The uncut Theatrical Version, represented by the german FSK 12-DVD by Universal has been compared to a recording of the US TV Extended Version, the first time broadcasted as "Two Night Special Event" on the TV broadcaster ABC.

The so-called extended version which was released by Universal on DVD is identical to this TV-broadcast. That means it includes all extended scenes but is also censored like the TV-Version (see below).

Before the development of the movie project "Waterworld" they were best friends, now they are seperated people: The friendship between main actor Kevin Costner & director Kevin Reynolds, who had been successfully working together on "Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves" was broken due to the almost calamitous production of the flick. With a planned budget of 100 million Dollars and the, due to disadvantageous circumstances like a several weeks enduring hurricane, expensive transportations to the water sets and much neccessary digital postprocessing of scenes, the final production costs of 175 million Dollars were far too much.

As Kevin Reynolds then presented his final, almost 3 hour long movie version the argument really started: Because of already having failed with "Wyatt Earp", a movie with a runtime also this epic Costner and the producers, who couldn't reconcile with the idea the movie could only be shown once per evening in cinemas summarily fired the director who would not accept any shorter version and cut about 3/4 of an hour of footage out of Reynolds' desired version. If the movie would have been more accepted in the original version will probably always be only speculation.

What you can say in any case though, is: The recompiled version by director Reynolds for the US TV-Premiere on the broadcaster ABC is, compared to the Theatrical Version, the far superior one. In the course of their slaughtering of this flick, the persons in charge cut scenes of any caliber: Senseful consolidations of the relationship between the Mariner and Helen respectively scenes, that lay the foundation of the friendship between the Mariner and Enola, had been removed as well as much nicer takes of scenes (e.g. swap of tracking shots with stiff takes), a few more humorous scenes, action scenes as well as countless depictions, that are not really of slight importance for the understanding of many plot elements.
A few of the gigantic plot holes and connection errors that had been occured due to the producers' editing could, for the theatrical version, be corrected through the rearranging of some or the skilled editing of other scenes. Resposible for this was Joss Whedon, dedicated "script doctor" and the maker of the TV-series "Buffy" and "Firefly". But many big mistakes were still in there, which is why Whedon to this day speaks of "one of the hardest reparations of one of the worst scripts I had ever read". Thus, a Mariner, who, at the end of the film, suddenly has a jet ski which obviously never came from anywhere and who tracks the Smoker's ship problem-freely on the to any point of the compass open sea only leaves question marks over many audiences' heads.

The US TV Extended Version is no completely finished, restored Director's Cut; you can see this from time to time when, for transitions to next scenes, Reynolds sometimes uses takes he had used before in the film. It's more like the closest version to the director's preferred one. This would, next to all the other so called Extended Versions/Directors' Cuts that are being released these days, be honored with a possible DVD-Release. Countless petitions on the internet demand this, and it wouldn't just be some extended version - it would be one of THE Directors' Cuts of all time. But just like similar arguments between director and main actor/producer team like "Judge Dredd" or "M:I-2" for example, only little hope is - unfortunately - conceived.

The runtime designations of all the described scenes refer to the theatrical version.
The rest of the runtime difference results from the PAL-NTSC differences, the partly missing credits in the Extended TV Version and the respective rounding of the runtime of single scenes to whole respectively half seconds. Scene extensions / -abbreviations of below 1 seconds were not considered due to missing relevance. Runtime of the Theatrical Version: 2:09:31 Min. (2:01:27 Min. without credits) (PAL)
Runtime of the Extended Version: 2:50:35 Min. (2:49:12 Min. without credits) (NTSC)

91 Extended / Extended, alternative scenes = 43 Min. 12 Sec. (NTSC)
5 Alternative takes = No time difference
2 Cut scenes = 10 Sec.

9:35
A few luckless sailors float in their little boats in front of the atoll's gates and try to get in. An old man would trade in his snow-white hair for a little cup of Hydro. But they're not being let in.
34 Sec.

9:36
Alternate take at the Mariner's arrival: The Theatrical Cut shows an outside view from far away, the TV-Version keeps the view with the security chief and his assistant while the other man calls. Furthermore, the line of dialog of the shouting man is changed slightly( left Theatrical Version / right TV-Version ):

No time difference

9:39
The old man with the white hair turns to the arriving Mariner.
2 Sec.

9:40
Alternate take of the people on the wall, watching the Mariner's arrival.( left Theatrical Cut / right TV-Version ):

No time difference

9:41
You can see the Mariner's sailer navigating in front of the atoll's gates.
4,5 Sec.

