Waterworld's budget was $175 million but I just noticed a rope breaking in the background

I was rewatching Waterworld last night with some friends who hate it, and I spotted something hilarious. During the scene where the Deacon is giving his big speech on the oil rig, one of the ropes holding up a sail just snaps and flies off screen. Nobody notices, it's not in the movie's biggest flop moment, but that tiny mistake makes me love the whole thing more because it's so human. How can you call it the worst movie ever when it's got this kind of raw behind the scenes energy right on screen?

2 comments

2 Comments

mila_perry1313d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy used to work as a grip on a low budget movie where they ran out of fake blood during a death scene. The lead actor had to just drop dead with no blood and nobody cared because they were three hours behind schedule. Anyway, I bet that rope actor had a good laugh about it in the editing room and they just left it in because it costs money to fix. Movies with obvious mistakes like that feel more real to me than the ones that are polished to death.

grant.sam13d ago

Used to be the opposite honestly, I'd nitpick every little mistake in a movie and it would ruin the whole thing for me. But @mila_perry13 you're right, that kind of thing makes it feel more lived in somehow. Like the movie isn't trying to be some perfect little fantasy world, it's just a bunch of people working hard and sometimes things slip. I watched this horror flick once where you could see a crew member's reflection in a window and I actually laughed out loud, but it made me enjoy the movie more. Those polished movies just feel sterile to me now, like they're too worried about looking good to have any real soul. Guess I needed to hear that story from your buddy to finally get it.