Reviews

I worked on WaterWorld and was painfully disappointed when the final cut came out. Missing was much of the critical pivotal plot points that underpinned the storyline.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a two disc version that included a complete version of the film. In it are not only the missing 38 minutes but additional scenes that I remember from our production days.

This will not satisfy everyone but it certainly improved the film for the people that I showed it to. It answers some of the questions created by slashing away in the editing room.

One thing that is for sure, the Atoll was as impressive an engineering undertaking as I have ever seen and the full scale military assault on it while it was floating in the Pacific was spectacular not only in real life but also on screen.

Finally, Kevin Reynolds and Dean Semler shot a beautiful film under some very extreme conditions.

This film is masterfully made. View only the directors cut. All other versions fail. There will be a time when Leone's family releases an even longer version, restoring over 45 minutes more of this film.

Through paced story-telling, Leone reveals the tender and tough underpinnings of America's Mob-Labor-Politico history. This is the story of how the immigrants arrived, and succeeded in the tough streets of New York. All are heroes, all are bad guys, all are trying to make a living.

The teaming of DeNiro, Woods, Pesci and Weld is perfect. Vulnerability show through all of these tragic figures. This is one of DeNiros finest roles. James Woods shines as the brains of the gang. Treat Williams has never been better.

The soundtrack is incredible. That it was never submitted for an Oscar is one of the largest oversights in films history. Perfectly scored.

I cannot wait until I see the rest of the story. Truly one of the best films ever made.

10* out of 10*