10:37
The luckless sailors in front of the atoll's gates are being kept there with water throwers and prevented to get in while the Mariner comes in.
5 Sec.

10:42
The Mariner brushes his teeth a little with his bare finger and watches a few people at the edge of the atoll's inner basin.
11 Sec.

13:15
The trader grabs the bag with the Chits, says the Mariner was a tough bargainer and wants to start filling a certain amount of Chits into the glass. The mariner pulls the glass together with the bag and its entire content away from the trader and digs his way back through the perplexed crowd. The trader takes the bowl with the dirt from the scale and laughs, as if he had made the deal of his life.

Change of scene: Helen fragt einen Kunden in ihrem Laden ganz ungläubig
Helen unbelievingly asks a customer in her shop "Dirt?", whereas he answers "I have never seen purer!".

31 Sec.

13:45
Alternate take of Mariner going to Helen's store.

Theatrical Cut:

TV-Version:

The view of the Mariner turning towards the atoll-inhabitants who follow him is a moment longer in the TC; still, the TV version is longer overall.
7 Sec.

13:52
Take of a woman, marvelingly gazing after the Mariner.
2 Sec.

14:17
The Mariner buys the entire Hydro-stock of the shop, whereas Helen brings the six cans one after another to the counter. In the meantime, the Mariner asks for all kinds of goods, but she always says no. Finally he asks, not really believing in it himself, for "Magazines?", whereas Helen answers "I i had a magazine, i would retire."
39,5 Sec.

14:25
Helen asks the Mariner if he wants to drink something, whereas he answers "A cup of hydro". She puts some sort of "snacks" on the counter and goes to a hanged bottle, while the Mariner smells at one of the snacks and bites a piece off. In the bottle before Helen, there's obviously only "mixed" Hydro, whereas the Mariner points at the bottle next to it and says "Pure!". Thus, Helen pours water from the bottle next to it. Deacon's right hand sees this, smiles mischievously and goes to the counter.
26 Sec.

14:58
Deacon's right hand talks longer to the Mariner. He wants to know how long he had been out in the sea. He again, asks which moon there is, whereas someone in the background says it should be August by now. Thus, the Mariner answers the previously asked question with "15 lunars", whereas Deacon's right hand looks amazed.
36 Sec.

15:12
The shot of Enola's back-tattoo begins a little earlier in the TV-Version, so it can be seen longer. In the Theatrical Cut it's immediately being covered by Helen.
1 Sec.

16:22
The scene during which a few atoll-inhabitants want to persuade the Marine to donate his "semen" begins earlier in the TV-Version. The girl's father proudly shows the Mariner his daughter before; another man explains that he surely must have witnessed the funeral, so there's more "room" for one person now.
15 Sec.

19:45
The Mariner sees several atoll-inhabitants go to a loud convention. There, one of the men "explains" the rest of the crowd some of the things that were found on the Mariner's sailer; funnily, a yo-yo for example is being interpreted as a strangling-wire, a chest expander as a torturing tool or a flute as a listening-instrument to realize the unexpected sooner.
Now a ferocious debate takes place in which most of the atoll-inhabitants are in favor of killing the Mariner, whereas Helen puts herself out for using him to find Dryland, which everyone else though thinks is more or less a myth. Helen then clarifies the crowd that their entire lifestyle is ending - you don't hear anything about other atolls any more, less and less traders are coming, the wind mills dont work properly any more and cannot be repaired etc. Some become thoughtful after this speech, other become angry about it.
Finally, the poor guy who was shot in the foot with a harpoon that afternoon by the Mariner brings in little Enola, who most of the atoll-inhabitants obviously aren't in favor of, since the Smokers are looking for her and she's got a creepy aura. Finally, it's generally agreed that it's the best to get rid of the Mariner AND the little girl, whereas Helen looks terrified and nothing occurs to her any more.
197 Sec.

19:57
A few youngsters climb to the cage with the Mariner inside to tease him with iron sticks. He puts up with it for a short time, then suddenly he jumps forward and grabs one of the strollers' head. The other flee, whereas the guy the Mariner holds tight begs for his life. Finally he releases him so he can flee, too and sinks back to the cage's floor resiningly. Enola watches this while she continues drawing.

Change of scene: Enola continues painting her picture, whereas old Gregor suddenly shouts "Aha! That's it!", laughs out loudly and mumbles something about celestial alignments and similar stuff while running down the circular stairs.

81 Sec.

20:08
Gregor loudly screams into the air "Is it a map? Is it calendar? Is it symbols, is it a language...?"
13,5 Sec.

