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 edge of your seat with some nice special effects thrown in.
Basic Plot: A nuclear submarine sinks after encountering unknown technology assumed to be Russian and a rescue attempt is mounted by a team of oil-workers/divers based on an experimental submarine drilling rig aided (?) by a group of Navy Seals. 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 warhead froom the stricken submarine to use against the enemy if the need arises. When the submarine drilling rig is cut off from the surface team during a hurricane, the Navy Seal commander decides the best policy is to nuke the 'enemy' and he drops the nuclear warhead into the abyss despite desperate opposition from the oil workers and a novel mini-submarine chase. The leader of the oil workers goes into the abyss to disarm the nuclear weapon using unique diving equipment that the Navy Seals brought with them enabling a man to survive at such depths by breathing a 'liquid' oxygen.
There are some great scenes in this movie, but the end is a little naff where mankind is brought to its senses about nuclear arms escalation by a threat from outside the human race.
Nevertheless this is a really good film and of course the DVD is packed with extras and special features.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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: 1999 - Drama - Director: Dick Maas - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: William Hurt, Jennifer Tilly, Denis Leary, Michael Chiklis, Francesca Brown
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
decent film review, but not much said on the dvd. it would really be more helpful if you can add in some more details on the extras that this dvd has to offer. i'd be more than happy to rerate this if you can do so! cheers :)
Fiona_Tims 04.03.2001 17:53
I have adored this film for years, but still find the ending naff. If I ever get a DVD player, I will be sure to buy The Abyss though.
igloofun 04.03.2001 17:38
This is just what I needed, I just saw the advert for this and thought how good it looked.
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...
![The Abyss [DVD] [1989]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78530073.jpg "The Abyss [DVD] [1989]")
![The Abyss [Special Edition]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/99942738.jpg "The Abyss [Special Edition]")
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