The Abyss

I finally saw the extended version of The Abyss. And it was great! Yes, it's true that the somewhat heavy-handedly moralistic conclusion simply can't have the same impact today as it did in 1989, but I'm still willing to turn a blind eye and give it a fifth star. After all, the film runs like clockwork for almost three hours, it doesn't get boring and still has something to offer. Amazingly claustrophobic exploration of a crashed submarine, literally revolutionary special effects scenes, perfect underwater shots, an excellent mini-submarine chase that has nothing to be ashamed of even in 2011, likeable characters like the marines from Aliens that will quickly grow on you, excellent actors with Ed Harris and Michael Biehn in the lead, roaring and magical music by Alan Silvestri... And above all, Cameron's traditional perfectionism is visible in every second. As I said - the ending can make you shudder, get angry, laugh... If the film has so many positives, then four stars would simply not be enough. CALL GUINNESS. (12/09/2011)

James Cameron always gets his way and when he sets his mind to something, everything just falls into place. From the filming system, the set construction, the casting, down to the tiniest decorations and details. He is a brilliant director and when it comes to potential, there is hardly any competition in Hollywood. The Abyss, above all, has an immense power in the ending and the duo of Ed Harris – Elizabeth Mastrantonio is so perfectly chosen that it's hard to believe. The presence of complex visual effects doesn't overwhelm, and everything is exactly as it should be. (28/10/2003)

I watched the extended cut, fortunately, because I wouldn’t like to have missed a single minute. I don’t really know what the “original” shorter cut is missing, but I wonder what they could have left out for the film to still make sense, and my conclusion is that it must be the twist. The Abyss is a very good and tense sci-fi film full of minor clichés, which I wasn’t a fan of, but I came to terms with them. Cameron probably cares more about visual spectacle (the special effects are of course brilliant) than smart unpredictable scripts. (12/06/2010)

From a purely filmmaking point of view, this must have been hell to film in such cramped spaces. And when a chink of space appears, it immediately fills with water. But purely from a viewer’s point of view, it’s good that Cameron decided to go accept the challenge of making it. This has a fundamentally positive impact on the atmosphere. But this makes the ending all the more annoying, because Cameron is no good at presenting (selling) a message like this. The movie simply lacks even a drop of Kubrick inside it and not even the longest of director’s cuts can help. (23/12/2009)

The best of Cameron’s work for me. Excellent direction, perfect atmosphere and a rather pleasant story, which is spoiled only by the stupid open conclusion, apparently made to order "to make it work". Otherwise, however, I consider this underwater variation on Close Encounters of the Third Kind to be one of the best adventure films made in Hollywood, to which the excellent Ed Harris in the role of the manly captain of the undersea station certainly contributes. To the aforementioned conclusion – in a special edition, it is extended and drawn into a very naïvely proclamational, but still better form. At least you'll know why these little transparent men do it all. (27/01/2004)