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White Wall Cinema presents

​​​FRIDAY OCTOBER 11TH

WATERWORLD'THE ULYSSES CUT'

DIRECTOR: Kevin Reynolds

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STARRING: Kevin Costner, Dennis Hopper, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tina Majorino & Michael Jeter.

WWC is proud to present a very special screening of the fabled 'Ulysses Cut' of the much maligned 90s Kevin Costner 'Mad Max, but on water' blockbuster Waterworld. Attacked viciously in the press even BEFORE it's release due to reported production problems and a ballooning budget of what, at the time, became the most expensive movie ever made, the film has (rather incorrectly) become synonymous with monstrous financial disaster. 

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Costner in 2024 is currently in the middle of a $100 million dollar gamble (with a considerable chunk of his own money) with his two part six plus hour epic Western saga 'Horizon' (with a planned parts three AND four) and has never been shy of ambitious movie making. But the sheer scale of Waterworld and it's pre-CG spectacle of gargantuan maritime sets, elaborate action and epic vistas is still one of the most jaw dropping feats in cinema history. Costing a whopping $175 million (that's $368 million in today's money) it was hampered by a unfair press pile on, the inherent difficulty and cost of shooting in water, and disagreements on the film's vision between director Kevin Reynolds and star/producer Kevin Costner, who had by this point, directed the huge hit Dances With Wolves winning no less than seven Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director.

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Cut to ribbons by the studio in a panic to try to salvage something from the reputation the press had given it before even seeing it, huge chunks of character development, some of the film's best sequences and the films pacing were lost, giving way to a confusing choppy theatrical cut. Eventually in the years that followed more expansive (but censored for TV) versions surfaced on American TV, and over the intervening decades footage was cribbed from these by fans, and cobbled together into an infamous 'Ulysses Cut' that spread around film fans online. Finally now restored in it's full uncensored, original length glory (restoring some lost 40 minutes of scenes) the official 'Ulysses Cut' represents the definitive version of this lost epic blockbuster that now comes across as Mad Max directed by Terry Gilliam.

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This post apocalyptic tale of a future where the polar ice caps have completely melted, and the sea level has risen to cover all the lands of the earth, follows a nameless seafarer (played strictly as an anti-hero by Costner) who begrudgingly helps a woman (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and a young girl (Tina Majorino) in quest to find the mythical 'Dryland'. All the while encountering the difficulties of the post apocalyptic world, as well as a fabulous scenery chewing Dennis Hopper and his gang of 'smokers'. With prescient ecological overtones and outrageous production values, and now in this expansive cut that gives the story room to breath, finally this once throwaway bit of 90s cultural ephemera can be seen as truly intended. Join us for this special escapist extravaganza of Hollywood excess, that is a genuinely thrilling big screen spectacle.