Meanwhile, a hurricane topside is the catalyst for a series of disasters that allow Cameron to begin building the claustrophobic suspense. And just to add to it all, Mastrantonio encounters an alien being that will later figure in the story as an angel of mercy.

To be sure, Cameron steals liberally from other sources. Biehn's character is little more than a variation on "Dr. Strangelove's" Gen. Jack D. Ripper. The jellyfish aliens owe much to Steven Spielberg's vision of balls of light in "Close Encounters." And the ain't-it-nice-how-things-turn-out ending is as sappy as anything Spielberg or George Lucas has produced in the past decade.

But Cameron develops some delightful characters along the way and uses them to plot out a layered subtext about the human condition that parallels his action-packed set-pieces.

Ed Harris is excellent as the everyman who does what he has to do, though he'd rather be elsewhere doing just about anything else. And Mastrantonio, whose hard-shelled character undergoes an internal form of redemption, rediscovering love through crisis, is marvelous at conveying the change. Biehn is also very good, underplaying his character's madness rather than taking a more flamboyant approach.

The supporting players are also well-cast and carve out individual niches that are as memorable as the many characters who did the same thing in "Aliens."

There are also a lot of little jokes that are fun to spot, such as the suction-cup Garfield on a window of Deepcore, goofy license plates on underwater vehicles and the naming a mechanical device equipped with video equipment "Big Geek."

The special effects are fascinating, in particular a moment when the aliens use a stream of water to communicate with the humans aboard Deepcore. And the film's hardware has that dingy, battered look that is associated with Cameron's work.

If you haven't overdosed on "Indiana Jones" and "Batman" and other action-packed biggies, here's the summer's final blockbuster.

"The Abyss" is a big action picture that delivers the goods.

It is rated PG-13 for violence, profanity and brief partial nudity as a woman is resuscitated.