Ghosts of the Abyss (2003)

James Cameron and Bill Paxton, director and actor of the 1997 film Titanic, travel to the final undersea resting place of the ill-fated ship of dreams.

Director:

James Cameron

Stars:

Bill Paxton, Lori Johnston, Lewis Abernathy

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bill Paxton	...	Self
John Broadwater	...	Self (as Dr. John Broadwater)
Lori Johnston	...	Self (as Dr. Lori Johnston)
Charles Pellegrino	...	Self (as Dr. Charles Pellegrino)
Don Lynch	...	Self / Thomas Andrews
Ken Marschall	...	Self / J. Bruce Ismay
James Cameron	...	Self
Mike Cameron	...	Self
Jeffrey N. Ledda	...	Self
Corey Jaskolski	...	Self
Jason Paul	...	Self
Eric Schmitz	...	Self
Genya Chernaiev	...	Self
Victor Nischeta	...	Self
Anatoly M. Sagalevitch	...	Self (as Dr. Anatoly Sagalevitch)

Storyline

Academy Award® winning director and master storyteller James Cameron journeys back to the site of his greatest inspiration, the legendary wreck of the Titanic. With a team of the world's foremost historic and marine experts and friend, Bill Paxton, he embarks on an unscripted adventure back to the final grave where nearly 1,500 people lost their lives almost a century ago. Using state-of-the-art technology developed expressly for this expedition, Cameron and his crew are able to explore virtually all of the ship, inside and out, as never before. With the most advanced 3D photography, moviegoers will experience the ship as if they are part of the crew right inside the dive subs. In this unprecedented motion picture event, made especially for IMAX 3D Theatres and specially outfitted 35mm 3D theaters across the country, Cameron and his crew bring audiences to sights not seen since the sinking 91 years ago and explore why the landmark vessel, more than any shipwreck, continues to intrigue...

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Plot Keywords:

underwater scene | titanic | shipwreck | expedition | imax | 

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Taglines:

The legend no one can forget has become the greatest 3D adventure ever filmed.

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Genres:

Documentary | Family

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Certificate:

G

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film has the odd distinction of being James Cameron's only theatrically released film since his first, Piranha Part Two: The Spawning, to not have a title that starts with the letters A or T.

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Goofs

The fourth funnel is shown falling backwards when the ship breaks in two in the sinking simulation. It would do no such thing. It would fall forward like the other funnels. This is also seen in the "final plunge" montage with the photographs of the passengers who perished in the disaster superimposed in front of the footage of the ship sinking from the movie Titanic.

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Quotes

Bill Paxton: The crucial thing about deep-sea photography is lighting.

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Alternate Versions

The theatrical version was shortened down to 43 minutes running time so that it will fit into the standard screening schedule of the local IMAX theaters, i.e. an IMAX film must not run longer than 45 minutes so that it is possible to start a screening every hour.

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Connections

References Poltergeist (1982)

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Soundtracks

Underwater Waltz
Written and Performed by Anatoly M. Sagalevitch (as Dr. Anatoly Sagalevitch)

User Reviews

A Very Sea Worthy Experience

Watching Ghosts of the Abyss on the big screen simply took my breath away. The photography was simply majestic, and will leave you in awe. If you are a hard core Titanic buff, you will recognize a little of the footage from another documentary that Cameron did at the same time as Ghosts. The 3-d effect is pretty interesting, but probably a bit overrated. This would have still been a fantastic documentary on the big screen even without the 3-d effect. It does make it very interesting though. They go into parts of the ship never seen before so it was very good. I left wishing it would have lasted about 2 hours longer. Even 90 years later the ship still has the power to take your breath away. I would rate this a 10 for people that truly love the Titanic, but maybe only a 7 for those do not. I left this movie feeling that James Cameron really has a love for the ship and really believes in what he is doing, and not that he just did it to make a buck like some have suggested. A must see for any fan of the Great ship.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 September 2003 (France)

Also Known As:

Ghosts of the Abyss

Filming Locations:

Fox Baja Studios, Rosarito, Baja California Norte, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,408,474, 13 April 2003

Gross USA:

$17,040,871

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$27,570,076

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Walden Media, Earthship Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min (Blu-ray extended special edition)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS Sonics-DDP (IMAX version)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1