{"id":15306,"date":"2021-12-19T12:58:54","date_gmt":"2021-12-19T17:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=15306"},"modified":"2026-05-26T17:15:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T21:15:59","slug":"the-abyss-1989","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=15306","title":{"rendered":"The Abyss-1989"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Abyss-1989<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director James Cameron<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #1,210<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed December 19, 2021<\/p>\n

Grade: B+<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well before he created Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009) and became a household name, director James Cameron made the gorgeous, special effects-laden film The Abyss (1989).<\/p>\n

The film followed hits like Terminator (1984) and Aliens (1986).<\/p>\n

These films undoubtedly allowed him to make a film that he wanted to make with the necessary freedoms.<\/p>\n

The Abyss is completely visual, and the interesting cast of characters, with potential for development, is never allowed to shine through, instead feeling stale.<\/p>\n

They are usurped by the constant flow of underwater, lush, worldly spectacles that utterly encompass the film.<\/p>\n

Even when the central characters get a moment to dig deeper into their backstories, Cameron never goes for the emotional jugular, instead encouraging viewers to focus on the extraterrestrial and science-fiction elements rather than on his characters.<\/p>\n

That’s the type of director Cameron is, and I recommend watching The Abyss on the big screen, or the biggest screen possible.<\/p>\n

I did not recognize the sheer bombast that a cinema watching would render.<\/p>\n

I missed out.<\/p>\n

The film, and specifically Cameron, must be heralded for the vast loveliness of the art direction, visual effects, and cinematography.<\/p>\n

Forget the convoluted plot entirely and sit back and enjoy the spectacle.<\/p>\n

Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio portray Bud and Dr. Lindsey Brigman, formerly married petroleum engineers who still have some issues to work out.<\/p>\n

When an American submarine sinks in the Caribbean, a US search and recovery team works with an oil platform crew, racing against Soviet vessels to recover the boat.<\/p>\n

Deep in the ocean, they encounter something unexpected, and the American team is determined to find out what it is. Is it the Russians or a deadly and intelligent extraterrestrial force?<\/p>\n

The story is overly complicated and riddled with stereotypical plot points.<\/p>\n

As the team becomes submerged in their submarine, they encounter the usual troubles: a hurricane, a rogue team leader, a flooded rig, and freezing temperatures.<\/p>\n

Harris and Mastrantonio have pretty good chemistry here, but we never fully grasp their marital problems or why there is a distance between them. Thrown together on this mission, they predictably face peril and come close to losing each other.<\/p>\n

When they embrace in the final scene, it is a wrapped up as a tight bow sort of ending that underwhelms.<\/p>\n

But, man, the visuals are amazing. When the team drops at the alien city in the deepest trenches of the ocean floor, the beautiful underwater camera shots take center stage.<\/p>\n

The technical consistency is simply breathtaking and becomes the focal point of the film.<\/p>\n

I daresay The Abyss (1989) features the greatest underwater sequences ever seen on film to date, but somehow, decades later, the film feels forgotten or overshadowed by Cameron’s other works.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the dated Cold War plotline and the traditional romance have not served the film well in the long run.<\/p>\n

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-<\/strong>Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects (won)<\/strong>, Best Sound<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Abyss-1989 Director James Cameron Starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio Scott’s Review #1,210 Reviewed December 19, 2021 Grade: B+ Well before he created Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009) and became a household name, director James Cameron made the gorgeous, special effects-laden film The Abyss (1989). The film followed hits like Terminator (1984) and Aliens … Continue reading The Abyss-1989<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[148,4794,10448,1630,201,1462,11327,1631,11061,103,11328],"tags":[150,4801,10457,1632,257,1465,11329,1633,11064,105,11330],"class_list":["post-15306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1989-films","category-chris-elliott","category-dick-warlock","category-ed-harris","category-fantasy-films","category-james-cameron","category-leo-burmester","category-mary-elizabeth-mastrantonio","category-michael-biehn","category-scifi","category-todd-graff","tag-1989-movie-reviews","tag-chris-elliott","tag-dick-warlock","tag-ed-harris","tag-fantasy-films","tag-james-cameron","tag-leo-burmester","tag-mary-elizabeth-mastrantonio","tag-michael-biehn","tag-sci-fi-films","tag-todd-graff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15306"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23228,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15306\/revisions\/23228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}