Got an email from AMC this morning with a notice for advance tickets for James Cameron's underrated The Abyss. It's a special edition that runs just short of 3 hours. I'm wondering if this is the same cut where he incorporated a bunch of extra footage featuring a giant tidal wave, which was a superior version of the movie than what was released theatrically. The email says it will show starting December 6.

And hopefully this means that a new video release is forthcoming, as I believe this is one of two JC movies not available on 4K or streaming.

https://www.slashfilm.com/1447172/cool-stuff-the-abyss-true-lies-aliens-4k-digital-blu-ray-releases-avatar-way-of-water/

I assume the 3 hour version includes that nonsense at the end where the underwater civilization threatens humanity? If so, then that is was hilariously eye rolling. The original version as shown in theaters was vastly superior.

Sapper Redux said:

---

aTmAg said:

---

I assume the 3 hour version includes that nonsense at the end where the underwater civilization threatens humanity? If so, then that is was hilariously eye rolling. The original version as shown in theaters was vastly superior.

---

Why would that be nonsense? Seems to make sense based on the Cold War and nuke background of the film and adds more rationale for the aliens' response to Ed Harris's sacrifice.

---

Almost all (if not all) of the cold war BS was cut from the theatrical release. The fact that the aliens were able to intercept his "love you wife" message and understand that he was willing to give his life to save them is why they saved his life. The aliens remain peaceful and mysterious in that one.

When Cameron turned it into a "you humans are evil, so we were going to hypocritically kill billions of innocent people to make our point until Ed Harris gave us a glimmer of hope" it became preachy, nave, and stupid.

HtownAg92 said:

---

One of the main things that bugged me -- why did Bud wait until she drowned, stare longingly at her, then drag her to the ship? Why not have her take a huge breath and swim as far as she could and lessen the time she was "dead"?

Otherwise loved the movie.

---

I imagine it would be much more difficult to drag a human who is actively drowning through the water than one who is limp and not resisting. Honestly though haven't thought about before reading this despite watching the movie like 20 times.

Sapper Redux said:

---

Quote:

---

Almost all (if not all) of the cold war BS was cut from the theatrical release.

---

Uhhh… they were going to a sunken submarine to beat the Soviets to it and the SEAL had a secret mission to secure a nuke. Pretty sure the Cold War drove the whole purpose of the movie.

---

Uhhh... there are tons of damn good movies that are FAR more cold war driven than this one that don't include a lame subplot of aliens sending a hypocritical "we will kill you all if you don't stop being mean" warning.

The directors cut had a bunch of TV news clips showing the Soviets and Americans escalating a war and a nuclear war about to happen and crap like that. The original theatrical release cut all of that crap. Instead, it was more like a sub going down in peacetime and a SEAL went crazy, tried to nuke the NTIs, and all of that. No stupid genocide warning from "peaceful" aliens. And it was much better.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

---

The better version of Sphere.

---

I've taken some dumps that are better than Sphere.

I just read like yesterday one of those "things you didn't know" pieces about the Abyss and how Ed Harris and MEM absolutely hated working on it. Said Cameron nearly killed them with the underwater stuff.

aTmAg said:

---

Sapper Redux said:

---

Quote:

---

Almost all (if not all) of the cold war BS was cut from the theatrical release.

---

Uhhh… they were going to a sunken submarine to beat the Soviets to it and the SEAL had a secret mission to secure a nuke. Pretty sure the Cold War drove the whole purpose of the movie.

---

Uhhh... there are tons of damn good movies that are FAR more cold war driven than this one that didn't include a lame subplot of aliens sending a hypocritical "we will kill you all if you don't stop being mean" warning.

The directors cut had a bunch of TV news clips showing the Soviets and Americans escalating a war and a nuclear war about to happen and crap like that. The original theatrical release cut all of that crap. Instead, it was more like a sub going down in peacetime and a SEAL went crazy, tried to nuke the NTIs, and all of that. No stupid genocide warning from "peaceful" aliens. And it was much better.

---

Kay. No one said it was Red Dawn. Concern about the Soviets drove the mission. It wasn't "peacetime," it was a movie set in and the plot driven by the Cold War. The aliens' motivations didn't make much sense in the theatrical release. You can say they were peaceful, but that wasn't really ever established.

Quote:

---

Ed Harris has publicly refused to speak about his experiences working on "The Abyss" (1989), saying, "I'm not talking about 'The Abyss' and I never will." One of the few things he said about it was "Asking me how I was treated on 'The Abyss' is like asking a soldier how he was treated in Vietnam." Similarly, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio said, "'The Abyss' was a lot of things. Fun to make was not one of them."

Cast members had to become certified divers before filming began. The Deepcore crew started training together in the Caribbean one month before filming, in order to create a sense of camaraderie. Harris was not among them, as he was still filming another movie, so he got his certificate while training in a lake nearby. The actors playing the SEALs received a separate, military training. At the end of the shoot, Harris was the most accomplished diver (near-professional level) despite not having trained a single day in the actual ocean.

