Fun fact; Michael Biehn has played a Navy SEAL in three movies, Navy SEALs, The Rock and The Abyss, and performed each role so realistically the SEALs made him an Honorary Frogman for lIfe!
While filming The Abyss, James Cameron was also making a doctumentary about how the movie was made. It's called "Under Pressure: Making the Abyss," and it's one the best behind the scenes documentaries ever. They had to create the worlds largest underwater movie set and literally invent new technology for the movie. All of the underwater shots are actually underwater with practical effects, the only CG is the aliens. It's worth a watch, maybe not a channel reaction but on your time for sure.
That documentary is amazing. It's powerful to see the shadow side of this director, and what people went through to make this film. Aliens was another masterpiece of his, that massive sweat and suffering went into its creation.
It's phenomenal, and shows that making big budget movies is not all airconditioned trailers and lobster lunches. Especially when James Cameron is making them.
And it’s the only time you’ll ever see Ed Harris talking about this movie! Once the documentary was done, he vowed never to talk about it again, it was that traumatic to make.
43:54 The revival of Lindsey is the absolute most emotionally intense scene in motion picture history. I have NEVER seen a scene so incredibly nail-biting and virtually traumatic in a major film before or since. Ed Harris should have gotten an Academy Award for this scene alone.
The actress who plays Linsay stortmed off set during this scene because Ed Harris was told to slap her REALLY hard. This whole production was a slog apparently (to say the least) and only Biehn and harris really ate it up - the rest ended up in therapy. Not an actor in today's Hollywood A list (barring maybe Keanu Reaves) who has that kind of dedication anymore.
@@TransoceanicOutreach I don't know. Braveheart comes pretty close even tho most of the cast weren't American (and neither am I so I am not biased in that way). Not fair to say that American movies are not emotional. They just aren't today is all 😎
Wow, what a great reaction. So glad you liked it. I saw ‘The Abyss’ in the cinema, and when after arguing with Lindsay Bud hurled his wedding ring into the toilet the entire audience clapped and cheered ... but then when Lindsay sacrificed herself, and it seemed that she couldn’t be revived, the entire audience was dead silent and paralyzed with shock and grief. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio has never received the credit she deserves for her performance here - what an incredible range of responses for an actor to carry an audience through.
I was disappointed that the Popcorn girls didn't seem to react to the idea that Bud's life was only saved during the flood because he was wearing his ring which got caught in the door. And he was only wearing it because he decided at the toilet that he wasn't ready to let Lindsey completely go.
Mastrantonio is absolutely masterful in this movie. Epic. She deserves all the credit in the world. Then again, so many of them are amazing. Acting really is top notch throughout, I have nothing to complain about about any of these actors.
When I started watching your channel 2 years ago, you could barely recognize an actor from a movie you just watched. Now you're recognizing them and naming multiple movies you saw them in. Honestly, it's really impressive and you deserve recognition for your improvement.
Well, misplacing Ed Harris (again) into "Crimson Tide", neither of them remember he had a central role as the main villain in "The Rock", remembering "Titanic" and "Avatar" but not Cameron's highest rated movies "The Terminator", "Terminator 2 : Judgment Day" which they saw together and "Aliens" which Cassie saw. And they saw "True Lies" together too. Not everyone cares about these things... but it's just funny to me. Director, producer and writer are the 3 most important people behind a movie (Cameron also writes all of his movies, unlike most directors, which makes him even more impressive), yet most people focus on actors.
@@shredd5705 i guess most people focus on the actors due to what they have to go through when making a james cameron film.. people drowning on set (including cameron himself) cast memebers struck with hypothermia several times, ed harris almost crashing his car when driving home from a shoot because he couldnt stop crying.. all the actors working on "the abyss" went through hell, pure torture just because cameron wanted things done his way.. and the pink fluid, which was real / worked on the rat was not used on ed harris.. he simply had to hold his breath for a super long time during those shoots while in super cold water on a decommissioned nuclear reactor flooded with water.. for our enjoyment im glad the actors did it, but i can understand the hatred towards james cameron for forcing them to do all this super unsafe stuff just so he could get the film he wanted.. i saw this as a kid when it came out and i fucking loved it.. but again, we didnt know about all the tragedy that occurred on the film stage. ------ link to the article piece it together yourself (if it even makes it through youtubes link hatred) :"ht tps: // w w w .syfy. c om / syfy-wire/the-abyss-turns-30-how-james-cameron-pushed-boundaries-and-almost-killed-his-actors" "In the film, the concept of liquid breathing is a key part of the story, used by Ed Harris' character as a way to dive thousands of feet without compressing. This is a real thing but more theory than reality for humans. It has been tested on animals, and one rat in the film was a real test subject for liquid breathing, but when it came time for Harris to film the scene, he simply held his breath inside a helmet full of liquid as he was towed beneath the surface. Shockingly, this wasn’t a great experience for Harris. It wasn’t exactly a thrill for the rest of the cast either, all of whom were shooting 70-hour weeks for six months. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio had a physical and emotional breakdown on set, and Harris admitted he broke into a fit of sobbing while driving home one day because of the stress. "
@@miou-miou- I meant generally (not just this film, and not PiB), many people focus on actors (and recognize lot of actors) even when writer and director play a larger role, they can't necessarily even name any writers or directors. Kind of like composer of a hit song vs. singer of the song. All the attention goes to singer, even when the composer is the real genius behind everything Cameron is notorious. Most directors can't treat actors like Cameron, but since he is a genius, actors line up to be in his movies. Despite knowing how it's gonna be
@@shredd5705I think that the ones involved, actors/singers on one hand and writers/composers/producers/directors on the other, are satisfied with this. I mean, not everyone wants to be recognised everywhere all the time. Also, even though they’re not recognised by the entire general public, they still gets recognition from their peers and in form of awards and stuff.
While many fans of The Abyss know that the super oxygenated fluid for breathing that is used for the rat scene in the movie is real, not so many know that it spawned a real medical technology where oxygenated fluid is used to keep very premature babies alive, when their lungs are not developed enough to be able to breathe air. It has saved lives. I love that PiB have done this reaction. One of my favourite movies of all time, the Director's Cut is much closer to the original vision and lines up with the film novelisation by Orson Scott Card, which rather than being written from an early draft script like most movie novels, was written during the filming with active character development with the cast, director, etc...
While the breathing fluid is real and does work on Humans, it has almost zero underwater applications, especially in the way it is portrayed in the film. Just like when breathing air, you must still remain at a certain pressure, as sudden change will still horribly affect your body. Even with your lungs full of fluid, the pressure of that fluid is still far lower than the pressure around you, and will still have the same crushing effects. Not to mention your muscles and bones. But, the practicality of lowering infant mortality rates more than makes up for any research money spent on it. I dare say it is far more important than any underwater applications it could have had.
@@k1productions87 It may not be applicable for deep pressure applications, but what it could do is eliminate a divers need to carry bulky oxygen tanks, and stay underwater longer, albeit at a normal depth.
@@KeithDCanada Also, as someone else pointed out, the adult body cannot purge enough carbon dioxide for an extended length of time to make it practical either. Thus, completely negating this advantage. The best way to limit the oxygen tank capacity is to have some measure of CO2 scrubbing. NASA EVA suits are designed in such a way, condensing all life support into the backpack unit by having the lithium hydroxide canister purify the exhaled gas and allowing the internal life support to last far longer, on the order of several hours uninterrupted. Granted,.. that is at 5psi of pure oxygen. I will admit, I do not know if that would still apply to high pressure oxygen and helium. By all rights, the percentage of helium that needed to be in DeepCore's atmosphere should have had all the cast talking in high-pitched accents. But that would have killed the tension of the movie LOL
Hear me out I don’t think Coffee was un reasonable to think the aliens were bad. He was alittle unstable but he was just following orders up until he saw the water alien then he went kinda crazy and wanted to blow the aliens up.
James Cameron was the first person to descend to the bottom of the Mariana Trench solo, to say he loves the ocean is an understatement. Also this probably goes down as one of the most difficult filming experiences ever, the entire cast was traumatized. For all of those who love this movie like me, it was worth it :P
Ending was a bit rushed . Was still wrong about what can go 130 kn ... VA-111 Shkval , fired normally doing 50 kn , then solid fuel rocket speed it to 200 kn , has been in service since 1977 . 2,700 kg/6,000 lbs torpedo moving 200 kn has 14 MJ kinetic energy , it does not need even to explode to punch a hole in armor .
The making of The Abyss is legendary in Hollywood for being both an epic undertaking and a total nightmare. Members of the cast and crew almost drowned during filming on the huge underwater sets. It was so rough it even brought Ed Harris to tears after one very dangerous day. The documentary is on TH-cam.
Mary hated that she had to redo the reviving part, but Ed came within a few seconds of drowning. 40% of the filming was done in water. That's wet and cold for the actors for takes over and over again.
@@antonfowler6582 Yes, an unfinished nuclear plant in South Carolina. The largest reactor was used as the main filming tank, while another concrete pit was used as a secondary tank
The making of this movie was so insane that it was actually sold to the public on that basis. The trailer called it "One of the most challenging motion pictures ever made." Ed Harris was reduced to tears by this film and WILL NOT talk about it to anyone. Crew members had t shirts made that read "Life's Abyss, and then you dive." James Cameron nearly drowned and had to punch out a safety diver to stop him from trying to help him. Legend has it that Ed Harris then punched out Cameron after he kept filming whle Harris was drowning.
mastrantonio and harris are still probably mad at james cameron. they went through the whole resurrection scene without film in the camera and I can't say they should care whether it was on purpose or just raw incompetence. either way, I wouldn't be particularly psyched to pretend to be dead while being slapped without a bit more attention being paid to the surroundings.
Mary Elizabeth Mastroantonio had a fit of hysterics and stormed off the set (with the full support of the other cast members) during the scene where Lindsey gets revived. After hours and dozens of takes laying on the deck topless with dozens of cast and crew staring down at her and Ed Harris beating on her chest she had finally reached her limit. She screamed 'We're human beings, we should not have to put up with this' at Cameron, who later apologized to her.
@@andreraymond6860 hmm, is there any outtakes of these scenes, with M.E. Mastroantonio laying on the deck? Just asking for a friend whos a fan of The Abyss.
There's a medical line that 'You're not dead until you're warm and dead'. Lyndsay was banking on the extreme cold of the water to slow her body processes so much that she'd have a chance to be revived once she was warmed up a bit. But yeah, that resuscitation packs a punch. I love this movie, especially Lyndsay's line about how you have to look at new things through different eyes to appreciate what might be happening.
Also true medically. It is factual that people have been revived medically after much longer periods of time (than normally possible) if their bodies are very hypothermic.
Ed Harris' performance in this movie is incredible. Actors don't get enough credit when they're in action, sci-fi, suspense movies. But it's no less impressive than a performance in some artsy movie.
I love how the Patreon crew knew that this little-remembered movie was EXACTLY the kind of adventure these two needed to see. The expressions here were incredible. This is what reaction channels are all about!!! Can you even feel this way about a modern movie when you know everything is done in a computer? James Cameron put these people UNDERWATER!!!
One of my all-time favorite romances. I love how Virgil goes through most of the movie with a blue hand, and that it's his wedding ring that catches the door and saves him from drowning.
Yep. Love their relationship, caustic and loaded at first but they absolutely understand and are devoted to each other. Similar to the dynamic in Twister but I prefer Lindsay and Bud. They just feel like real people with real reactions to an extraordinary situation. I fell in love with Lindsay when I watched this (her “Roger Ramjet” line is deliciously sharp) and I’d follow Bud into the gates of Hell if he asked me to.
he throws away the ring out of anger but got it back because he still loves her. later the ring saves him with the door. then he helps stopping Coffey. then he saves her from the drowning, with pure love. then he save the aliens and shows his love for her, again. then the aliens saw his sacrifice and love and stop the waves. if you think about it, the love he still has for Lindsey is what saved the World.
Ever read or seen a documentary about what an absolute nightmare the production of this movie became? Unbelievable the difficulties hahaha. Super clusterf%#k hahaha. I could start to list the million-dollar mistakes but the list is long. There are many, many good reasons why movie producers prefer CGI.
@@joebombero1 yes I have seen the various videos and Critical Drinkers reviews. Hellish conditions, contaminated water in the reactor structure, health risks (mental and physical). Suffering for your art? But the practical effects make this movie more "real" than anything CGI. I agree that filming in front of a green screen or in the volume makes life much easier for the actors but isn't that why they get the big bucks? Will the big name stars be happy with a major pay cut to reflect the easier, comfortable conditions of a modern CGI movie. Given the Hollywood strikes I doubt it.
