The Abyss- James Cameron

Mary Elizabeth Mastrontonio is fantastic in this as well. She and Ed Harris are thoroughly convincing as a pre-divorce couple (I've seen a few, unfortunately), and the way that their emotional arc plays out over the course of the film is quite moving. Her performance is particularly impressive when you take into account the fact that she HATED HATED HATED the shoot.

This is one of those movies I've been meaning to rewatch as the last time I saw it was on laserdisc with my dad.

Saw the extended cut for the first time recently, and the first time I saw the movie since I was a kid, and was impressed. Harris is indeed great, made me wish he played more 'good' guy roles, I've seen him in far too many antagonist roles, and although he makes for a good bastard, he's true leading man material in Abyss.

Loved the scene where they're trying to figure out how to get out of their crashed submersible and then after logical reasoning, go through with her drowning. Such a tense scene and nice payoff with the ressucitation.

Good way to prepare my eyeballs for fucking later this year if Avatar is released on schedule...

"I hate that bitch."

"Probably shouldn't have married her then."

Haven't seen it in years, but this thread has whetted my appetite.

I always appreciated the work that Michael Biehn did in this film, too. Technically, he's the 'bad guy', but he's not evil or malicious in his actions; he's just the victim of pressure (literal and psychological) who is compelled to do things that are right in his distorted frame of referrence. His death scene is very tragic, even though he's been a complete asshole for most of the movie.

I remember seeing the theatrical cut in, well, the theater, and really liking it... but it seemed like something was missing (and the ending was SO abrupt). The Director's Cut is brilliant. The "impending WWIII" subplot gets a little preachy and corny, but only a few times, and briefly. My favorite addition is that shot of Biehn looking out into the darkness with the "crazy Garfield" stuffed animal stuck to the porthole. Heavy handed? Maybe... but effective, nonetheless.

I recently watched Terminator & T2 (but not the DC of T2- cool additions, but the pacing goes out the window in favor of extraneous character development), and that put me in the mood to check out the Abyss DC again... and this thread sealed the deal. Thanks!

I seem to remember that Ed Harris refused to do press for the film as well, due to his loathing of Cameron. Not sure how true that is, but he hasn't appeared in another Cameron film now, has he?

I've seen the movie multiple times, and every time the Lindsey drowning scene gives me the heebies and makes my skin crawl. So well done. I only hope Avatar is half as good as this one.

Ed Harris is utterly brilliant in this movie. His whole performance really, but especially when he's trying to revive her. Perfectly captures how fucking paradoxical love can be, how you can be completely incompatible with someone and make each other's lives a living hell, but you'd still give ANYTHING for that person.

Watch the 'making of' documentary sometime. It looked like MANY of the actors had issues with Cameron over the course of the shoot. Mary Elizabeth refused to even participate in the documentary, something that the others really picked up on.

This is James Cameron's masterpiece. It's a kick-ass action/adventure picture fueled by realistic characters and genuine emotion. It's everything that Titanic wasn't while at the same time not trying to be that. I don't know if that makes any sense.

The performances are across the board terrific. But especially in the case of Harris and Mastrantonio.

Although there are great special effects and well-executed sequences of suspense and tension, my favorite parts are the small character moments.

I love that part when the alien comes into the cabin and Leo Burmester is sleeping. They try to wake him up but he grumbles... Then he does a double take and jumps up holding a flower pot in his hand. That little beat makes me laugh out loud every time.

Not only does it makes sense, it saves me the trouble of squandering a paragraph to say the same thing. But I will anyway. Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrontonio are both just amazing here. James Cameron will never top this. The conditions that led to the existence of this film can't be duplicated today. A director in a crumbling relationship (with his producer, no less) pouring his heart out onto the screen, while breaking in a new form of visual effects and stretching existing techniques right to the breaking point, and doing much of this underwater - all on one of the most notoriously miserable shoots in cinematic history. And Chris Elliot.

This is my favorite Cameron film and the only one he's ever done with a whole lot of heart and breathing, real characters rather than cutouts.

I think a lot of that is created by the wonderful Harris and Mastrantnio (seriously, WTF happened to her?), and their chemistry. They really do nail the antagonistic love of a couple that aren't right together yet love the hell out of each other at the same time.

A lot of people here are referencing Harris' scenes during Matrantonios drowning and resucitation but I love the way those scenes are inverted later in the movie when Lindsay realises Bud has sent himself down to defuse the bomb knowing it's a suicide mission and her reaction to that. Just heartbreaking acting from her in that scene as well.

