• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

THE ABYSS 25th Anniversary Thread of Russian water tentacles

Status
Not open for further replies.
qoPAHmMl.jpg

WaGSWWF.jpg


Special Edition/Director's Cut only, fellas. Anybody that tells you to stick to the theatrical has it in for you.

25 years ago, Cameron created what is easily his most underrated and mature film. The Abyss features the strongest-written characters out of any film he's done and is pretty much THE film that sparked the CG revolution in a serious way. Sure it gets preachy toward the end, but after the goddamn wringer Cameron puts you through in this film, it feels earned.

The Abyss stars Ed Harris in what I feel is the best performance he's ever given and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as the best leading lady throughout Cameron's entire filmography. You've also got the Biehn machine as a loose-cannon nutjob which is all kinds of fun.

The Abyss also happened to be the hardest film shoot in history - making Coppola's struggles on Apocalypse Now or any of Gilliam's struggles look like a goddamn cake walk by comparison. Forget Titanic, THIS is the film where Cameron earned his moniker 'Iron Jim'. Both Cameron and Ed Harris came close to death during the production. Hell, Harris fucking broke down in sobs while driving home from set. If you're interested in that, feel free to watch The Making of THE ABYSS (Video) and read about it:
Life’s Abyss and Then You Dive

The T-shirt slogan made up for the cast and crew of Cameron’s 1989 underwater sci fi adventure paints a pretty picture of what the experience of working on the film was like.

The production of The Abyss rivals every other film for the title of ‘Hardest Shoot in Cinematic History.’ This is the type of film hell that has cast and crew members experiencing breakdowns in the midst of shooting, and bursting into tears as they drive home from set after nearly drowning to death.

In order to accurately depict the deep-ocean environment for the film, Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd created the largest underwater set in cinematic history, by retrofitting an abandoned nuclear power plant with a total of ten million gallons of water. Since the water had to be clear enough to film in, the water was treated with so much chlorine that it caused cast and crew members’ hair to turn white and fall out - amidst the odd case of skin burn.

Ninety per cent of the film takes place underwater - caustic water. Cameron was said to average up to nineteen hours a day in the tank – hanging upside down in his dive suit while watching dailies as he re-pressurized. Script supervisors had to laminate their script pages in plastic while submerged.

The film had two near-fatal instances of drowning. The first saw Ed Harris almost drown when it came time to do his scene without his suit. When Harris gave the signal that he was out of oxygen and his dedicated safety diver (known as ‘angels’ on the set) failed to get to Harris fast enough, another of the safety crew swam over to the actor to give him oxygen. Unfortunately, he fed Harris the regulator upside down, which caused Harris to inhale water. A cameraman then swam over and correctly fed Harris oxygen.

Cameron himself almost drowned on the set when his assistant director failed to give hime his hourly reminder to refill his oxygen tank. It should also be noted that Cameron was the only one without an ‘angel’ on set. Cameron was at the bottom of the deep water tank, about thirty feet away from the nearest crew member, when he went for a breath and got no air, before looking down to his pressure gauge to find it reading zero. With his helmet still linked to the PA system, Cameron struggled a call out to cinematographer Al Giddings: ‘Al… Al… I’m in trouble.’

Unfortunately, there had been a long-running joke where all actors would block their ears while Cameron would yell orders at Al due to his previously burst ear drums. With nobody responding, Cameron motioned for the support divers to help, signalling that he was out of air. Once again, he got no response. Thirty-five feet down, Cameron realised that he had to lose the helmet or die. Unfortunately, the now heavy helmet was attached to his buoyancy vest – which he had to shrug off if he was going to be able to ditch the weight and swim to the top. Successfully finding the vest’s release, Cameron desperately made for the surface.

A safety diver saw Cameron making for the surface and arrived just in time to make things worse. Following the protocol of safely getting swimmers to the surface, the support diver stopped Cameron fifteen feet before he reached it and shoved his back-up regulator in Cameron’s mouth. The idea behind this form of protocol is to stop swimmers from blowing their lungs apart from the huge amount of pressure that results from a rapid ascent. However, the diver’s spare regulator was broken and Cameron sucked in not one, but two mouthful’s of water before he realised what was wrong. Of course, the safety diver – unaware of the danger, gripped Cameron even tighter and tried to force him to purge. It wasn’t until Cameron punched the diver as hard as he could that he was able to shake free and swim to the surface.