@@tonygreenfield7820 There's no sign that movies are cheaper to make now than they were in 1989. Quite the opposite in fact. Even in adjusted dollars, the budget of Abyss only comes to $118.6 million today. Which is practically considered a low-budget movie. CGI isn't cheap. Actors' salaries are much more today than they were back then too, despite them begging for more money. Even though these movies are so expensive now that most of them aren't making any money.
This is one of the great "lost" films. Cameron presents this in exactly the way we would expect to find life lived underseas. Never received it's proper due for it's greatness.
@JustFacts85042 I'm actually shocked that the official 4K version hasn't come out. Cameron released the remastered version of The Terminator, Aliens and Terminator 2, with their 4K counterparts.
I saw this in the theater when I was 20 years old. I was supposed to go with my friend, but he backed out, and his older brother went with me. We did not know each other very well, but to this day, it was a bonding experience for us both. The special effects were ground breaking at the time, and the 3d water spout that changed faces was like nothing anyone had ever seen on screen before. Still in my top 10 of all time.
I was a sonar technician on a submarine. That sound you heard at the beginning was active sonar. Submarines don't do that. Our whole mission is to remain stealthy. Active sonar would give away our position and make us vulnerable to attack. We navigate using passive sonar. That means we listen to the ocean. There is a surprising amount of information we can glean just from listening. The range of a vessel, the type of vessel, their speed and direction. It's up to sonar to recommend course changes to the con in order to either avoid or engage a vessel. On a side note, my wife and I are friends with the Biehn family. I have a copy of the novelization of The Abyss autographed by Michael.
The one thing I didn't get was why did he wait until she fully drowned before towing her back? If he had put the helmet on, and she held her breath as long as she could, they could have shaved a minute or two of the amount of time she was "dead". I guess it wouldn't have been as dramatic. Just my two cents.
@@joshmitchell8370It’s not just the drama. People freak out when they begin drowning due to the powerful instinctual reaction. So many things could have gone wrong had that happened before he began his journey. Ask any lifeguard who has had experience saving drowning people. Water rescue can be treacherous to those doing the saving because the victim may panic for any number of reasons (including water in their lungs). They’ll do irrational things including cling to the rescuer in a way which endangers them both. Unlike most water rescues at/near the surface, though, there is no backup, no assistance, and no second chances. Even his suit could be compromised if she grabbed on to the wrong thing. The smart play is to let her drown in the safe environment first instead of while they’re exiting the sub (at the edge of the abyss) or trying to take her back to the rig (across a debris field of sharp metal). Better she be luggage than a flailing person.
@@joshmitchell8370 Opening the sub before its full filling with water would have killed them both - that's what most don't understand. That's why they had to wait. Spread the message, because a lot of people think that part was only for movie drama purposes - no it had real world consequences.
He is not underrated. He was one of the biggest stars of his time. And still going strong. Just look at his role in recent hitseries Westworld. Besides, he has 4 Oscar nominations. That's not being underrated.
It really is. I remember watching the theatrical cut and feeling this empty feeling, like something essential had been removed. And it turns out that was exactly what happened.
I feel like the Theatrical cut removed the whole point of the movie, the whole morale about the aliens threatening the humans to make them stop killing and torturing each other, and then NOT doing it because of Buds sacrifice and his love for his wife... to me, that message is the heart of the movie. "You need to see with better eyes"... it touched me DEEPLY when I watched it the first....10 times or so 😉 and then I saw the theatrical version, and it was just an action movie about a military guy loosing his shit... 🤷🏼♀️ Still a good action movie, but the whole heart of the story was gone for me. I'm SO happy that PiB watched the extended edition ❤❤❤
The original cut of the movie just has the aliens there in the background while Coffee is going crazy. The special edition now puts Coffee in the background and the new ending give the aliens a purpose in the film. Both version have two different feelings to it.
That water tentacle was such advanced cgi at the time, everyone in the audience was blown away by it. No one had ever seen such amazing special effects or graphics before. Now we take it for granted.
fun fact: the software used to animate that was whipped up by a doctorate student in his free time, after using it on the Abyss the student demoed that program to Adobe. A year or two later Adobe released the very program under the name Photoshop (it was just called 'Display' before)
Yes the breathing liquid is called perfluorocarbon is real. The scene with the guy's rat was really done for the movie but Ed Harris had to hold his breathe. This movie is also what made Terminator 2 Judgement Day possible. The scene where the water comes in then makes her face. Ed Harris was also in The Rock.
You are right. The breathing liquid is real. As far i know it was developed around the 70s, and they really tried to make it work for humans, but the side effects for larger lungs simply wasnt solved (as far i know the risk of lung bleedings were to high). For smaller animals the lung tissues were resistant enough (its the ballon effect: the smaller the ballon, the more resistance it has... the bigger the ballon, the less the resistance). As far i know the scientists gave up on that breathing liquid to make it work for humans. They simply accepted, that its not possible - at least not with that liquid, or with those circumstances. As you said it correct, Ed Harris didnt breath that liquid, but only acted as he is doing it - instead he was just holding his breath. You are also correct : that the cgi in this movie was the learning lesson to make Terminator 2 possible. You know your stuff. Hopefully popcorn in bed read your comment, because she seems to be interested in that breathing liquid.
@@PygmalionFaciebatThe issues with PFC's are not to do with bleeding or lung sizes. They work fantastically well and a lot more efficiently than air: beyond the psychological problems, the issues are removing enough CO2 - lungs take up the oxygen well enough, but they can't physically move enough liquid to remove the CO2: water is thick and heavy compared to air and it's very, very, hard to move it with a chest/diaphragm/lung arrangement - that's why fish use gills. Beyond that, there are problems removing the PFC from the lungs l, afterwards - if the removal isn't sufficient, big problems follow. PFC actually works and is used, today, all the time, in specialist medical scenarios that are so serious it's good if you don't know anything about them. It could be made to work in a more general sense with current technology, but flushing CO2 is the issue - to address that, today, would require some very significant technological assistance that would be certainly impractical and probably too highly ethically unacceptable for human beings to tolerate. So, until that aspect improves, PFC's are still a little ahead of their time - but _in general principle_ , there's actually nothing preventing their widespread use.
@@lewis7515 Its sweet how you say ''its good that you dont know anything about PFC's'' ... while i read all of the issues with PFC a longer time ago as you are probably on age. (I read about it in the early 90s as teenager). The wikipedia-article also clearly states the danger of bleeding. Also i didnt said with one single word, it doesnt work in terms of: absorbing the oxygene. And yes, i didnt mention the problem with CO2, because it can be much more easier solved (and has been solved) than the many other medical issues, which comes with this method. By the way, it would be good if your knowledge would go beyond what you read in wikipedia. Because yes: some wikipedia-pages, on some languages dont mention the lung bleeding ;-) ... On that alone it can be estimated where your knowledge comes from. Look up into "Flüssigkeitsbeatmung" , on the german wikipedia for instance, and you get the lung bleeding :-) But as i said: i read about these things around 1993-1995 ... way before Wikipedia , and probably way before you were born.
@@lewis7515There are no problems with removing PFC's from lungs. It desolves into harmless gases one simply breathes out. Otherwise the use as a therapy for premature babies or people with accut lung embolism would be contraproductive. Source: me, who survived a massive lung embolism and got that kind of treatment.
@@wandelndeslexikon1614 I'm really not sure what you think you're saying?.... PFC may evaporate, provided that a lung is actually ventilating properly: if it isn't removed, then - regardless of what you decide to call it, if not, "problem" - that remaining PFC represents an issue the person that owns the lung is going to really wish they didn't have, and that's the potential consequence I described as, "problem". Addressing and preventing that kind of condition, in a clinical scenario and environment, is nothing whatsoever to do with trying to address and preventing that kind of condition in a commercial/industrial scenario - where the very last thing you want is for a situation to develop that then necessitates it becoming a clinical scenario. If it's a case of slurping down some PFC and then being able to confidently fully expirate lungs in the field simply by hanging upside down for 5 minutes, no clinical interventions and back to operations with minimal commercial downtime, then we're just not there - but, I could be mistaken: please do feel free to demonstrate to me - on the basis of your, massive lung embolism, expertise - exactly how we are, _there._
Fun Fact: Real oxygenated fluorocarbon fluid was used in the rat fluid breathing scene. Dr. Johannes Kylstra and Dr. Peter Bennett of Duke University pioneered this technique and consulted on the film, giving detailed instructions on how to prepare the fluid. The only reason for cutting to the actors' faces was to avoid showing the rats defecating from momentary panic as they began breathing the fluid. Now, the breathable liquid scene was just filmed with Ed Harris holding his breath for brief windows of filming. Also, the Special Edition version contains 17 extra minutes that was trimmed out of the theatrical release by the studio against James Cameron's wishes. These scenes are key and totally explain the alien's real agenda. A must-see because the director's cut of this film has additional footage that makes the story so much better.
@@Johnnybojangles664your comment comment is a bit moot. This isn't a live reaction. Also If you are watching this movie as your first time and it's through an edited reactionary video that removes large chunks from the movie to comply with copyright laws, being spoiled from the comment section honestly shouldn't be a worry towards "tainting" your first time experience as you've already done that to yourself.
In the U.K., most of the shots of the rats in the fluorocarbon emulsion were cut out because the censors counted it as animal cruelty. It’s only when watching reaction videos like this that I’ve ever seen the rest of the rat footage!
It may be today, but in 1989 it was one of the biggest releases that year. Everything in that movie was groundbraking - even the horrible hell of a shoot James put the actors through - to this day it's still mentioned among the actors as "The Abuse". One of my all time best movies - rated 91% on Google, 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.5 on IMDB - I don't feel it's overlooked at all - but I'm old too lol.
I don’t think it felt overlooked back in the 90s but it does seem to have dropped off the radar a bit in the past couple of decades. It’s also weird that The Abyss never got a blu-ray release. There’s been rumors of it coming out for years but it’s never actually happened. It is sometimes available on streaming services, but as far as I know there’s currently no way to own an HD version of the film.
Agree. I didn't notice his performance I was younger. But I do now. That crazy felt natural. And kinda understandable. The whole first half of the movie is claustrophobic as hell.
The drowning and resuscitation part of the movie is extremely intense. The first time they filmed the part where she's being resuscitated and they rip her shirt open, etc, the camera ran out of film and they had to film it AGAIN. She was very angry as you can imagine.
“Fight! Right now! Do it! Fight goddammit! Fight! Fight! Fiiiiight!” Is the most intense moment i ever seen in a film. Gave me goosebumps and tears in my eyes!❤
@killwithskill There's a story about how bloody hard it was to film that , The actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrontonio was completely freezing on the cold floor and then the cameraman ran out of film at exactly the last shot when she regains consciousness 😡 James Cameron demanded to re do it and MEM stormed off the set '' WHAT THE 🤬 you can't treat us like this , we're not animals !!'' I don't blame her . So the intensity can be said to come from those hard conditions but really the cast has to be given credit for doing such an amazing job of breathing life [pun intended ] into this movie . Stay safe and keep quality movies alive .📽🎬 CHEERS .
The next level crazy part is Ed Harris is playing that scene to a hole in the floor with a camera. Mastrontonio wasn't there for HER POV scenes. Harris is just that good.
The NTI’s didn’t know that emissions from their craft would hurt the submarine. In the novelization, they actually uploaded the memories of some of the crew so they could live on.
James Cameron is unique amongst directors - world class filmmaker and writer, famous explorer, academically recognized and published scientist and anthropologist, and preeminent inventor and engineer. A genuine Polymath - once in a thousand years type of person. He's just plain brilliant!
The diving helmets in the film were engineered by James Cameron so that the faces of the actors could be seen easier from the outside. The funny thing is that they are so well designed that they were functional and actual divers actually started using them... Everything except the lights on the inside of course, lights on the inside would cause tons of glare and was only used to show the actors' faces.
