**Rather poorly edited and cut, this film is downright forgettable.**

I've seen this movie twice, and I honestly can't believe it. It was truly the same as burning money. After being impressed by the poor quality of the film, I went to read and research about it, and discovered the eventual cause of this disaster: from the beginning, it was a project doomed to failure. Badly planned, it was filmed in a place where the weather conditions would cause problems. The ambition to do more and better is healthy, but in this case it caused an escalation of costs. To make things more difficult, the production was guided by Kevin's disagreement against Kevin, since the director, Kevin Reynolds, was contradicted several times by the main actor, Kevin Costner. The most blatant disagreement may have happened during post-production, with the actor and the studio demanding a straight cut of the film, which was lame and poorly edited. It had everything to go wrong...

I know, now, that there are extended versions of the film, but I haven't found a "director's cut" that would be able to reverse the changes and give us the version that Reynold initially envisioned. What I saw is the “canonical version” of about two hours, and I hated it. The script is based on a very apocalyptic and poorly explained future, where the entire world is flooded, and a myth has been created where, somewhere, there would be land, but which no one has actually been able to confirm. The few surviving people live on atolls and artificial islands, and on boats. The film never shows us a storm, a hurricane or anything that threatens the lives of those survivors, nor does it explain how they survived, or why no one properly explores the world to discover signs of earth. There are a lot of loose ends and absurdities, and the film will only work if we avoid thinking about it too much.

The cast rests solidly on Kevin Costner's back, and even those who aren't particularly fans of the actor will have to agree that he makes a good acting exercise, and is charismatic enough to ensure the role that is expected of him, especially if we're considering how indigestible and unsympathetic his character can be. Dennis Hopper is a likable villain, more cartoonish than truly menacing. Jeanne Tripplehorn is decent and satisfying.

Technically, the film stands out for its commitment to excellent production values, with the effort and financial expenditure applied being clear: the choice of filming locations is very good, despite having brought many practical and logistical difficulties to the production; the cinematography takes every opportunity to make the film beautiful and elegant. The sets and costumes, made extremely realistically, are excellent, and you can see that they were expensive and detailed. The action scenes were well-thought-out and executed, and could have been better had the film not been structured for such a low rating. Good effects and a soundtrack that satisfies without enchanting make up the overall picture of a rather forgettable film.