Cameron fired both his assistant director and the safety diver immediately after.

If you're interested in a documentary that goes into creating the film's NTI creatures, be sure to check out BACK INTO THE ABYSS

Now let's do this shit.
ibja6jxkbjDM6h.gif
 

burgervan

Member
Watched it for the first time a few years ago and really enjoyed it until the underwater space angel saved Ed Harris.
 
I came in here ready to mash my keyboard in excitement thinking the blu was announced. Sculli y u do dis

That set must've been absolutely hell. You can feel it on screen before even looking up any of the production details.
 
It's hard to pick a worst film out of a filmography full of gems. His worst is better than 95% of Hollywood's output.

Couldn't we say this for most even decent directors? Cameron's better than decent though, but this is probably the only time I've ever seen you undersell Cameron.

It's just . . . Hollywood is /so bad/.
 
It's hard to pick a worst film out of a filmography full of gems. His worst is better than 95% of Hollywood's output.

I uhhh... hmmm, well... maybe? I guess?

I just remember watching The Abyss and being really, really bored.

It didn't help that it came out relatively close to Hunt for Red October, which coincidentally also contained a Russian sub but was friggin awesome.
 
I uhhh... hmmm, well... maybe? I guess?

I just remember watching The Abyss and being really, really bored.

It didn't help that it came out relatively close to Hunt for Red October, which coincidentally also contained a Russian sub but was friggin awesome.

The Abyss shits on THFRO from heights so great you'd need to wear a helmet full of fluorocarbon just to inspect the depths of Connery's toilet bath.
 
WHERE

IS

THE

FUCKING

BLU-RAY.






GODDAMMIT.





This is also the only "Special Edition" of Cameron's that actually improves the movie.

also, his worst movie is True Lies, which is still a decently goofy Roger Moore-era James Bond riff.
 
The Abyss shits on THFRO from heights so great you'd need to wear a helmet full of fluorocarbon just to inspect the depths of Connery's toilet bath.
This. The ending falls apart but Abyss is a great roller coaster ride and great diving fun. Probably my favorite Cameron movie.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Cameron's best character story.

As a side note, the trailer is still my favorite ever. The intro bit is interesting, but the trailer proper that begins 30 seconds in is just pitch perfect. And that music has been seared in my brain for two decades.
 
The Abyss shits on THFRO from heights so great you'd need to wear a helmet full of fluorocarbon just to inspect the depths of Connery's toilet bath.

Hah. Hilarious.

Hunt for Red October was getting McTiernan at the height of his talents, coming hot on the heels of his two tour de forces "Die Hard" and "Predator." It's a smartly written, well-paced, and reasonably faithful adaptation of Tom Clancy's ground breaking techno thriller.

The Abyss is two hours of watching Ed Harris and that chick with the big ass face staring glumly at water and Michael Biehn going nuts from deep sea cabin fever, only to deliver a preachy and ham-handed hippy sermon at the end.

One is a smart naval thriller, and the other is a glorified tech demo for Terminator 2.
 
Hah. Hilarious.

Hunt for Red October was getting McTiernan at the height of his talents, coming hot on the heels of his two tour de forces "Die Hard" and "Predator." It's a smartly written, well-paced, and reasonably faithful adaptation of Tom Clancy's ground breaking techno thriller.

The Abyss is two hours of watching Ed Harris and that chick with the big ass face staring glumly at water and Michael Biehn going nuts from deep sea cabin fever, only to deliver a preachy and ham-handed hippy sermon at the end.

One is a smart naval thriller, and the other is a glorified tech demo for Terminator 2.

ibiahLNANoh4Kq.gif
 
Cameron's best character story.

As a side note, the trailer is still my favorite ever. The intro bit is interesting, but the trailer proper that begins 30 seconds in is just pitch perfect. And that music has been seared in my brain for two decades.

Did you ever find the source of that music? It's not Silvestri's is it?
 

