The Abyss (1989)

Throughout the illustrious career of Oscar-winning director James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar), this remains his ONLY film which can be considered a financial failure.  It was his very much his first "blank check" project following the mega one-two punch of The Terminator and Aliens which were his previous two films.  Like those two beloved hits, he was once again crafting a sci-fi thriller but this time around.....this particular story didn't take place on land nor in space.  

THIS harrowing action thriller - about a marooned deep sea-drilling team lead by the estranged couple of Bud (Ed Harris) and Lindsey (Mary Elizabeth) who all find themselves marooned more than two miles under the surface of the Pacific Ocean  - takes place almost entirely underwater but beyond that, more than 60% of the production was filmed UNDER water.  For Cameron, this was not only his first big budget production but he was attempting to film extensive underwater sequences on a scale never done before.  As a result, the troubled shoot not only went well beyond its planned production schedule but also significantly over budget.  

Many cast and crew were miserable, often submerged under water for longer periods than they were comfortable - fortunately no lives were lost but a couple came close.   In the middle of a record-breaking summer at the box office lead by the likes of Batman or Indiana Jones, this film opened to middling reviews and disappointing box office.  It ended up winning an Oscar for Best Visual Effects and its legacy eventually grew as one of Cameron's most personal films.  So now thirty-five years after it was first released, the time has come to revisit.....The Abyss. 

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Transcript

THE ABYSS - 1989

Directed by James Cameron          

Starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn, Leo Burmester, Todd Graff, John Bedford Lloyd, Kimberly Scott, Chris Elliott, JC Quinn, Pierce Oliver Brewer Jr, George Robert Klek, Christopher Murphy, Adam Nelson, and Dick Warlock

Genre: Sci-Fi Thriller (Audio clip)

I don't care what any one says but James Cameron could very well be the best overall director AND writer of sci-fi/action genre films of the past 40 years. Yes he has some clunky dialogue and obviously drawn characters - this has been the case since The Terminator - but no one is better at structuring a compelling adventure story with set-ups and payoffs.  You see it right in the first half hour of this film, there's so much set up there organically: animosity between Bud and Lindsey, the intelligent life underwater, the Cold War stakes, the rag tag group of deep-sea oil drillers and their various quirks, Lt. Coffey's shakiness, and....the liquid oxygen of course. 🙂 

It feels like every Cameron film has an early scene like this...when a side character is introducing a new type of technology to other characters, you're intrigued, and later on....a major character uses it in the third act and it's genuinely thrilling to watch! Of course the best version of this was the early intro of the power loader in Aliens...it's basically Chekov's Gun and that might seem pretty cliched at this point but it's kind of amazing how so few blockbuster filmmakers embrace this nowadays. So many franchises nowadays are based on IP that when they bring deus ex machinas late into the story, it's just now ASSUMED that the audience will be programmed to know where it came from....cough cough....Marvel....cough cough...

And despite Cameron's sure hand with what was in retrospect an EXTREMELY difficult production from a technical standpoint, this film just doesn't work without Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as the leads - they really wring EVERY ounce of emotion and white knuckle intensity from these characters and the situations they find themselves in. 

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

One of the most undeniable strengths of this movie is of course the score which comes from a renowned composer who strangely had not worked with Cameron before or since….but was already building up a very nice genre filmography throughout the 1980’s.  None other than New York City by way of Teaneck, NJ’s OWN….Alan Silvestri!  Seriously this guy put out some BIG-time scores throughout the ‘80’s AND ‘90’s including Predator, The Delta Force, Forest Gump, the slightly underrated Blown Away,, and definitely the one which TRULY made him into an all-timer….Back to the Future. (Audio clip)  

Well with this movie going deep underwater, he just raised his game composing one of the most INTENSE and emotional scores of the ‘80’s – he’s often going BIG here and it works.  There’s an extended fight-into-chase sequence in the middle of the movie which is kind of jaw-dropping in how it transitions so easily from hand-to-hand in the loading dock to one-manned crafts chasing each other underwater.  And along with that, the music just keeps escalating: aggressive brass with STRONG contributions from two instruments that you wouldn’t always expect within an action score: xylophones and clarinets….but they DO provide much of that frantic melody which keeps repeating.  Talk about a perfectly descriptive title, this track is officially called, “Fight, Dive, Crash.” (Audio clip) 

But even better is the truly bombastic MAIN theme which is definitely among the best of its kind at capturing genuine WONDER – we hear just a snippet of it at the very beginning and then the full theme finally towards the end as Bud is introduced to this alien underwater city…..those trumpets kick in as do soaring vocals from the Crouch End Festival Choir out of London.  Simply titled “Finale” this is right up there some of the most otherworldly anthems from John Williams – ET, Close Encounters – this is right up there, great stuff! (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

I would like to give a special shout-out to Ed Harris for not only delivering a brilliant performance here but for what he had to endure during the making of this film.  Through decades of memorable performances in memorable films including The Right Stuff, Pollack, The Truman Show, previous episode The Firm, and likely future episode A History of Violence, Ed Harris has just always been the consummate professional, a true stand-up guy who could work with any one…..and for THIS production…arguably his first REAL starring role for a major motion picture….he got pushed to his limits.

