How would you like to see a great film, which has a little bit of everything in it, with the choice of watching the original or extended version, with loads of extra’s on the DVD?, interested?, then perhaps you should take a look at The Abyss DVD.
~~The Abyss - The Film~~
The Abyss was ... Read review
Meticulously crafted but also ponderous and predictable, James Cameron's 1989 deep-sea ... more
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...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In this thrilling, underwater action-adventure from writer-director James Cameron ... more
('Titanic', 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day', 'Aliens'), a civilian oil-rig crew is recruited to conduct a search-and-rescue effort when a nuclear submarine mysteriously sink...
Meticulously crafted but also ponderous and predictable, James Cameron's 1989 deep-sea ... more
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...
Postage & Packaging: free Super Saver Delivery Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Production Year: 1945 - Drama - Director: David Lean - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, Joyce Carey, Cyril Raymond
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Advantages: A stunning film, two DVDs, lots of extra’s and an extended version Disadvantages: Can be slow at times
...of everything in it, with the choice of watching the original or extended version, with loads of extra’s on the DVD?, interested?, then perhaps you should take a look at The Abyss DVD.
~~The Abyss - The Film~~
The Abyss was made in 1989, it stars Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Michael Biehn. This Twentieth Century Fox film was written and directed by James Cameron, produced by Gale Anne Hurd, and rated 15, for the ... ...one of the versions.
~~Plot~~
The film begins with a US submarine experiencing a loss of power and crashing. Due to a storm the only hope of rescuing survivors and checking the nuclear arms haven’t been damaged, are a bunch of oil rig workers on the first test underwater oil rig.
Everything is not as it seems - the oil rigs’ designer goes along for the ride, much to the annoyance of her estranged husband who works ... more
How would you like to see a great film, which has a little bit of everything in it, with the choice of watching the original or extended version, with loads of extra’s on the DVD?, interested?, then perhaps you should take a look at The Abyss DVD.
~~The Abyss - The Film~~ The Abyss was made in 1989, it stars Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Michael Biehn. This Twentieth Century Fox film was written and directed by James Cameron, produced by Gale Anne Hurd, and rated 15, for the UK. Its 163 minutes in length - but that’s just one of the versions.
~~Plot~~ The film begins with a US submarine experiencing a loss of power and crashing. Due to a storm the only hope of rescuing survivors and checking the nuclear arms haven’t been damaged, are a bunch of oil rig workers on the first test underwater oil rig.
Everything is not as it seems - the oil rigs’ designer goes along for the ride, much to the annoyance of her estranged husband who works on the rig. An unknown lifeform makes an appearance, and - cut of from his chain of command the navy SEALs commander starts to behave a little oddly. With a nuclear weapon, a gigantic chasm and a storm on the way, you get the feeling not all is not going to go to plan.
~~My Opinion Of The Film~~ I wanted a great Saturday night kind of film, something you can really sit back and enjoy, and I got it. Its one of those films where you don’t notice the time passing because there’s so much to keep you interested, various aspects of the plot - just when you think you know what’s its all about, something happens you didn’t expect and opens up a whole new area of interest.
There’s all the underwater shots, they look superb and are fascinating to watch. A large percentage of computer graphics in films these days, you can tell its not real, it doesn’t look genuine, and so fails to fully come across to you. Though there are computer graphics in The Abyss, it seems there is very little, it was filmed in huge water tanks, so what you see is real, and what isn’t real is model work, so it looks good and more importantly, believable.
The plot is quite original, going back to the various aspects of the film, what you have is a space film - but not, a disaster movie, a love story, a social comment movie, a great action film and a sci-fi film all rolled up into one. On first thoughts you might think that this would be too much to handle in one movie, but think again, its another great achievement for this film, because it handles them all so well.
In watching a good disaster movie you should be all tensed up, watching your heroes battling all odds and wanting to see them escape alive. In The Abyss, with it being set underwater, it succeeds at this spectacularly, the threat of danger is ever present, and you really feel the pressure.
