The Abyss

Without any question from anyone who has two neurons to rub together and an understanding of the topic, James Cameron's The Abyss is a classic of science-fiction. Basically the only sci-fi movie to feature an at all realistic portrayal of action underwater, the Abyss is not just an amazing movie to watch, but an amazing movie to watch a movie about. This particular DVD set provides both.

For anyone who's been living under a rock since 1989, The Abyss is the tale of some deep-sea diving oilmen who have an encounter with an alien life form hiding out in the ocean. Many people who saw this movie in the theater find this to be a less than compelling description, especially since they had to sit through a long, confusing movie which in the end made little sense. This Special Edition of the movie restores something like half an hour and an entire subplot which turns this into basically a different movie than what theatergoers were forced to sit through — and in fact makes it something you might like to watch.

This is a two-disc set, and the second disc features an hour-long "making of" documentary. This is more interesting for this film than for many others simply because unlike many other "underwater" movies, the Abyss was shot underwater. The documentary will show you how they flooded the empty cooling towers of an unfinished nuclear reactor, covered it with plastic beads, and created an entire underwater world in a tank. This approach required every actor who would appear underwater to actually learn to dive, and actors and crew alike spent hours swimming around in wetsuits to shoot this picture.

You can criticize the ham-handed script, which admittedly beats you about the head and shoulders with the main concepts of the film, but there is little room to complain about the acting. Our primary protagonist Virgil "Bud" Brigman is played by Ed Harris, who is a bit typecast but really an author with excellent emotion. His somewhat-estranged wife (with whom, in classic Hollywood form, he will be reconciled by the end of the picture) is portrayed by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who delivers a convincingly bitchy performance as the underwater rig's creator. Michael Biehn is excellent as Lieutenant Coffey, a Navy Seal unhinged by Nitrogen Narcosis, and the various supporting actors have no trouble pulling their own weight as well.

While this movie's script breaks no new ground, it is a solidly conceived story that, since the release of this edition (on laserdisc, actually, well before the DVD) it is actually possible to watch. And while they are few and far between, the occasional jewel of dialogue drips from the lips of one of the crew. Raise your hand if you think that was a Russian water tentacle...