THE ABYSS: 4K UHD Blu-ray (2oth Century-Fox, 1989) Disney Home Video

It is safe to suggest that when The Abyss arrived in theaters in the dead heat of summer 1989, it was not the movie director, James Cameron had intended audiences to see. The idea for it had been bouncing around Cameron’s brain ever since he read H.G. Wells 1897 short story about a sea alien and, at age 17, attended a science lecture given by Francis J. Falejczyk, the first human to breathe liquid through his lungs. Cameron’s fascination with underwater adventure ultimate led him to write his own short story about a group of scientists toiling in an undersea laboratory. While details of their excursion would ferment and mutate in Cameron’s fertile imagination over the next decade, the basic premise remained inviolate.  While shooting Aliens, Cameron’s verve for The Abyss was rekindled. Wedding his producer, Gale Anne Hurd, Cameron dove headstrong into pre-production on The Abyss in 1987 with many a sweaty palm in the front offices of 2oth Century-Fox over its estimated $43 million budget. The marriage would last the shoot, though not the premiere. Cameron and Hurd were divorced two months after principal photography wrapped.

For Cameron, The Abyss came to represent a series of compromises. A planned Bahama shoot proved out of the question as its sandy ocean floor prevented the sort of controlled conditions for clarity required to lens the underwater sequences. Though cast and crew did shoot preliminary footage in the Cayman Islands, the bulk of The Abyss would be photographed in specially constructed tanks at South Carolina’s Gaffney Studios, including an abandoned nuclear reactor containing 7.5 million gallons of water. The actual Deep Core rig, serving as primary location, was then built over a 6-month period at a staggering cost of $2 million and anchored to a 90-ton concrete column to keep it from floating to the surface. Despite this meticulous planning, the set was not ready for the first day’s shoot, forcing Cameron to delay and then, restructure his schedule to take advantage of a smaller tank nearby. When the main tank ruptured, spewing 150,000 gallons of water a minute, Cameron was again forced to suspend production while a dam-repair company was called in to shore up the damage.

When principal photography resumed, cinematographer, Mikael Salomon, employed three cameras in watertight housing, submersed to a depth between 30 to 50 feet. It was a grueling ordeal, with 70+ hours spent underwater, causing co-star, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio to suffer a temporary emotional breakdown. Even Cameron, as slavishly devoted to The Abyss as he was, found the experience of it arduous and trying. A lightning storm caused the set’s black tarpaulin to rupture. Already behind schedule, Cameron switched to night shoots to accommodate this loss. At one point, the over-chlorinated water caused skin burns and exposed hair to turn white and fall out. Cast and crew began to crack up or take out their frustrations on their dressing room furniture. Cameron did attempt damage control. But his efforts were mostly squandered, with co-stars, Mastrantonio and Ed Harris disowning the picture upon its release, and Mastrantonio concluding, “The Abyss was a lot of things. Fun to make is not one of them.”

The Abyss is set in the ‘then’ not-so-distant future of 1994. After the U.S. Ohio-class submarine USS Montana has an encounter with an unidentified submerged object and sinks near the Cayman Trough, the U.S. government deploys a SEAL team to Deep Core, a privately owned experimental underwater drilling platform to use as a base of operations. Dr. Lindsey Brigman (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) insists on accompanying the team, despite the fact this will place her in close proximity to Deep Core’s foreman, her estranged husband, Virgil – a.k.a., ‘Bud’ (Ed Harris). However, during their preliminary investigation of the Montana, Lindsey is drawn to an ephemeral glow encircling the sub. SEAL team leader, Lt. Hiram Coffey (Michael Biehn) deploys a mini-sub without Bud’s permission to recover a warhead from the Montana. But a hellish storm at sea renders the crew unable to disconnect from their surface support ship; its cable crane torn clean and toppling into the trench, flooding Deep Core, rendering its power source in crisis and killing several crew besides.

