Sodden cinema: the five best water park movie moments
You would think that in the century-long history of moviemaking, water parks would have been used on various occasions for dramatic, comedic or action-packed circumstances. Yet, you may, or indeed may not, be surprised at quite how rarely waterslides, pools and wave machines have been used in cinema despite being some of the most crazy, insane and super fun places in the world.
Sure, you can’t quite imagine Martin Scorsese snapping on some speedos to film Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino battle for supremacy on a multi-lane racer slide, nor would you be able to find many other actors willing to engage in such tomfoolery. Maybe precious crewmembers want to keep their cameras dry, or the costume department would rather their garments not be splashed, but the humble water park is so underutilised.
But fear not, for there are a handful of movies that have bravely dared where the likes of Scorsese and co have never dared, taking their expensive movie filming equipment to the banks of Wet’n’Wild Gold Coast or Water Wizz of Cape Cod. These films have collectively won zero Oscars but will forever remain in our hearts for fairly representing water parks across the world.
To prepare for the boiling hot summer months, hold your nose and dive into these movies that got soaking wet for your entertainment and the betterment of human culture.
The five best water park movie moments:
Damp Dads – Grown Ups (Dennis Dugan, 2010)
Most people will remember the 2010 Adam Sandler comedy for the water park sequence, largely because this is the scene that’s depicted on the poster and DVD cover art. Recruiting his friends, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock, David Spade and Kevin James to star alongside him, Sandler essentially arranged a wet holiday for him and his buddies, with the film telling the story of five former pals who reunite for a Fourth of July weekend.
The water park scene depicts an extended sequence in which the dads, their kids and their wives wreak havoc across the park in several crazy ways, all culminating in all the fathers pissing themselves in the pool. Funny for some viewers and disturbing for others.
Duck Hunting – Jackass 3D (Jeff Tremaine, 2010)
Look, water park scenes are difficult to come across and technically, with an inflatable and a fun water-based game, the ‘Duck Hunting’ stunt in Jackass 3D qualifies as a waterpark scene. Shot in 3D, for some reason, the scene in question sees various brave/stupid Jackass members leap from a crane onto a giant inflatable float, sending the person lying on it shooting into the air where they are targeted by a boat-full of paintball snipers.
Certainly one of the most memorable scenes in Jackass 3D, the scene shows off the creativity that has always been innate within the MTV franchise, no matter how inane some may find it to be.
Easy prey – Piranha 3DD (John Gulager, 2012)
Make no mistake, Piranha 3DD is a very silly film, as we’d hope its title might suggest. Based, in part, on the 1978 comedy, which itself was born from the success of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, Piranha 3DD tells the story of prehistoric man-eating fish who set their beady eyes on a newly opened water park and the excited guests who have ventured to the new attraction after a busy week at work.
Once the aquatic critters make their way through the pipes, anyone and everyone is food, leaving only Ving Rhames’ Deputy Fallon, who has a shotgun for a leg, and David Hasselhoff himself to save the day. Lovers of B-movie insanity, enjoy.
Flying faeces – The Inbetweeners 2 (Damon Beesley, Iain Morris, 2009)
This list doesn’t exactly explore the crème de la crème of cinema, but if any movie on this list was worthy of being the ‘best of the bunch’, this crass moment from The Inbetweeners 2 might just take the cake. While this might be unknown outside the UK, within the borders of blighty, it is close to a cultural institution, depicting the lives of four teenage boys who are struggling to survive in the jungle of adolescent life.
In the second movie adaptation of the series, the boys head to Australia, where they eventually end up at the fictional water park Splash Planet. Here, Niel manages to kill a dolphin, Simon is mistaken for a paedophile, and Will takes a cake of excrement to the face after it follows him down a waterslide. As silly as it may sound, it will never cease to make you laugh.
Napoleon dives in – Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (Stephen Herek, 1989)
Clearly magnetising silliness across the world, this list bookends with the moment in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure when the Former French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte takes a dunk at a water park. A classic teen comedy of the late 1980s, Stephen Herek’s film, starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, tells the story of two dudical young men who set out in a time machine to find several icons of history and make the ultimate school report.
One such historical figure they find is Napoleon, with the iconic emperor and military leader discovering a love for water parks in the modern world, barging past children to go down the flume one more time. Allegedly, the French leader used to love a hot bath, so it’s highly likely he would have loved an aqua shoot and wave machine, too.