The sci-fi element doesn’t really come into effect until the end, when I first saw this film, I wondered why they spoiled an extremely good and well made film, by putting a load of sci-fi stuff in it. Well the sci-fi stuff is where the social comment comes into play, and its isn’t bug eyed monster stuff, its very adult, intelligent and its low key which is why it only adds to the quality of the film.
The fact that this is such a diverse film makes it more appealing to a wider range of people. Its well acted, believable, it has a good script, and doesn’t disappoint. There are some great moments, some of which are really heartfelt, and its a film that stands out from the rest, because its not quite like anything else.
~~The Abyss - The DVD~~ It cost me £22.99 from MVC, a little more than I wanted to pay but still, for what you get, its pretty good, and at the time, it was a treat. Recently its been on sale, for £9.99, typical isn’t it, the only difference is that mine came in a cardboard case, whereas the sale one is a plastic one. There are two DVD’s, one with the two film versions, and the other with all the other extra’s.
~~Extra’s~~ Original theatrical, and special extended edition versions of the film, Text commentary (for both versions), 12 page booklet, Trailers, Behind the scenes, Documentary, Original screenplay, Featutette, Special effects reel, Photo gallery, Cast biographies, Mutli angle shots.
~~My Opinion Of The DVD~~ Well I only bought it because it looked like such a good DVD, and it is. The only drawback is the card board cover, which is easily damaged otherwise, if you get the plastic case then nothing at all.
The 12 page booklet is good, a little disappointing though, you kind of expect a lot of info about the film and such but in fact its just the restoration notes telling you what bits were reinstated and where, which is great if, like me, you love this kind of info, of course its very interesting as well. Also are the chapter list of both film versions and the documentary.
The menus are great on these discs, they’ve really taken the time to produce a good DVD, they’re animated and look like part of the oil rig, its a really nice touch, you really feel like you’ve got something special.
The extras are fantastic, not just the quantity, but standard. Talking about quantity, the back cover doesn’t do the DVD justice because there are loads of bits and pieces. Included are, bits of behind the scenes stuff, the model work, the original screen play, photos, cast biographies and so on, its all great and very interesting stuff. If you love this film you’ll be in heaven with this DVD, you find out so much stuff.
The multi angle shots are interesting, you see the film with the actors acting with nothing to react to - as the effects have to added later, its odd to see, but it makes you appreciate how good the actors are, because the end result is so convincing.
There is a time lapse video showing the construction of the set, and you have to speed that up to really take it in, they did so much work, and built such a huge set - another example of how well they made this film.
The Making of The Abyss, and the featurette are both great, a good insight into how the film was made - you just don’t realise what goes into making them, with all the other extras on this DVD you get to see how many different ways and methods of film making they used to create all the different shots. All the underwater shots they filmed, how difficult and dangerous it was - and it really was. You learn a lot about what went on in the production of the film, there’s stuff I’d love to tell you, but if you want the DVD I won’t spoil it for you, but trust me its fantastic. The featurette is 10 minutes long, but the documentary lasts around hour, you really get your money’s worth.
In writing this opinion I found some inaccuracies in the running time of the film. The booklet says that the original film was 140 minutes long, and the special edition has 28 minutes of reinstated footage with 3 minutes of expended credits, being 171 minutes in total. Actually, and as the cover states the extended version is 163 minutes long, the cover also states that only 24 minutes has been reinstated.
As far as I can tell, the original was/is actually 138 minutes long with 9 minutes of credits, the special edition is 163 minutes including only 7 minutes of credits, so its 25 minutes longer. Discluding the credits your getting about 27 minutes of extra footage (I love maths).
~~Conclusion~~ This is everything a DVD should be, a really good film, with both original and extended versions, well presented, with great animated menus. Also a nice booklet, a terrific amount of good extra’s, and well packaged, What more could you want in a DVD?.
OK, so I have seen this film before, but having the special edition its even more enjoyable, because there’s a whole sub plot that was cut out, that you now get to see, that brings a new edge to the film and of course a couple of things make a bit more sense.
For what you get, the price is good, I kind of feel that this is what DVD was made for, that is, well made outstanding films, well presented with everything they can find to make a good DVD.
