The Abyss (1989): James Cameron’s thrilling underwater adventure is an underrated gem

Chad’s Grade: B+

It’s hard to believe, but James Cameron’s third film almost derailed his career. After the one-two punch of “Terminator” and “Aliens,” the action auteur was Hollywood’s golden boy. In 1986, Fox studios were pleased with the reception of “Aliens,” including the best actress Oscar nomination for Sigourney Weaver, and agreed to bankroll Cameron’s ambitious follow-up project.

“The Abyss” focuses on the crew of a deep-sea platform rig enlisted by the military to help search for survivors of a downed nuclear submarine. Soon a massive hurricane strikes, dragging the rig down a deep chasm in the ocean. With the crew cut off from the surface, they pool resources to wait out the storm. They soon encounter an intelligent alien species that have made the deep ocean their new home. The aliens seem peaceful and curious, attempting to communicate with the human crew. But trouble arises when the military unit retrieves a nuclear warhead from the submarine and attempts to destroy the peaceful aliens they deem a threat. A battle erupts between the civilian crew and military, with the fate of a new alien species hanging in the balance.

This is an underrated gem in Cameron’s filmography, and I dare say it’s as strong a film as “Aliens.” It’s a more somber and introspective piece. The movie’s beating heart is the strained marriage between the rig leader Bud (Ed Harris, full of blue-collar swagger) and the rig’s architect, Lyndsey (a strong Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). The relationship was loosely based on Cameron’s marriage to producing partner Gale Anne Hurd. The failed marriage plot is a well-worn trope in many action films, but the actors bring a dramatic intimacy that makes it seem fresh. 

“The Abyss” is Cameron’s first film to explore one of his favorite habitats, the underwater realm. At times the movie plays like a typical disaster flick in the vein of “The Poseidon Adventure.” The film may lack the propulsive action of “Aliens,” but watching the crew battle relentless flooding ocean water is both tense and thrilling. And the scene where Lyndsey allows herself to drown in the ice-cold water, where a suited Bud must drag her back to the rig and try to revive her, is still one of the most intense moments in a Cameron film.

The dark, deep-sea setting gives the film a creepy, haunted house tone. When the crew searches the crashed submarine for survivors, it’s a frightening set-piece with cramped corridors and floating dead bodies. And watching the submersibles and divers glide through rich blue seawater gives an otherworldly ambiance and a sense that they are just one crash away from drowning.

Cameron also wanders into Spielberg territory with the Alien subplot. The Aliens come off as docile and peaceful, not unlike the visitors in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” And these sequences are the most visually stunning in the film. When Lyndsey makes her first encounter with the glowing, almost jellyfish-like visitor, it’s one of those magic movie moments. Not to mention the groundbreaking water tentacle sequence, where the aliens manipulate seawater and try to communicate, morphing into various faces of the human crew. This was one of the first uses of the emerging CGI technology, and Cameron would use this new technology extensively two years later in “Terminator 2: Judgement Day.”

Unfortunately, the alien storyline doesn’t mesh with the disaster elements of the picture. The climax involves Bud diving into the “Abyss” using the experimental water breathing apparatus to retrieve the fallen nuclear bomb. And watching the tiny figure of Bud dropping down the massive chasm is a pulse-pounding image. But Cameron cheats the picture’s climax when he settles for an “all you need is love” theme as the aliens, listening to the messages between Bud & Lyndsey, see the genuine emotion between the pair. And since humans can love, they must stop fighting and using those weapons of mass destruction. It’s an excellent message, especially during the Cold War and even more so in 2022 with the war in Ukraine. But as a plot device, it comes off as heavy-handed and sloppy.

Sadly, “The Abyss” was the rare James Cameron picture that underperformed at the box office. And this was Cameron’s first big-budget feature at 70 million (a huge sum for 1989). The mega-budget would become a hallmark of a Cameron film, but he failed to deliver here. This is a shame because “The Abyss” is an engrossing underwater adventure, even if it stumbles in the final act. 

THE SPECIAL EDITION:

To revisit “The Abyss,” you must purchase the standard edition DVD. However, a rumored Blu-Ray and 4K release are due later in 2022. And with the Disney acquisition of Fox studios, a hopeful streaming release on Disney + and Hulu. 

A deluxe, two-disc DVD special edition was released to much fanfare. The classic disc included the “director’s cut” and a bevy of special features. The director’s cut is fascinating as it adds 28 minutes of additional material, including an incredible sequence where the underwater aliens create massive Tidal waves off various coastal cities. It seems those aliens aren’t’ so cute and cuddly after all, threatening the land dwellers unless they stop their violent ways. It doesn’t dilute the heavy-handed message, but it’s a fascinating addition that I’m surprised Cameron cut. 

There’s also a fantastic making-of documentary that is a brutally honest account of the hellish shoot. Approximately 40% of the film was filmed underwater, with the actors wearing specialized diving suits. And Cameron was in full demanding auteur mode pushing his crew to the brink. Don’t expect scenes with actors and crew smiling and hugging, saying how great it was to work together.  Instead, we get almost confessional interviews with the cast, like Ed Harris recounting the harsh working conditions. I wish more special features had this kind of honesty.