20:28
The scene during which Helen talks to Gregor in the background and asks when they could finally go away from there is much longer in the TV-Version and party has different shots. Here, the barely successful meeting is being talked about, too; Helen is afraid she could be banned, Gregor calms her though and says they would not dare to, or else he would turn off their lights. Helen wants to know how long it will take until they can get away whereas Gregor answers it'll probably take about a week. This is far too long for Helen. She says he should try with his books again, whereas Gregor replies he already did read through all of them several times and didnt find the slightest helpful hint.

Theatrical Cut:

TV-Version:

33,5 Sec.

20:51
Another shot of the cage with the Mariner inside.
2,5 Sec.

23:31
Helen is woken up by the bells ringing, shortly looks out of their boat's window with Enola and sees everyone is coming together. Both leave the boat and walk with the people to their direction; a few atoll-inhabitants barge against them passing by and scornfully say "Get out of the way!"
38,5 Sec.

23:59
A shot of Helen & Enola; the guy who had betrayed the girl to Deacon's right hand is standing next to them.
3 Sec.

24:11
A take of Gregor watching the events.
3 Sec.

25:15
More guns get distributed respectively taken from the deposit.
4 Sec.

26:02
A confused looking boy barges against Helen in the chaos who subsequentally falls. He says he couldn't find his father whereas Helen replies he is certainly on the wall and that the boy should get a gun and fight. Then she goes on.
13,5 Sec.

27:05
Gregor goes to his airship and loads it with supplies.
14 Sec.

27:19
Gregor runs around panically and obviously doesn't quite know what to save first.
8 Sec.

28:06
Gregor packs in more stuff and builds up the airship.
11 Sec.

28:30
Gregor tries pulling back the lever; it breaks off though. Looking a bit helplessly, he turns around a few times, then tries to somehow attach the airship to the ground and cries for Helen.
21 Sec.

29:05
A Smoker flies on his jetski in a cool made sequence long through the air; Helen, who is armed with a giant crossbow shoots an arrow at him.
4 Sec.

29:07
The woman who had already at the meeting made a very clear statement against Enola is standing on the wall, points at Enola & Helen and yells "It is the girl they want! Give them the girl and they leave!", but gets shot immediately after that. Enola & Helen duck away, startled.
6 Sec.

29:22
Alternative shot of Enola & Helen, fleeing over the bridge. The one of the TV-Version is much more action-packed, countless bullets and other stuff fly around here.

Theatrical Cut:

TV-Version:

The TV-Version's take is much longer.
4,5 Sec.

29:38
One of the Smoker's planes fires at the inside of the atoll.
1,5 Sec.

29:49
Gregor again falls down, runs up the circular stairs a little and then jumps from a higher position onto the airship.
12 Sec.

30:35
A little extended fighting; Deacon positions himself for a hit with the golf club and looks up.
8,5 Sec.

33:05
One of the men on the wall gets a few bloody hits and falls down; the Smokers move up.
5,5 Sec.

37:22
Here, the Theatrical Version misses the following scene: Two Smokers run through the picture; one of them carries a screaming woman. The Atoll's trader tries to flee swimming. This scene is a little later in the Theatrical Cut (after Deacon's right hand says "She's here somewhere. Keep looking!").
No time difference

37:33
A few Smokers catch Hydro from the tanks with buckets and drink some on the occasion, a few others play around quite brutally with a chainsaw on the Atoll's bred Flora and other things.
Deacon enters the Atoll with his "treasurer" and holds his hurting head wound while the latter explains to him what has been captured. Obviously, more goods were aimed for; there just hasn't been much here. Deacon tells that earlier at every horizon there had been rich Atolls and where they all could have gone, whereas the treasurer answers laughingly that they had sunk at least a few of them. Deacon asks for the girl; his right hand joins, shows him the Mariner's glass container with some soil inside and says she wasn't there. Deacon gets terribly furious about this and says that this was why they even had come there after all; they didn't need any training missions.
87 Sec.

38:43
Deacon adresses some sort of short biblic assembly, determining that god has one the one side created the fish and on the other side the humans but never a combination of both. The treasurer tells the rest of the smokers to listen carefully. At the end of the speech, a collaborative "Amen!" and then general cheer follow.
32 Sec.

39:17
A distant shot of the Atoll from above; the smokers surround their conquest.
Change of scene: The Mariner patches a hole in his sailer under water, then turns up again.
33 Sec.

