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Post by Vits on Jun 1, 2020 13:09:52 GMT
In THE ABYSS, a diving team goes on a rescue mission. 2 of the members (Bud & Lindsey Brigman) used to be married. Let's get this out of the way. If you've seen it, you want to know which version I saw. If you haven't seen it, let me explain. There's a special edition with extra scenes and people debate on which version is the best. I usually choose to watch the director's cut of a movie, because that's supposed to be the original vision. However, while the theatrical cut of this movie doesn't contain all of James Cameron's ideas, he still approved it, so I saw that one. The underwater filming techniques are impressive, but I was more fascinated whenever the characters would run. The camera work feels seamless even though there doesn't seem to be enough room for the operator plus each actor that passes by them. In fact, the corridors are so narrow that they give the viewer a sense of claustrophobia. Unfortunately, this race-against-time story ironically drags on for 140 minutes! I can't imagine having to sit through the additional 30 minutes of the special edition! Everyone is a stock character, including Lt. Hiram Coffey. Why does a series of disastrous accidents even need a human villain? The heroes encounter some aliens and communicate with them. The tone of these scenes is majestic and a little whimsical. However, the aliens first appear relatively late in the story and they're pretty much gone until the last part. None of this matches the rest, which plays out like a gritty thriller. Why not remove them from the script and have a new ending? Or why not make them the main focus of the plot? There's a scene where Lindsey drowns. Her coming back to life shouldn't be that much of a surprise, but the scene is quite subversive based on the time span between CPR and the resuscitation, as well as how (purposefully) off-putting Bud's reactions become. Unfortunately, not long after, Bud also cheats death at the last minute. As if the movie needed more reasons to feel repetitive. 4/10 ------------------------------------- You can read comments of other movies in my blog. |
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Post by politicidal on Jun 1, 2020 13:45:56 GMT
7/10.
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Post by wolf359 on Jun 1, 2020 14:09:10 GMT
10/10
GREAT Movie!
I Love the Submarine scene at the Beginning.
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Post by James on Jun 1, 2020 19:51:02 GMT
7.5/10. I saw the theatrical version as well. It was pretty good, but not sure if I want to sit through the 3-hour cut to know more.
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Post by moviebuffbrad on Jun 1, 2020 23:18:39 GMT
I forgot which version I watched, but I found it pretty dry. No pun intended. It's been on on my radar for a rewatch, though.
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autumn
Junior Member
@autumn
Posts: 4,544
Likes: 3,635
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Post by autumn on Jun 2, 2020 3:47:17 GMT
Absolutely loved it. Probably 8/10 for me. Great performances.
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Post by wolf359 on Jun 3, 2020 12:31:21 GMT
7.5/10. I saw the theatrical version as well. It was pretty good, but not sure if I want to sit through the 3-hour cut to know more.
I have seen the 3 hour and I myself think that the Theatrical Cut is much better.
SPOILERS for the 3-Hour Cut!
In the 3 hour cut towards the end, right after Ed Harris's character wakes up on the alien ship....the aliens show behind him footage from all of the wars in the history of the world and also footage from the holocaust and then right after that, GIGANTIC Tidal Waves appear all over the world and begin heading towards cities all over the world that are along coastlines.
However, just because the Waves hit those cities....they suddenly stop and pause (like literally stop and pause), just literally hang there for a few moments, and then suddenly all go into reverse and back out into the ocean.
When Ed Harris's character (who was watching on the screen behind him the footage of it all) asks the aliens why they didn't do it, they then show that message that he typed out to Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's character (as we saw in the Theatrical Ending).
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Post by James on Jun 3, 2020 15:41:26 GMT
7.5/10. I saw the theatrical version as well. It was pretty good, but not sure if I want to sit through the 3-hour cut to know more.
I have seen the 3 hour and I myself think that the Theatrical Cut is much better.
SPOILERS for the 3-Hour Cut!
In the 3 hour cut towards the end, right after Ed Harris's character wakes up on the alien ship....the aliens show behind him footage from all of the wars in the history of the world and also footage from the holocaust and then right after that, GIGANTIC Tidal Waves appear all over the world and begin heading towards cities all over the world that are along coastlines.
However, just because the Waves hit those cities....they suddenly stop and pause (like literally stop and pause), just literally hang there for a few moments, and then suddenly all go into reverse and back out into the ocean.
When Ed Harris's character (who was watching on the screen behind him the footage of it all) asks the aliens why they didn't do it, they then show that message that he typed out to Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's character (as we saw in the Theatrical Ending).
Ah, I see. Is that the only significant difference from the theatrical cut? |
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Post by wolf359 on Jun 3, 2020 19:31:15 GMT
I have seen the 3 hour and I myself think that the Theatrical Cut is much better.
SPOILERS for the 3-Hour Cut!
In the 3 hour cut towards the end, right after Ed Harris's character wakes up on the alien ship....the aliens show behind him footage from all of the wars in the history of the world and also footage from the holocaust and then right after that, GIGANTIC Tidal Waves appear all over the world and begin heading towards cities all over the world that are along coastlines.
However, just because the Waves hit those cities....they suddenly stop and pause (like literally stop and pause), just literally hang there for a few moments, and then suddenly all go into reverse and back out into the ocean.
When Ed Harris's character (who was watching on the screen behind him the footage of it all) asks the aliens why they didn't do it, they then show that message that he typed out to Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's character (as we saw in the Theatrical Ending).