Coffey goes awol and becomes paranoid about the extraterrestrial life force, which poses no immediate harm. He launches the sub’s warhead into the trench, but drifts beyond the point of no return and is imploded from the pressure. As Bud's mini-sub is now inoperable and taking on water fast, Lindsey makes a daring rescue that places her own life in jeopardy. She is spared and revived, using a defibrillator and administered CPR. Now, the harrowing decision is made to go after the warhead in the trench. Ensign Monk (Adam Nelson) aids Bud in an experimental dive assisted only by Lindsey’s communication through a keypad. Alas, Bud confesses to his wife this was always planned as a one-way trip, but tells Lindsey he will always love her. Preparing for death, Bud is astonished when the alien life force directs him to a massive underwater city where he is spared. The base shakes with the arrival of the alien mother ship that rescues Deep Core and its inhabitants, bringing everyone to the surface. There, Bud and Lindsey are tearfully reunited.

Cameron’s original vision for The Abyss contained an involved backstory better to flesh out competing American/Soviet Union interests to reach the trench first with the threat of an all-out war between the two superpowers. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the sea, the aliens show Bud the planned Armageddon on earth they intend to prevent by launching a mega-tsunami to strike the world’s coastal regions. At the last possible moment, the tsunamis retreat, with the aliens moved by Bud’s final message to Lindsey. The aliens then rescue Deep Core as before, bringing everyone successfully to the surface.  Fox studio execs were very nervous about the commercial prospects of this version – more so when a sneak peek elicited laughter from the cheap seats in the audience. Rumors abounded Fox had lost faith in the project and were even more gravely concerned the picture’s skyrocketing budget (estimated somewhere between $43 and 47 million) would not be recouped. They had little to fear. Even at its formidable run time of 140 minutes, preventing show times at peek theater attendance hours, The Abyss went on to earn $90 million.

Though it ranked #2 for top-grossing opening weekend, The Abyss was not immediately embraced by critics. Newsweek’s David Ansen led the negative charge, suggesting the picture’s payoff was ‘damn silly’ – “a portentous deus ex machina that leaves too many questions unanswered and evokes too many other films.” The NY Times, Caryn James equated the experience to a carnival dark ride one was forced to ride long after the thrill of it had worn thin, while the Toronto Star’s editorial surmised, “If we are to believe what Cameron finds way down there, E.T. didn't really phone home, he went surfing and fell off his board.” Viewed today, it's difficult to dismiss all of the naysaying as sour grapes from the peanut gallery. The Abyss has its moments. And, fair enough, Cameron’s devotion to it is evident in every frame on the screen. But the final result is still, arguably, not the picture Cameron would have preferred. At its best, The Abyss remains an awkward blend of the marital melodrama, the sci-fi epic, and, the summer blockbuster/actioner all rolled together into one sea-faring gumbo that occasionally fills to the gills with waterlogged finesse, rather than to offer a truly immersive experience.  Cameron’s director’s cut, eventually to get its own theatrical release, does improve the picture’s continuity. It also lends ballast to its more purposeful backstory. But it does not resolve the fundamental flaw in Cameron’s pie-eyed optimism; the inference, an alien life force would be so emotionally moved by the expenditure of affections between two humans, as to spare the whole of humanity from its own war-mongering apocalypse.  

The Abyss arrives in 4K UHD from Disney, and like the other two Cameron spectaculars to finally find a home in hi-def, its digital premiere bears no earthly resemblance to the theatrical presentation. Chiefly, and again, grain has been tinkered with, though, and, as with the 4K’s of Aliens and True Lies, it has not been expunged, but rather, somehow digitally finessed to a point where it is smooth without ever sacrificing fine details. Colors pop. And the entire image sports a shocking clarity that is viscerally engaging, with expertly balanced contrast and an abundance of fine details coming to the forefront. Truly, there is nothing to complain about here! Disney Inc., under their 2oth Century Studios banner have also sprung for a Dolby Atmos mix. The 4K UHD contains both theatrical and extended cuts of the movie, seamlessly branched. We also get a Blu-ray copy, and a third Blu containing all of the curated special features that were a part of Fox Home Video’s long defunct 2-disc Special Edition DVD. Though these extras are now presented on Blu, they have not been improved upon from their original 720i resolution. So, do not expect them to look great, or, in some cases, even watchable. Still, it’s gratifying to have them ported over. Bottom line: while an imperfect movie, The Abyss in 4K is immaculate and a thrilling visual experience. It’s about time! Very highly recommended!

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

3.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

5+

EXTRAS

4.5