39:38
The discussion between Helen and the Mariner starts earlier:
Helen says she knew what he thinks - how long the three of them might be able to bear it on the boat with so little Hydro. She explains that Enola didn't drink a lot while she doesn't want to drink any until they arrive where he wants to; where he had found the soil. The Mariner responds that he had told her before he had found the soil on an Atoll that was raided by the Smokers, whereas she answers that the Smokers never let anything back - especially no soil.
41 Sec.

41:23
The theatrical version misses the following: Enola goes into the sailer's interior and discovers many interesting things she had never seen before. Among other thins the Mariner's weapon collection. The first takes are shown later in the theatrical version, after Helen has stripped before the Mariner. The look on a few other utilities resp. the weapon collection is "TV-Version-exclusive". The following alternative scenes are shown directly after this in the theatrical cut, so the "Enola below deck" is one big sequence. The TV-Version features the rest of this scene a little later.
6 Sec.

41:55
In the Theatrical Cut, Enola immediately after that discovers the box with the wax crayons (partly different shots than in the TV-Version). But actually she awkwardly loosens the harpoon from its mounting so it falls down. Enola looks scaredly through the scuttle, then she hangs the harpoon barely where it was before (as mentioned, all this is a little later in the TV-Version than in the Theatrical Cut). Then she finally finds the box with the crayons.

Theatrical Cut:

TV-Version:

The sequence is of course much longer in the TV-Version.
9 Sec.

43:56
The Mariner climbs the pole longer.
8,5 Sec.

44:20
Some work day routine on Deacon's ship is shown; e.g. how ammunition is being produced.
30,5 Sec.

47:11
The Mariner produces fresh Hydro from the three's urine. Helen asks why he didn't use any Seahydro whereas he answers that the salty water destroys the filters. The Mariner drinks some of the Hydro; Helen asks if he is going to spare some for Enola. After he has watered his tomato-plant, Enola is allowed to drink the rest. The girl asks Helen if he is going to bring them all to Dryland, which she affirms a little hesitantly. Then she walks out of the frame and wants Enola to follow her; but she walks to the Mariner after thinking for a short while.

Enola looks at the Mariner for a short time, then she says with extraordinarily nice voice "Thanks for not killing us"; he himself affirmates this pretty blandly. Then she bows over to him and gives the Mariner a little kiss on the cheek. Obviously confused he spontaneously shoves Enola away from himself and literally "flees" from the little girl. Helen walks to her and says she should rather keep away from him. The Mariner stands next to his leaning spot.

122 Sec.

50:59
A short, extended shot of Helen & Enola returning from the water.
2,5 Sec.

56:31
The conversation between Deacon, his right hand & the pilot is differently arranged in the Theatrical Version than in the TV-Cut. The Theatrical Cut begins directly at the part in which Deacon's right hand proposes trapping the Mariner at a suitable spot. In the TV-Version, the beginning of the conversation is longer for one; Deacon tries playing golf while he talks with his right hand about the hit he had made and that he didn't even use his good eye.
He takes the spare eye out of his head because it obviously hurts him and lets it fall into a bowl which is hold by his right hand. The latter one also makes him aware of the pilot he was supposed to bring having arrived (who, by the way, sits there all the time already), whereas Deacon asks why he didn't tell him this in the first place. The pilot is being asked whether the girl had been on board, which he affirms and then angrily breaks out in tears because his buddy was killed by Helen.
The ending of the conversation, in which Deacon tries to outguess the Mariner's next move and in which he asks himself if the latter one is aware of the value of his freight, is much later in the TV-Version.
55,5 Sec.

56:44
Alternative Shot: In the Theatrical Version, furthermore the shot of all three participants is shown, in the TV-Version, there is a quick edit to the angry pilot.( left Theatrical Cut / right TV-Version ):

No time difference

57:02
In the Theatrical Cut, there is only a short take of the nodding pilot before Deacon points at the map; in the TV Version he turns to a painting, knees before it and talks about how much room for new buildings there is going to be on the "salvation" Dryland.

Theatrical Cut:

TV-Version:

The sequence is much longer in the TV-Version. As mentioned before, this entire rest of the conversation is also shown much later in the TV-Version.
9 Sec.

57:08
This scene starts much earlier in the TV-Version: After a few sailing scenes that were shown earlier in the film, too, the Mariner checks the ripeness of one of the tomatoes on his plant, then he picks the vegetable, cuts it several times and eats it with relish, while Enola and Helen watch, licking their lips. Hoping to get some, too, they get closer and closer. But the Mariner eats everything. At least there is some juice left on the boat's ground. Just as the girls jump there and at least try some of it, the Mariner mercilessly slurps up this rest, too and acts as if he hadn't seen the two the whole time. Then he grabs his binoculars.
97 Sec.