It's still got all the hallmarks of a fantastic Cameron thrill ride (seriously the scene where the crane beaks off and floats past them into the yawning chasm in front of them - will it hit them? no, but oh shit now it's going to drag them off the ledge, fuck, then Buds' "Hold onto something!" - it's one of those moments where Cameron is at his action best and you simply don't take a breath for about five minutes.

I also live the hell out of Alan Silvestris score and rate it as one of his best alongside Predator and Back To The Future.

There are Cameron films I thoroughly enjoy and appreciate, and there are some I actively dislike or even loathe, but with it's big beating heart and well drawn characters (for once) married to Camerons very best action sensibilities, The Abyss is the only one I can honestly claim to love.

Haven't seen this in ages actually, may have to remedy that this weekend.

Is there an anamorphic DVD out? The copy I have isn't, and I really want to watch it again.

Ugh. Mine isn't either. Haven't watched since I went HDTV. That kinda sucks. Apparently there's been much online groaning about it for some time now (do a search for "The Abyss anamorphic"). Maybe with Avatar coming out it'll get the Blu-Ray treatment, or at least a proper DVD.

I think Cameron's always made comments about him not having the time to supervise a new transfer. Which is ridiculous.

the new transfer apparently has been sitting waiting for him to give his approval on it for about 3 years.

Weird. I don't claim to know the inner workings of directing films and DVD transfers, but if it's done, what exactly needs approval?

Because he was the director. He needs to approve it. But the image looks fine to me though.

I wonder if he'll do it in widescreen or fullscreen for it. It was shot in Super 35 iirc, and I remember reading an interview with him where he said that he preferred the fullscreen presentation of the film the widescreen. Back in the early 90s, I remember selling a ton of the full screen laserdisc boxed set because the enthusiasts actively sought it out.

Yeah, I get that. My point is, it's the movie he already shot and has seen multiple times. The only difference is it will now fit widescreen TVs instead of being windowboxed, so what needs to be approved? If he disapproves, what could it be that needs changing?

I'm watching this now. Unless you knew the tech, you wouldn't have thought this movie was 20 years old. Of course it's funny one of the redneck guys has the Danny McBride thing going on.

Well it could be a straight-up poor transfer(pixelated), or the black levels could be off(in a dark room, "black" ends up light), or somehow the framing could be off like the first run Back to the Future DVDs, etc.

Re: Ed Hocken
I agree, it's held up really well. The FX geek in me can nit-pick the few uses of stop-motion animation looking out of place, and some of the compositing, but this really is Cameron's best "big" film, and timeless. If we're talking character being on par with setpieces, he nails it here, thanks in no small part to the GREAT performances(Harris, Mastrontonio, Elliot heh). I'm speaking of the director's cut of course.

"You see this? They used to call this the hammer."

You don't expect a random line like that to pay off later. But it does gloriously. It's little things like that that make this head and shoulders above most films of this type.

It's the difference between saving the mouse in the plastic bag and the dog jumping away from an explosion in ID4.

Or the dog escaping the LAVA in Volcano(oh jesus what a horrible movie).

I used to have a theory about dogs dying in film equaling a good film(The Terminator films, Road Warrior, Starship Troopers, Akira). Shitty theory, but anyways. These were great examples of the exceptions.

I just finished watching this (extended version of course) and I am completely blown away. I'm really kicking myself for never seeking it out before because it's just stunning. It feels so unlike anything Cameron has ever done. It just feels so... alive. I love all of Cameron's movies but something about this one really blows the others away. It feels like golden era Spielberg.

...or my personal favorite, Bud going to the trouble of getting his wedding ring out of the toilet and getting blue arm which works as both an emotional statement about his wife but also a fantastioc pay off when the ring saves him from losing his fingers in the automatic door. The look of sheer relief and 'thank fuck' joy on his face as he kisses it afterwards is gold.

That's just it tho, the one film where Camerons characters feel alive is the one that really can be compared to the best work of The Beard. The rest are enjoyable but essentially soulless, technically proficient versions of Spielberg films.

In regards to the Harris-Cameron dynamic on this film, I recall reading that he suffered from a few nervous breakdowns on the set and more or less vowed never to work with Cameron again. Don't know how true that is but I do recall hearing him comment on the Rock's audio commentary track about a conversation he had with Michael Bay during film. Bay mentioned to him that he wanted to be like Cameron as far as directing goes. Harris responded, and this isn't verbatim, by asking him "Why?" and adding that he worked with Cameron and the guy's an asshole who makes the people around him miserable. Like I said, this isn't verbatim. Consult your nearest Criterion Collection DVD of The Rock for the actual comments.

Well Harris was on the verge of drowning at one point. Can you imagine working on this set?

