Pretty Good

Did you people see the same film I saw?

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

A civilian diving team is enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and face danger while encountering an alien aquatic species. The Abyss is 29 years old and still looks as beautiful and fresh as it was released in 2018, the film has some very good perfomances from both Harris and Mastrantonio but the one who in my opinion steals the show was Michael Biehn and having him as the villain was brilliant. James Cameron also started developing the right technology that he used in T2 and this movie showcases that since the aliens both the underwater ones and the one that was made out of water look so beautiful and just stunning. The Abyss is an underrated masterpiece!!!! (10/10)

The major part of this, right up to just before the end, is a really nice deep water drama with interesting personal developments and encounters.It's more open if you can live with the end, but if logic and story coherence are important to you I recommend you turn off just after the deeper descend. If you do, you will have had an intriguing movie experience with few regrets. Most aspects do hold up, also most of the special effects.I remember watching this in a big cinema in a group of 5-7 friends. All of us had a heated discussion afterwards walking away, where everyone agreed on that some Hollywood CEO, must have reacted to test viewer reactions, and then have made sure Cameron added on another ending than this well-written story deserved and in that had destroyed the experience of a really good story and movie. We reached the conclusion that "Hollywood endings" are the bane of good cinema even if most of us otherwise had enjoyed the movie.Now, years later with the Director's Cut, that I've also saw some time later** — which ending will hurt you so much more profoundly, or alternatively amaze you and yet leave you potentially offended because of the actual ending — it would seem the last piece was Cameron's wish after all.I've looked upon on his work with skepticism ever since the Director's Cut, even if I like some of what he's done since. The documentaries like "Aliens of the Deep" and "Ghosts of the Abyss" (unrelated to this story here) are the most interesting.It could have been so good. As it was released it's as watchable as any Sci-fi flick that almost got there. Just don't get your hopes up.**What can I say? I was hoping for a better ending, not a worse one, which was what we got.

The Abyss certainly feels like James Cameron's most personal and low-key directorial effort. The big action set-pieces and ahead of their time special effects are still here, yet the story he's trying to tell feels much more human and conscious of its time period. It's his first film to mainly concentrate on humans and have the science fiction elements play more of a side role. On a technical and atmospheric level there is nothing to hold the film back, only Cameron himself does that with some inconsistent plotting and writing which leads to a frequently spectacular but unbalanced film. We follow the workers of an underwater oil rig as they are joined by navy seals and asked to investigate the crash site of a navy submarine and find out what caused it. The rigs designer Lindsey insists on going along despite her estranged husband Bud being the foreman. You can see that this will lead to their personalities clashing and it does which creates an interesting dynamic to the films credit. It's no surprise when we learn that something alien caused the crash, after Lindsey comes face to face with a life form that can manipulate water. This alien story works best when it's shrouded in mystery, yet I really don't like the eventual resolution to it. After a lot of interesting build-up we end on a note that feels straight out of E.T and doesn't fit the films tone at all. The real meat of the story comes when navy seal Coffey steals a warhead from the wreckage. Struck with paranoia he believes that the life form is a Russian spy and turns on the crew when they don't cooperate with his plan to attack it. The tension during these scenes is wonderful. Coffey is the most interesting character and seeing him slowly snap is disturbing in all the right ways. The clashes between him and the crew are always brimming with intensity too. The film is at its best when it lets the claustrophobia of these situations wash over it. The sense of isolation and unease does get appropriately strong, as scenes like the crew trapped as water floods in or racing to stop the warhead being launched are what really suck you in. I actually think that if the film discarded the Sci-Fi elements then it could probably work even better as a straight-up thriller.An area of weakness is in regards to the characters. Most of the crew just don't have much personality because of a lack of development and bland writing. Having characters like Hippy whose trait is being a conspiracy theorist and carrying a rat or Standing whose nickname is One Night (which is the worst excuse for a nickname you'll see) stinks of laziness. Ed Harris is solid as usual and Mastrantonio does a serviceable job, yet its relying on their acting talents to carry bland characters. The only real standout is Michael Biehn who provides a genuinely chilling performance as the paranoid Coffey.With that said Cameron's direction and staging is as impressive as ever. The set itself is simply incredible. Not only does it look gigantic, but it is lit perfectly and gives a real sense of being deep in the ocean. The special effects are impressive and still hold up well, while the in-camera effects still amaze too. I didn't think it was possible to make a fight scene between two mini-subs gripping but they managed to pull it off. There are also a number of sequences that are really deliver the tension necessary. Notably the resuscitation scene which, though a little ludicrous, is almost overwhelmingly intense and superbly acted by Harris. The same goes for Harris attempting to retrieve the warhead, it's heart-pounding in every way you could wish.When The Abyss reaches its conclusion I was relatively satisfied. It is an intelligent and frequently thrilling film based around an interesting idea. The issues arise from when that idea isn't fully realised and the writing gets in its way. When the film concentrates on offering thrills and intensity in a unique environment then it really does engage. Yet all the talk of alien life forms feels out of place in such an oppressive setting and the majority of characters aren't strong enough to really involve the audience for such a long film. In saying that I was never bored or confused by the film, and with a little fine-tuning it could have been something special.

I was only able to manage watching 20 painful minutes of The Abyss before turning it off. The dialog by today's standards was just horrific. I've watched a number of sci-fi movies from this era and none of them damaged my soul quite like this. The introduction of Lindsey Brigman was very clichéd. Yes Cameron we get it... she's the sassy intellectually gifted woman and the chief engineer aboard the submarine. With her status she's in charge of a bunch of male navy SEALS and surprise, surprise, they don't respect her.Briman's leader status is unbelievable and even her mere presence on a United States submarine is a joke in itself. Although women have been allowed to serve in the Navy for many years now, no woman ever went on a voyage in a US submarine until 26 YEARS after this movie was made!