1:01:27
Helen goes into the ship's interior, where pretty weird Drifter is waiting for her. He once more repeats "Half an hour!" and indicates her to lay down on the metal pallet.
33,5 Sec.

1:04:40
After the Mariner has dispatched the dead Drifter into the water, you can see this shot longer in the TV-Version.

Directly after that in the latter one, HERE the ending of the discussion between Deacon, his right hand and the pilot, which was shown earlier in the Theatrical Cut.

Then the continuing of the scene on the sailer starts much earlier: Helen carries the fishing rod from the Drifter's boat and wants to know when there is going to be wind again and says that they need to eat something already. The Mariner checks the horizon with his binoculars and answers that it could take days for the wind to come, and also that they had just eaten two days ago, whereas Enola pretty impish answers that HE had eaten. Helen wants the Mariner to show her how to repair the fishing rod so she could get something to eat herself; but he regardless throws away the tool and says they weren't going to catch anything in this environment anyways.
Helen complains loudly and sits down next to Enola. The girl improves the mood by implying the Mariner couldn't fish at all; Helen agrees. The tortured one asks for some silence because he wants to hear if there are any motor sounds nearby, but Helen keeps nagging until she crosses the line and he angrily stomps towards the two.

The Mariner grabbing the fishing rod and throwing it into the sea with the comment that it's useless is contained in the Theatrical Version and is situated directly after the scene in which he has thrown the dead Drifter into the water - very well edited.
88 Sec.


1:06:44
Alternative shot: After Enola says, Helen told her the Mariner couldn't stand her "singing" because he cannot sing, Helen makes a pretty serious face. In the TV Cut, though, she's grinning and lowers her head a little ashamed.

Theatrical Version:

TV-Cut:

The shot is a little longer in the TV-Cut.
2,5 Sec.

1:07:20
While eating, Helen looks at the Hydro-cans. The Mariner notices this, pushed it with his foot to the two and says they can take as much as they want - it's going to rain this night. Helen first offers some to Enola; she refuses, though. Then she takes some herself.
28 Sec.

1:08:18
The beginning of the night conversation between Helen and the Mariner is different in the respective versions. First, Helen strokes her little girl's face in the TV-Cut and then takes a drawing from her hands. Then she hears music and goes to the Mariner, who, obviously, has a functioning, battery-driven CD-Player running. Helen is really amazed and asks if this is from Dryland, whereas the Mariner answers with a short "Yeah". Helen sits down with the back to the pylon and admits a little ashamed that she doesn't even know his name; the Mariner replies that he didn't need one.
Then, Helen gives him the drawing and the crayon; this is partly shown from different angles in the TV-Version. In the Theatrical Cut you see the Mariner only working on something for a short time, then Helen sits down next to him and immediately gives him the drawing.

Theatrical Cut:

TV-Version:

64 Sec.

1:08:53
In the Theatrical Cut, the Mariner's statement, Helen would act like Enola's mother, is shown from a different angle than in the TV-Version. Also, she tells in the latter one how she came to the girl: Enola was floating in a little basket into th Atoll. According to law, she would have had to send her back to the sea (overpopulation etc.), but wanted to keep her and did it, too. The elders had decided then, that, in return, she was not allowed to have an own child. The Mariner doesn't understand why Helen had such big problems with leaving the girl to her destiny; Helen says, that it's probably impossible for him, considering how long he is travelling alone. The Mariner replies that he was not alone - he had his sailer as a friend, which would never lie to him or cut his throat during his sleep. Helen shakes her head and says that he is a pityful subject; the Mariner wants to know why that would be the case, whereas Helen answers that if this was not clear to himself, she would hardly be able to explain it to him.
In the Theatrical Cut, only smiling Helen is shown after the Mariner's statement that she'd act like her mother.

Theatrical Cut:

TV-Version:

72,5 Sec.

1:10:01
Another shot of the sailer with sitting Mariner.
Then a scene follows in which he opens a chest below deck and breezes through a few magazines. In one of them he finds the word Helen had used before ('pity') and takes a closer look at the article about lonesome bushmen. The conversation with Helen has obviously put him pretty throughtful after all.
A distant shot of the sailer, it's day again.
50 Sec.

1:15:11
Helen does not really know what she could do in her distress and just pulls a lever which she thinks is the right one.
8 Sec.

