From Deseret News archives:
The Abyss
Abyss, The
Film review
"Aliens" and "The Terminator" are considered by science fiction fans to be among the best in recent years. Both were made for relatively modest budgets, and Cameron, who wrote and directed those pictures, took what could have been run-of-the-mill formula stories and propelled them with an amazing amount of energy, imagination and humor, building the suspense layer upon layer.
And so it is with "The Abyss," which begins with a bang and just keeps on rolling for a very fast-paced 2 1/2 hours.
To be sure, "The Abyss" is another formula movie a couple of formulas, actually and echoes other films as a sort of "Close Encounters of the Submerged Kind" by way of "Dr. Strangelove." And there was nothing modest about its budget. By some estimates "The Abyss" may be the most expensive movie ever produced (some 90 percent was actually filmed underwater), and the troubles during its shooting have been well-chronicled elsewhere.
The story has Ed Harris leading a team of undersea oil riggers who are bribed by the military with promises of triple-pay bonuses to check out a disabled submarine carrying nuclear missiles that rests at a depth of 2,000 feet.
Harris is reluctant, of course, but his team wants the money, so he agrees to dive for the sub as two outsiders join them, hard-nosed Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who designed Deepcore, the underwater oil-drilling facility they inhabit (and who also happens to be Harris' estranged wife), and a four-man Navy crew led by Michael Biehn.
Biehn shows signs of paranoia immediately, sure the Russians are after the downed sub, and then becomes the victim of a depth-induced nervous disorder as soon as he enters Deepcore that will eventually give way to madness. Naturally, this is the guy the military orders to rescue and arm a nuclear warhead.
Recent comments
My least favorite James Cameron Film, The Abyss feels too
much like...
Tricia | Oct. 25, 2000 at 2:05 p.m.
I felt that this movie was masterfully crafted, with
terrific...
Philip Zamora | June 10, 2000 at 2:53 p.m.
This movie is incredible in many respects. It first and
foremost...
Chandler | July 15, 1999 at 8:18 p.m.
Cast: Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn.
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