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Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn, Leo Burmester, Todd Graff ...( see more  see more... ) , Chris Elliott , Michael Beach , J.C. Quinn , Kimberly Scott

Meticulously crafted but also ponderous and predictable, James Cameron's 1989 deep-sea close-encounter epic reaffirms one of the oldest first principles of cinema: everything moves a lot more slowly u...( read more  read more... )nderwater. Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, as formerly married petroleum engineers who still have some "issues" to work out, are drafted to assist a gung-ho Navy SEAL (Michael Biehn) with a top-secret recovery operation: a nuclear sub has been ambushed and sunk, under mysterious circumstances, in some of the deepest waters on earth, and the petro-techies have the only submersible craft capable of diving down that far. Every image and every performance is painstakingly sharp and detailed (and the computerized water creatures are lovely) but the movie's lumbering pace is ultimately lethal. It's the audience that ends up feeling waterlogged. For a guy who likes guns as much as Cameron (his next film after all, was the body-count masterpiece Terminator 2: Judgment Day), it's interesting that the moral balance here is weighted heavily in favor of the can-do engineers; the military types are end-justifies-the-means amoralists, just like the weasely government bureaucrats in Aliens. --David Chute

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41 critics

PG-13, 2 hr. 20 min.

Directed by: James Cameron

Release Date: August 9, 1989

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DVD Release Date: November 7, 2000

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Flixster Reviews (3,678)

  • AgentLexi2132
    December 15, 2009
    AgentLexi2132
    ''I need you to believe me right now.''

    A civilian diving team are enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and face danger while encountering an alien aquatic species.

    Ed Harris: Virgil 'Bud' Brigman

    The Abyss is the most thought-provoking, imagin...( read more)ative, and beautiful science fiction film out there among the visionary stars of cinema. Master filmmaker and craftsman James Cameron brings us another thoughtful sci-fi epic behind The Terminator (1984) and Aliens(1986); two films that played brilliantly with Cold War-era paranoia, he brings us something that could possibly be the director's most introspective piece.
    1989 was quite a year in terms of undersea sci-fi flicks; Leviathan and DeepStar Six taking full advantage of the Alien craze, and while The Abyss had aliens on its mind, these particular extraterrestrials come to us with a message and a purpose; echoing Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

    The film begins with the sinking of an American nuclear submarine that was brought down under mysterious circumstances. The navy commandeers a civilian drilling rig to enter the sub and search for survivors. But this ragtag group of blue-collar workers, led by Bud Brigman (Ed Harris) and his ex-wife Lindsey (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), are plagued by a Navy SEAL team's insane leader, Lt. Coffey (Michael Biehn), and a series of bizarre underwater occurrences that could prove that they're not alone on the ocean floor.
    The Abyss boasts one of the most compelling science fiction stories of any sci-fi film in the past 20 years. It was James Cameron's third and most powerful film; perhaps not his best according to his hardcore audience and certain critics, despite its groundbreaking computer animation effects and story.

    The Abyss released in 1989 with a trimmed down 146 run time. Later when the movie came to video Cameron released his directors adding a significant amount of footage and bringing the time to 171 minutes. Most of this extra footage comes in at the end of the film and stands to clear up some major confusion wrought in the theatrical version. It seems that there are some creates living at the bottom of the ocean and are rather perturbed at humanities prevalence for violence. It seems these creatures (aliens?) can manipulate water and have forced giant tidal waves to start approaching every major port. Humanity is saved when the creatures see the true love between the two main characters.

    What Cameron does extremely well in this picture is create tension.
    The claustrophobic setting of an underwater oil rig to the potential nuclear meltdown; each scene slowly tightens the screws of suspense.
    One among a few favourite scenes involves the sentient being crafted entirely of liquid or water. Cameron's dabbling with effects showing how later in Terminator 2 and even Titanic show his appreciation and love not just for visual bliss but water based imagination in the essence of his many creations. Let us remember also that Cameron's underwater marvel won an Oscar for Best Effects, Visual Effects; they are simply majestic.
    The dialogue in Abyss is clunky at times; cliched variety that Cameron brings to pretty much all of his movies. Some of the extemporaneous characters bring little to the overall movie and help distract the viewer from the main plot. I think Cameron has done a very good job with the two main characters though. Ed Harris does a remarkable job playing his role as boss on the rig while still hackling with his wife. Mastrantonio also does a fine job of portraying the tough as nails Lindsay while still remaining feminine and sympathetic.

    The directors cut ending is debated in the online world. While it serves to clarify what was a rather abrupt and confusing ending in the original it also becomes quite preachy and is at a loss for any type of subtlety. Cameron attacks his anti-war message like Ripley against Alien.
    Even with some confusing dialogue and a preachy ending, The Abyss has still maintained in being not just one of my favourite sci-fi stories but one of the deepest enriched babies out there; The Abyss in essence is as deep as it's title suggests. James Cameron creates tension and imagination like two lovers; a master of his craft. This is Cameron at his most under-rated, most triumphant, most Zen best.

    ''We have no way of warning the surface. And you know what that means? It means, whatever happens, is up to us.''
  • ScoopOnline
    December 14, 2009
    ScoopOnline
    The Abyss is one of the Wonderful and Beautiful Alien Movies I have ever seen. Aliens Underwater.
  • DrZeek
    December 3, 2009
    DrZeek
    Lindsey Brigman: So raise your hand if you think that was a Russian water-tentacle.