1:16:33
Here, the Theatrical Cut and TV-Version are edited differently, the sequence is strongly summarized: Here, you see Enola saying "He's hurt" , directly after that Helen, who says it wasn't the way he thinks - they were not after Enola. After the Mariner says that he has seen what he had seen he gets up again and jumps at Helen.
In the TV-Version, a shot of the sailer follows, which has accellerated nicely. The Mariner treats his wound longer; Helen angrily yells at him, he had lied to the two and only wanted to sell them at the next outpost. The Mariner replies that they had been lying both. After the short sequence in which the Mariner says he has seen what he had seen and an alternative shot of Enola saying "He's hurt!", Helen adds that this was good this way - after all, he wanted to sell them. She takes Enola's crayon and angrily throws it at the Mariner. He asks why they wanted Enola; Helen does not mind the question and yells there was nothing human about him and that they should have killed him shortly after his birth. The Mariner replies that they had tried.

Thetrical Cut:

TV-Version:

36,5 Sec.

1:18:00
The Mariner throws the dive bell into the water.
6,5 Sec.

1:18:23
Helen swims toward the dive bell and then inside.
7 Sec.

1:18:45
Helen wipes a little on the interior and then excitedly looks out of the bell.
5,5 Sec.

1:24:28
In the Theatrical Cut, a distant shot of the sailer with the boats of the Smokers around it follows.
In the TV-Version, Deacon carries little Enola around a bit and then breezes through the Mariner's magazines which really amuse him.

Theatrical Cut:

TV-Version:

The sequence is much longer in the TV-Version.
26 Sec.

1:25:35
Alternative shot: In the Theatrical Cut, the happening on the water surface is over already; in the TV-Version, the Smoker's jet-skis start and depart from the point of the action, while the Mariner and Helen are under water. The sequence in the TV-Version is longer.( left Theatrical Cut / right TV-Version ):

10 Sec.

1:25:52
Distant shot of the two swimming toward the totaled sailer.
6 Sec.

1:26:14
Another shot of the destroyed sailer, then the change of scene to Deacon's ship follows earlier. He goes with a henchman to the room in which Enola is being imprisoned, distributes a few cigarettes to the women nearby and talks about not being able to wait to build highways and buildings. Then he goes to his right hand standing in front of the door leading to said room; a short, irrelevant conversation about Enola follows.
36 Sec.

1:27:10
Deacon tells Enola that the population on the ship grows and grows whereas Enola replies why they didn't control this growth like on the atolls - then there would be enough Hydro for everybody. Deacon answers that this would probably not work, since they are the "Church of Eternal Grow".
54 Sec.

1:28:21
Deacon lets Enola be chained up again, whereas she furthermore asserts the Mariner would come to save her.
18 Sec.

1:29:59
Here, in the Theatrical Cut, the scene takes place in which the Mariner finds a drawing of Enola in his sailer's interior below water depicting a palm tree; He compares it to a cover of one of his old magazines saying "Paradise Lost", where there are palm trees depicted, too, which makes him rather thoughtful.
This scene is shown much later in the TV-Version.
No time difference

1:31:05
The Mariner takes the chest longer out of the sailer; before the edit to awaking Helen, he is seen a little longer in the Theatrical Version, after that, though, he is already on deck with it.
8,5 Sec.

1:31:54
Die Einstellung, in der der Mariner die Flasche in der Hand hält, ist in der TV-Version etwas anders; hier meint er noch "I may get some hydro out of this". In der KF sagt er nichts
The shot of the Mariner having the bottle in his hand is a bit different in the TV-Version; here, he says "I may get some hydro out of this". In the Theatrical Cut, he says nothing( left Theatrical Cut / right TV-Version ):

Then, the scene continues: Helen says, she didn't want to continue without Enola and that there was no hope. The Mariner replies that they're at least still alive, whereas Helen thanks him for saving her. Then they talk about their ancestors, that the planets condition is their fault and the Mariner would not be what he is, if these dramatic changes had never taken place at all. Helen becomes pretty maudlin during this conversation.
Later, you see Gregor earlier heading for the destroyed sailer, while Helen and the Mariner sleep. He calls the two earlier, too.

In the Theatrical Cut, you see, due to the editing, only Helen look up shortly, in the TV-Version, the two who are lying next to each other wake up; the Mariner looks up.( left Theatrical Cut / right TV-Version ):

83,5 Sec.

