The Abyss

[baumer]

Discuss

[Plain Old Tele]

A- for the director's cut, B/B+ for the theatrical version.

A great character study combined with a tense, claustrophobic story. Some of Cameron's finest work when it comes to developing characters in a single movie; the relationship between Bud and Lindsey is just phenomenal.

It also has some of the greatest tense sequences ever: the hurricane/crane scene is just amazing, for example.

The theatrical cut is hurt by the abruptness of the ending. Things get wrapped up very quickly and without too much reason. The director's cut really helps this out. Not only does it give a bit more character development, it gives meaning and explanation to the NTIs and their decision to act the way they did.

[fishstick]

Tony`s flight after the missile in TA was a nice homage, right down to calling Pepper and "one way ticket" remark.

Edited May 25, 2012 by fishnets

[Plain Old Tele]

Tony`s flight after the missile in TA was a nice homage, right down to calling Pepper and "one way ticket" remark.

It was nice.... but the original is better.

[Goffe]

beautifully filmed, really tense and pretty nice visuals. Unfortunately the third act was messy and the movie was kinda slow in the first act. Watched the 3 hours version.

 

B- (65)

 

"They've left us alone, but it bothersthem to see us hurting each other."

"Getting out of hand."

"They sent a message."Hope you got it."

"They want us to grow up a bitand put away childish things"

 

apparently things are that simple 

Edited December 28, 2013 by Goffe Luvs 1D

[BiffMan]

More than a little preachy at times, but my goodness, what a great narrative.  Excellent pacing, great direction, and the first Cameron movie that completely captivated me.  Enjoyed Terminator very much, but this really pulled me in with great characters and a thrilling setting.  Also one of the better director cut improvements over theatrical release.

 

Michael Biehn as a crazy man FTW.  Man, do I miss 80s-90s era Biehn.  Let's hope one of his upcoming 14(!!) movies over the next couple of years is a return to form.

 

Director's Cut: A

Theatrical Release: A-

[vc2002]

"Goddamn it, you bitch, you never backed away from anything in your life! Now fight! Fight!"

[AndyLL]

"Goddamn it, you bitch, you never backed away from anything in your life! Now fight! Fight!"

 

I am so pissed this is not in Blu-Ray yet.  Went to watch it the other day and saw I only had the DVD.  Went to buy the BR it and saw it wasn't available.

[BoxOfficeZ]

One of the finest sci fi movies ever made in my humble opinion. The underwater scenes were all fantastically done. The hurricane and crane scene as mentioned was great, also one of the best movie chase scenes ever done was probably the duel of the two subs. The stakes were high so it made the chase just intense. 

 

Visuals still hold up. The soundtrack was great, especially the scene at the end with Bud meeting the aliens.

 

Harris, Biehn, Mastrantonio were all fantastic in this. The dialogue/chemistry between Bud and Lindsey worked really well. 

 

Also plenty of subtle references to childbirth, like Bud is reborn again through the ship, umbilical cords like the crane connected to the rig then it gets cut, people are connected by ropes in the submarine search and the rig as well. 

 

A+

[Joel M]

Great movie, it was one of my favorites as a kid. I might have watched it more than 20 times when I was around 10-12 years old. I grew up with the theatrical version but the director's cut is even better.

 

Watched it again last night and in hindsight it's kind of baffling that this is Cameron's financial flop. It literally had everything to grab GAs attention. Never seen before cgi, never seen before tense underwater action sequences, likable characters, a crowdpleasing streamlined narrative. I have no idea why it didn't connect back in the day. 

Edited August 19, 2018 by Joel M