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The Abyss (1989)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer (WGA):
James Cameron (written by)
Release Date:
9 August 1989 (USA)
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Tagline:
There's everything you've ever known about adventure, and then there's The Abyss. more
Plot:
A civilian diving team are enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and face danger while encountering an alien aquatic species. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Submarine
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Underwater
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Abyss
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Ocean
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Estranged Couple
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Awards:
Won Oscar.
Another 4 wins
&
12 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(45 articles)
Birthday Suits: Giant Sized Edition
(From FilmExperience. 17 November 2009, 11:05 AM, PST)
Cameron Receiving Ves Lifetime Achievement Award
(From Get The Big Picture. 15 November 2009, 8:05 AM, PST)
(From FilmExperience. 17 November 2009, 11:05 AM, PST)
Cameron Receiving Ves Lifetime Achievement Award
(From Get The Big Picture. 15 November 2009, 8:05 AM, PST)
User Comments:
"These guys are about as much fun as a tax audit."
more (323 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Ed Harris | ... | Virgil 'Bud' Brigman |
 | Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio | ... | Lindsey Brigman |
 | Michael Biehn | ... | Lt. Hiram Coffey |
 | Leo Burmester | ... | Catfish De Vries |
| Todd Graff | ... | Alan 'Hippy' Carnes |
 | John Bedford Lloyd | ... | Jammer Willis |
| J.C. Quinn | ... | Arliss 'Sonny' Dawson |
 | Kimberly Scott | ... | Lisa 'One Night' Standing |
| Captain Kidd Brewer Jr. | ... | Lew Finler (as Capt. Kidd Brewer Jr.) |
| George Robert Klek | ... | Wilhite |
 | Christopher Murphy | ... | Schoenick, SEAL Team Member |
 | Adam Nelson | ... | Ensign Monk, SEAL Team Member |
| Dick Warlock | ... | Dwight Perry (as Richard Warlock) |
| Jimmie Ray Weeks | ... | Leland McBride |
 | J. Kenneth Campbell | ... | DeMarco |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for language and some scenes of action. (special edition)
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
138 min | USA:171 min (special edition)
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (DuArt)
Aspect Ratio:
2.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) |
Dolby SR (35 mm prints)
Certification:
Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (special edition) (2000) |
Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (original rating) |
Canada:AA (Ontario) (special edition) (2000) |
Canada:G (Quebec) |
Canada:PG (Manitoba) (also special edition) |
Canada:PG (Ontario) (original cut) |
Portugal:M/12 |
Malaysia:U |
South Korea:12 |
USA:PG-13 (Certificate #29764) |
Brazil:Livre |
Argentina:13 |
Australia:M |
Chile:14 |
Finland:K-14 |
France:U |
Iceland:12 |
Norway:15 |
Peru:14 |
Singapore:PG |
Spain:13 (special edition) |
Sweden:15 |
UK:15 |
West Germany:12 |
Netherlands:AL (special edition)
Filming Locations:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Director James Cameron contacted Orson Scott Card before filming began with the possibility of producing a book based on the film. Card initially told his agent that he doesn't do "novelizations", but when she told him that the director was James Cameron, he agreed to consider it. The script arrived, and Card signed on after receiving assurances from Cameron that he would be free to develop his "novel" the way he wanted to. After a meeting with Cameron, Card immediately wrote the first three chapters, which dealt with events concerning Bud and Lindsay Brigman that occurred before the events in the film. Cameron gave these chapters to Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who used it to develop their characters.
more
Goofs:
Factual errors: When the divers are swimming, you can see bubbles with every breath, meaning that they are on an open-system (i.e. scuba). However at that depth (2000ft), a standard scuba tank would be exhausted in under two minutes, or much less with any kind of exertion.
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Quotes:
[first lines]
USS Montana Captain: Sixty knots? No way, Barnes. The Reds don't have anything that fast.
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USS Montana Captain: Sixty knots? No way, Barnes. The Reds don't have anything that fast.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Making of 'Tremors' (1998) (V)
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Soundtrack:
WILLIN'
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FAQ
What are the differences between the theatrical version and the extended version of the movie?Why did Coffey go crazy?
After Lindsey drowns, isn't it impossible for her to still be alive after having her heart stop for so long?
more
more (323 total)
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The Abyss was a movie of destiny. First off, this movie either began or was the result of a lifetime obsession James Cameron has the ocean (see later Titanic and his IMAX deep sea movies). The Abyss is also full of echos of claustrophobic thriller/adventure movie Alien, in which Cameron directed the sequel. So combining one of Cameron's old movies with his new obsession, we get The Abyss, a solid sci-fi thriller starring Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. Ed Harris plays Bud, the head of an undersea oil rig where very little actually happens and the people on the rig are only there in case something goes wrong. Well, wouldn't you know it, but an American nuclear submarine patrolling the US coast near the oil rig suddenly sinks, killing the sailors on board. The Americans suspect it's the Soviets, but we know better. Something pink and glowing does something to the submarine causing it to sink. A team of Navy seals, ferried down to the rig by Bud's ex-wife Lindsey (Mastrantonio), boards the oil rig and uses it as a command base for their mission to recover the submarine. And that is when the fun begins. Of course a hurricane has to enter into the plot, in movies like this, there is always a hurricane, but beyond, The Abyss is a solid sci-fi thriller, where the oil rig becomes a character in the movie. Much like the Nostromo in Alien or The Discovery in 2001, the tight spaces adds flavor to the movie, bringing the setting in as another character of the movie. The special effects were groundbreaking at the time and hold up well today. The scene of a column of water snaking its way through the oil rig still creeps me out to this day.