8:52 The novel of this movie was written by Orson Scott Card who also wrote Ender’s Game. It really breaths a lot of life and backstory into the characters. For example, Bud is from a working class Marine Corps family. His older brother was lost in a swimming accident. The moment he heard a Navy crew was in danger he was ready to go help no questions asked. His wife Lindsey is the youngest daughter of a wealthy engineer and his trophy wife. She is the only daughter who inherited her father’s love for math and building things. Unfortunately she also inherited her mother’s crappy attitude towards romance. All her sisters like their mom married for wealth not love. Lindsay married Bud for love and because of his grounded personality. Bud is in many ways like Lindsay’s father a strong stoic man who avoids emotional confrontations. After a lifetime of seeing her mom walk over her dad, she didn’t like how Bud wouldn’t engage her craziness. So she constantly would intentionally pick at him to try to get him to fight back. But Bud wouldn’t take the bait which she misconstrued as not caring. Divorce became inevitable when Lindsey began an affair with a younger highly educated dudes. Despite being heartbroken, Bud didn’t fight he just signed the paperwork. Lieutenant Hiram Coffey grew up in a poor neighborhood with his single mom. After his mother got married she began to neglect him. Young Hiram joined the Navy to get away and find purpose. Within the SEALS he found a family that would never abandon him. If he wasn’t being affected by the HPNS, he would have been thinking far more rationally.
i need to read it just to see what orson scott card did with the ending.. because both the theatrical and director's cut endings of the movie just feel messy to me. i have gripes with both (even though I love the movie)
The novel was written in tandem with the screenplay, as Kubrick and Clarke did with 2001: A Space Odyssey. Cameron and Scott Card were separately writing the screenplay and novel respectively while frequently exchanging notes with each other… thus informing each the direction of their own work.
@@swish007... I read the novelization before seeing the movie, so I expected that ending, which went beyond where the movie ends, even the extended film version. If I recall...think the aliens also gave humanity the ability to share memories.
This came out in 1989. The mind-blowing visual effect at that time is one we take for granted now: The CGI used for the water "tentacle" and images of the actors' faces had never been done before. This was before Jurassic Park or Terminator 2. So, seeing CGI used at all was a major effects achievement.
@@akyhne i wonder how long it would take on a phone today what would it run on that would take the same time what's the fastest we could do it now. . .
@@jayeisenhardt1337 A phone doesn't have render abilities, for such tasks, like Nvidia Cuda cores. So it would be a software rendering, which is very slow.
You need to watch the 'making of' documentary on this film. It's harrowing what everyone went through. This is Cameron's best work in my opinion. The film is insanely fantastic. Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio just give the most amazing performances, that move me every time.
A human test subject allowed one of his lungs to be filled with the fluid. Unpleasant, but he was okay. My understanding is that it has never been used since.
"Oh, like you'd want to be alone with your thoughts down there?!" Nobody has to be told you're sisters, lines like that give it away for sure...Cassie, that was great. I know Carly has life and can't be on all the episodes, but you two have a fantastic dynamic.
One of the most underrated action films of all!!! The cast, sets, and effects are top notch. I love that the studio actually tried to get Michael Biehn nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. I wish it had happened but still.
@@korbendallas5318 It's ranked only 7.5 on IMDB, and it's not even *close* to being in IMDB's Top 250 movies, even though _Life of Brian_ is! I mean, I love Monty Python, but... (On a completely separate note: great user name!)
Given the amount of energy required for the demonstration the aliens put on with the tidal waves, they would have had zero issue stopping the shockwave from the nuke. I don't think they were actually in any danger from it, but still appreciated Bud being willing to sacrifice himself to disarm it. The scene of Lindsey being revived is one of the best I've ever seen in any film, from Harris' performance down to the makeup so she would appear cyanotic. It's perfection.
If this had been released complete in 1989 or 1990, it would have been nominated for a slew of Academy Awards (not just technical awards like it got). I saw the theatrical version the night it opened. A girl in the row in front of me was absolutely losing it during Lindsey’s drowning/revival scene, crying and muttering “SWIM FASTER!” every few seconds. I drove a five-hour round trip from Laramie to Denver in April 1993 to see the Special Edition; totally worth driving through a blizzard and missing a day of classes.
In 1989 I was sering on the USS Boston, SSN 703, and we were priviledged to take civilians on a cruise for the day. On a submarine one of the things we do is show movies - of course we ran The Abyss. We then realized after the first few scenes that showing this film may not have been the best idea. But everyone seemed to enjoy the movie -- and the cruise as well. Thanks Cassie for your reactions they vocalize many of the feelings of watching such a movie.. More Ed Harris movies: The Right Stuff; Swing Shift; Places in the Heart; Glen Garry, Glen Ross; Pollack; Milk Money and many others.
'I hate that....' 'Well then you probably shouldn't have married her.' Still love that line after all these years. The special edition is superior to the cinema one. I remember the first time I watched the former being amazed at how much I came to care for the characters. Which I hadn't done before.
The crew before the descent: "We're gonna need a three weeks decompression phase to get up again!" The Aliens/sea creatures: "ok boys - let's bring 'em all up per express lift."
One of the best Sci-fi Adventure films ever made! This movie went through a troubled production as James Cameron was going through a divorce from his wife, Producer Gale Anne Hurd, after 4 years of marriage, putting a strain between him and the actors. He even yelled at them constantly and blamed them for his mistakes. Ed Harris and Cameron almost got into an actual fist fight during filming a scene. Cameron almost drowned while he was filming an underwater scene and punched the stunt coordinator in the face. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio walked off the set of the movie following her resuscitation scene where she slapped around several times and said, "We are not animals!" A hurricane hit the set of the movie, causing some damage that had to be repaired. After filming, the cast had torn down the set of the movie with their bare hands, in order to let out all the rage, frustration, and anxiety for working with Cameron. Ed Harris was driving home from the set, then pulled over the side of the road, and broke down crying, knowing that his experience working on the project was finally over.
@@coyotefever105 Geniuses are rarely nice people. The pressure to embodied their vision must be overwhelming. I'd bet Leonardo Da Vinci, Aristotle or Nikola Tesla were real a**holes ...
So glad you did the Special Edition. This is my favorite version of The Abyss. The added footage with the world-wide tidal waves makes that final scene all the more poignant.
was the og nicer aliens that weren't all "you're a threat so we gonna exterminate you" that happen to have a change of heart? saving aliens or unknown earth beings that live in the ocean without worry that they are stronger than us seems a nicer message doesn't fall into the might makes right so aliens can decide our fate different beings, different tech, less violent and just an accident makes the movie work too and they seem more enigmatic.
@@msdarby515 Cameron decided to cut the theatrical movie the way he did by his own choice. He felt it worked better to focus on the personal relationship rather than expand the story into a worldwide conflict. He did ask for money later to do the extended cut on home video, which I imagine was from having second thoughts since the movie did not make a profit in theaters.
@@jayeisenhardt1337 The plot he used in the extended cut seems to be copied from the 1986 Watchmen comic book, where an alien threat is introduced to scare the world away from starting a nuclear war.
The breathing liquid scene was real the rat was really breathing liquid perfluorocarbon one of the uses that they tested liquid breathing for was in premature babies that didn't have fully developed lungs but in the end they found it was no better then the already existing technologies in place.
The sea-water tentacle was pretty much unlike anything seen before. I was shocked by its appearance in 1989. By 1991, they did Terminator 2, they usd a similar watery/metal effect, but with a few years upgrade. Great reaction to an amazing movie -- yes, perhaps a bit overstuffed with drama, exhausting the viewer. I saw this on a retreat, a bunch of guys just awestruck by the action.
They’ve been teasing us with a Blu Ray/ 4K restoration for ages, but it keeps getting delayed because of Cameron being to busy with the Avatar films to give it enough time. Hopefully it’ll be out soon, and if so, it’ll be on Disney+
The Abyss was one of the most suspenseful movies I had ever seen in my life. The crane dragging the rig and the resuscitation scenes had me at the edge of my seat
One of the best examples of how great it is to know nothing about a flick before watching --- I wandered into the $1 campus movie theater in 1989 with no idea of what to expect with this, and it blew me away, Way more than Star Wars or anything like THAT. And it wasn't even the extended version, with so much more to the narrative. It's still one of my all-time great examples of excellence in directing, pacing, acting, writing, all in one package. NOT an easy feat........
I saw The Abyss in the Theatres in the summer of 1989. What a great summer for movies! I love this film and 11 others from that summer. This film would have been a bigger hit if they had released the long cut.They cut the ending right off! You should watch the making of The Abyss is just as dramatic as the movie. Cazy filming it! People almost died! Yes that rat is really breathing liquid oxygen.
Still one of my fave SciFi action movies, with spectacular special effects. And I suggest "Innerspace" - a submarine movie like you would not expect it. ^^
She would love Innerspace. One of my fav movies of all time! It's a perfect mix of SciFi, action, Humor, and special effects that still look great. Plus it has a great sounstrack, and the cast is pitch perfect.
@@CodyTalton Hopefully they don't get grossed out easily. The heart scene scared the ever loving piss out of me when I was young. So much so that it wouldn't be until I was 15 that I could force myself to exposure therapy through it. Now, of course, its one of my favorite movies ever. Just below The Abyss though, which I've loved to death ever since I first saw it as a kid.
@@k1productions87 I can totally understand it having that effect on you as a kid! Especially since the effects were so good, most of it still holds up today! I can see it freaking Cassie out a bit, haha. Such a great movie though. I love when they both get drunk and dance to Sam Cooke :)
The shoot for this movie is infamous. During underwater filming, Ed Harris almost drowned. While filming a scene where he had to hold his own breath at the bottom of the submerged set, Harris ran out of air and gave the signal for oxygen. Harris' 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. A camera man came over, ripped the upside down regulator, and gave him one in the correct orientation. Later that evening, Ed broke down and cried. 'Ed Harris' has publicly refused to speak about his experiences working on the film, saying "I'm not talking about The Abyss and I never will". The only register with Harris speaking about his experiences doing the movie is in the documentary Under Pressure: Making 'The Abyss' (1993). Similarly, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio said "The Abyss was a lot of things. Fun to make was not one of them." At one point during filming, Cameron was at the bottom of the massive tank, when the person keeping track of his oxygen levels left the set. When he began running out of oxygen, the director took off his diving gear and attempted to swim to the surface quickly. A safety diver tried to help but only made a bad situation worse with faulty equipment. Cameron ended up taking in a bunch of water instead of air. The safety diver thought Cameron was panicking from almost drowning, and wouldn't release him. Cameron had to punch the guy in the face to break free and rise to the surface. Read More: www.slashfilm.com/614656/awesome-sci-fi-movies-that-never-got-sequels/
Glad you finally saw this. It came out during summer 1989. I remember Batman, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Abyss, Ghostbusters 2, Star Trek V, and a whole host of others coming out that summer. Wow!
It makes me so happy that the two of you sat down and watched this. The original cut opened in theaters in the summer of '89 just a few months after the novelization hit the book stores. I was so pumped for the movie and was so disappointed in it. The WW III sub-plot was removed, Bud's fall down the wall lasted only a couple of minutes, and there was no wave sequence because the studio would not authorize the expense. In short, the entire point of the movie was not included in the price of the ticket. Then at some point the special edition of "ALIENS" was released on Laser-disc, spurring me to get a Laser-disc player. After that I heard about the spec ed of "The Abyss" being on the shelves and ran right out and got it. I was floored. THIS was the movie I'd wanted to see. And now you've seen it, and experienced the joy of a perfect movie. It's up to you whether or not you ever watch the theatrical cut to compare them. And YES the breathable fluid is real. Others have suggested you watch the documentary that was made concurrently with the movie, I second that. It also tells a bit about the breathable liquid they used and submerging the rat in it. And here is a wiki page of the subject to peruse: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_breathing
The Special Edition is one of James Camerons most underrated masterpieces. Its one of the best performances by Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who had a significant career following her appearance in Scarface.
This is a spectacular film I think Cassie and Carly will both thoroughly enjoy The Abyss. I highly recommend the film Cocoon after watching this phenomenon.
I love Cocoon! I don't think anyone has reacted to that one. It's one of the most gentle movies that I own, I think. Ron Howard directed and James Horner does the music. So good.
I saw the shorter version first, then the longer one. My mum prefers the shorter version, I prefer the longer one. Despite the small difference in length the last third becomes significantly different resulting in an entirely different feeling to the story, and imo gives more meaning to the events in the story.
Absolutely one of my top 5 movies of all time! I'm so glad you got around to watching this. One of the earliest uses of sophisticated CGI, which led to the new, improved CGI in Jurassic Park and Terminator 2.
It's such a joy to relive one's favourite movies through your eyes. Thank you!! BTW as previous posters wrote, the breathable liquid is indeed real, and the idea is, that gases (i.e. the air in our lungs) are compressable by pressure, so if you dive that deep your lungs get crushed. liquids on the other hand aren't (for the most part) compressible, so if your lung is full of liquid it can't be crushed. The rest of the body isn't really compressible either so you're fine in great depths.
The most interesting about Cameron, is on the face of it, he is confident about the technical aspect of storytelling to a point that it comes off cold in interviews. However, at the heart of his films, they’re all love stories, every single one. His films paint with a brush that really uses the pallet of courage & compassion, and the distance the protagonist is willing to go for all they love, so very warm. This film, has so much heart in it.