1:32:02
Alternative take due to the different editing in the Theatrical Cut ( left Theatrical Cut / right TV-Version):

No time difference

1:32:57
The Mariner grabs a sword, whereas Helen says he shouldn't worry; the others welcome him friendly, after all. He himself doesn't seem too confident about that. Another shot of the approaching Mini-Atoll as well as a nighttime side-shot, in which the airship is mounted to the Atoll follow. The Mariner sits a little apart from the others.
24 Sec.

1:33:26
Gregor explains to Helen that the numbers that are printed on the Mariner's papers are very similar to the ones on Enola's tattoo, and that he only needs to find out what they mean. Helen replies that it's completely irrelevant what they mean since Dryland is only a myth and didn't exist.
15 Sec.

1:33:32
Alternative shot of the Mariner during the fight between the atoll inhabitants.

Theatrical Cut:

TV-Version:

The shot in the TV-Version is slightly longer.
0,5 Sec.

1:33:38
Here, the Theatrical Cut misses a pretty big part, which, unfortunately, also is the cause of several plot holes and logical issues.

Theatrical Version: Here, just a short shot of the man who earlier said he wouldn't go takes place. He's standing up whereas another one says nobody would go. Then, the part with the Mariner and Gregor takes place.

TV-Version:First of all, the Mariner doesn't even intend to save Enola - he only wants to leave and go his own way. Helen tries to persuade him; that Enola had thought he was her friend, that Helen thought he was different and what she should tell her, should Helen ever find her again. The Mariner replies that it's different, and that she should lie to Enola if she returned, if that made her feel better. During this conversation he he clears a boat and just takes a sail, whereas an atoll inhabitant comes and says, he couldn't possibly leave with one of their boats resp. sails. The Mariner threateningly is holding a knife in his hand. Helen explains to the angry man that he can either let the Mariner go with the boat or he will just "take" it. Thereupon, the slightly anxious atoll inhabitant returns to the background.
While the Mariner is sailing away in the darkness, Gregor appeases Helen and says she cannot resent him for this - he didn't know anything else than the own survival, which is also the reason for many of his kind will be there in the future; probably even more than "normal" people. The Mariner is sailing toward the rest of his destroyed sailer, which he arrives at dawn. He is shortly standing on the top deck and then walks into the interior.

Right NOW in the TV-Version, below water, the Mariner finds Enola's drawing with the palm tree on it and compares it to one of his old magazines, saying "Paradise Lost" and on which are also palm trees depicted, which gives him food for thought. In the Theatrical Cut, this scene came much earlier. In the TV-Version, he also thoughtfully emerges from the water.
Change of scene: Two armed Smokers appear at the mini-atoll on their jet-skis. The former security chief of the erstwhile atoll asks what the two want, whereas they reply they, first of all, "only" want anything useful that is in their possession. While the Atoll inhabitants try to intervene, the ringleader of the two smokers intimidates the others, and then wants to ask his buddy if he wasn't right with everything - but he has dissappeared from his jetski!
Shortly after that, suddenly the Mariner appears next to the jetski of the remaining smoker and pulls him under water, too; the atoll inhabitants look impressed. The Mariner drives on with the jet ski and announces he is going to look for Enola.
Then, the following scene, which basically also takes place in the Theatrical Cut, begins earlier in the TV-Version; Gregor carries two bottles around and tells the Mariner for an "Ichthyo Sapiens" he wasn't that bad at all. After he, again, looks pretty unnerved, Gregor jestingly adds "It was a joke".

209 Sec.

1:34:23
Cut scene: Gregor says laughing, that this is the reason the Mariner wants to save Enola - to find Dryland. The Mariner replies, he wasn't interested in Dryland at all.
6 Sec.

1:34:33
The Mariner incinerates some sort of homemade Molotov-Cocktail and throws it at the second jet ski. The fuel catches fire and forms a blazing track alongside the route, the Smokers had taken before.
16,5 Sec.

1:34:45
The Mariner follows the burning fuel track with the remaining jet ski; another shot of the mini-atoll.
7 Sec.

1:35:01
In the Theatrical Cut, Enola is shortly shown in a still shot, then Deacon already enters the room. In the TV-Version, you see the tattoo, then a slow camera sway from Enola's face over her up to Deacon's right hand and another Smoker; both talk about the tattoo. Then the camera sways further to the left, to the door Deacon enters.

Theatrical Cut:

TV-Version:

The sequence in the TV-Version is longer.
8 Sec.

1:35:23
The Mariner furthermore follows the burning fuel track.
8 Sec.

1:35:30
Cut scene: The Mariner slowly drives with his jet ski up to the left edge of the screen.
4 Sec.

1:37:55
The Mariner watches a few Smokers filling fuel from one of the all over the ship located nozzles into the machines.
18,5 Sec.

