I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs. Revisited the 171 mins version recently n completed the movie in one sitting. Inspite of the runtime, the film is engrossing n visually breathtaking. The dark trench and Ed Harris' character going down way below is more scary than most horror movies. James Cameron is a genius n there's no doubt bah it but i am surprised that most fellas havent given credit to H. G. Wells, as he was the first to introduce the notion of a sea alien in his 1897 short story "In the Abyss". Ed Harris n Michael Biehn both gave memorable performances. Biehn's character is downright creepy. The CPR scene is a bit far fetched n melodramatic.

The Abyss-480P

source: The Abyss

I've never really heard of The Abyss except in Fox DVD commercials. When it came out, I was only 8 and not into sci-fi movies that weren't titled Star Wars. However, now I decided to check it out and was quite pleased with this solid sci-fi movie. At first, I wasn't quite sure why this was considered sci-fi. It seemed pretty normal with the sinking of a nuclear sub and the hiring of an oil crew to save it. It wasn't for a while till we really got to meet the "extraterrestrial" creatures. The special effects for representing these characters were quite good, and I especially liked the water creature that toured around the rescue vessel. It's also neat to see that effect inspire a similar one used in Terminator 2. As I said, the story took a little while to gain steam, but it was pretty interesting from then on. The acting was good too, most notably by Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. The other actors didn't do anything really extraordinary but serve as solid supporting characters. Overall, I wouldn't say The Abyss is the best sci-fi movie out there or that it will dethrone Star Wars anytime soon, but rather it's a solid addition for any sci-fi fan's collection. My IMDb Rating: 8/10. My Yahoo! Grade: B+ (Memorable)

It's a good thing that James Cameron ended up directing "Titanic." If he hadn't he might have ended up being remembered for this - and no one would want that hanging around their neck like a millstone for all eternity. The first ten minutes or so of "The Abyss" are fine - good even, as a U.S. nuclear submarine sinks after encountering some mysterious force off the coast of Cuba. From there, the whole thing falls apart. The cast (headed by Ed Harris) appears wooden and uninterested and has no discernible chemistry. The story never really seems to set a direction and follow it. It tries to be part Cold War thriller, part alien encounter stuff, part disaster epic. Then it tries to blend them all together in a movie that is nothing less than dull - and that seems to go on and on and on. And did I mention that it seems like it's never going to end? And when it does end it leaves you wondering why you bothered watching this thing for almost three hours. This really is bad. 2/10.

I saw "The Abyss" in the theater (Cinema City, Fresh Meadows, NY) and many times times since. I hadn't watched it in quite a while when I sat down to watch it last night. I won't wait that long to watch it again. "The Abyss" is a rock solid adventure. The action is edge-of-your-seat stuff. The emotional scenes are brutal to watch. The story moves well and the cast is very good. "The Abyss" is not as well known as most of writer/director James Cameron's other movies but it's one of his best.

Mr. Cameron is fond of portraying military people as somehow vacuous and monstrous at the same time, as in "Avatar," where he drives the point home with a vengeance. He gets another golden opportunity at military-bashing here, and his fans probably won't be disappointed. I, for one, got tired very quickly of the characters constantly yelling at and bickering with each other. None of them are particularly likable, especially the female lead. The constant efforts by the female lead's "ex" to make her like him again grow equally tiresome. As a subplot his obsession ends up overshadowing the rest of the story-line. The special effects in this film received a lot of critical praise, but by now they look a bit dated and predictable. Worse yet, they're simply too cutesy to be taken seriously. There were times when I thought I detected the telltale influence of Spielberg in this movie -- and I don't mean that as a compliment.

This movie was, and I say this with all due respect to James Cameron, terrible. The script should never have made it out of Cameron's office alive after he wrote it;let alone have been made into a movie. The premise is what first got me interested: (An American Nuclear sub goes down with all hands and when some underwater-Oil-drillers try to rescue them, they discover something in "The Abyss..."); but that only got me twenty minutes into the movie, at which point, I realized I had some TWO AND A HALF HOURS to go. (unfortunately, I watched the "long-version.") There were three problems with this movie: Firstly, it attempted to be character-driven, but the actors kept changing how they played the parts every ten-or-so minutes (Especially Mary Elizabeth Whatever-her-last-name-is) Secondly, I felt it showed what was in "The Abyss" too early, and once I saw it, I was mad! Thirdly, the ending was outrageously stupid. (Although I won't give it away, you can see for yourself.) Despite these problems, the film did have a few genuine moments of thrill and suspense. See it if you must, but don't expect too much.

Towards the end of the Cold War the USS Montana, a nuclear submarine runs straight into an underwater cliff after an encounter with what they believe was a new beyond state-of-the-art Russian submersible. The Navy dispatches a SEAL team (lead by Michael Biehn) to record and survey the situation and to find some answers. The commission a nearby (or is it hijack?) deep sea oil drilling platform run by the estranged Brigman's, Bud and Linsey (Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). During their mission things aren't quite as they seem as they discover that they are not alone deep in "The Abyss". On the verge of war topside and below with themselves the SEAL and workers struggle to come to terms with an unbelievable situation that could lead them to a nuclear confrontation. "The Abyss" is a richly constructed story that puts well thought up and executed characters into a situation that looks to be a schmaltzy, love story set under the sea. The aliens or NTI's pretty much take a backseat to the human element and our old conflicting ways, these NTI's are non-violent and they want to teach us the error of our ways and they mean business (especially in the Special Edition cut). The whole cast does a wonderful job and most of the leads give Oscar-caliber performances. Harris and Mastrantonio do it so well you think their actually married. James Cameron establishes his love for the ocean in "The Abyss" will fully succeeds on all the technical levels. The production design is amazing with the full-size Deep Core set that was submerged at the bottom of an unused nuclear reactor building. Cameron shows his affinity for technology as the "pseudo pod "soon championed in the new wave of computer generated imagery. Highly recommended.

If profane, stupid dialog doesn't bother you, this is a very interesting and unique film. Unfortunately, its a James Cameron-directed movie which means you get a lot of disgusting, foul-mouthed characters as the leads - people you are supposed to like. In here, it's Elisabeth Mastrantonio and Ed Harris, who are no strangers to play hard, profane people. They spend most of the moving yelling at each other. This "romance" is so stupid it's insulting, as is the ridiculous New Age-alien visitors ending. The good news, in addition to the unique story, was the special-effects. I'm not sure how it looks now but 15 years ago this was a real eye-opener. Now, if someone else - someone with more class and morals than Cameron - could have written the script, this might have been a great film. The same thing applies to Cameron's "Titantic," another movie where unlikeable lead characters ruined what good have been an excellent adventure movie.