During underwater filming, Harris almost drowned a few times. One time was while filming the scene where he had to swim without a suit at the bottom of the submerged set, and the safety diver took very long to hand him a breathing regulator. However, the closest call came during the descent into the Abyss. Harris was wearing a helmet filled with liquid, and had to hold his breath while he was towed along a set. When he ran out of air, he gave the signal for oxygen, but his safety diver got hung up on a cable and could not get to him. Another crew member gave Harris a regulator, but it was upside down and caused him to suck in water. Underwater cinematographer Al Giddings saw what happened, ripped the upside down regulator, and gave him his own in the correct orientation. Later that evening, Ed broke down and cried.

The studio was considering Mel Gibson, Dennis Quaid, William Hurt, Harrison Ford, Kurt Russell and Patrick Swayze for the role of Virgil 'Bud' Brigman. Cameron suggested Ed Harris, but the studio was concerned about his lack of experience as leading man, as well as his receding hairline (something that Cameron felt added to his everyman appeal). Harris convinced the studio with a screen test where he wore a motorcycle helmet as a diving helmet. (IMDb)

---

aTmAg said:

---

Sapper Redux said:

---

aTmAg said:

---

I assume the 3 hour version includes that nonsense at the end where the underwater civilization threatens humanity? If so, then that is was hilariously eye rolling. The original version as shown in theaters was vastly superior.

---

Why would that be nonsense? Seems to make sense based on the Cold War and nuke background of the film and adds more rationale for the aliens' response to Ed Harris's sacrifice.

---

Almost all (if not all) of the cold war BS was cut from the theatrical release. The fact that the aliens were able to intercept his "love you wife" message and understand that he was willing to give his life to save them is why they saved his life. The aliens remain peaceful and mysterious in that one.

When Cameron turned it into a "you humans are evil, so we were going to hypocritically kill billions of innocent people to make our point until Ed Harris gave us a glimmer of hope" it became preachy, nave, and stupid.

---

Cameron didn't really add that evil human stuff later. It was in the original 1989 novelization of the film.

Sapper Redux said:

---

aTmAg said:

---

Sapper Redux said:

---

Quote:

---

Almost all (if not all) of the cold war BS was cut from the theatrical release.

---

Uhhh… they were going to a sunken submarine to beat the Soviets to it and the SEAL had a secret mission to secure a nuke. Pretty sure the Cold War drove the whole purpose of the movie.

---

Uhhh... there are tons of damn good movies that are FAR more cold war driven than this one that didn't include a lame subplot of aliens sending a hypocritical "we will kill you all if you don't stop being mean" warning.

The directors cut had a bunch of TV news clips showing the Soviets and Americans escalating a war and a nuclear war about to happen and crap like that. The original theatrical release cut all of that crap. Instead, it was more like a sub going down in peacetime and a SEAL went crazy, tried to nuke the NTIs, and all of that. No stupid genocide warning from "peaceful" aliens. And it was much better.

---

Kay. No one said it was Red Dawn. Concern about the Soviets drove the mission. It wasn't "peacetime," it was a movie set in and the plot driven by the Cold War. The aliens' motivations didn't make much sense in the theatrical release. You can say they were peaceful, but that wasn't really ever established.

---

What you are apparently misunderstanding is that I'm talking about the original theatrical release which is 40 minutes shorter than the directors cut that has been broadcast on TV for a while. In that shorter version, they weren't on the verge of war with the Soviets and it WASN'T "driven by the cold war". It was driven by a hurricane and one insane SEAL who merely thought that NTIs were Soviets. Nobody else was harping about the Soviets or any of that.

Claiming that is "driven by the cold war" is like claiming the Beautiful Mind was similarly driven because John Nash insanely tries to foil an imaginary Soviet plot. The Soviets were a minor part of both movies.

My point is that Cameron extending it to 3 hours and turning it into a cold war movie with an idiotic virtue signaling warning at the end, made it stupid.

Teslag said:

---

aTmAg said:

---

Sapper Redux said:

---

aTmAg said:

---

I assume the 3 hour version includes that nonsense at the end where the underwater civilization threatens humanity? If so, then that is was hilariously eye rolling. The original version as shown in theaters was vastly superior.

---

Why would that be nonsense? Seems to make sense based on the Cold War and nuke background of the film and adds more rationale for the aliens' response to Ed Harris's sacrifice.

---

Almost all (if not all) of the cold war BS was cut from the theatrical release. The fact that the aliens were able to intercept his "love you wife" message and understand that he was willing to give his life to save them is why they saved his life. The aliens remain peaceful and mysterious in that one.

When Cameron turned it into a "you humans are evil, so we were going to hypocritically kill billions of innocent people to make our point until Ed Harris gave us a glimmer of hope" it became preachy, nave, and stupid.

---

Cameron didn't really add that evil human stuff later. It was in the original 1989 novelization of the film.

---

He filmed all of that stuff, and then cut it all out during editing (mostly to appease Fox). For the directors cut he took all that old footage, added it back in, and adding newly rendered tidal wave scenes (the original was practical effects).

The directors cut, by nature, is what Cameron really wanted the whole time. But I think what he wanted was worse than what they ended up releasing in 1989.

This movie has the Mayor of *****t's Creek as well as Dr. Kelso from Scrubs.