‘Waterworld’ Tests the Water : Movies: An unfinished cut of the Kevin Costner film gets a sneak preview in Sacramento. Fans give it a mixed review.

An unfinished cut of actor Kevin Costner’s $175-million summer action film “Waterworld” has brought mixed reviews from a test audience here, with some praising the action and scenery while others say they were unimpressed with the special effects they saw, including sharks that looked fake.

While some fans criticized the rough version of the film for being too long or for resembling an oceangoing “Road Warrior” picture, others said they loved the plot, which centers on the world being submerged by the melting of the polar icecap.

“We are very pleased with the way it went,” said Universal spokesman Alan Sutton. He said this was the film’s first public showing, and stressed that test screenings are a common practice in the film industry.

For months, “Waterworld” has been saddled with controversy as Costner, director Kevin Reynolds and Universal Pictures struggled to complete what now looms as the most expensive film in Hollywood history. Earlier this month, Reynolds--who several years ago feuded with Costner when they made “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves”--departed the “Waterworld” project immediately after completing his director’s cut.

The studio, with Costner’s consultation, currently is racing to complete the movie for its scheduled July 28 release date.

Tuesday night’s screening of the uncompleted film was attended by an estimated 200 people and was held amid tight security at Century Theaters. As many as a dozen uniformed security guards were in evidence, hired for the screening.

Some in the audience interviewed afterward had only praise for “Waterworld,” accepting that it was an early version they were watching and noting that it contained no credits and that all the special effects were not yet in place.

Jeffrey and Penny Lyon of Sacramento generally liked the version they saw.

“It was good,” she said.

“The sailing scenes (and) the scenery were quite terrific,” Jeffrey Lyon added. “It still needs a little work. That’s not the final cut. But as far as the story, I liked it more than she did. It had a lot of action.”

He noted that all the special effects weren’t yet in place, which made the film look “more like an amateur movie right now.”

John Thompson of Sacramento also thought the version he saw was “really good.”

“They said they hadn’t had it all done yet,” Thompson recalled. “Special effects weren’t there and there were no credits or anything. They wanted to show it and see what people thought.”

Would he tell people it was a good movie? “Yeah, it was pretty good,” he said. “Kind of a good plot. Something that might actually happen someday if the (polar icecap) someday actually melts and water is just everywhere. It was pretty different.”

Joshua Lane of Sacramento said he thought the film was “suspenseful” and he would also recommend it to friends.

“I thought maybe it was going to be boring,” he said, “because it takes place only on water and you can only do so much with water. But they seemed to do a very good job with that.”

One couple compared the film to “Road Warrior.”

“It wasn’t bad,” said Ron Rosas, who attended the screening with his wife, Michelle. “It was just kind of outdated. Just like ‘Road Warrior,’ only on water.”

“Yeah,” she chimed in. “(It was) like ‘Mad Max.’ . . . Kevin Costner was good though. I like him.”

Ron Rosas’ brother, Joseph, said: “I think they should have named it ‘Water Warrior.’ ”

Chase Staggs, 19, of Carmichael, said: “It was a pretty good action movie, but I’m not saying it was the best movie ever made. When ‘Terminator 2’ came out, it was better. I just thought ‘Waterworld’ was like a remake of ‘The Abyss.’ ”

Kurt Sterner, 35, of Sacramento, noted that he is “not a big Kevin Costner fan.”

“I would rather have seen ‘Die Hard With a Vengeance,’ ” he said.

About “Waterworld,” he remarked: “The movie didn’t do anything any other movie didn’t do. I think I’d wait for this to come to pay-per-view. I hope Kevin Costner didn’t invest in this. I really don’t. I don’t think it will do well.”

Chris DeMartino, 35, of Sacramento, said: “I’d give it a C grade. It just didn’t live up to anything. The sharks looked fake.”

The screening was by invitation only.

They were asked to fill out questionnaires afterward.