As Mad Max movies go, Waterworld is certainly the dampest, least authorized, and most expensive. And thanks to one thrilling airplane-versus-trimaran battle sequence, it's also the Jack Blackiest.
The scene: The Mariner (Kevin Costner), Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn), and Enola (Tina Majorino) are tracked down by the nefarious Smokers, pirates with a penchant for gas-powered mayhem. The situation is grim. Our heroes are stuck on their sailboat like a bunch of nerds, while the bad guys buzz them in a Helio H-295 Super Courier seaplane with a mounted machine gun. The pilot? None other than the Kung-fu Panda himself.
Black's role is a limited one. His lines are pretty much confined to grunting in frustration and, in a particularly optimistic moment, telling his trigger happy gunner not to hit the kid while he strafes a moving boat with automatic fire from the back of a low-flying aircraft. Tragically, the whole outing comes to an abrupt end when the most accurately wielded harpoon cannon in history launches four feet of steely death through the gunman, and Black winds up in what could best be described as "the reverse Empire Strikes Back snowspeeder maneuver."
Blessedly, Black's character escapes and flies off into a vast horizon filled with opportunity and water. Maybe he'll be back for the sequel.