ปีที่แล้ว +1
*palette (pallet and palate are the other members of this infernal trio)
His confidence is well-earned. He was a trained engineer before becoming a filmmaker and he made his bones on Roger Corman shoots--often considered the best film school in Hollywood--so that, combined with his massive ego and temperament, makes him SO confident that he can't comprehend doubt in others. So he has little patience for it. That would make *anybody* insufferable.
YES! lol I'm so glad you guys finally watched this! I'm so glad you liked it; I thought you would. I first saw this movie when I was probably about 10. I watched it with my dad. I loved it instantly, totally hooked and invested in Bud and Lindsey lol from the start. My dad was in the SeaBees (Navy Unit) and then worked on ships throughout the rest of his career. He related to these guys, and I saw quite a bit of him and his friends in them. I love a great love story so that's one of the biggest reasons I love this movie. That scene when Bud loses Lindsey and then tries to revive her, just moved me to my core. It was one of the most impactful and powerful scenes I've ever seen in film and is one of those moments in a film that made me fall in love with movies.🥰 Thank you for watching this! I literally did like the double fist pump when I saw this pop up in my feed, lol. So excited. #YouShouldWatch #Poisedon 2006 with Kurt Russel and Josh Lucas. Both you and Carly should watch it together. It's an action-adventure-drama. It's so good! Keeps you on the edge of your seat. The cast is amazing! The stunts are all done by the cast. There's like 2 mins of CG in the whole film everything else is practically done. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ☺watch Poseidon. Hope you're both well!
I'll never forget seeing this in the theatre with my older brother, knowing I was going to be blown away by the special effects, and the unique, mysterious story.
"The actors nearly died making it [...]" that is a huge negative point for me. i don't understand why so many people praise cameron for that? extras actually died back in the 20s and 30s during the filming of 'ben-hur' and 'noah's ark', does that make the movies better? a bigger artistic achievement? are we no better than the people in antiquity who watched athletes die during their games for their entertainment? it's just so weird to me that people come out and happily say 'this movie is so great, people nearly died making it'
Yeah, I don't think Ed Harris has still gotten over it and refuses to talk about it, I believe. I mean, according to crew members who have worked with him, he's not the nicest guy on the planet to start with, but everyone went through hell on this film, which is pretty obvious.
James Cameron is in the top 5 action directors of all time - together with his editors , he has created some of the most insane and incredible action sequences ever filmed. For that alone he is a legendary director. Add to that his environmental messages and his science fiction concepts and his talents seem even deeper.
Or check out “Appaloosa,” a Western that Ed Harris also co-wrote and directed, based on a novel by crime writer Robert B. Parker. It’s also great, a Western that’s not so much about action as about its characters and their relationships.
This movie is one of my favorite! James Cameron can be so frustrating sometimes with his special editions which are always better than his theatrical versions. Ed Harris is amazing! One of the performances that most marked me in the History of Cinema. The scene where he revives his ex-wife is simply heartbreaking and gives me chills to this day! Mary Elizabeth Manstrantonio is also superb in this film. The typical archetype of the strong woman in the universe of James Cameron. The film is full of little striking moments, sometimes funny, sometimes emotional. I still laugh when I think of the character of Catfish who, by reflex, is ready to throw a... flower pot at the alien! The scene in which the rat and, later, Bud learn to 'breathe' with liquid in their noses is a scientific fact. Another notable moment: the discussion between Bud and Lindsey as Bud sinks into the abyss is incredibly tender. The title of the film is also a metaphor to highlight the “abyss” between man and woman. It's not me who says it, it's Mr Cameron himself. For me, this is his best film. Certainly his most personal. Close to be a masterpiece in its genre.
Directors don’t always get final say on what becomes a theatrical version. Especially in previous decades they often got cut for time, to pack in more theater showings per day.
@@namelessjedi2242 I know. But it's still frustrating to watch a film, especially a James Cameron (or Peter Jackson) film, while being aware that a better version, longer and more complete, exists and will see the light of day later. You are basically watching the lesser version when you go to the cinema.
Yes, you really reminded me of how good writing can have strong women characters without turning them into "Mary Sues". I wish Hollywood could learn, but they hate Cameron so will not.
Hello Popcorn & Carly, this movie is an excellent example of how good it is to not be colorblind and the importance of lighting in the reflection of colors. This is a favorite movie. How does Mastriano get her hair to be so curly?
The resuscitation scene never fails to make an emotional impact on me. Brilliant filmmaking, acting, and no music. Just raw emotion that makes the viewers stop breathing themselves.
I love watching the sisters together! I hope Carly will be there for Austin Powers! It just makes sense since she did all the Bond movies with Cassie 😅
Fun Fact: The reason why Ensign Monk (Adam Nelson), the injured NAVY Seal was seen smiling at the water tentacle as it moves on while the others followed it, was because of a scene (deleted in both cuts of the film, but was in the script) that had him tell Lindsey that he once encountered an NTI back when he was a child.
I was working in a movie theater the summer before my senior year, when this came out. People were seeing it 3 times in a row. Michael Beihn also plays a Navy SEAL in another movie, titled...wait for it..."Navy SEALs".
Cass, you’re killing me. Ed Harris was in the Rock, with the same guy that plays Kyle Reese, who was also Johnny Ringo in tombstone. Side note. You’re the best reaction channel on here. My opinion. Sticking to it.
I originally saw this in the theater and it was wonderful. Eventually, there was a Special Edition and, luckily for me, since I live in Los Angeles, I was able to watch that on the big screen as well. Blew me away! This is one of my favorite movies. Way back in 1989, Industrial Light and Magic did some breakthrough special effects that had never done before. Wow kind of stuff! Anyway, I understand The Abyss ( and maybe True Lies) is coming out on Bluray (and maybe 4K) later this year.
I've only sampled this on home-video. To me, Ed's "death swim" with Mary Eliz-in-tow is required big-screen big-theater watching. That takes SOOO long, and the sound effects are eerie and wonderful.
I remember that the special edition was only released in Los Angeles and New York, as I recall. I do remember seeing it in a really nice theater with a premium sound system and a huge screen. I was in heaven.@@bitfenix90
You absolutely did the right thing in watching the extended version. I saw the theatrical one first and there were places in it where what was happening made no sense, it was obvious there was something else happening. When I saw the extended version it all made sense. One of the best films ever made and to be honest you may be right, if anyone is saying the theatrical one is better have never seen the extended one. A note on the rats. They really did that to one rat as that liquid is a real thing and the rat survived just fine. However, the film was not covered by the humane association and the crew, well they were cruel to them, including throwing them against walls and squeezing them to make them squeak - it was disgraceful. I have pet rats, they are loving and intelligent.
The two water tanks used in the filming of The Abyss were specially constructed to hold large amounts of water. The first tank, based on the abandoned plant's primary reactor containment vessel, held 7.5 million US gallons of water and was 18 m deep and 70 m across. At the time, it was the largest fresh-water-filtered tank in the world. Additional scenes were shot in the second tank, an unused turbine pit, which held 2.5 million US gallons of water. As the production crew rushed to finish painting the main tank, millions of gallons of water poured in and took five days to fill. The Deepcore rig was anchored to a 90-ton concrete column at the bottom of the large tank
Seen this movie so many times, one of my favorites. Most of James Cameron's movies have a message of how humans should be better, and I have no doubt that he's had a massive impact on the world.
Fun fact; Michael Biehn has played a Navy SEAL in three movies, Navy SEALs, The Rock and The Abyss, and performed each role so realistically the SEALs made him an Honorary Frogman for lIfe!
AND a Colonial Marine in Aliens.
Wasn't he Hicks in the Aliens also?
And Kyle Reece in Terminator.
@@ebbhead20
Reese isn't a marine, different command structures exist in the post Judgement Day future.
@@mnomadvfx im not talking about that shit. Im talking about leaving out his 2 biggest roles ever. But yeah, lets mention some other shit.. Holy crap!
While filming The Abyss, James Cameron was also making a doctumentary about how the movie was made. It's called "Under Pressure: Making the Abyss," and it's one the best behind the scenes documentaries ever. They had to create the worlds largest underwater movie set and literally invent new technology for the movie. All of the underwater shots are actually underwater with practical effects, the only CG is the aliens. It's worth a watch, maybe not a channel reaction but on your time for sure.
That documentary is amazing. It's powerful to see the shadow side of this director, and what people went through to make this film. Aliens was another masterpiece of his, that massive sweat and suffering went into its creation.
Yes, one of the great Behind-the-Scenes docs out there, recommended to show what it takes to bring some of these types of films to life.
It's phenomenal, and shows that making big budget movies is not all airconditioned trailers and lobster lunches.
Especially when James Cameron is making them.
And it’s the only time you’ll ever see Ed Harris talking about this movie! Once the documentary was done, he vowed never to talk about it again, it was that traumatic to make.
...and the cast and the crew recieved t-shirts with the text "I survived The Abyss" after filming was finished. 🙂
This is the one I’ve been waiting for since the beginning. One of the most underrated movies of all time!
Totally agree!!!
Agree 100%!! One of my favorites! I hope they're watching the Special Edition.
@@zmarkothey are, I think, based on their poll
Correct. Cutting that storyline for the theaters was a bad decision.
So true ! This movie is in my all time all genre top 10. The Extended Director's Cut makes it even better.
43:54 The revival of Lindsey is the absolute most emotionally intense scene in motion picture history. I have NEVER seen a scene so incredibly nail-biting and virtually traumatic in a major film before or since. Ed Harris should have gotten an Academy Award for this scene alone.
South Park's version of it was hilarious!
The actress who plays Linsay stortmed off set during this scene because Ed Harris was told to slap her REALLY hard. This whole production was a slog apparently (to say the least) and only Biehn and harris really ate it up - the rest ended up in therapy. Not an actor in today's Hollywood A list (barring maybe Keanu Reaves) who has that kind of dedication anymore.
It's emotionally wrenching but also totally unrealistic. You don't get back to breathing by being hit and yelled at.
No american film is in the top 10 most emotional scenes in film history.
@@TransoceanicOutreach I don't know. Braveheart comes pretty close even tho most of the cast weren't American (and neither am I so I am not biased in that way). Not fair to say that American movies are not emotional. They just aren't today is all 😎
Wow, what a great reaction. So glad you liked it. I saw ‘The Abyss’ in the cinema, and when after arguing with Lindsay Bud hurled his wedding ring into the toilet the entire audience clapped and cheered ... but then when Lindsay sacrificed herself, and it seemed that she couldn’t be revived, the entire audience was dead silent and paralyzed with shock and grief. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio has never received the credit she deserves for her performance here - what an incredible range of responses for an actor to carry an audience through.
I was disappointed that the Popcorn girls didn't seem to react to the idea that Bud's life was only saved during the flood because he was wearing his ring which got caught in the door. And he was only wearing it because he decided at the toilet that he wasn't ready to let Lindsey completely go.
@@dancarter482 This why you not supposed to talk during the movie. 💀
Mastrantonio is absolutely masterful in this movie. Epic. She deserves all the credit in the world.
Then again, so many of them are amazing. Acting really is top notch throughout, I have nothing to complain about about any of these actors.
@@lennyvalentin6485 It's amazing how he gets such great performances out of actors who hate him.
@@jedijones Have to believe that the heightened nerves and emotion on set would have helped.
When I started watching your channel 2 years ago, you could barely recognize an actor from a movie you just watched. Now you're recognizing them and naming multiple movies you saw them in. Honestly, it's really impressive and you deserve recognition for your improvement.
Well, misplacing Ed Harris (again) into "Crimson Tide", neither of them remember he had a central role as the main villain in "The Rock", remembering "Titanic" and "Avatar" but not Cameron's highest rated movies "The Terminator", "Terminator 2 : Judgment Day" which they saw together and "Aliens" which Cassie saw. And they saw "True Lies" together too.
Not everyone cares about these things... but it's just funny to me. Director, producer and writer are the 3 most important people behind a movie (Cameron also writes all of his movies, unlike most directors, which makes him even more impressive), yet most people focus on actors.
@@shredd5705 i guess most people focus on the actors due to what they have to go through when making a james cameron film.. people drowning on set (including cameron himself) cast memebers struck with hypothermia several times, ed harris almost crashing his car when driving home from a shoot because he couldnt stop crying.. all the actors working on "the abyss" went through hell, pure torture just because cameron wanted things done his way..
and the pink fluid, which was real / worked on the rat was not used on ed harris.. he simply had to hold his breath for a super long time during those shoots while in super cold water on a decommissioned nuclear reactor flooded with water..
for our enjoyment im glad the actors did it, but i can understand the hatred towards james cameron for forcing them to do all this super unsafe stuff just so he could get the film he wanted.. i saw this as a kid when it came out and i fucking loved it.. but again, we didnt know about all the tragedy that occurred on the film stage.