I have yet to see this film, but was listening to a screenwriter friend of mine gushing about the 'ring in the toilet' scene several of you have mentioned. Truly GUSHED. About how so many writers don't have the skill to write something so elegantly simple in screenplays anymore. Cameron may make reference to the fact that he's not a good writer, but you have to assume he's only talking about really surface stuff like dialogue. But in terms of structuring an action/adventure film with characters, he's got the goods.

My friend also talked about T2 (which he's not THAT crazy about) and gushed about that night to day transition of the T-800 standing as the protector all night. A simple piece of visual storytelling that humanized the machine as John's guardian without sacrificing its mechanical nature. Cameron succumbs for the cartoony moment several times in that movie ("I need a vacation..."), but that dissolve to day... GUSH.

Best punch-into-camera bit in any movie, ever.

From what I can tell, an anamorphic DVD release still doesn't exist. Why isn't this or TRUE LIES getting any love? Is it Fox? Cameron? Like most dorks that saw AVATAR last night, I really want to revisit this one but I don't want to shell out the cash for a decade-old transfer.

Just looking up at this thread, it's quite notable that the stuff everyone remembers and loves is the character interactions and relationships. The film was technically amazing at the time, but the reason we all love it is Ed Harris. That's worth mentioning.

I haven't seen this in maybe ten years and I can still remember most of the supporting cast. Like Hippie and his rat, or good ole comatose Jammer.

I loved the South Park episode where they replicated the Mastrantonio resurrection sequence exactly without even making a joke.

Good point, it's a testament to the writing and the actors that the first thing that comes to mind about this movie isn't the kewl water tentacle.

James Cameron doesn't see the big deal about anamorphic DVD. Weird for a so-called tech guy. At one point he said he preferred to watch his movies Full Screen.

Ed Harris is great. But Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is equally fantastic. So much chemistry between them.

Whaaaaa!?!?!?

Probably because he thinks that people will come back to the theaters if you keep home video in the stone age. Hehehe.

EDIT: In reference to James Cameron's weird standards for DVDs...

Also, he STILL needs to approve the transfers. However, you might be able to expect new editions when Avatar hits home video. When the transfers were produced, he claimed he was too busy working on that film to approve them, so now that he's done with it, not only will they tie in for home video release, but he'll have time to give them the thumbs up.

I haven't watched this movie in years, but I will be giving it a spin within a week or so thanks to Avatar.

This is not entirely accurate. He said this about letterbox vs full frame back during the laserdisc days, before DVD and anamorphic sets were commonplace.

To add to this, he probably felt that, like Kubrick, too much was being lost on the comparatively smaller sets.

Something that occurred to me the first time I saw it, but I have yet to post about:


Why did he wait for her to drown before going back to the rig? Shouldn't he have dragged her there, and had her swim as much of the way as possible, while she was still alive? It would led to less time for her brain to be without oxygen, which would have increased the odds of reviving her.


Am I right or am I right?

Logically, you're absolutely correct. At the same time, they KNOW that she's going to drown regardless of when they leave the mini-sub. I can see them using that time to get emotionally ready for it like they do. As Ed Harris says, FUCK LOGIC.

A) It's more dramatic and better serving the actors to do it like they did.

B) If you must attempt logic, would you rather swim deep underwater dragging a lifeless body... or one thrashing around while drowning (who happens to be someone you love)? Which swim would be faster?

...by the way, anyone ever notice how a sizable chunk of The Abyss is taken from For Your Eyes Only? (secret WWIII-starting maguffin is not destroyed by guys too busy drowning, divers go into sunken ship filled with dead guys to retrieve, hijinks ensue)

Yeah, if she was flailing around while swimming back, he could have dropped her.

I haven't seen AVATAR yet, but easily my favorite Cameron. "LOVE YOU WIFE" breaks my heart every goddamn time.

This is a case where shooting turmoil and difficulties made something great as opposed to something terrible.

God, every time I see this thread I wanna dig out my copy and watch it and then I remember its not anamorphic. If I remember correctly, doesn't the DVD come with a pretty good making-of documentary?

Under Pressure: The Making of The Abyss. Yeah, it's absolutely terrific. I don't think I'd even given a second thought about how technically difficult it was to make the film until I watched the docu.

If you can't stomach the feature because of the transfer, give Under Pressure a blast instead.

Absolutely, positively my favorite Cameron flick. Bought the DVD used this summer, even though it's not anamorphic. Besides if it gets reissued with Avatar, I can always pawn the old copy off on my parents.

Harris and Mastrantonio are the reason I fell in love with the film when I got around to seeing the whole thing about five years ago. That and the best 15 minutes of score Alan Silvestri's ever recorded.