10 Directors Who Completely Ruined Their Careers With One Movie
4. Kevin Costner
The Killer Movie: Waterworld (Co-Directed) It seems the world is finally remembering why we all loved Kevin Costner thanks to his incredible, understated performance in Man Of Steel. Given his relative obscurity in the past decade, it might be easy to think he was semi-retired, or at least that he wasn't nearly as well-loved as when he was knocking out Golf and Baseball romances every six months, but Costner the actor never lost it. The same cannot be said of Costner the director however. After debuting with the excellent Dances With Wolves, and disproving the occasional myth that debuts need to be smaller in scale to help foster talent, Costner set his eyes on something just as epic in scope, a futuristic, watery sci-fi set in a post-apocalyptic Mad Max style world, which he initially produced, but was forced to direct the end of after sacking original director Kevin Reynolds. Sadly, despite Costner taking control towards the end, Waterworld sunk. It tanked. It was a fishy mess. And all manner of other nautical criticisms: basically it was widely derided and ridiculed as an over-blown disaster without the necessary restraint or discipline that a more accomplished director might have given it. He clearly didn't have the time or the capability to save it from Reynolds' shoddy work, and that has to reflect badly on him, as both a producer and a director. Looking at it now, it's not actually all that bad, because cult has wrapped a forgiving arm around its shoulders, but back when it was released it was awful. Undeterred by the belief that he wasn't actually a good director, Costner then made The Postman. Smart move.
The Killer Movie: Waterworld (Co-Directed) It seems the world is finally remembering why we all loved Kevin Costner thanks to his incredible, understated performance in Man Of Steel. Given his relative obscurity in the past decade, it might be easy to think he was semi-retired, or at least that he wasn't nearly as well-loved as when he was knocking out Golf and Baseball romances every six months, but Costner the actor never lost it. The same cannot be said of Costner the director however. After debuting with the excellent Dances With Wolves, and disproving the occasional myth that debuts need to be smaller in scale to help foster talent, Costner set his eyes on something just as epic in scope, a futuristic, watery sci-fi set in a post-apocalyptic Mad Max style world, which he initially produced, but was forced to direct the end of after sacking original director Kevin Reynolds. Sadly, despite Costner taking control towards the end, Waterworld sunk. It tanked. It was a fishy mess. And all manner of other nautical criticisms: basically it was widely derided and ridiculed as an over-blown disaster without the necessary restraint or discipline that a more accomplished director might have given it. He clearly didn't have the time or the capability to save it from Reynolds' shoddy work, and that has to reflect badly on him, as both a producer and a director. Looking at it now, it's not actually all that bad, because cult has wrapped a forgiving arm around its shoulders, but back when it was released it was awful. Undeterred by the belief that he wasn't actually a good director, Costner then made The Postman. Smart move.