James Cameron is often prone to an overextension of his ambition, to mathematically-sound but cliche'd plotlines, and overall to making movies that are understandable as examples of how to make a AAA blockbusting piece of cinema that somehow shows no true artfulness whatsoever. So that would be an understandable perspective to come into The Abyss from-- But it surprises. The emotion that was so overwrought in Titanic shines as a component of a larger film, and the victimization of the alien that ruined Avatar is more compelling when those victims are really, truly alien. The Abyss is no true classic, but it is the most artful showing in James Cameron's filmography, and convincing acting throughout anchors the impact of the movie.

All the underwater filming is impressive but the movie didn't feel special. It's plot was basic, the acting was fine, the special effects didn't age well. Still worth watching at least once.

The epic tsunami scene in the Special Edition is pretty much why James Cameron made this movie. He had a dream of a tsunami I believe. So it’s weird that he cut it out of the theatrical version.
It is a little preachy in the end but a lot less preachy than movies made these days

The whole reason James Cameron made the movie. Was due to dreams of tsunamis. So it’s weird that scene is only in the director’s cut. With aliens threatening to crush humans with a giant wave. It adds more to the movie.
Either way the Abyss was the strongest of the submarine underwater creature movies of 1989. Due to Cameron as director, fine effects and a great cast.
As well as more of an original story than just Alien underwater. Which the other underwater movies from 1989 were like. The Abyss is more about peaceful aliens that don’t like the violence humans cause.

You can say what you want about James Cameron, but he knows how to write and direct adventure movies.

The Abyss is one I remember with great fondness. You know what I mean...the VHS tape that you could barely watch because you have watched so many times the tape was almost ruined. Thank whatever deity you prefer for Blu-Ray restorations...am I right?

Anyway...The Abyss still holds up as an adventure movie, and with all the state of the art (for the time) tech they used for this one, it almost looks just as good now as it did back then.

The Abyss is still very much worth the time, and to me...it's still one of the greatest undersea adventures ever made.

Check out Leviathan for more underwater shenanigans

Didn't age that well. A bit bland and tone-deaf.

The mind of Jim Cameron will always be a mystery. For the time this was made I can tell why it was a hit but as he moved foward in his career his work ONLY went up.
I enjoyed alot of this but I also got bored as it didn't really do much for its length.

Love how Cameron shot this, the underwater photography still holds up pretty well. Maybe he shouldn’t have used blue lights and hues during the scenes that aren’t taking place underwater, but the colour palette is still fine. Besides that, this is clearly one of Cameron’s weakest films. The major problem is that movie isn’t having enough fun with itself, which would’ve made the cheesy dialogue, sentimentality and bad acting a lot more palatable. Add to that a very basic plot with no interesting characters, and you have a movie I find a slog when it isn’t impressing you with technicalities, scale or set pieces. The Spielberg/John Williams influence especially feels so off with Cameron’s own sensibilities. Still, I find his attempt at writing in some subtext about nuclear power/Cuban missile crisis to be admirable, even if he’s not skilled enough as a writer to pull something like that off. It’s like Zack Snyder wanking off with all the countless Jezus references in his Superman films; there’s nothing wrong with drawing the parallel, but it isn’t saying much in the grander scheme of things.

4.5/10

**Very entertaining action movie mixed with a little disaster and suspense.**

Thoroughly enjoyed the relationship of the Brigmans.
>Lindsey: “It's not easy being a cast-iron bitch. It takes discipline, and years of training... A lot of people don't appreciate that.”

Absolutely Terrifying if you've got Thalassophobia. And I do. 100% scary...

"...when you look long into the abyss,
the abyss also looks into you."
- friedrich nietzsche

It features a nice beginning but everything else about this Cameron Sci-Fi Flick is rather boring and cliché: the military has to retrieve a nuclear warhead from a grounded submarine. They sends a SEAL squad to do the job. With the help of some civilian underwater oil workers they have to enter the submarine within a few hours time. But one of the SEALs goes crazy and a civilian tough-guy has to sacrifice his life to safe the alien lifeforms from the detonation of the warhead.

The ending is especially silly and the SFX look really cheap nowadays...

Classic "Alien" era underwater madness.

An alien in the depths of the ocean.

When the technology that initially made the movie amazing is outdated, you're left with the story, characters, and performances, which don't add up to anything spectacular.
Story: 6...is this about the military, aliens, deep sea exploration?
Script: 6
Performances: 7
Misc.: 7
Influence: 7...seeds of T2 here!
Overall: 7

Level "Interesting" • 7 :heart: • Entertaining and Good.

The underwater cinematography is one of a kind, even by today's standards. And the scene where [spoiler]Lindsey drowns and is then resuscitated[/spoiler] is alone worth sitting though nearly three hours. What a performance by the entire cast! That said, the ending is bad... like very bad. It's cartoon-y and heavy-handed in its message, and feels like a awkward pacifist cheeseball, which Cameron continues in his overblown Avatar. This man has no nuance.