------ link to the article piece it together yourself (if it even makes it through youtubes link hatred) :"ht tps: // w w w .syfy. c om / syfy-wire/the-abyss-turns-30-how-james-cameron-pushed-boundaries-and-almost-killed-his-actors"
"In the film, the concept of liquid breathing is a key part of the story, used by Ed Harris' character as a way to dive thousands of feet without compressing. This is a real thing but more theory than reality for humans. It has been tested on animals, and one rat in the film was a real test subject for liquid breathing, but when it came time for Harris to film the scene, he simply held his breath inside a helmet full of liquid as he was towed beneath the surface. Shockingly, this wasn’t a great experience for Harris.
It wasn’t exactly a thrill for the rest of the cast either, all of whom were shooting 70-hour weeks for six months. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio had a physical and emotional breakdown on set, and Harris admitted he broke into a fit of sobbing while driving home one day because of the stress. "
@@miou-miou- I meant generally (not just this film, and not PiB), many people focus on actors (and recognize lot of actors) even when writer and director play a larger role, they can't necessarily even name any writers or directors.
Kind of like composer of a hit song vs. singer of the song. All the attention goes to singer, even when the composer is the real genius behind everything
Cameron is notorious. Most directors can't treat actors like Cameron, but since he is a genius, actors line up to be in his movies. Despite knowing how it's gonna be
@@shredd5705I think that the ones involved, actors/singers on one hand and writers/composers/producers/directors on the other, are satisfied with this. I mean, not everyone wants to be recognised everywhere all the time. Also, even though they’re not recognised by the entire general public, they still gets recognition from their peers and in form of awards and stuff.
Her sister hasn't been as quick a study though. 🤭
While many fans of The Abyss know that the super oxygenated fluid for breathing that is used for the rat scene in the movie is real, not so many know that it spawned a real medical technology where oxygenated fluid is used to keep very premature babies alive, when their lungs are not developed enough to be able to breathe air. It has saved lives.
I love that PiB have done this reaction. One of my favourite movies of all time, the Director's Cut is much closer to the original vision and lines up with the film novelisation by Orson Scott Card, which rather than being written from an early draft script like most movie novels, was written during the filming with active character development with the cast, director, etc...
While the breathing fluid is real and does work on Humans, it has almost zero underwater applications, especially in the way it is portrayed in the film. Just like when breathing air, you must still remain at a certain pressure, as sudden change will still horribly affect your body. Even with your lungs full of fluid, the pressure of that fluid is still far lower than the pressure around you, and will still have the same crushing effects. Not to mention your muscles and bones.
But, the practicality of lowering infant mortality rates more than makes up for any research money spent on it. I dare say it is far more important than any underwater applications it could have had.
@@k1productions87 It may not be applicable for deep pressure applications, but what it could do is eliminate a divers need to carry bulky oxygen tanks, and stay underwater longer, albeit at a normal depth.
@@KeithDCanada Also, as someone else pointed out, the adult body cannot purge enough carbon dioxide for an extended length of time to make it practical either. Thus, completely negating this advantage.
The best way to limit the oxygen tank capacity is to have some measure of CO2 scrubbing. NASA EVA suits are designed in such a way, condensing all life support into the backpack unit by having the lithium hydroxide canister purify the exhaled gas and allowing the internal life support to last far longer, on the order of several hours uninterrupted.
Granted,.. that is at 5psi of pure oxygen. I will admit, I do not know if that would still apply to high pressure oxygen and helium. By all rights, the percentage of helium that needed to be in DeepCore's atmosphere should have had all the cast talking in high-pitched accents. But that would have killed the tension of the movie LOL
Love your prenatal care info . God bless you.
@@k1productions87 I read somewhere that breathing a fluid is much more difficult on the breathing muscles and would fatigue them.
"Ok... raise your hand if you think that was a Russian water tentacle...." one of my favorite movie lines of all time!
I love when she says "does this strike anyone as particularly psychotic or is it just me?" and lets out a laugh. The laugh really sells it.
Hear me out I don’t think Coffee was un reasonable to think the aliens were bad. He was alittle unstable but he was just following orders up until he saw the water alien then he went kinda crazy and wanted to blow the aliens up.
James Cameron was the first person to descend to the bottom of the Mariana Trench solo, to say he loves the ocean is an understatement. Also this probably goes down as one of the most difficult filming experiences ever, the entire cast was traumatized. For all of those who love this movie like me, it was worth it :P
Pretty sure Ed Harris said, shortly after the movie was released, that he'd never work with James Cameron again.
Phenomenal film, Cameron does NOT miss.
Cameron sure loves bottom
Ending was a bit rushed .
Was still wrong about what can go 130 kn ... VA-111 Shkval , fired normally doing 50 kn , then solid fuel rocket speed it to 200 kn , has been in service since 1977 .
2,700 kg/6,000 lbs torpedo moving 200 kn has 14 MJ kinetic energy , it does not need even to explode to punch a hole in armor .
damn that probably really annoyed 0.00001% of the audience@@pete_lind
The making of The Abyss is legendary in Hollywood for being both an epic undertaking and a total nightmare. Members of the cast and crew almost drowned during filming on the huge underwater sets. It was so rough it even brought Ed Harris to tears after one very dangerous day.
The documentary is on TH-cam.
Mary hated that she had to redo the reviving part, but Ed came within a few seconds of drowning. 40% of the filming was done in water. That's wet and cold for the actors for takes over and over again.
Didnt they film in an unused nuclear power plant that they flooded ?
It was an uncompleted nuclear power plant which they flooded and made two massive tanks to film in. @@antonfowler6582
@@antonfowler6582
Yes, an unfinished nuclear plant in South Carolina. The largest reactor was used as the main filming tank, while another concrete pit was used as a secondary tank
The Abyss: _phew, that was one hell of a struggle with production..._
Fitzcarraldo: _hold my beer!_
The making of this movie was so insane that it was actually sold to the public on that basis. The trailer called it "One of the most challenging motion pictures ever made." Ed Harris was reduced to tears by this film and WILL NOT talk about it to anyone. Crew members had t shirts made that read "Life's Abyss, and then you dive." James Cameron nearly drowned and had to punch out a safety diver to stop him from trying to help him. Legend has it that Ed Harris then punched out Cameron after he kept filming whle Harris was drowning.
mastrantonio and harris are still probably mad at james cameron. they went through the whole resurrection scene without film in the camera and I can't say they should care whether it was on purpose or just raw incompetence. either way, I wouldn't be particularly psyched to pretend to be dead while being slapped without a bit more attention being paid to the surroundings.
Mary Elizabeth Mastroantonio had a fit of hysterics and stormed off the set (with the full support of the other cast members) during the scene where Lindsey gets revived. After hours and dozens of takes laying on the deck topless with dozens of cast and crew staring down at her and Ed Harris beating on her chest she had finally reached her limit. She screamed 'We're human beings, we should not have to put up with this' at Cameron, who later apologized to her.
@@andreraymond6860 hmm, is there any outtakes of these scenes, with M.E. Mastroantonio laying on the deck? Just asking for a friend whos a fan of The Abyss.
@@andreraymond6860I mean her brother is tony montana she should’ve let him know to bury those cockroaches 😂
The resuscitation/revival scene was the best one to date for that category.
Ed Harris is one of the most under-rated actors ever.
Maybe today, but 30 years ago, if Ed Harris was in the credits, it'd be a maybe cinema, definite VHS rental
Huh? This movie was 30 years ago.🤣
And Saved Apollo 13!!!
He’s brilliant in The Truman Show.
I agree - think he's great at any role.
There's a medical line that 'You're not dead until you're warm and dead'. Lyndsay was banking on the extreme cold of the water to slow her body processes so much that she'd have a chance to be revived once she was warmed up a bit. But yeah, that resuscitation packs a punch.
I love this movie, especially Lyndsay's line about how you have to look at new things through different eyes to appreciate what might be happening.
That's a great line in the moment and a breathtaking line by the end.
'You're not dead until ..." I was going to say this, but you already did.
Definitely heard my emt instructors voice saying that when I saw this scene.
Also true medically. It is factual that people have been revived medically after much longer periods of time (than normally possible) if their bodies are very hypothermic.
My favourite line in the whole film, delivered perfectly. Chokes me every time.
Ed Harris' performance in this movie is incredible. Actors don't get enough credit when they're in action, sci-fi, suspense movies. But it's no less impressive than a performance in some artsy movie.
I think they both know him from Top Gun Maverick.
I love how the Patreon crew knew that this little-remembered movie was EXACTLY the kind of adventure these two needed to see. The expressions here were incredible. This is what reaction channels are all about!!!
Can you even feel this way about a modern movie when you know everything is done in a computer? James Cameron put these people UNDERWATER!!!
One of my all-time favorite romances. I love how Virgil goes through most of the movie with a blue hand, and that it's his wedding ring that catches the door and saves him from drowning.
Yep. Love their relationship, caustic and loaded at first but they absolutely understand and are devoted to each other. Similar to the dynamic in Twister but I prefer Lindsay and Bud.
They just feel like real people with real reactions to an extraordinary situation. I fell in love with Lindsay when I watched this (her “Roger Ramjet” line is deliciously sharp) and I’d follow Bud into the gates of Hell if he asked me to.
he throws away the ring out of anger but got it back because he still loves her. later the ring saves him with the door. then he helps stopping Coffey. then he saves her from the drowning, with pure love. then he save the aliens and shows his love for her, again. then the aliens saw his sacrifice and love and stop the waves.
if you think about it, the love he still has for Lindsey is what saved the World.
@@rockero1313 I was disappointed that our girls here didn't seem to catch the significance of the ring saving him after he almost flushed it away.
Hard to believe that this movie is nearly 35 years old. They genuinely don't make them like this anymore.
Ever read or seen a documentary about what an absolute nightmare the production of this movie became? Unbelievable the difficulties hahaha. Super clusterf%#k hahaha. I could start to list the million-dollar mistakes but the list is long.
There are many, many good reasons why movie producers prefer CGI.
@@joebombero1 yes I have seen the various videos and Critical Drinkers reviews. Hellish conditions, contaminated water in the reactor structure, health risks (mental and physical). Suffering for your art? But the practical effects make this movie more "real" than anything CGI. I agree that filming in front of a green screen or in the volume makes life much easier for the actors but isn't that why they get the big bucks? Will the big name stars be happy with a major pay cut to reflect the easier, comfortable conditions of a modern CGI movie. Given the Hollywood strikes I doubt it.
They don't. But I can understand why.
@@tonygreenfield7820 There's no sign that movies are cheaper to make now than they were in 1989. Quite the opposite in fact. Even in adjusted dollars, the budget of Abyss only comes to $118.6 million today. Which is practically considered a low-budget movie. CGI isn't cheap. Actors' salaries are much more today than they were back then too, despite them begging for more money. Even though these movies are so expensive now that most of them aren't making any money.
In fairness, they never made them this way *before*, either. 😆
This is one of the great "lost" films. Cameron presents this in exactly the way we would expect to find life lived underseas. Never received it's proper due for it's greatness.
The fact that the theatrical cut removed such a huge/key plot element, really hurt this film. I'm so glad they're watching that version.
Couldn't agree more! My fave movie and so many people don't know about it!
Agreed 100%
At 2:10 CASSIE still doesn't know that James Cameron wrote and directed THE TERMINATOR and TERMINATOR 2. 🤔
@JustFacts85042 I'm actually shocked that the official 4K version hasn't come out. Cameron released the remastered version of The Terminator, Aliens and Terminator 2, with their 4K counterparts.
I saw this in the theater when I was 20 years old. I was supposed to go with my friend, but he backed out, and his older brother went with me. We did not know each other very well, but to this day, it was a bonding experience for us both. The special effects were ground breaking at the time, and the 3d water spout that changed faces was like nothing anyone had ever seen on screen before. Still in my top 10 of all time.
I was a sonar technician on a submarine. That sound you heard at the beginning was active sonar. Submarines don't do that. Our whole mission is to remain stealthy. Active sonar would give away our position and make us vulnerable to attack. We navigate using passive sonar. That means we listen to the ocean. There is a surprising amount of information we can glean just from listening. The range of a vessel, the type of vessel, their speed and direction. It's up to sonar to recommend course changes to the con in order to either avoid or engage a vessel. On a side note, my wife and I are friends with the Biehn family. I have a copy of the novelization of The Abyss autographed by Michael.
IMO, that forced drowning scene was one of the most intense scenes ever.
The one thing I didn't get was why did he wait until she fully drowned before towing her back? If he had put the helmet on, and she held her breath as long as she could, they could have shaved a minute or two of the amount of time she was "dead". I guess it wouldn't have been as dramatic. Just my two cents.