Ah, I see. Is that the only significant difference from the theatrical cut?
No, There are a dozen other Extended Scenes as well.
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Post by lowtacks86 on Jun 3, 2020 20:20:09 GMT
I've tried watching it, but what little I did watch was tediously dull.
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Post by Prime etc. on Jun 3, 2020 20:47:08 GMT
Great fx--the water face is really incredible---but story-wise, it's so groan-worthy with the moralizing and hokey bad guy.
Putting the rat in liquid oxygen is kind of sadistic too.
I remember this Canadian reporter interviewed Cameron and asked him about a story that when Cameron was a kid he put a rat or guinea pig in a miniature boat and dangled it off the edge of Niagara Falls.
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Post by wolf359 on Jun 4, 2020 1:26:51 GMT
I have seen the 3 hour and I myself think that the Theatrical Cut is much better.
SPOILERS for the 3-Hour Cut!
In the 3 hour cut towards the end, right after Ed Harris's character wakes up on the alien ship....the aliens show behind him footage from all of the wars in the history of the world and also footage from the holocaust and then right after that, GIGANTIC Tidal Waves appear all over the world and begin heading towards cities all over the world that are along coastlines.
However, just because the Waves hit those cities....they suddenly stop and pause (like literally stop and pause), just literally hang there for a few moments, and then suddenly all go into reverse and back out into the ocean.
When Ed Harris's character (who was watching on the screen behind him the footage of it all) asks the aliens why they didn't do it, they then show that message that he typed out to Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's character (as we saw in the Theatrical Ending).
Ah, I see. Is that the only significant difference from the theatrical cut?
Well.....Look what I found!
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Post by James on Jun 4, 2020 2:17:49 GMT
Ah, I see. Is that the only significant difference from the theatrical cut?
Well.....Look what I found!
Thanks for finding this. It seems like this is something important that should’ve been left in the film. |
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Post by wolf359 on Jun 4, 2020 3:00:40 GMT
Well.....Look what I found!
Thanks for finding this. It seems like this is something important that should’ve been left in the film.
No Problem!
As I said before, I myself just prefer the Theatrical Ending more than this Alternate Ending.
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Post by Spike Del Rey on Jun 4, 2020 13:12:12 GMT
Saw it when it was released and didn't think much of it beyond the visual f/x. Re-visited it a few years later and felt the same. 6/10.
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Post by wolf359 on Jun 4, 2020 15:12:01 GMT
I myself actually liked Michael Biehn's performance as the Villain in the Movie.
He is a Fantastic Actor.
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Post by sjg on Jun 4, 2020 15:15:01 GMT
The Abyss is one of my favourite films. It's a 10/10 from me for both versions of the film.
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Post by Vits on Jun 4, 2020 15:34:17 GMT
I myself actually liked Michael Biehn's performance as the Villain in the Movie. He is a Fantastic Actor.
Oh, my issues were with the writing, not the acting. |
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Post by ck100 on Jun 4, 2020 18:13:41 GMT
Still waiting on that Blu-ray........
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Post by wmcclain on Oct 2, 2021 19:54:50 GMT
The Abyss (1989), directed by James Cameron. When a US Navy sub has a close encounter with a mysterious object it crashes on the ocean bottom. Deep sea miners are tasked with investigating the wreck and looking for survivors. (Shades of Armageddon (1998): roughnecks to the rescue!) Compared to the other undersea thrillers that appeared that year -- DeepStar Six (1989) and Leviathan (1989) -- this is an entirely different level of filmmaking. The budget, dedication to realism and actual underwater filming are vastly impressive. Further: unlike the others there is no monster in this thriller. The deep-sea aliens turn out to be friendly. The humans bring their own terrors with them. Great cast, and we particularly love the three leads: - Ed Harris could easily be a villain, but here he is the everyman hero, always ready to do the right thing.
- Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio: we see why people don't like her, with that sharp sarcastic tongue. But with her lovely face, physical bravery and moral courage: we can't get enough of her.
- Michael Biehn is another actor who could be hero or villain, a favorite of the 1980s. In this case it is not his fault he has deep-sea psychosis and he even retains a sense of humor during his breakdown.
I had forgotten: in the final instant of the submersible battle, just as Biehn is about to slip over the edge, both he and Mastrantonio reach out as if to touch:  On the downside: - The blue-collar workers are always the same in these pictures. Homely but colorful.
- Another race to clip the wires on the nuclear warhead before the countdown timer expires.
- Strangely humanoid aliens.
- The alien rescue platform (?) on the ocean surface is disappointing, looking like a concrete sculpture. How else could it have been done? If at night we could have had the standard alien carnival lights, also unsatisfactory.
- The happy ending is supposed to be moving, but tends toward a Spielbergian sweetness.
- Are we to suppose the aliens magicked away the hurricane, just as they waved away the decompression problem?
- A romantic reunion in the last moment. That's always so nice.
Score by Alan Silvestri -- Predator (1987), Contact (1997). I'm not going to review the long weepy history of Home Video Hell for this title. It never even had an anamorphic DVD and every few years we are teased with promises of a superb Blu-ray "real soon now". I don't know if the holdup is Cameron or Fox (now Disney) or what. Why I should care more than they do escapes me. 1080p broadcasts have appeared on cable channels. 
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