1:39:02
The Mariner swims to one of the Jet skis and sits down on it; up on the Deck, the crowd busily shouts "Dry-land, Dry-land!"
8,5 Sec.

1:39:30
The Mariner descends from the jet ski; meanwhile two other Smokers come to the point of the action; the Mariner takes the shotgun in hand. The two look threatening and stathe he had killed Smitty - but then they break out laughing and say the guy had been standing in the way all the time anywys; now, though, one of the two would probably automatically get the responsibility in this domain. While the Smokers proceed and argue over who it is going to be, the Mariner enters the ship's interior.

The Mariner passes a speaker, from which suddenly the loud voice of Deacon can be heard - the things startles him to death. Determined he draws his sword and removes the speaker from the wall.

62 Sec.

1:48:17
Deacon's right hand crawls blood-splattered out of the in front of the pillar put wagon.
7 Sec.

1:48:38
The Mariner cannot localize Enola's cries and looks for her for a moment before looking down.
6,5 Sec.

1:50:35
A short, distant shot of the airship.
1 Sec.

1:52:41
Deacon pulls a sword out of a sheath that was mounted on the jetski and shouts "If i can't have dryland - no one will!".
5 Sec.

1:53:32
Gregor takes a look at Enolas back resp. the tattoo for a longer time and recognizes the map. His dialog is a little altered in the TV-Version.
16,5 Sec.

1:53:42
Gregor connects the dots between the numbers in the tatto on Enola's back and the scale of vertical and horizontal lines on one of his maps.
30 Sec.

1:53:43
Shortly looking up Enola is shown a few seconds later in the Theatrical Cut (while Gregor is working with the sun angle).
No time difference

1:56:13
Gregor and the others follow the mans call, saying he had found something; meanwhile, also the Mariner enters the frame, amazedly looking up the waterfall, looking around a little anxiously and then also follows the others. Helen in the meantime fascinatedly touches a tree before walking together with the others toward the cabin as well.
47 Sec.

1:57:56
Alternate shot: In the Theatrical Cut, a still camera take of the boat thats on the water, in the TV-Version, there is a sway over it.

Theatrical Cut:

TV-Version:

The TV-Version is a little longer here.
3 Sec.

1:58:11
Another shot of the boat.
3 Sec.

2:00:00
From here on, the Theatrical cut is extraordinarily strong summarized.

Theatrical Cut: Helen looks sad, the Mariner joins her and examines her - then, the TC already features the stroking with the hand over her face resp. the kiss.

TV-Version:Gregor and the security chief of the erstwhile atoll say good bye to the Mariner. Gregor gives him a bag full of soil and says laughingly he shouldn't trade in all of it at once - or maybe he should, at least he'd then have a good reason to return. In saying this he cheeringly throws some soil in the air. The security chief shakes his hand and says that this was all he could give him; the Mariner answers that this was enough.
Then he talks to Helen a little; she wonders how he can leave them all just like that, whereas he responds that he had never said it would be easy for him, after taking care to bring them all there and that he could also go there. The Mariner says, he belongs outside on the sea though, where he wants to look for others of his kind - but he promises Helen that he, should he meet other people, tell them about Dryland and encourage them to go there. Needless to say that this extension is all in all much more warmhearted.

98 Sec.
2:00:40
After the kiss, the TV-Version is longer here: Helen wants to go already, but then turns around and says she had got something for him he is going to need outside - a present. The Mariner says that something like that didn't exist in Waterworld, whereas Helen says that this would be the first time and tells him a short summary of the Odysseus-saga. Finally she also names him "Ulysses". The Mariner replies that this is a good name. Then Helen goes, but not without undecidedly turning around intermediately. The Mariner looks after her and intermediately also shortly on the open sea.
92 Sec.

2:00:41
Alternate shot of sailing away Mariner resp. "Ulysses" ( left Theatrical Cut / right TV-Version ):

No time difference

2:01:15
Enola and Helen discover under some soil a sign on the ground saying they are standing on the top of the world's highest mountain, the Mount Everest.
30 Sec.

2:01:20
The credits are a little different in the respective versions. In the TV-Version, the beginning of the ending credits is faded in a little later than in the Theatrical Cut; also, in the TV-Version, the Mariner is intermediately shown sailing away alternatively to the footage of the TC.

Theatrical Cut:

TV-Version:

The credits in the TV-Version are - at least up to the point on which they're canceled in the US-TV - here shorter than in the Theatrical Cut.
34,5 Sec.