@@joshmitchell8370It’s not just the drama.
People freak out when they begin drowning due to the powerful instinctual reaction. So many things could have gone wrong had that happened before he began his journey.
Ask any lifeguard who has had experience saving drowning people. Water rescue can be treacherous to those doing the saving because the victim may panic for any number of reasons (including water in their lungs). They’ll do irrational things including cling to the rescuer in a way which endangers them both.
Unlike most water rescues at/near the surface, though, there is no backup, no assistance, and no second chances. Even his suit could be compromised if she grabbed on to the wrong thing.
The smart play is to let her drown in the safe environment first instead of while they’re exiting the sub (at the edge of the abyss) or trying to take her back to the rig (across a debris field of sharp metal). Better she be luggage than a flailing person.
Ir was for the drama and having a good shot... not that anyone is complaining tho...
@@joshmitchell8370 Opening the sub before its full filling with water would have killed them both - that's what most don't understand. That's why they had to wait. Spread the message, because a lot of people think that part was only for movie drama purposes - no it had real world consequences.
Ed Harris is one of the greatest actors ever, and completely underrated.
I agree. He goes full tilt for his characters.
He is not underrated. He was one of the biggest stars of his time. And still going strong. Just look at his role in recent hitseries Westworld.
Besides, he has 4 Oscar nominations. That's not being underrated.
And a major hottie!
"Just Cause" if you REALLY want to see him unleashed as a villain. It has Sean Connery too.
He should have gotten at least the one for The Truman Show. That was my favourite performance of his.
YES! The Special Edition is the one.
It really is. I remember watching the theatrical cut and feeling this empty feeling, like something essential had been removed. And it turns out that was exactly what happened.
Absolutly, i watch the Tv version, but have many cuts same as the ending.
I feel like the Theatrical cut removed the whole point of the movie, the whole morale about the aliens threatening the humans to make them stop killing and torturing each other, and then NOT doing it because of Buds sacrifice and his love for his wife... to me, that message is the heart of the movie. "You need to see with better eyes"... it touched me DEEPLY when I watched it the first....10 times or so 😉 and then I saw the theatrical version, and it was just an action movie about a military guy loosing his shit... 🤷🏼♀️ Still a good action movie, but the whole heart of the story was gone for me.
I'm SO happy that PiB watched the extended edition ❤❤❤
The original cut of the movie just has the aliens there in the background while Coffee is going crazy. The special edition now puts Coffee in the background and the new ending give the aliens a purpose in the film. Both version have two different feelings to it.
That water tentacle was such advanced cgi at the time, everyone in the audience was blown away by it. No one had ever seen such amazing special effects or graphics before. Now we take it for granted.
fun fact: the software used to animate that was whipped up by a doctorate student in his free time, after using it on the Abyss the student demoed that program to Adobe. A year or two later Adobe released the very program under the name Photoshop (it was just called 'Display' before)
Yes the breathing liquid is called perfluorocarbon is real. The scene with the guy's rat was really done for the movie but Ed Harris had to hold his breathe. This movie is also what made Terminator 2 Judgement Day possible. The scene where the water comes in then makes her face. Ed Harris was also in The Rock.
You are right. The breathing liquid is real. As far i know it was developed around the 70s, and they really tried to make it work for humans, but the side effects for larger lungs simply wasnt solved (as far i know the risk of lung bleedings were to high). For smaller animals the lung tissues were resistant enough (its the ballon effect: the smaller the ballon, the more resistance it has... the bigger the ballon, the less the resistance). As far i know the scientists gave up on that breathing liquid to make it work for humans. They simply accepted, that its not possible - at least not with that liquid, or with those circumstances.
As you said it correct, Ed Harris didnt breath that liquid, but only acted as he is doing it - instead he was just holding his breath.
You are also correct : that the cgi in this movie was the learning lesson to make Terminator 2 possible. You know your stuff. Hopefully popcorn in bed read your comment, because she seems to be interested in that breathing liquid.
@@PygmalionFaciebatThe issues with PFC's are not to do with bleeding or lung sizes.
They work fantastically well and a lot more efficiently than air: beyond the psychological problems, the issues are removing enough CO2 - lungs take up the oxygen well enough, but they can't physically move enough liquid to remove the CO2: water is thick and heavy compared to air and it's very, very, hard to move it with a chest/diaphragm/lung arrangement - that's why fish use gills.
Beyond that, there are problems removing the PFC from the lungs l, afterwards - if the removal isn't sufficient, big problems follow.
PFC actually works and is used, today, all the time, in specialist medical scenarios that are so serious it's good if you don't know anything about them.
It could be made to work in a more general sense with current technology, but flushing CO2 is the issue - to address that, today, would require some very significant technological assistance that would be certainly impractical and probably too highly ethically unacceptable for human beings to tolerate.
So, until that aspect improves, PFC's are still a little ahead of their time - but _in general principle_ , there's actually nothing preventing their widespread use.
@@lewis7515 Its sweet how you say ''its good that you dont know anything about PFC's'' ... while i read all of the issues with PFC a longer time ago as you are probably on age. (I read about it in the early 90s as teenager).
The wikipedia-article also clearly states the danger of bleeding.
Also i didnt said with one single word, it doesnt work in terms of: absorbing the oxygene.
And yes, i didnt mention the problem with CO2, because it can be much more easier solved (and has been solved) than the many other medical issues, which comes with this method. By the way, it would be good if your knowledge would go beyond what you read in wikipedia. Because yes: some wikipedia-pages, on some languages dont mention the lung bleeding ;-) ... On that alone it can be estimated where your knowledge comes from. Look up into "Flüssigkeitsbeatmung" , on the german wikipedia for instance, and you get the lung bleeding :-) But as i said: i read about these things around 1993-1995 ... way before Wikipedia , and probably way before you were born.
@@lewis7515There are no problems with removing PFC's from lungs. It desolves into harmless gases one simply breathes out. Otherwise the use as a therapy for premature babies or people with accut lung embolism would be contraproductive. Source: me, who survived a massive lung embolism and got that kind of treatment.
@@wandelndeslexikon1614 I'm really not sure what you think you're saying?....
PFC may evaporate, provided that a lung is actually ventilating properly: if it isn't removed, then - regardless of what you decide to call it, if not, "problem" - that remaining PFC represents an issue the person that owns the lung is going to really wish they didn't have, and that's the potential consequence I described as, "problem".
Addressing and preventing that kind of condition, in a clinical scenario and environment, is nothing whatsoever to do with trying to address and preventing that kind of condition in a commercial/industrial scenario - where the very last thing you want is for a situation to develop that then necessitates it becoming a clinical scenario.
If it's a case of slurping down some PFC and then being able to confidently fully expirate lungs in the field simply by hanging upside down for 5 minutes, no clinical interventions and back to operations with minimal commercial downtime, then we're just not there - but, I could be mistaken: please do feel free to demonstrate to me - on the basis of your, massive lung embolism, expertise - exactly how we are, _there._
Fun Fact: Real oxygenated fluorocarbon fluid was used in the rat fluid breathing scene. Dr. Johannes Kylstra and Dr. Peter Bennett of Duke University pioneered this technique and consulted on the film, giving detailed instructions on how to prepare the fluid. The only reason for cutting to the actors' faces was to avoid showing the rats defecating from momentary panic as they began breathing the fluid. Now, the breathable liquid scene was just filmed with Ed Harris holding his breath for brief windows of filming.
Also, the Special Edition version contains 17 extra minutes that was trimmed out of the theatrical release by the studio against James Cameron's wishes. These scenes are key and totally explain the alien's real agenda. A must-see because the director's cut of this film has additional footage that makes the story so much better.
Nice one, give a major plot point away trying to score brownie points 👍
@@Johnnybojangles664your comment comment is a bit moot. This isn't a live reaction. Also If you are watching this movie as your first time and it's through an edited reactionary video that removes large chunks from the movie to comply with copyright laws, being spoiled from the comment section honestly shouldn't be a worry towards "tainting" your first time experience as you've already done that to yourself.
Agreed, I have seen both. Had the D.Cut VHS tape.
And the person who tested it, said it was the worst experience of his life and felt as if he was drowning the entire time.
In the U.K., most of the shots of the rats in the fluorocarbon emulsion were cut out because the censors counted it as animal cruelty. It’s only when watching reaction videos like this that I’ve ever seen the rest of the rat footage!
This is a highly overlooked film James Cameron is a genius
He was. Now he makes films that are 90% cut scenes.
@@JCG52577dude even if you don't like it a like movie like avatar requires a genius to direct it. Otherwise would've been a dumb MCU movie
Great movie, great reaction. You guys are awesome.
It may be today, but in 1989 it was one of the biggest releases that year. Everything in that movie was groundbraking - even the horrible hell of a shoot James put the actors through - to this day it's still mentioned among the actors as "The Abuse".
One of my all time best movies - rated 91% on Google, 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.5 on IMDB - I don't feel it's overlooked at all - but I'm old too lol.
I don’t think it felt overlooked back in the 90s but it does seem to have dropped off the radar a bit in the past couple of decades.
It’s also weird that The Abyss never got a blu-ray release. There’s been rumors of it coming out for years but it’s never actually happened. It is sometimes available on streaming services, but as far as I know there’s currently no way to own an HD version of the film.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen you both that stressed. Lmao!
You’re a perfect reaction team.
Man, it's been a while since I've seen this movie but Michael Biehn just completely SOLD that psychotic breakdown. What a performance.
Agree. I didn't notice his performance I was younger. But I do now. That crazy felt natural. And kinda understandable. The whole first half of the movie is claustrophobic as hell.
i liked the extended cut.
I love that man
The extended cut shows more of Biehns performance
The drowning and resuscitation part of the movie is extremely intense. The first time they filmed the part where she's being resuscitated and they rip her shirt open, etc, the camera ran out of film and they had to film it AGAIN. She was very angry as you can imagine.
“Fight! Right now! Do it! Fight goddammit! Fight! Fight! Fiiiiight!”
Is the most intense moment i ever seen in a film. Gave me goosebumps and tears in my eyes!❤
Every. Single. Time!
Same
@@msdarby515 Yep! I've seen this movie a million times and still that scene brings a tear to my eye. Such a powerful scene!!
@killwithskill There's a story about how bloody hard it was to film that , The actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrontonio was completely freezing on the cold floor and then the cameraman ran out of film at exactly the last shot when she regains consciousness 😡
James Cameron demanded to re do it and MEM stormed off the set '' WHAT THE 🤬 you can't treat us like this , we're not animals !!''
I don't blame her .
So the intensity can be said to come from those hard conditions but really the cast has to be given credit for doing such an amazing job of breathing life [pun intended ] into this movie .
Stay safe and keep quality movies alive .📽🎬
CHEERS .
The next level crazy part is Ed Harris is playing that scene to a hole in the floor with a camera. Mastrontonio wasn't there for HER POV scenes. Harris is just that good.
Cassie went from "i haven't watched any movies except chick flics" to being a living, walking, "IMDB" cast verifyer
Yet she thought Ed Harris was Viggo Mortensen a few months ago, and didn't know who Anthony Hopkins was lol.
Most reactors never seem to recognize Michael Biehn despite having seen him in several movies… Props to Cassie for that!
Except for the fact she doesn't seem to realize Biehn was/is Johnny Ringo. She always says he plays a good guy. And he so looked it in The Abyss.
The NTI’s didn’t know that emissions from their craft would hurt the submarine. In the novelization, they actually uploaded the memories of some of the crew so they could live on.
James Cameron is unique amongst directors - world class filmmaker and writer, famous explorer, academically recognized and published scientist and anthropologist, and preeminent inventor and engineer. A genuine Polymath - once in a thousand years type of person. He's just plain brilliant!
The diving helmets in the film were engineered by James Cameron so that the faces of the actors could be seen easier from the outside. The funny thing is that they are so well designed that they were functional and actual divers actually started using them... Everything except the lights on the inside of course, lights on the inside would cause tons of glare and was only used to show the actors' faces.
Leonardo DaVinci reincarnated.
The actress who played Linsay was also in the movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with Kevin Costner.
Yes and Scarface as Tony’s sister.
_The Perfect Storm_ too.
Cassie mocking someone eating a sandwich is the kind of content I'm here for lol.
8:52 The novel of this movie was written by Orson Scott Card who also wrote Ender’s Game. It really breaths a lot of life and backstory into the characters.
For example, Bud is from a working class Marine Corps family. His older brother was lost in a swimming accident. The moment he heard a Navy crew was in danger he was ready to go help no questions asked.
His wife Lindsey is the youngest daughter of a wealthy engineer and his trophy wife. She is the only daughter who inherited her father’s love for math and building things. Unfortunately she also inherited her mother’s crappy attitude towards romance. All her sisters like their mom married for wealth not love. Lindsay married Bud for love and because of his grounded personality.
