The Abyss (1989)

The Abyss (1989)

7/10

Starring

Ed Harris

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

Michael Biehn

Directed by James Cameron

James Cameron’s The Abyss is a magnificent movie about the idea of, “what if the aliens have been here all along?” That idea of aliens living deep underwater can be traced to H.G. Wells short story in 1897 In the Abyss.

The special effects of this movie are way ahead of the time of production. Based on the fact that the movie is over two hours long there was no dull moment. I was captivated and lost in the intrigue, the suspense and the somewhat action in this claustrophobic thriller.

Cameron wrote and directed the movie in such away that if it is not the idea of aliens that has your attention, it is the couple going through the motion of their relationship, or the military officer who seem to have lost all sense of reason.

Everything happens on an underwater drilling platform after a submarine was sunk when it almost came in contact with an unidentified moving object traveling at a speed too fast to comprehend. The object moved past them, which caused all electrical machinery of the submarine to to go off for a few seconds. When things came back online the submarine was already heading towards a collision which sunk it.

The Soviet are trying to get at the submarine to savage what could be on board and the US are trying to get their submarine and save possible survivors first.

The above race is another part of this movie that has nothing to do with the unidentified object which caused the submarine to crash. With a cast led by Ed Harris (playing Bud) who is the man in-charge of the underwater drilling platform, the crew on the platform were enticed with a big payday if they help a SEAL team with their mission concerning the submarine.

The Navy Seal team were sent to the platform with Dr. Lindsey the designer of the rig. Lindsey was played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and her character was explosive. Lindsey was played with so much emotions bubbling at the top of things and there was never a dull moment when she was at the forefront of any scene.

With the discovery that things on the sunk submarine were beyond redemption the SEAL team got new orders which did not go down well with Bud, Lindsey and Bud’s team. A storm from above caused a crane to crash straight to the underwater rig which caused deaths and other problems for the team.

Cameron has had the idea to make this film since he was a teenager and over the years have changed many things to make the idea suitable for the big screen. His love for deep-sea exploration started from this movie, to which he has aided in developing technologies which have helped in filming deep-sea explorations since then.

The movie won the Oscars for Best Visual Effects along with three other nominations. In the 80s with films like Terminator and Aliens Cameron was on the roll creating movies that will forever be seen as classics.