This was also a first-time experience for Cameron, his first big-budget production, shot mostly in and around a giant water tank…..utilizing some new technology including new helmets which would show more of the actor’s faces.  Nobody was ready for the challenges involved – the lack of lighting within the tank, the cold temperatures of the water, the challenges of having effective communication in place between every one under water - least of all Cameron and the result was a BRUTAL production which dragged on for at least month longer than expected and had everyone SO miserable on set that some members of the crew made and distributed special T-shirts stating “Life’s ABYSS and then you DIE.”  

And they weren’t exactly joking because nobody came closer to actual death multiple times than Ed Harris – as a result of comm’s not always working, a limited oxygen supply, and underwater sets which weren’t easily accessible, the actor apparently came close to drowning several times.  ESPECIALLY during the deep dive climax towards the end as his character Bud gradually descends to the bottom of the titular abyss to find and deactivate a nuclear device.  As portrayed during this sequence so that his helmet doesn’t cave in from the water pressure, his character is also using the aforementioned liquid oxygen to breathe……consider me shocked that many have referred to this sequence as “boring” but I have always found it truly RIVETING….intense stuff….and Harris’ performance is positively brilliant, very convincing.  And part of the reason for that was apparently Cameron’s ALLEGED efforts to ensure the actor’s REAL oxygen supply was kept low during that sequence ensuring a more convincing performance.  Now nobody can prove this but WOW…..whether it got that far or not, Harris was apparently somewhat traumatized….and SO angry at the director that not only would he decide to not do ANY promotion for the film, he has been unwilling to even mention the film or its production since then.

SINCE then Cameron has lead water-based productions like Titanic and Avatar: The Way of Water which apparently went smoother, WELL….Titanic only marginally so.  Maybe he learned some lessons, maybe the technology just improved to make things safer, maybe a combination of both….nowadays most cast and crew sing his praises even while acknowledging that he can still generally come off as an asshole on set.  And he’s not the first, this is a LONG Hollywood tradition of some of our most brilliant directors – Hitchcock, Hawks, Kubrick, Tarantino – putting their actors through the ringer.  The stuff pulled on this set 35 years ago would NOT fly today…and that’s a GOOD thing.  But yes for what he was forced to endure….BOTTOM LINE….Ed Harris deserved better. 

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

Now speaking of white knuckle intensity…..just after an extended underwater face/off with Michael Biehn’s Coffee, our two main protagonists now find themselves within a smaller submersible which is a decent distance away from the main rig/station…..and this submersible is rapidly flooding…..and they only have one swimsuit with oxygen.  (Audio clip) 

This entire sequence goes on for about ten minutes with half spent pure dialogue of them going back-and-forth….and the other half, Bud’s attempt to revive her once they get back to the main ship.  Now remember this is James Cameron but this sequence is pretty much ALL performance which makes it all the more impressive!  It still has to be among the tensest sequences ever put to film! I saw this twice in theaters and remember being blown away each time - it doesn't lose any of its impact watching it on TV or even on a laptop all these years later.... (Audio clip) 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

Despite my criticisms, of course it’s Big Jim….this film was entirely HIS vision and he was attempting to do stuff which had never been done before.  The results are all there on the screen as this film is a well-structured, technically impressive RIDE in the best sense of that word.  The effects STILL hold up, the aliens while wordless are still compelling, the human leads are pitch-perfect, and director’s extended cut or NOT – I’m in the minority preferring the theatrical version – the story has a nice, simple DIRECT message of forgiveness and tolerance.  For spearheading what I would consider the LAST great science fiction film of the 1980’s, James Cameron is the MVP.    

Final Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Oh yeah and this would also notably be THE last full-on collaboration between Cameron and actor Michael Biehn who is simply phenomenal potraying the closest thing this story has to a villain….the increasingly unhinged military leader Coffee.  Their ‘80’s run together as a director/actor pairing remains one for the ages with this film, Aliens, and the original Terminator.  It’s unfortunate that they haven’t worked together since then….but hey it’s not too late, MAYBE a part in Avatar 3??  Here’s hoping!

Streaming on Hulu, BBC America, and Showtime TV

And that ends another N.T.I…..Non-Terrestrial Intelligence review!