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The Abyss
Before he became "King of the World" directing Titanic, James Cameron knocked it ut of the park as the director and screenwriter of The Abyss, a chilling, claustrophobic, and heart-stopping aquatic adventure that had this reviewer holding his breath for most of the running time and might have been robbed of a Best Picture of 1989 Oscar nomination. Will try to review without spoilers.
A nuclear submarine is destroyed and is lying at the bottom of the sea. A group of professional divers and some Navy SEALS are sent to the area to locate the sub and possible survivors. The two teams of divers are headed by Bud and Lindsey, who used to be married. As the recon mission winds down, we watch as one of the team members goes full psycho mode and our heroes encounter an aquatic creature that might not be of this earth.
Cameron has really zeroed in on one of my biggest insecurities in this film. Because of a near-drowning incident I had as a child, to this day, I get very uncomfortable with movies that spend a lot of time underwater and this movie stays underwater. Cameron presents the ocean as something bottomless and unapproachable. The power of water is as powerful here as the power of fire was in Backdraft. Even the opening scenes of the sub going down scared the bejesus out of me...they reminded me of the plane crash in Cast Away, for my money, cinema's greatest plane crash.
The temptation to look away whenever a window filled with water from the opposite side or an open hatch couldn't stop oncoming water was very strong. Bud and Lindsey caught in a tight spot with water circling their necks reminded me of the final moments with Clooney and Wahlberg in The Perfect Storm. What was most impressive about the story was the unbridled realism of the first half of the movie and how the addition of the supernatural element was seamless, leading the viewer to a climax that defies explanation.
Cameron's exquisite attention to production values cannot be denied. The film won a richly deserved Oscar for Visual Effects, but cinematography, editing, and sound were Oscar-worthy as well. Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrontonio light up the screen as Bud and Lindsey. Grab onto something because this is not an easy watch, but well worth it. Believe it or not, the fastest two hours and twenty minutes I sat through in a long time.
Before he became "King of the World" directing Titanic, James Cameron knocked it ut of the park as the director and screenwriter of The Abyss, a chilling, claustrophobic, and heart-stopping aquatic adventure that had this reviewer holding his breath for most of the running time and might have been robbed of a Best Picture of 1989 Oscar nomination. Will try to review without spoilers.
A nuclear submarine is destroyed and is lying at the bottom of the sea. A group of professional divers and some Navy SEALS are sent to the area to locate the sub and possible survivors. The two teams of divers are headed by Bud and Lindsey, who used to be married. As the recon mission winds down, we watch as one of the team members goes full psycho mode and our heroes encounter an aquatic creature that might not be of this earth.
Cameron has really zeroed in on one of my biggest insecurities in this film. Because of a near-drowning incident I had as a child, to this day, I get very uncomfortable with movies that spend a lot of time underwater and this movie stays underwater. Cameron presents the ocean as something bottomless and unapproachable. The power of water is as powerful here as the power of fire was in Backdraft. Even the opening scenes of the sub going down scared the bejesus out of me...they reminded me of the plane crash in Cast Away, for my money, cinema's greatest plane crash.
The temptation to look away whenever a window filled with water from the opposite side or an open hatch couldn't stop oncoming water was very strong. Bud and Lindsey caught in a tight spot with water circling their necks reminded me of the final moments with Clooney and Wahlberg in The Perfect Storm. What was most impressive about the story was the unbridled realism of the first half of the movie and how the addition of the supernatural element was seamless, leading the viewer to a climax that defies explanation.
Cameron's exquisite attention to production values cannot be denied. The film won a richly deserved Oscar for Visual Effects, but cinematography, editing, and sound were Oscar-worthy as well. Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrontonio light up the screen as Bud and Lindsey. Grab onto something because this is not an easy watch, but well worth it. Believe it or not, the fastest two hours and twenty minutes I sat through in a long time.