The Abyss (1989)

I'm not sure, but I think James Cameron's main aim was to convey the eeriness and sheer otherworldliness of the underwater world most of us never see. I don't think he succeeded very well in that respect; what he did very well, as in all his films, was to project that sense of adventure and thrills of the best action films. It just so happens that most of his films have a science fiction slant. The drawback to his attempt here is that a lot of it is underwater; everything happens in slow motion under the water, in comparison to action on dry land. But, this is James Cameron; he made most of it work.
This was a very tough shoot, by all accounts. And, it was expensive for its time, at $40 to $50 million. The money is on screen; this is a beautifully shot, sleek saga of under-the-sea riggers becoming trapped down below. By some odd coincidence, which seems to happen a lot in Hollywood, there were a few other films that year involving thrills underneath the water, among them Deepstar Six and Leviathan. The Abyss was easily the primo picture among this group. As usual, Cameron sets everything up with some strong characters and then gives them some unusual challenges. It would have been rather standard stuff, but one these characters is a Navy Seal (Biehn) who happens to develop High Pressure Nervous Syndrome; in short, he steadily goes total psycho. That plot development assures some intense scenes.
This also touches on the fears most people have on drowning. Well, maybe it does more than just touch on it. Intense stuff, right? As for the alien beings eventually making contact with the humans: it's the character of Lindsey (Mastrantonio) who voices the thought that these are extraterrestrials. Everyone else just automatically agrees without debate. I agree it would be more interesting if these were an unknown, alternate intelligence also spawned on Earth. And, it could be. It's never confirmed that these are aliens; in fact, their actions towards the end, sending tidal waves against the surface humans, seems to imply that they're looking out for their own planet, the planet they evolved on. These tidal wave scenes were finally created for the special edition of The Abyss, released briefly to theaters and on Laserdisc in 1993. I think it adds a grand scale to the film.
The last act, of Ed Harris as Bud sinking into the depths and then being carried by alien hands into an undersea kingdom, recalls the better scenes of such sci-fi films as 2001:A Space Odyssey, in a watery setting.
Many people don't like the final act or the final half-hour or so. This includes Ed Harris. I happened to see an interview with him about a year ago and a question was raised about his problems with Cameron and the film. Harris said the build up was great but the entire sequence of that funky-looking underwater city rising out of the water was all wet, as far as he was concerned and let everyone down. Harris made the point that everyone worked themselves nearly to death on this film and their reward was this flimsy ending by Cameron. I was amazed that Harris still carried this hubris around after 20 years but he's a man of intense feelings, I guess, and that translates to the screen. BoG's Score: 8 out of 10
In the end, I think this is a very life-affirming movie, which is a theme prevalent in Cameron's films. I mean, even the pet rat lived in this one, even though there were human casualties (there's always that chance that you will drown if you're deep underwater). Also, check out this poster for the film, from East Germany; a bit strange:
Trivia From the Abyss (from SciFiNow TimeWarp Collection, Vol.1):