Why so much hype?

Truly Dreadful Film

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

James Cameron loves to be underwater and made a few documentaries about it...and two movies, one was his kitsch-drama "Titanic" and the other one was his slightly overlooked masterpiece known by the name "The Abyss".And his love of the theme is there to be seen in every second of film, the set is actually underwater with all the cast and crew inside, some of them couldn't even resist the pressure.Technically everything's near perfection, the camera-work, lighting, and sound. The soundtrack is composed by Alan Silvestri and one of my favourites written by him, the emotional parts feel even more powerful thanks to him.The special effects are amazing, everything's practically made with models, puppets, real tech and/or optical projections. There is one incredible CGI-effect when the aliens use their power to bend the water and give it the shape of a human face.The acting is incredible and the interactions between the characters the reason why the whole movie works. My favourite scene in the movie is when the two ex-married protagonists are stuck in a flooding Submarine and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonios character has to temporarily die, because they only have one diving suit. After that they have to bring her back to life in a nail biting resuscitate scene.The movie is intense, but takes it's time to build everything up and the pay-off at the end is fitting and great in my opinion.I all in all adore this film, because of the excellent acting, incredible effects and it's emotional core...

Why the low rating? Same reason it's on the Sundance Channel - because I watched the Director's Cut, rather than the original theater version. This may be called the Special Edition but I have no interest in figuring that out any longer.I had enjoyed the theater version on DVD since the concept seemed a relatively benign underwater alien encounter. It seemed disjointed, I had seen on TV the filming difficulties, and James Cameron is a preachy anti-Christian scumbag who was miserable to work with, but yeah OK it was watchable and has some decent scenes.Sundance Channel, of course, is Robert Redford's pet cable channel, and Redford is another notoriously noxious anti-American kinda guy (who earned much of his wealth playing military heroes &c.) So I thought I'd be interested in seeing what wound up on the cutting room floor. I was horribly mistaken, sitting through 4 hours worth of this atrocity (commercials included though, so I have no idea what the real length was; Special Edition is reportedly almost 3 hours).First, the movie lost nothing by such substantial cutting. The theater version was often turgid, but that was due to bad direction. The portions cut out of the backstory that are NOT directed at the main theme don't account for much; there's some more bits about the failed marriage of the two primary characters but nothing that builds any better empathy. About the only meaningful thing is that Ed Harris is presented slightly more "good ole boy" and Mastrantonio a bit more arrogant bitch.The bulk of the difference which was cut from theatrical release deserved to be. With Cameron's intent included, the movie turns into a preachy, clumsy anti-American screed that fails on pretty much every level. The American-Soviet antagonism which is not much more than a backdrop in the theatrical version is instead the main plot: the Cold War is about to explode into nuclear confrontation purely on the basis of the sunken US sub and an at-sea collision. The SEAL team are monsters, rather than just having a crazy leader. The aliens conjure a world-wide tsunami with their water magic, only to cause the wave to stop, with subsequent scenes of mindless human rejoicing.There's additional dialogue from Harris on behalf of the aliens which is more of the same "UFO angels won't destroy you... THIS TIME" Apparently the only reason the aliens didn't wipe out most of humanity was Harris' goodbye message to Mastrantonio? You can find it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VD3vOduCwu0THOSE are the grounds for the not-well-explained saucer-city rising to the surface at the end of the film. It seemed pretty meaningless in the theatrical release, but now it's an obvious threat by a superior intelligence that humans are evil and better stop acting like children or we'd be wiped out be the angelic aliens.

"The Abyss" is one of the most intriguing Sci-Fi/action movies to have ever been made. From the very beginning of this exceptional movie to the end, for the first time viewer or for those that have watched it many times, it is a highly inventive and an ultimately captivating movie. Although there have been many movies made about events under the surface of the ocean, few can match up to the intensity that "The Abyss" is laden with. One of the more intriguing aspects about the edition of "The Abyss" that I'm reviewing today or any other version that contains both the original theatrical release and the Special Edition with twenty eight minutes of additional footage is how the whole tone of the conclusion of the film changes between the two. This is not something that I wish to go in to in great detail; suffice it to say that the Special Edition gives a whole new meaning to this classic movie.From Ed Harris to Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio to Michael Biehn and all of the other marvelous actors that performed in this film, they all deserve high praise for their collective efforts in creating this Science Fiction classic. It isn't too often that Ed Harris or Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio gets the lead roles in films but in the case of "The Abyss," they both proved that they were quite ready for such roles.Technically, it has few peers. It is scientifically accurate in what it depicts, and the special effects are virtually flawless. The story is very engaging. It unfolds slowly and smartly and takes many twists and turns. The aliens and their importance to the story are kept a mystery until the end. And the movie also has something often missing in science fiction, drama. Science fiction in television and movies often tends to be overly intellectual or overly melodramatic. The Abyss, in contrast, is a dramatic story through and through. The scenes between Bud and his wife (particularly when he tries to revive her after she drowns and when she talks to him as he descends into the abyss) are among the most engaging I have ever seen in any movie. Give it a shot, this is definitely a sleeper classic that deserves more exposure than it's gotten!Overall rating: 9 out of 10.

Movies that depict Extraterrestrial Biological Entities as benevolent, or multi-faction interest in Terra and it's indigenous life forms is something I greatly enjoy. I mean to suggest that it is insane to expect any advanced civilization to be free of the debate between state versus individual liberty and our Goddess given inalienable right.While this show's underwater EBEs are entirely one dimensional characters, the idea that they are living underwater where we have yet to truly explore is... or at least it 'was' amazing when it was first released. Even now, about a quarter tuns {Mayan Calendar, 360 days} later, the closest Hollywood foray into the field was SeaQuest and that was still almost two decades ago.All those who have a similar taste as me and highly value classic comedies {instead of tragedy}, and a romance shares center stage with another other science fiction plot or two. They will greatly enjoy the movie as I do. It is one of those movies I watched yearly when I was younger.Despite my favor for the show, I limited it to 8/10 simply because of the ending. It showcases the stereotypical silent stoic EBE that is 'horrified' at our nuclear weapons. That is just a bunch of statist propaganda that completely ignores the circumstantial evidence that suggests the EBE's have an entirely different view.That is the EBEs' are marvelling at how the public has abundantly allowed the statists to cease control of Nikola Tesla's working diagrams for power generators and relays for wireless transmission of power.. That is through air, earth, or water.Ask a pilot how much easier it would be to fly without the process of carrying fuel with the... Not to mention safer.