Subject: RETROSPECTIVE: THE ABYSS

From: [email-masked] (Carl Miller)
Date: 13 Mar 1996 16:43:14 GMT

THE ABYSS
                       A film review by Carl Miller
                        Copyright 1996 Carl Miller

Rating (0 to ****): ***1/2

	A submarine carrying nuclear warheads is sunk off the American 
coast.  The action begins when a crew goes down to investigate the crash 
-- they are not alone.
	The Abyss is one of the best science-fiction thrillers I have 
seen.  Director/writer James Cameron builds suspense perfectly as the 
movie progresses, involving the audience in every scene.  It's successful 
for the same reasons as ALIENS -- it makes the viewer feels as though 
they are part of the story.
	Bud (Ed Harris) and Lindsey (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) are
the battling spouses who lead the crew's descent.  It's interesting to
compare Harris's appearance in this movie to his role in JACKNIFE, where
he played an alcoloholic war veteran.  Without the beer gut, he looks six 
inches taller.  Also among the crew is Michael Biehn from THE TERMINATOR 
and ALIENS, both directed by James Cameron.  Biehn does a good job as the 
psychotic crew member, though it is not a particularly challenging role.
	Except for a few scenes at the beginning and at the end, the 
entire film takes place underwater, giving the viewer a good idea of the 
claustrophobic effects the characters feel.  As the film goes on, major 
complications arise -- Lt. Coffee (Biehn) succumbs to pressure-induced 
psychosis, and some very strange things start happening.  The water rises 
up into the cabin as if it were alive.  There's something else down there.
When Coffee and a few other crew members attempt to take over the submarine 
and detonate the warheads, the story really gets going.
	There were two scenes in movie I found particularly memorable -- 
the first was Coffee falling down the trench in an undersea capsule, as
the water pressure increases.  The capsule cracks, Coffee screams, and
the vehicle implodes.  Silence.  That was a great effect.  The second was
Lindsay gasping for air as the cabin filled with water.  Cameron is one
of the few directors who could make that scene as effective as it was.
	The film climaxes with Bud going down to the bottom of the trench 
in a fluid-filled suit to disarm the warheads.  Unfortunately, the final 
ending is disappointingly abrupt, which is the only thing that keeps this 
from being a four-star movie.  It's still a terrific movie, and one which 
I'm sure all science-fiction fans will not want to miss.