Abyss - Abgrund des Todes

The story of The Abyss starts with a mysterious crash of a US nuclear submarine that is armed with the appropriate nuclear weaponry for its time. With reports of it down, we want to get it before the Russians do.

When it rains it pours, literally in this case. A fast moving storm forces the Navy to use the crew and equipment from a nearby underwater deep sea drilling platform and the oil roughnecks are promised some big government checks for their help.

Crew chief Ed Harris gives his reluctant consent, made even more reluctant by the fact that his estranged wife Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio has designed some new equipment for use in the really deep waters of The Abyss of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Navy people and the oil people are a bad fit to start with, but when the deep depths effect Navy SEAL Michael Biehn by bringing out the worst aspects of the military authoritarian personality things get real interesting down in the deep.

The spectacle does dwarf the story which is the only real criticism I can make of The Abyss. What the submarine made accidental contact with is some incredible alien life form which I can't go into further because that's the whole point of the film. Of course Biehn still believes it's all a Russian plot of some kind and therein lies the conflict exacerbated by the extreme paranoia he develops.

Unlike Cameron's Titanic, the spectacle at the end just overwhelms the human players in this film. But it was those special effects that go The Abyss its Academy Award recognition. The Abyss was also nominated for Sound and Art&Set Direction and Cinematography. It could have been a winner in any of those categories. In fact the biggest mistake you can make which is the one I did make, to see The Abyss on the small screen and formatted. This film is what IMAX was developed for.

Though the story does get lost somewhat in the special effects the point is still made about man being ready and open to all kinds of possibilities of life that can exist anywhere. See The Abyss, but wait for a revival showing at a theater.

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs.

Revisited the 171 mins version recently n completed the movie in one sitting.

Inspite of the runtime, the film is engrossing n visually breathtaking.

The dark trench and Ed Harris' character going down way below is more scary than most horror movies.

James Cameron is a genius n there's no doubt bah it but i am surprised that most fellas havent given credit to H. G. Wells, as he was the first to introduce the notion of a sea alien in his 1897 short story "In the Abyss".

Ed Harris n Michael Biehn both gave memorable performances.

Biehn's character is downright creepy.

The CPR scene is a bit far fetched n melodramatic.

I saw "The Abyss" in the theater (Cinema City, Fresh Meadows, NY) and many times times since. I hadn't watched it in quite a while when I sat down to watch it last night. I won't wait that long to watch it again. "The Abyss" is a rock solid adventure. The action is edge-of-your-seat stuff. The emotional scenes are brutal to watch. The story moves well and the cast is very good. "The Abyss" is not as well known as most of writer/director James Cameron's other movies but it's one of his best.

I've never really heard of The Abyss except in Fox DVD commercials. When it came out, I was only 8 and not into sci-fi movies that weren't titled Star Wars. However, now I decided to check it out and was quite pleased with this solid sci-fi movie.

At first, I wasn't quite sure why this was considered sci-fi. It seemed pretty normal with the sinking of a nuclear sub and the hiring of an oil crew to save it. It wasn't for a while till we really got to meet the "extraterrestrial" creatures. The special effects for representing these characters were quite good, and I especially liked the water creature that toured around the rescue vessel. It's also neat to see that effect inspire a similar one used in Terminator 2.

As I said, the story took a little while to gain steam, but it was pretty interesting from then on. The acting was good too, most notably by Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. The other actors didn't do anything really extraordinary but serve as solid supporting characters.

Overall, I wouldn't say The Abyss is the best sci-fi movie out there or that it will dethrone Star Wars anytime soon, but rather it's a solid addition for any sci-fi fan's collection.

My IMDb Rating: 8/10. My Yahoo! Grade: B+ (Memorable)

There was a time, way back in the '80s - before James Cameron suffered head trauma and devoted his life to Avatar - when the man made blockbusters that had a humanity at their core; something instantly relatable despite the sci-fi setting. The Abyss is one of those, with Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio reconciling their failed marriage amidst mortal peril. Indeed, they're trapped miles beneath the ocean's surface, negotiating nuclear warheads, attacking subs and a hair-triggered Michael Biehn.

Cameron creates a realistic environment that still feels otherworldly, populates it with real people and ratchets the tension to unnerving heights. The effects are fantastic, ast are the performances and - as scary as this place is - I would easily come back to revisit.