The Abyss (1989)

Director:

James Cameron

Writer (WGA):

James Cameron (written by)

Release Date:

9 August 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

There's everything you've ever known about adventure, and then there's The Abyss.

Plot:

A civilian diving team are enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and face danger while encountering an alien aquatic species.

Plot Keywords:

Submarine | Underwater | Abyss | Ocean | Estranged Couple

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 4 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Ed Harris	...	Virgil 'Bud' Brigman
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio	...	Lindsey Brigman
Michael Biehn	...	Lt. Hiram Coffey
Leo Burmester	...	Catfish De Vries
Todd Graff	...	Alan 'Hippy' Carnes
John Bedford Lloyd	...	Jammer Willis
J.C. Quinn	...	Arliss 'Sonny' Dawson
Kimberly Scott	...	Lisa 'One Night' Standing
Captain Kidd Brewer Jr.	...	Lew Finler (as Capt. Kidd Brewer Jr.)
George Robert Klek	...	Wilhite
Christopher Murphy	...	Schoenick, SEAL Team Member
Adam Nelson	...	Ensign Monk, SEAL Team Member
Dick Warlock	...	Dwight Perry (as Richard Warlock)
Jimmie Ray Weeks	...	Leland McBride
J. Kenneth Campbell	...	DeMarco

Also Known As:

El abismo (Argentina) (Venezuela) [es]
A mélység titka (Hungary) [hu]
Abyss (France) [fr]
Abyss (Italy) [it]
Abyss (Spain) [es]
Abyss (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Abyss - Abgrund des Todes (West Germany) [de]
Abyss - Syvyys (Finland) [fi]
Afgrond (Netherlands) [nl]
Avgrunden (Sweden) [sv]
Dybet (Denmark) (video title) [da]
El Secreto del Abismo (Uruguay) [es]
Glebia (Poland) (informal title) [pl]
I avyssos (Greece) [el]
Isigin Bittigi Yer (Turkey: Turkish title) (informal alternative title) [tr]
L'abysse (Canada: French title) [fr]
O Abismo (Portugal) [pt]
O Segredo do Abismo (Brazil) [pt]
Otchlan (Poland) [pl]
Propast (Czechoslovakia) [cs]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language and some scenes of action. (special edition)

Runtime:

138 min | USA:171 min (special edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (DuArt)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby SR (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (special edition) (2000) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:AA (Ontario) (special edition) (2000) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (original cut) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) (also special edition) | Portugal:M/12 | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | USA:PG-13 (Certificate #29764) | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Iceland:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 (special edition) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | West Germany:12 | Netherlands:AL (special edition)

Filming Locations:

Harbor Star Stage, San Pedro, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The mini-subs in the wide shots were actually models suspended on wires in a smoky environment and filmed in slow motion.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Near the end of the picture, the alien "city" rises to the surface, carrying with it several sunken vessels. One of the ships, a freighter, is lying on its side with one of its propellers flexing and flopping from the wind (the ship, of course, is a model).

Quotes:

[first lines]
USS Montana Captain: Sixty knots? No way, Barnes. The Reds don't have anything that fast.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dennis Muren Interview (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

WILLIN'

S10 Reviews: The Abyss (1989)

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.