Theatrical: Universal Pictures

Video: Universal Studios

DTS-HD Master Audio English 4181 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4181 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core:
5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
DTS Audio French 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio French 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio German 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio Italian 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio Japanese 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio Spanish 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit
DTS Audio Spanish 768 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit

 

Subtitles:

English (SDH), English, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, none

 

Extras:

• BD-Live

 

Bitrate:

 

 

Description: Centuries of global warming have caused the polar ice caps to melt, flooding the earth as civilization is left adrift. The inhabitants of this once-flourishing planet cling to life on incredible floating cities, their existence constantly threatened by Smokers--bands of marauding pirates who roam the featureless surface of Waterworld. For the survivors, one chance remains: a solitary hero, known only as the Mariner. Battling the Smokers and their ruthless leader, the Deacon, the Mariner sets out with a beautiful woman and a mysterious little girl on a search for a new beginning.

 

 

The Film:

Excerpt from James Berardinelli at ReelViews.net located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.
 

It seems this 1.85:1 transfer must be a different one than on the November 2006 HD-DVD, that came out HERE, as this total disc space exceeds the capacity (30 Gig) of that now-defunct format. It also utilizes the MPEG-4 AVC encode as opposed to the VC-1 used on the older HD disc.  This Blu-ray has moments where it looks quite strong - but overall I'd say the appearance is a shade underwhelming. This is probably not the fault of the transfer process but simply that the film's visuals never looked especially brilliant. Detail is rarely pristine mostly due to the kinetic camera caused by the waves of the ocean. The feature itself takes up almost 44 Gig of space with a fairly strong video bitrate. Colors look pretty strong but contrast has inconsistencies possibly due to the extensive use of natural light in the outdoor scenes. By modern standards this is fairly tame visually, without an abundance of depth, but as a representation of the original - it is probably quite authentic - making it the best it has ever looked for your home theater.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a rousing DTS-HD Master 5.1 track at a whopping 4181 kbps. There isn't an abundance of aggression in the film's soundtrack but there is enough in the action sequences to exercise the capabilities of the mix - making it quite buoyant. There are a few subtleties in the effect noises and I really like the classically infused score by James Newton Howard + Artie Kane - it's a big part of the film experience. There are plenty of foreign language DUBs and subtitles and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
Another film that is labeled to be in Costner's 'awful' series of films - but truly, it is not that bad. It's a decent action-sci/fi-adventure that is strong conceptually but perhaps considered fairly low-brow from the guy who did Dances with Wolves only 5 years previously. I think it took some guts to produce Waterworld that bites off a bit more than the audience can chew. Although it certainly held my attention but won't be in my top of this genre's list. Surprisingly it has developed somewhat of a cult following and those fans should appreciate this Blu-ray, especially the audio, and the low-ish price reflects the lack of any viable extras. 

Gary Tooze

October 12th, 2009