The Abyss (Special Edition) [1989] [VHS]
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 underwater. 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 circumst
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Sci-Fi had grown stale by the late eighties, space travel had been rubbed into the ground as concept, but nobody had been to the bottom of the Ocean. However, when an American Nuclear Submarine mysteriously goes down a small underwater oil drilling team are called in as the Navys only hope of getting below the surface before a major storm front hits the area cutting of any futher rescue attempts. Dispatched with a team of Navy Seals to guide them the divers attempt a quick rescue opperation but are instead flung into a nightmare world where they are cut off from the surface and trapped on the edge of 25,000 ft ravine. The unlucky miners are required to push themselves to the limit to save themselves, only to find that a lot more is at stake. The plot is one of those amazing peices of storytelling that pulls together some stunning effects for the time period (i mean stunning) and a real sense of immersion from the epic setpieces making a trully exceptional film on all levels. Infact epic is a word that describes this film allround and thats that.
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|Great movie but what’s with the aspect ratio?,
I recently re-bought this one as the original DVD I have is not formatted properly for widescreen tv’s. I was hoping that this more recent edition has had this corrected but it has sadly not. As a result, when you are watching it on one of the more recent widescreen lcd’s or plasmas, the picture is not “enhanced” for 16×9 so the picture sits like a small letterbox in the middle of the screen. You can zoom the image to fit the screen but the clarity is lost. Such a shame because its one of my favourite sci-fi movies of all time.
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|WHAT CAMERON DOES BEST.,
I have always considered this to be James Cameron’s most underrated film – often overlooked, its a fine example of what Cameron does best – make really cracking, edge of the seat action movies. This is easily on a par with his more famous sci-fi efforts (Aliens,Terminator,T2) – and urguably more impressive than Titanic,because the characters are far more three dimensional and believable.
Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio are great as the estranged couple whose relationship is reconciled in the murky depths of an underwater trench,which is home to some peace-loving extra-terrestrials.
Despite the initial cuteness of the watery aliens, there is a very deep, thought provoking message in this film – especially intensified in the extended special edition version, which is way superior to the theatrical release. And how’s this for value, BOTH versions are included in this box set.
Solid performances,excellent special effects and probably some of the best underwater photography you’ll ever see in a movie, make this is a film that you MUST watch.
Despite excellent sound quality, and some astonishing extra features, this DVD is ruined by the fact that (like Cameron’s Titanic before it), it is NOT presented in anamorphic widescreen – WHY are they STILL releasing some movies in this format?? This was a real let down for me, and I’m sure will be for other DVD buffs.
What a shame this ruins an otherwise excellent film and a great value DVD package.
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