| The Abyss | | Cast : | Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio | | Director : | James Cameron | | Studio : | Twentieth Century Fox Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | August 09, 1989 | | DVD Released Date : | June 01, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 29, 2005 | | Summary | The Abyss DVD Delivers! | Content
 | The ABYSS was a big risk. The entire film (with the exception of some SPECIAL EDITION footage) was filmed off of dry land, but rather underwater or aboard sea-faring vessels. It also contains huge special effects sequences and large set pieces.
All of this combined into a very expensive film, very difficult to make. There are 3 stories colliding in the Abyss... the least interesting involves the shattered marriage between Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Matstrantonio as Bud and Lidsay. The Second and most successful storyline involves the oil rig crew joining up with Navy SEALS to retrieve nuclear warheads from a sunken submarine. The final story is the science fiction element, an underwater race that makes first contact with the initiation of the film. After a pretty long journey with great special effects and exciting tension, the three stories all come to an aligned ending. The biggest complaint stated about the film was that rarely did all three stories speak to its viewers... They either wanted more or less sci-fi... Cut or expand the romance... Enhance or decrease the thriller tension.
To answer some of these requests, this spectacular DVD includes the Special Edition which includes an extra 28 minutes of additional footage. Some of the footage was cut for obvious reasons and very little of it improves the story. Still, its great to have both versions at your fingertips. Yes, this DVD set is loaded with great documentaries, the complete screenplay and even 3 silly games that are not worth hunting for. The only thing missing is an audio commentary. The 5.1 THX Sound is great as is the video transfer. It is the step above the LaserDisc release although with that you did have a James Cameron Approved Pan and Scan version that was extremely watchable. "Raise You Hand if you think that was a Russian Water Tentacle!"
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| Rating | | | Date | July 03, 2005 | | Summary | SEA HUNT meets CLOSE ENCOUNTERS! | Content
| Years before he decided to re-sink The Titanic, James Cameron took moviegoers on a journey that was part undersea adventure, part science fiction fantasy, and part political/social commentary. Using the standard scenario of rescuers (the crew of an underwater drilling rig) becoming victims themselves, the director adds an element of otherworldliness by having extraterrestrials residing on the ocean floor.
One of the movie's pluses is its top-notch cast. Deciding against "big" names, Cameron assembled a talented cast of familiar faces that could add credibility to an otherwise implausible tale. Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio are equals as a divorced couple that is brought together by work and the eventual struggle to survive.
Rounding out and providing great support are the members of the crew: Leo Burmeister, Todd Graff, John Bedford Lloyd, Kimberly Scott, and J.C. Quinn, as "Carfish," "Hippy," "Jammer," "One Night," and "Sonny," respectively.
Michael Biehn, who had previously starred as the hero in Cameron's earlier works "The Terminator and "Aliens," sports a moustache as he plays a paranoid Navy Seal that becomes the film's "heavy."
The optical effect that would be so memorably displayed in Cameron's later "T2: Judgment Day" was in its infancy but it still impresses as alien-controlled ocean waters "morph" into the likenesses of Harris and Mastrantonio.
Included on the cassette is a short featurette detailing how the actors spent many arduous hours training for underwater filming and it was work well spent. One could actually believe that they knew exactly what they were doing.
Though not a great film, "The Abyss" ranks as a enjoyable viewing experience and comes highly recommended. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 08, 2005 | | Summary | Exploration of the final two frontiers. | Content
| Don't pay attention to the negative reviews here. This film is still one of the best ever, even more than 15 years later. James Cameron really made a masterpiece - forever solidifying his emminent status among film directors of all-time. Aliens and Titanic were both very good films, The Abyss is an excellent film, with the Director's cut rating slightly higher - I enjoyed the new ending best (I actually saw the director's cut before seeing the theatrical version). Recommended to all, especially sci/fi and action film lovers. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 05, 2005 | | Summary | Excellent movie, with some of the best effects ever! | Content
| This film is really good, and the DVD is as comphrehensive and mind-blowing as anything I have ever seen of a 2-disc special edition.
The film is very good, and the effects are incredible (the pseudopod sequence is one of the best effects Hollywood has ever given us), but the cutting of certain scenes in this film is so bad (because there were many scenes that were cut that had to be in this film, and the film's story does not come together at some points. The 1989 theatrical version was very good though, and the acting, the effects and the connection between the two leads was outstanding.
In 1992, James Cameron released The Abyss Special Edition. This version had 28 minutes of new footage (inculding a wave sequence that was too expensive to finish during production) and it also fleshes out the characters much better than the Theatrical Version did. This version is better than the theatrical version, and it is practically James Cameron's definitive version of The Abyss.
Theatrical Version Rating: 7/10
Special Edition Rating: 8.5/10
The DVD is huge, depending on which one you have (The Single Disc Version, or the far superior 2 disc version (that is the single disc version plus a disc with a lot of special features and hidden easter eggs)
Disc One Contains the orginial 2 1/2- hour 1989 Theatrical Version and the 3-hour 1992 Special Edition Version, both with 5.1 and 2.0 sound, and a text commentary for both versions.
Disc Two Contains A lot of Special Features, inculding a 60 minute documentary "Under Pressure: The Making of the Abyss" and SO MUCH MORE.....
DVD: 10/10
Overall: 8.5/10
If you only like the theatrical version, buy this DVD. If you only like the special edition, buy this DVD. I highly recommend this DVD. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 16, 2005 | | Summary | Exploring two unexplored worlds...sea and space! | Content
| James Cameron takes us on a journey through 2 worlds that have still many unsolved mysteries...the dark, bottom depths of the ocean, and the vast universes in outer space. Read review below for more details..but listen..if you have not seen this, I suggest you do, it's one of the most underrated Sci-Fi films of our time!
The crew of an experimental, high-tech submersible is called into action to investigate a mysterious nuclear submarine crash. A series of strange encounters leads the crew to suspect the accident was caused by an extraterrestrial craft, and that they may be participating in an encounter with an alien species.
However, in order to make contact, they must not only brave the abyss, an exceedingly deep underwater canyon, but also deal with the violent actions of one of their own crew members, an increasingly paranoid Navy SEAL officer. Approved by director James Cameron, The Abyss: Special Edition is an extended director's cut of the 1989 underwater science fiction epic, reinstating nearly a half hour of footage removed from the original release under studio pressure. Much of the restored footage places the film's events in a grander political context, as the crew's mission becomes a factor in the dangerous escalation of nuclear tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
The largest change involves the film's ending, which provides further information on the aliens' mission on Earth, bringing the film to closer to Cameron's intention: a modern remake of Robert Wise's The Day the Earth Stood Still. |
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