Bud is in many ways like Lindsay’s father a strong stoic man who avoids emotional confrontations. After a lifetime of seeing her mom walk over her dad, she didn’t like how Bud wouldn’t engage her craziness. So she constantly would intentionally pick at him to try to get him to fight back. But Bud wouldn’t take the bait which she misconstrued as not caring. Divorce became inevitable when Lindsey began an affair with a younger highly educated dudes. Despite being heartbroken, Bud didn’t fight he just signed the paperwork.
Lieutenant Hiram Coffey grew up in a poor neighborhood with his single mom. After his mother got married she began to neglect him. Young Hiram joined the Navy to get away and find purpose. Within the SEALS he found a family that would never abandon him. If he wasn’t being affected by the HPNS, he would have been thinking far more rationally.
Beautiful breakdown! I loved the novel too!
i need to read it just to see what orson scott card did with the ending.. because both the theatrical and director's cut endings of the movie just feel messy to me. i have gripes with both (even though I love the movie)
The novel was written in tandem with the screenplay, as Kubrick and Clarke did with 2001: A Space Odyssey. Cameron and Scott Card were separately writing the screenplay and novel respectively while frequently exchanging notes with each other… thus informing each the direction of their own work.
@@FaceAway-xb9hd Just curious - why?
@@swish007... I read the novelization before seeing the movie, so I expected that ending, which went beyond where the movie ends, even the extended film version.
If I recall...think the aliens also gave humanity the ability to share memories.
This came out in 1989. The mind-blowing visual effect at that time is one we take for granted now: The CGI used for the water "tentacle" and images of the actors' faces had never been done before. This was before Jurassic Park or Terminator 2. So, seeing CGI used at all was a major effects achievement.
The tentacle scene actually too almost a year to render on a computer.
@@akyhne i wonder how long it would take on a phone today
what would it run on that would take the same time
what's the fastest we could do it now. . .
@@jayeisenhardt1337 A phone doesn't have render abilities, for such tasks, like Nvidia Cuda cores. So it would be a software rendering, which is very slow.
I remember as a kid watching this in the theater, and I thought to myself..."This is the best movie I have ever seen". I was captivated.
Same. Something about aliens and cgi at the bottom of the ocean felt magical.
You need to watch the 'making of' documentary on this film. It's harrowing what everyone went through. This is Cameron's best work in my opinion. The film is insanely fantastic. Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio just give the most amazing performances, that move me every time.
Mary E.M. reminds me so much of Nurse Hathaway from ER for some reason.
These rat scene is absolutely true, and in fact real. James Cameron kept the rat for many years until it died of natural causes.
They used 5 rats with that fluid, so which one did he keep?
They all survived the fluid test.
A human test subject allowed one of his lungs to be filled with the fluid. Unpleasant, but he was okay. My understanding is that it has never been used since.
It's probably not practical in most cases and reslly uncomfortable.
th-cam.com/video/RzcV3LVbdPM/w-d-xo.html
@@akyhne I read the rats got so scared that they pooped. LOL
"Oh, like you'd want to be alone with your thoughts down there?!" Nobody has to be told you're sisters, lines like that give it away for sure...Cassie, that was great. I know Carly has life and can't be on all the episodes, but you two have a fantastic dynamic.
One of the most underrated action films of all!!! The cast, sets, and effects are top notch. I love that the studio actually tried to get Michael Biehn nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. I wish it had happened but still.
If everyone calls it underrated, it's not.
@@korbendallas5318 It's ranked only 7.5 on IMDB, and it's not even *close* to being in IMDB's Top 250 movies, even though _Life of Brian_ is! I mean, I love Monty Python, but... (On a completely separate note: great user name!)
@@philstubblefield Ok then, IMDb has long ceased to be relevant for me, but YMMV.
Given the amount of energy required for the demonstration the aliens put on with the tidal waves, they would have had zero issue stopping the shockwave from the nuke. I don't think they were actually in any danger from it, but still appreciated Bud being willing to sacrifice himself to disarm it. The scene of Lindsey being revived is one of the best I've ever seen in any film, from Harris' performance down to the makeup so she would appear cyanotic. It's perfection.
If this had been released complete in 1989 or 1990, it would have been nominated for a slew of Academy Awards (not just technical awards like it got).
I saw the theatrical version the night it opened. A girl in the row in front of me was absolutely losing it during Lindsey’s drowning/revival scene, crying and muttering “SWIM FASTER!” every few seconds.
I drove a five-hour round trip from Laramie to Denver in April 1993 to see the Special Edition; totally worth driving through a blizzard and missing a day of classes.
The water effects in this movie 🍿 was used to make the liquid metal t1000 in Terminator 2
In 1989 I was sering on the USS Boston, SSN 703, and we were priviledged to take civilians on a cruise for the day. On a submarine one of the things we do is show movies - of course we ran The Abyss. We then realized after the first few scenes that showing this film may not have been the best idea. But everyone seemed to enjoy the movie -- and the cruise as well. Thanks Cassie for your reactions they vocalize many of the feelings of watching such a movie.. More Ed Harris movies: The Right Stuff; Swing Shift; Places in the Heart; Glen Garry, Glen Ross; Pollack; Milk Money and many others.
The Hours, Knightriders, Jack knife... The man is a National Treasure.
Apallossa
"The Human Stain"
And "Places in the Heart" was Danny Glover's first big role.
The Right Stuff is on the channel if you haven't seen it. Like 9 months ago? I think?
'I hate that....'
'Well then you probably shouldn't have married her.'
Still love that line after all these years.
The special edition is superior to the cinema one. I remember the first time I watched the former being amazed at how much I came to care for the characters. Which I hadn't done before.
Man, the entire sequence of Lindsey drowning in the sub and being revived at the moon pool is one of those film moments you never forget.
The crew before the descent: "We're gonna need a three weeks decompression phase to get up again!"
The Aliens/sea creatures: "ok boys - let's bring 'em all up per express lift."
Glad you did the special edition!!
Oh thank God that's my favorite version of the movie
I'm so glad to hear this! It makes a huge difference.
Same it's so much better
Always go with a James Cameron Special Edition. Always.
One of the best Sci-fi Adventure films ever made!
This movie went through a troubled production as James Cameron was going through a divorce from his wife, Producer Gale Anne Hurd, after 4 years of marriage, putting a strain between him and the actors. He even yelled at them constantly and blamed them for his mistakes.
Ed Harris and Cameron almost got into an actual fist fight during filming a scene.
Cameron almost drowned while he was filming an underwater scene and punched the stunt coordinator in the face.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio walked off the set of the movie following her resuscitation scene where she slapped around several times and said, "We are not animals!"
A hurricane hit the set of the movie, causing some damage that had to be repaired.
After filming, the cast had torn down the set of the movie with their bare hands, in order to let out all the rage, frustration, and anxiety for working with Cameron.
Ed Harris was driving home from the set, then pulled over the side of the road, and broke down crying, knowing that his experience working on the project was finally over.
Yeah Critical Drinker did a great video about it. I respect Cameron as a filmmaker though he can be a pain in the ass as a boss.
@@coyotefever105 Geniuses are rarely nice people. The pressure to embodied their vision must be overwhelming. I'd bet Leonardo Da Vinci, Aristotle or Nikola Tesla were real a**holes ...
Thanks for the video!! See you later!! Stay safe.😊
I didn't known half of that. Thanks for sharing Shaine 🙏👍
Why don't you just watch 'Under Pressure'?
So glad you did the Special Edition. This is my favorite version of The Abyss. The added footage with the world-wide tidal waves makes that final scene all the more poignant.
It's the only way the movie makes sense. I wish Cameron could have convinced executives back when it was originally released.
was the og nicer aliens that weren't all "you're a threat so we gonna exterminate you" that happen to have a change of heart?
saving aliens or unknown earth beings that live in the ocean without worry that they are stronger than us seems a nicer message
doesn't fall into the might makes right so aliens can decide our fate
different beings, different tech, less violent and just an accident makes the movie work too and they seem more enigmatic.
@@msdarby515 Cameron decided to cut the theatrical movie the way he did by his own choice. He felt it worked better to focus on the personal relationship rather than expand the story into a worldwide conflict. He did ask for money later to do the extended cut on home video, which I imagine was from having second thoughts since the movie did not make a profit in theaters.
@@jayeisenhardt1337 The plot he used in the extended cut seems to be copied from the 1986 Watchmen comic book, where an alien threat is introduced to scare the world away from starting a nuclear war.
The breathing liquid scene was real the rat was really breathing liquid perfluorocarbon one of the uses that they tested liquid breathing for was in premature babies that didn't have fully developed lungs but in the end they found it was no better then the already existing technologies in place.
The sea-water tentacle was pretty much unlike anything seen before. I was shocked by its appearance in 1989. By 1991, they did Terminator 2, they usd a similar watery/metal effect, but with a few years upgrade.
Great reaction to an amazing movie -- yes, perhaps a bit overstuffed with drama, exhausting the viewer. I saw this on a retreat, a bunch of guys just awestruck by the action.
She played marian in the robin hood movie with kevin costner.
NO FREAKIN' WAY! This is my fave movie and it's so hard to stream I had no idea you'd ever review it!!! I'm so excited!!!!! 💖👏🏼
Heh! Hard to find on BLU' too 😛
They’ve been teasing us with a Blu Ray/ 4K restoration for ages, but it keeps getting delayed because of Cameron being to busy with the Avatar films to give it enough time. Hopefully it’ll be out soon, and if so, it’ll be on Disney+
@@Daveyboy100880 do you know why Cameron would have to be directly involved? I thought a re-mastering wouldn't require his input but I could be wrong
@@chrissyd4279 He's the kind of director who doesn't want a release he doesn't oversee.
@@monovision566 good point
That scene where Lindsey drowns herself has stuck with me my whole life. It's so intense and well acted.
The Abyss was one of the most suspenseful movies I had ever seen in my life. The crane dragging the rig and the resuscitation scenes had me at the edge of my seat
One of the best examples of how great it is to know nothing about a flick before watching --- I wandered into the $1 campus movie theater in 1989 with no idea of what to expect with this, and it blew me away, Way more than Star Wars or anything like THAT. And it wasn't even the extended version, with so much more to the narrative.
It's still one of my all-time great examples of excellence in directing, pacing, acting, writing, all in one package.
NOT an easy feat........
I saw The Abyss in the Theatres in the summer of 1989. What a great summer for movies! I love this film and 11 others from that summer. This film would have been a bigger hit if they had released the long cut.They cut the ending right off! You should watch the making of The Abyss is just as dramatic as the movie. Cazy filming it! People almost died! Yes that rat is really breathing liquid oxygen.
But Ed Harris was not. That was all faked. The first manned test of the fluid breathing system wasn't even until after filming ended.
Still one of my fave SciFi action movies, with spectacular special effects. And I suggest "Innerspace" - a submarine movie like you would not expect it. ^^
The acting is quite good as well. Especially Ed Harris.
Won't argue about that. Totally agree. ^^
She would love Innerspace. One of my fav movies of all time! It's a perfect mix of SciFi, action, Humor, and special effects that still look great. Plus it has a great sounstrack, and the cast is pitch perfect.
@@CodyTalton Hopefully they don't get grossed out easily. The heart scene scared the ever loving piss out of me when I was young. So much so that it wouldn't be until I was 15 that I could force myself to exposure therapy through it. Now, of course, its one of my favorite movies ever. Just below The Abyss though, which I've loved to death ever since I first saw it as a kid.
@@k1productions87 I can totally understand it having that effect on you as a kid! Especially since the effects were so good, most of it still holds up today! I can see it freaking Cassie out a bit, haha. Such a great movie though. I love when they both get drunk and dance to Sam Cooke :)
Cassie making a heart with her hands as Bud descended was very unexpected but also very on brand. 😆
The shoot for this movie is infamous.
During underwater filming, Ed Harris almost drowned. While filming a scene where he had to hold his own breath at the bottom of the submerged set, Harris ran out of air and gave the signal for oxygen. Harris' 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. A camera man came over, ripped the upside down regulator, and gave him one in the correct orientation. Later that evening, Ed broke down and cried.
'Ed Harris' has publicly refused to speak about his experiences working on the film, saying "I'm not talking about The Abyss and I never will". The only register with Harris speaking about his experiences doing the movie is in the documentary Under Pressure: Making 'The Abyss' (1993). Similarly, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio said "The Abyss was a lot of things. Fun to make was not one of them."