    The other James Cameron film that involves both water and aliens. I don't have much to say about this one. There is enough to like in it. Ed Harris is always cool to watch and a few of the Came...( read more)ron film staples (unfortunately excluding Bill Paxton) make there way into the film, building up some highlights; however, I was never really engaged by the movie. It just didn't have as much of an exciting factor as Cameron's other features.

    An American nuclear submarine is attacked (during the cold war) and crashes underwater. The navy asks the workers of a nearby underwater oil rig who are joined by a number of navy SEALS to locate and investigate the cause of the crash. As the crew embark on their mission, they encounter a number of difficulties and discover that they may not be alone. There is something else down there, and its up to Ed Harris and Michael Biehn in crazy mode to do something about it..

    What struck me the most was how of all things, this movie seems to be Cameron making his version of Close Encounters, while Armageddon seems to have cribbed off of this movie. Anyway, yeah, the movie is ok. It never really bothers me to see dated effects, but it kinda bothered me here, knowing that T2 would come out two years later and still look fucking awesome today. Its also quite long, which once again, without the strong excitement factor, didn't really help.

    For a Cameron epic, its passable.

    Alan "Hippy" Carnes: What is all this stuff?
    Ensign Monk: Fluid breathing system, we just got it. You use it when you go really deep.
    Alan "Hippy" Carnes: How deep?
    Ensign Monk: Deep.
    Alan "Hippy" Carnes: HOW deep?
    Ensign Monk: It's classified.
  • Chiefilms
    October 18, 2009
    Chiefilms
    "I'm going deeper underground", Jamiroquai's 1998 song on the Godzilla soundtrack should have been made 9 years earlier to go on this movies' soundtrack. It would have been perfect, the underwater search team diving farther into the deep sea than anyone else before to the funky ...( read more)groove beats of Jamiroquai, badass!

    The filming for this movie must have been one of the most dangerous productions ever, at least for the actors (not including the stuntman). James Cameron filmed almost exclusively underwater in a 40 ft deep hole in a nuclear power plant. 7 million gallons of water was used to fill the hole and that's where the movie was shot, with the actors completely underwater. They all had to become certified divers. I've read stories on how the actors, especially Ed Harris, experienced psychological breakdowns during the production. The movie was filmed over a 6 month period and more than half of that time James Cameron wasn't even filming the movie, he was experimenting with shit underwater with the actors submerged. The actors went crazy and were spontaneously crying on and off the set. There can't be many of these instances in Hollywood at least comparable to that! Perhaps it's commonplace, who knows? James Cameron does.

    With all that said, this movie is pretty good and realistic, freakishly. The only downside is there are underwater aliens, but don't let that ruin the movie. If you read into the background of this movies' filming and then watch it, the experience will be great. It's in your face, Ed Harris is literally drowning! Gonna have to watch this movie again, James Cameron is quite the risk taker.
  • SirPant
    September 16, 2009
    SirPant
    A fantastic underwater sci-fi adventure and probably my favourite James Cameron film!
  • maxmoser3
    February 3, 2010
    maxmoser3
    boring as crap it bored me
  • lucysaints
    January 28, 2010
    lucysaints
    Absolute brilliance in movie form!
  • yippee9a
    January 25, 2010
    yippee9a
    This is one of James Cameron's best sci-fi flicks; his earliest before he did Avatar.
  • nanobwitch
    January 16, 2010
    nanobwitch
    great james cameron movie. very good with a hint of friendly alien scifi
  • Nightbaneinferno
    January 15, 2010
    Nightbaneinferno
    i loved it!! this movie made me a scifi fan

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Critic Reviews

May 12, 2001
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Anyone looking for a discouraging word about this stupendously exciting and emotionally engulfing film should read no further. The Abyss confirms James Cameron as a world-class filmmaker. full review

View more The Abyss reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments

  • Gx7
    May 1, 2008
    Gx7
    Man, how can you people rate this movie so high? Entertainment-wise this was a butt-sore! Its just too long and all the good stuff really happens on the second half of the film. Although the CGI is great (considering that this was made in the late 80s) and the message is good, couldnt this have been made shorter? I had to watch this half and half cuz I always fall asleep waiting for something thrilling to happen.
  • Aritosgold
    November 23, 2007
    Aritosgold
    Very good movie;;
  • universalkid1000
    June 5, 2007
    universalkid1000
    For you fans of the movie, I masde a quiz on the film to challenge your knowledge about the film. If I get more responses, I might make another one. Hope to see your score!
  • whitesnake41
    November 23, 2006
    whitesnake41
    one of my all time fave films. so well made a lot better then some of the junk being made now
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The Abyss Trivia

  • The American Humane Association rated this film "unacceptable" because of the rat that was submerged in oxygenated liquid in one scene.  Answer »
  • What movie is this quote from - It went straight for the warhead, and they think it's cute!  Answer »
  • Which 1989 film featured the largest underwater set in the world at 7 million gallons?   Answer »
  • Which movie has this tagline : " Deep below the blue surface, there lies a place no one has ever dreamed of..... "  Answer »
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