Myansie

Member
I can't stand the director's cut. It's an environment themed rip off of The Day the Earth Stood Still. The theatrical cut was much smaller in scope and insinuated the same themes, but with subtlety. The ocean became this deep and vast place full of mystery. Just like space. That has value, but with the special edition, the third act kicks into a completely new and preachy direction. You must look after nature. Must or else! It makes Avatar seem subtle by comparison.
 
I pretty much love anything with Ed Harris. But this one is my favorite, right underneath Apollo 13. I would love to see this on blu-ray. Strangely I don't think I've ever seen the extended cut, or maybe I have and just haven't noticed lol!
I don't care too much for converted 3D, I just want this movie in HD glory.
Such an underrated movie

Edit: I guess I should add, it's one of the few movies that makes me cry everytime I watch it.
 

ShaneB

Member
It's hard to pick a favourite Cameron film, but given how many times I've rewatched The Abyss, I think it wins by default.

I never get tired of the setting.
 
I recall being pissed after watching The Abyss in the theater because there was no Bill Paxton. After Terminator and Aliens I was convinced Cameron would have him in there somewhere. I was 10 years old, lol.


Overall I definitely didn't appreciate the film at that age, but as I grew up I started enjoying it a lot more.


I'd buy a Bluray of this... and I've actually never seen the special edition. o_O
 
can someone explain why almost 10 years into blu ray, and this movie along with True Lies is not out?

I mean WTF.

Can someone explain to me why after 17 years of DVD, we have never gotten a proper anamorphic widescreen release of this and True Lies?

I want a blu ray of both real bad, but there hasn't been an anamorphic release of either film and it is a crime.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
A new HD master aired on a premium channel around a month ago. Unfortunately just of the theatrical cut. You're killing me, Cameron. Get 'er done. True Lies, too.
 

bengraven

Member
I was like the only person in my entire town to like this movie and I loved it.

Watched the making of a few weeks before it came out, but didn't get to see it until it was on VHS. By the end of the film, my entire living room had cleared of friends and family and there I was, watching one of the finest, well-acted endings of a genre film of the 80s.

To this day I'm fascinated with the concept of man trying to live down there.

Go read Starfish by Peter Watts. Fuck yes. Similar ending in some ways as well.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
I was like the only person in my entire town to like this movie and I loved it.

Watched the making of a few weeks before it came out, but didn't get to see it until it was on VHS. By the end of the film, my entire living room had cleared of friends and family and there I was, watching one of the finest, well-acted endings of a genre film of the 80s.

To this day I'm fascinated with the concept of man trying to live down there.

Go read Starfish by Peter Watts. Fuck yes. Similar ending in some ways as well.

Peter Watts really needs to get his bibliography onto the Kindle Store. Really liked Blindsight.
 

Kraftwerk

Member
I was like the only person in my entire town to like this movie and I loved it.

Watched the making of a few weeks before it came out, but didn't get to see it until it was on VHS. By the end of the film, my entire living room had cleared of friends and family and there I was, watching one of the finest, well-acted endings of a genre film of the 80s.

To this day I'm fascinated with the concept of man trying to live down there.

Go read Starfish by Peter Watts. Fuck yes. Similar ending in some ways as well.

Gonna get this book.
 
Neither ending is great, but at least the Special Edition is about...SOMETHING. The theater one is just "yeah we're aliens so uh...cya Ed Harris".

I would put up there with Aliens and the Terminators if I liked the ending more, but I just don't.
 

Livingskeletons

If I pulled that off, would you die?
This movie made drowning my number 1 worst way to die.


Also Cameron is crazy, using an old nuclear facility with water tanks that carried millions of gallons of water 55 feet deep.
 

AlexMogil

Member
A new HD master aired on a premium channel around a month ago. Unfortunately just of the theatrical cut. You're killing me, Cameron. Get 'er done. True Lies, too.

Spielberg just did a Blu box set of some relative rarities, why can't James Cameron? It's time.
 
Spielberg just did a Blu box set of some relative rarities, why can't James Cameron? It's time.

Spielberg didn't do Munich. Doesn't count. And Cameron personally helps to colour-time his films again. Spielberg just reviews and goes 'Yep, that looks pretty good.'
 

AlexMogil

Member
Does that 'making of' special include the scene where the lights went out during a tough shoot and the actors nearly broke the set because of the emotion of it? I don't want to spoil that, but if it's in there... hooooo. That was rough to watch.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom