of him.

* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: At one point in the movie the Mariner urinates into a container and puts his urine through some kind of small machine which filters it into drinkable water in less than a minute. Human urine on average has higher salt content than seawater, not to mention all the other elementa that would need to be removed. That machine should easily be able to turn seawater drinkable.

* AfterTheEnd: The polar ice caps have melted and flooded the world. Most of humanity has not survived, and the remnants have been reduced to living in makeshift rafts and cities of flotsam.

* ArtisticLicensePhysics: Even if the world were totally flooded in water, the moon would not appear as huge as it does in the movie.

** Dry Land is considered mythical and few dialogues implied it is ''blasphemous'' to even consider the world once had any land on it or was flooded.

** Want to make it worse? An early screenplay version of the movie has a drawing that shows that for whatever reason the Moon really is that close to earth, and that it is in geostationary orbit. The reason why Dryland even exists is because the Everest was directly beneath, and the gravity well of moon pushed the water apart.

* Chekhov'sGun: The paper the crazed drifter gives to the Mariner in exchange for some time with Helen.[[spoiler: The writing is Chinese, the same language as the map coordinates on Enola's tattoo]].

* BrickJoke: When an insane trader wants to sell the Mariner a single page of paper as the biggest treasure ever, he just ignores him and the whole thing is played to show how much deranged the trader is. [[spoiler: And then, many scenes later, it is revealed the Mariner has an ''entire locker'' full of newspapers, books and maps]].

* ConflictBall: Helen towards the mariner. After blackmailing him into saving her and Enola's lives, she immediately expects his trust. Later, in the middle of a firefight when the mariner is trying to save her life ''and'' his own, Helen suddenly questions whether she can trust ''him''.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: One of the leaders of the atoll does what he can to give the Mariner a fair trial and the benefit of the doubt, and is genuinely sorry when he is sentenced to be recycled anyway. Regardless, it's enough for the Mariner [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe to save his life when the Smokers attack]].

* RuleOfCool: A water-covered planet, where mutated loner is helping to track down [[ThePromisedLand Dry Land]] in a race against ski-jet riding bandits, all served with a UsedFuture OceanPunk sauce and a side-dish consisting of LargeHam? Yes please!

* TheSheriff: The Coral Atoll enforcer, who serves as TheBigGuy, and a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who is one of the few aversions of TheSocialDarwinist to appear.
* TheSocialDarwinist: Most of people in the movie are this but the Mariner is the prime example, he definitely believes in survival of the fittest and has no concern for anyone but himself.

* {{Jerkass}}: The Mariner. He tosses a little girl overboard when angry at her antics. Deconstructed, as he isn't expecting she ''can't swim'' and isn't trying to kill her, just scare her.

** The Smokers in general run on this.While for obvious reasons bullets are an incredibly valuable commodity, Smokers not only seem to have an endless supply of ammo for their almost exclusively automatic weapons, they are shown making ''more'' somehow. Everyone else makes do with jury-rigged harpoon guns, water cannons, javelins and good old-fashioned melee weapons.

* TemptingFate: As the Smokers start their attack on the Atoll, one of the elders declares that they will be safe behind the Atoll's walls... [[OhCrap and then turns and asks a fellow elder a nervous "right?"]]. Cue the Smokers using their "[[{{BFG}} key to]] [[MoreDakka the city]]" to turn the walls into Swiss cheese.

* DigitalDeAging: An early, rudimentary example. Supposedly Costner forced the filmmakers to use CGI to enhance his thinning hairline.

Set InAWorld [[AfterTheEnd where the polar ice-caps have melted]] due to havoc caused by a geomagnetic reversal. [[TheGreatFlood The world is now covered by water]]. What's left of humanity is surviving on ramshackle crafts tied together to make Atolls (villages). The Mariner (Costner) enters one of these Atolls to trade, but is discovered to be a mutant and sentenced to death. A gang of raiders known as ''Smokers'', led by Deacon (Hopper), attacks the Atoll. A woman named Helen (Tripplehorn) and her adopted daughter Enola (Creator/TinaMajorino) bribe the Mariner to take them to the mythical Dry Land, which no one has ever seen. Conveniently, Enola's back has been tattooed with a map indicating the alleged way to Dry Land. However, with The Smokers hot on their tail, their journey encounters more than a few bumps along the way. And the Mariner is not your traditional plucky hero. He's just looking out for himself.

* FullFrontalAssault: Subverted when Helen strips naked[[note]]Tripplehorn's approved body double was the nude woman in that section[[/note]], appropriates the Mariner's weapons and threatens to kill him, only for the Mariner to lower his sail directly onto her.