At one point during filming, Cameron was at the bottom of the massive tank, when the person keeping track of his oxygen levels left the set. When he began running out of oxygen, the director took off his diving gear and attempted to swim to the surface quickly. A safety diver tried to help but only made a bad situation worse with faulty equipment. Cameron ended up taking in a bunch of water instead of air. The safety diver thought Cameron was panicking from almost drowning, and wouldn't release him. Cameron had to punch the guy in the face to break free and rise to the surface.
Read More: www.slashfilm.com/614656/awesome-sci-fi-movies-that-never-got-sequels/
Other films similar to this one are Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) & Robert Zemeckis' Contact (1997).
Y’all this was such a great reaction with you both. Thank you so much for watching this movie and sharing with us 😊
A great reaction hahaha 🤣 your phone number was on a phone ☎️ typical type behavior can’t even type right what a bish
Glad you finally saw this. It came out during summer 1989. I remember Batman, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Abyss, Ghostbusters 2, Star Trek V, and a whole host of others coming out that summer. Wow!
It makes me so happy that the two of you sat down and watched this. The original cut opened in theaters in the summer of '89 just a few months after the novelization hit the book stores. I was so pumped for the movie and was so disappointed in it. The WW III sub-plot was removed, Bud's fall down the wall lasted only a couple of minutes, and there was no wave sequence because the studio would not authorize the expense. In short, the entire point of the movie was not included in the price of the ticket. Then at some point the special edition of "ALIENS" was released on Laser-disc, spurring me to get a Laser-disc player. After that I heard about the spec ed of "The Abyss" being on the shelves and ran right out and got it. I was floored. THIS was the movie I'd wanted to see. And now you've seen it, and experienced the joy of a perfect movie. It's up to you whether or not you ever watch the theatrical cut to compare them. And YES the breathable fluid is real. Others have suggested you watch the documentary that was made concurrently with the movie, I second that. It also tells a bit about the breathable liquid they used and submerging the rat in it. And here is a wiki page of the subject to peruse: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_breathing
The Special Edition is one of James Camerons most underrated masterpieces. Its one of the best performances by Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who had a significant career following her appearance in Scarface.
This is a spectacular film I think Cassie and Carly will both thoroughly enjoy The Abyss. I highly recommend the film Cocoon after watching this phenomenon.
I love Cocoon! I don't think anyone has reacted to that one. It's one of the most gentle movies that I own, I think. Ron Howard directed and James Horner does the music. So good.
@maxwesty thats a really nice movie
And you have to see Cocoon before you can fully understand Say Anything.
I've never seen Cocoon. I know it's got something to do with old people and a swimming pool. Was that a Ron Howard movie?
@@ct6852 yes it is a ron howard movie
I saw the shorter version first, then the longer one. My mum prefers the shorter version, I prefer the longer one. Despite the small difference in length the last third becomes significantly different resulting in an entirely different feeling to the story, and imo gives more meaning to the events in the story.
Absolutely one of my top 5 movies of all time! I'm so glad you got around to watching this. One of the earliest uses of sophisticated CGI, which led to the new, improved CGI in Jurassic Park and Terminator 2.
The "tentacle" scene took almost a year to render for the movie.
A similar effect in same quality, can be done almost in live playback today.
It's such a joy to relive one's favourite movies through your eyes. Thank you!! BTW as previous posters wrote, the breathable liquid is indeed real, and the idea is, that gases (i.e. the air in our lungs) are compressable by pressure, so if you dive that deep your lungs get crushed. liquids on the other hand aren't (for the most part) compressible, so if your lung is full of liquid it can't be crushed. The rest of the body isn't really compressible either so you're fine in great depths.
The most interesting about Cameron, is on the face of it, he is confident about the technical aspect of storytelling to a point that it comes off cold in interviews. However, at the heart of his films, they’re all love stories, every single one. His films paint with a brush that really uses the pallet of courage & compassion, and the distance the protagonist is willing to go for all they love, so very warm. This film, has so much heart in it.
*palette (pallet and palate are the other members of this infernal trio)
Spot on analysis
His confidence is well-earned. He was a trained engineer before becoming a filmmaker and he made his bones on Roger Corman shoots--often considered the best film school in Hollywood--so that, combined with his massive ego and temperament, makes him SO confident that he can't comprehend doubt in others. So he has little patience for it. That would make *anybody* insufferable.
YES! lol I'm so glad you guys finally watched this! I'm so glad you liked it; I thought you would. I first saw this movie when I was probably about 10. I watched it with my dad. I loved it instantly, totally hooked and invested in Bud and Lindsey lol from the start. My dad was in the SeaBees (Navy Unit) and then worked on ships throughout the rest of his career. He related to these guys, and I saw quite a bit of him and his friends in them. I love a great love story so that's one of the biggest reasons I love this movie. That scene when Bud loses Lindsey and then tries to revive her, just moved me to my core. It was one of the most impactful and powerful scenes I've ever seen in film and is one of those moments in a film that made me fall in love with movies.🥰 Thank you for watching this! I literally did like the double fist pump when I saw this pop up in my feed, lol. So excited. #YouShouldWatch #Poisedon 2006 with Kurt Russel and Josh Lucas. Both you and Carly should watch it together. It's an action-adventure-drama. It's so good! Keeps you on the edge of your seat. The cast is amazing! The stunts are all done by the cast. There's like 2 mins of CG in the whole film everything else is practically done. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ☺watch Poseidon. Hope you're both well!
Holy cow I cannot believe they're watching this lol. Next do Cocoon!
Love Cocoon! It's such a gentle movie. Perfect for Cassie and Carly.
"He's going to be very dishonorably discharged."
HA! That's the line of the episode.
Watching movies with y'all is like watching them for the first time again. Such fun!
I'll never forget seeing this in the theatre with my older brother, knowing I was going to be blown away by the special effects, and the unique, mysterious story.
Saw this when it first came out on video and at the time it's effects were way ahead of anything else. Even now it's still amazing to watch.
Yeah the effects haven't really aged. Mostly because it was really filmed underwater with real diving, but also the creatures look fine
One of the most difficult movies ever shot. The stories from the set are legendary. Ed Harris almost drowned shooting it…
A serious scifi movie. The actors nearly died making it and refused a sequel. Hope you enjoy it ;-)
It's true.
"The actors nearly died making it [...]"
that is a huge negative point for me. i don't understand why so many people praise cameron for that? extras actually died back in the 20s and 30s during the filming of 'ben-hur' and 'noah's ark', does that make the movies better? a bigger artistic achievement? are we no better than the people in antiquity who watched athletes die during their games for their entertainment? it's just so weird to me that people come out and happily say 'this movie is so great, people nearly died making it'
@@pizdamatii5001 Et tu, pizdamatii?
Yeah, I don't think Ed Harris has still gotten over it and refuses to talk about it, I believe. I mean, according to crew members who have worked with him, he's not the nicest guy on the planet to start with, but everyone went through hell on this film, which is pretty obvious.
Cameron must have taken all the leftover sequel energy from this movie and poured it into T2 and Aliens.
James Cameron is in the top 5 action directors of all time - together with his editors , he has created some of the most insane and incredible action sequences ever filmed. For that alone he is a legendary director. Add to that his environmental messages and his science fiction concepts and his talents seem even deeper.
I love the videos you guys do together, Carley calling 'Tremors' worms is an example of why you two are so much fun to watch.
If you would like to see Vigo and Ed in the same movie, check out, "A History of Violence." It won't be difficult to tell them apart afterwards.
Or check out “Appaloosa,” a Western that Ed Harris also co-wrote and directed, based on a novel by crime writer Robert B. Parker. It’s also great, a Western that’s not so much about action as about its characters and their relationships.
Brooolii saw this witness protection dude knock down his girl on the stairs hahs your dark side is showing my guy hahahaha which one you imagining lol
This movie is one of my favorite! James Cameron can be so frustrating sometimes with his special editions which are always better than his theatrical versions. Ed Harris is amazing! One of the performances that most marked me in the History of Cinema. The scene where he revives his ex-wife is simply heartbreaking and gives me chills to this day! Mary Elizabeth Manstrantonio is also superb in this film. The typical archetype of the strong woman in the universe of James Cameron. The film is full of little striking moments, sometimes funny, sometimes emotional. I still laugh when I think of the character of Catfish who, by reflex, is ready to throw a... flower pot at the alien! The scene in which the rat and, later, Bud learn to 'breathe' with liquid in their noses is a scientific fact. Another notable moment: the discussion between Bud and Lindsey as Bud sinks into the abyss is incredibly tender. The title of the film is also a metaphor to highlight the “abyss” between man and woman. It's not me who says it, it's Mr Cameron himself. For me, this is his best film. Certainly his most personal. Close to be a masterpiece in its genre.
Directors don’t always get final say on what becomes a theatrical version. Especially in previous decades they often got cut for time, to pack in more theater showings per day.
@@namelessjedi2242 I know. But it's still frustrating to watch a film, especially a James Cameron (or Peter Jackson) film, while being aware that a better version, longer and more complete, exists and will see the light of day later. You are basically watching the lesser version when you go to the cinema.
Yes, you really reminded me of how good writing can have strong women characters without turning them into "Mary Sues". I wish Hollywood could learn, but they hate Cameron so will not.
They weren't divorced yet.
Hello Popcorn & Carly, this movie is an excellent example of how good it is to not be colorblind and the importance of lighting in the reflection of colors. This is a favorite movie. How does Mastriano get her hair to be so curly?
I couldn't believe it when I saw that PIB is doing a reaction on The Abyss and on top of that with the both of you!
Nice job with the reaction!
The resuscitation scene never fails to make an emotional impact on me. Brilliant filmmaking, acting, and no music. Just raw emotion that makes the viewers stop breathing themselves.
Yes! The videos with Carly are my favorites!!!!
As much as I love this movie, I knew I would love your reactions! You were so intense the whole time! Thanks for watching The Abyss!
I love watching the sisters together! I hope Carly will be there for Austin Powers! It just makes sense since she did all the Bond movies with Cassie 😅
Fun Fact:
The reason why Ensign Monk
(Adam Nelson), the injured NAVY Seal was seen smiling at the water tentacle as it moves on while the others followed it, was because of a scene (deleted in both cuts of the film, but was in the script) that had him tell Lindsey that he once encountered an NTI back when he was a child.
"Glowy unicorn of the ocean thingy" is so adorable!
I was working in a movie theater the summer before my senior year, when this came out. People were seeing it 3 times in a row.
Michael Beihn also plays a Navy SEAL in another movie, titled...wait for it..."Navy SEALs".
Cass, you’re killing me. Ed Harris was in the Rock, with the same guy that plays Kyle Reese, who was also Johnny Ringo in tombstone. Side note. You’re the best reaction channel on here. My opinion. Sticking to it.
He was also Corporal Hicks in Aliens.
I originally saw this in the theater and it was wonderful. Eventually, there was a Special Edition and, luckily for me, since I live in Los Angeles, I was able to watch that on the big screen as well. Blew me away! This is one of my favorite movies. Way back in 1989, Industrial Light and Magic did some breakthrough special effects that had never done before. Wow kind of stuff! Anyway, I understand The Abyss ( and maybe True Lies) is coming out on Bluray (and maybe 4K) later this year.
I've only sampled this on home-video. To me, Ed's "death swim" with Mary Eliz-in-tow is required big-screen big-theater watching. That takes SOOO long, and the sound effects are eerie and wonderful.
I remember that the special edition was only released in Los Angeles and New York, as I recall. I do remember seeing it in a really nice theater with a premium sound system and a huge screen. I was in heaven.@@bitfenix90
You absolutely did the right thing in watching the extended version. I saw the theatrical one first and there were places in it where what was happening made no sense, it was obvious there was something else happening. When I saw the extended version it all made sense. One of the best films ever made and to be honest you may be right, if anyone is saying the theatrical one is better have never seen the extended one.
A note on the rats. They really did that to one rat as that liquid is a real thing and the rat survived just fine. However, the film was not covered by the humane association and the crew, well they were cruel to them, including throwing them against walls and squeezing them to make them squeak - it was disgraceful. I have pet rats, they are loving and intelligent.
The two water tanks used in the filming of The Abyss were specially constructed to hold large amounts of water. The first tank, based on the abandoned plant's primary reactor containment vessel, held 7.5 million US gallons of water and was 18 m deep and 70 m across. At the time, it was the largest fresh-water-filtered tank in the world. Additional scenes were shot in the second tank, an unused turbine pit, which held 2.5 million US gallons of water. As the production crew rushed to finish painting the main tank, millions of gallons of water poured in and took five days to fill. The Deepcore rig was anchored to a 90-ton concrete column at the bottom of the large tank
Seen this movie so many times, one of my favorites. Most of James Cameron's movies have a message of how humans should be better, and I have no doubt that he's had a massive impact on the world.