So why not like me, and treat yourself to The Abyss DVD.
seagulls-lost-horizon 14.09.2002 (14.09.2002)
Ciao members have rated this review on average:
very helpful
Review of The Abyss (Box Set) (Special Edition) (DVD)
...big budget, epic films, from The Terminator/ T2 and Aliens to True Lies and of course Titanic. He has always used the best special effects to illustrate his stories from cyborgs to fake ships and passengers. However his most ambitious film was probably the 1989 underwater epic The Abyss. Having just made the studios millions with the all-action Aliens he could make whatever film he wanted, he decided on a short story he had written while at college. ... ...another Cameron film? The story The story begins with the USS Montana chasing what they believe to be a Soviet sub. During the chase it becomes obvious that it isn’t anything from this world. The sub crashes causing the US government to send a team to recover the nuclear weapons on board before the Russians do. The nearest capably vessel is the dig sea drilling rig manned but Bud (Harris) and the usual mix of nuts (see also Armageddon). To ...
jtimothy 29.01.2001 (02.02.2001)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Abyss (Box Set) (Special Edition) (DVD)
Advantages: Special Effects Disadvantages: No enough alien contact
...just had to own! The Special Edition has so much extra to offer. Don't give this one a miss.
The film is centered around an underwater drilling rig called 'Deepcore' designed by the character Lindsay. Her soon to be Ex-husband 'Bud' runs the underwater operation with a band of other operators.
The Head of the Company agrees to assist in a rescue operation after a request from the U.S. Navy. The rig was to move closer to a naval submarine that had ... ...Deepcore were the nearest. As qualified divers some of the rig team are assigned to scout the submarine for survivors and other members on board the submersibles take photos and monitor the situation.
The rig itself is absolutely brilliant and they did make a full size model to ensure it gave you true reality effects. They hired safety divers to monitor the actors on a one to one basis. All the actors had thorough training prior to the film as filming ...
TeresaTunaley 25.05.2003
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Abyss (Box Set) (Special Edition) (DVD)
Advantages: Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth aeiou, Jim Cameron directs, special effects Disadvantages: Gaps in story, maybe a tad lenghty
The Abyss. This is a mid 1980's sci fi flick starring Ed Harris (Oscar nominated this year) and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio(the actress with the most vowels in her name)who play a couple heading to divorce but who are also both involved in the oil business. Directed by James Cameron (I'm king of the world) and produced by the same team that did Terminator, this is a story about love, nuclear weapons and aliens at the bottom of the sea. So it's a ... ...underwater drilling rig peopled by the sort of characters who later featured in "Armageddon", i.e no hopers who bonded because they were misfits. This happy team led by Bud (Harris) are pulled off their drilling mission and sent in search of a nuclear sub which has mysteriously sunk after being "buzzed " by something.
On the way they pick up a team of Marines who have a nuke as hand luggage!, just in case (Remember this was filmed in days when the ...
Chewa 20.02.2001 (21.02.2001)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Abyss (Box Set) (Special Edition) (DVD)
Advantages: great action and special effects .. lots of extras Disadvantages: could have been a better ending
Its sort of "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea" meets "Close Encounter Of The Third Kind" and is a brilliant action/suspense/special effects effort from James "I-love-water-movies-let's-make'Titanic'" Cameron.
The DVD release gives you the original version seen in cinemas and the longer special uncut edition that makes better sense of the story by making more of the sub-plots.
There is plenty of conflict and tension in this film to keep you on the ... ...There are no survivors in the sub and tension between the USA and Russia reaches fever pitch.
