I remember the first time I saw the trailer for The Abyss on television, like it was yesterday. The film’s release date was August 9, 1989, so I don’t believe it aired during the Super Bowl, but it might have. At the time, it was common to tease a trailer seven months before release. However, I don’t believe it was during the Super Bowl because I remember the trailer being much longer than the 30- or 60-second spot a Super Bowl advertisement traditionally ran. The preview might have been hyped for weeks as something set to be shown as an extended trailer on a popular show. In either case, I had never been awed by a movie preview in my entire life, and that might be the best trailer I’ve ever seen on television.
I have seen many more trailers in the theaters that have surpassed the trailer for The Abyss (as I’ve written in previous reviews, each subsequent Clint Eastwood-directed trailer seems like the best trailer I’ve ever seen). Still, something about the trailer for this James Cameron (Titanic, The Terminator) movie felt so mysterious and unique that I still remember it. Of course, none of that would have mattered if The Abyss had turned out to be a terrible movie. Granted, when I saw it, I was 13, but the film has always been one of my favorites. It has been in my top 10 for the last 30 years. I don’t think it has ever left my Top 30. With my most recent viewing, I admit that it could have been a better A+-level movie. I knocked it down a peg to an A. It now resides just inside my Top 60. I envision very few scenarios in the next decade where it won’t be in my Top 100.
I wrote this review after my September 2020 viewing. It has been 15-20 years since I last saw this movie, and it may only be the third or fourth time I have watched it. I was struck by how many similarities it had to 1998’s Armageddon, a film universally beloved by audiences and despised by critics (73% vs. 38% on Rotten Tomatoes). The Abyss (83% vs. 89%) was received equally well by audiences and critics, and rightfully so. It’s a cleaner movie that allows you to suspend your beliefs without insulting your intelligence. That doesn’t mean Armageddon isn’t entertaining, because it certainly is. I certainly enjoyed and loved it when I saw it in the theater. Rewatches have forced me to agree with the critics: the film is utterly preposterous. As enjoyable as it is, its attempts to be a drama are ruined by its attempts to be a comedy and a romance at the same time.
While The Abyss has a romantic subplot, it doesn’t shift between comedy and drama. The Abyss is a heavy science-fiction thriller with plenty of mystery and intrigue. The lead characters are distinguishable from one another. This film, while long and slow-building at times, is never dull. Much like Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which came out just two years later, The Abyss was revolutionary with its enhanced CGI. I also remember reading that the movie’s underwater scenes were filmed in an unfinished nuclear reactor facility, almost entirely underwater. At its release, it was the most extensive underwater set in the world, with seven million gallons of water. While it was 40 feet deep, too much light came from the surface. To solve this, they used a giant tarpaulin and billions of tiny black plastic beads to block out the light. This worked for a while, but a storm destroyed the tarpaulin. The filmmakers then switched to nighttime filming.
I’ve read that many still consider The Abyss the most challenging movie shoot ever. The production was way over budget and took months longer to film. The actors had to become certified scuba divers and were required to work hours a day, weeks on end, underwater. Both leads almost had nervous breakdowns, with one having to pull off on the side of the road during filming to weep uncontrollably because of the filming requirements. But unlike in many films where actors complain about the conditions, Cameron didn’t ask his stars to do anything he wasn’t doing, and he often spent twice as long in the underwater sets as the actors he was directing.
The basic plot is easy enough to follow. Set during the middle of the Cold War period of 1985-199, an American nuclear submarine crashes in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean under very mysterious circumstances. An unidentified object glances past the submarine before the sub drifts into a rock wall, flooding the cabin, killing the passengers, and sinking the submarine deeper into the ocean. The US Government believes that the Russians might be responsible.
The government enlists a team of underwater drilling workers from a privately owned company named DeepCore, whose oil platform rests on the ocean floor near the abyssal trench and will serve as the operation’s base. Deployed to DeepCore will be a team of Navy SEALS who will complete a search and rescue of the crash site before nearby Russian submarines can beat them to it.
Instantly, there is a clash between the two teams, most notably between Bud (Ed Harris – The Truman Show, Pollock), the foreman of DeepCore, and Lindsey (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio – Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Color of Money), the platform’s designer and chief engineer, who joins the SEALS when they board Bud’s rig. Lindsey is also Bud’s ex-wife, adding friction beyond the job.
The real conflict is between Bud and Lt. Hiram Coffey (Michael Biehn – The Terminator, Aliens), who commands the SEAL team. Coffey has strict military orders for both the completion and execution of the mission, and anyone who tries to interfere. Bud’s team and Coffey’s team need to see eye to eye. A series of near-catastrophes dooms the mission from the start. One worker is nearly killed during the exploration of the downed sub. A hurricane on the surface causes a rope to the platform to snap, sending debris flying. Coffey, suffering from High-Pressure Nervous Syndrome (HPNS), begins to lose his grip on sanity and starts to make some highly irrational decisions. He becomes our real antagonist in this movie. While he certainly deserves it and is a great villain, Cameron is masterful in his direction. Biehn is even better with his depiction of a man gone mad due to the national pressure on him to possibly stop World War III from happening, as well as the effects that HPNS is having on his body that he is doing his best to hide from everyone. The Abyss builds tension because we invest in these characters.
Oh, and there is also the unknown non-terrestrial intelligence part of this film that makes it beautiful, mystical, suspenseful, and haunting at the same time. This fantasy/science-fiction component adds a dazzling new element to a taut, tense movie. This new “character” takes on a life of its own and completely swerves the story without taking anything away from the original premise. It’s a fascinating watch, and I wouldn’t do it justice trying to describe its aesthetics.
After watching The Abyss, I looked more deeply at Ed Harris’s career. He might be the most underrated actor of his generation. With four Oscar nominations (Pollock, The Truman Show, Apollo 13, The Hours) and dozens of other memorable roles (Glengarry Glenn Ross, The Right Stuff, Empire Falls, Nixon, A Beautiful Mind, A History of Violence, The Rock, Appaloosa, Gone Baby Gone, Radio, The Firm, Needful Things, The Way Back), Harris has accumulated quite the library of films that deserve to be seen. The Abyss ranks right up there as one of his best performances, including what might be his most intense.
As mentioned, the visuals are incredible. The CGI was far ahead of its time. While a film with this plot could have worked without enhanced CGI, poor graphics would have hurt the final product at release. However, this movie was expertly devised, and its score might have been the best of the year.
Plot 10/10
Character Development 9/10
Character Chemistry 9.5/10
Acting 9/10
Screenplay 9.5/10
Directing 10/10
Cinematography 10/10
Sound 10/10
Hook and Reel 10/10
Universal Relevance 9/10
96%
A+
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