After a number of encounters with strange undersea phenomenon, the oil workers are convinced they have discovered a race of alien beings who live in the oceans depths. The commander of the Navy Seals, on the other hand, still believes the cause of the phenomenon to be a Soviet threat and acting on orders from his superior officers he retrieves a nuclear ...
w1ldrover 04.03.2001
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Abyss (Box Set) (Special Edition) (DVD)
Advantages: Excellent extended version. Can also play the original release. Disadvantages: 2nd disc was a bit bland
...for me when I saw the original theatrical edition many moons ago (According to the DVD case that was in 1989!) Occasionally I buy a DVD just to own and keep it, and this was one of them. I didn't even watch it until this weekend, thinking that it would be like most "Special Editions" much the same as the original. What a fool I was! I don't understand how filmmakers can allow such excellent footage to be left on the cutting-room floor. This special ... ...or extended) simply by selecting the version from the main menu. Navigation of the second disc is Abyss-mal, so I'm excluding it from this opinion, as it is not a necessary part of the movie.
The re-extended version simply adds in so much more feeling to the movie, giving more time in the 30 minutes of extra footage to get a closer to the characters’ inter-relationships. The key message that was missing from the original is that "mankind may yet ...
one47 12.06.2001 (25.06.2001)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Abyss (Box Set) (Special Edition) (DVD)
After a nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks in a remote part of the ocean floor, a team of divers on a prototype underwater oil rig are pressed into service by the U.S. Navy in a rescue attempt. When a hurricane cuts off contact between the surface and the underwater depths, the crew begin to see evidence of a strange, possibly alien intelligence at work. While chief Bud Brigman (Ed Harris) bickers with his ex-wife and boss (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), the Navy commander begins to grow increasingly paranoid about the mysterious alien life and threatens to use a recovered nuclear weapon to destroy everything. James Cameron's undersea epic is a tale of sacrifice and hope in an amazing alien landscape that covers 2/3 of the Earth's surface. Featuring landmark visual effects but plagued by production difficulties, the cast and crew were stretched to the breaking point and THE ABYSS became one of the most expensive films ever made in its time, but the final result is a remarkable blend of action and human drama. Scenes cut from the theatrical version, including a number of special effects sequences involving huge tidal waves threatening the cities of the world, are restored in the Special Edition versions.
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment; Deluxe Video Service - Fox
"...Cameron again delves in....An epic story line...and much more..." -- Rating: B (Entertainment Weekly, pp.66-8, 13/01/1995)
"...[A] stupendously exciting and emotionally engulfing film....With probing intelligence and passionate feeling, Cameron has raised the adventure film very close to the level of art..." (Rolling Stone, p.37, 24/08/1989)
"...A technical marvel with sustained tension, exciting action footage and an emotional wallop in its nearly platonic love story..." (Variety, 01/03/1993)
DVD Description
After a nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks in a remote part of the ocean floor, a team of divers on a prototype underwater oil rig are pressed into service by the U.S. Navy in a rescue attempt. When a hurricane cuts off contact between the surface and the underwater depths, the crew begin to see evidence of a strange, possibly alien intelligence at work. While chief Bud Brigman (Ed Harris) bickers with his ex-wife and boss (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), the Navy commander begins to grow increasingly paranoid about the mysterious alien life and threatens to use a recovered nuclear weapon to destroy everything. James Cameron's undersea epic is a tale of sacrifice and hope in an amazing alien landscape that covers 2/3 of the Earth's surface. Featuring landmark visual effects but plagued by production difficulties, the cast and crew were stretched to the breaking point and THE ABYSS became one of the most expensive films ever made in its time, but the final result is a remarkable blend of action and human drama. Scenes cut from the theatrical version, including a number of special effects sequences involving huge tidal waves threatening the cities of the world, are restored in the Special Edition versions.
Compare The Abyss (Box Set) (Special Edition) (DVD) to other similar Drama »
Similar products and search queries by other users »
The DVD, The Abyss DVD, The Box DVD, The Set DVD, The Special DVD, The Edition DVD, The Abyss Box DVD, The Abyss Set DVD, The Abyss Special DVD, The Abyss Edition DVD, The Box Set DVD, The Box Special DVD, The Box Edition DVD, The Set Special DVD, The Set Edition DVD
Are you the manufacturer / provider of The Abyss (Box Set) (Special Edition) (DVD)? Click here
![The Abyss [DVD] [1989]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78530073.jpg)
![The Abyss [Special Edition]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/99942738.jpg)
