"The Abyss" Special Edition

 ☆☆☆☆½ 

At least from the perspective of the audience, The Abyss is a prime example of the cinematic ends justifying the means. To say this was an arduous, brutal production would, apparently, be putting it mildly. "I'm not talking about The Abyss and I never will," actor Ed Harris said in his one and only comment about making the movie. Likewise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio has described the working conditions as "unnatural," and said she'll never talk about it again.

Is it some sort of disloyalty to two fantastic performers to find The Abyss an extraordinary achievement? That statement applies not only to the film as a technical marvel and a cracking adventure story, but to the performances by both Harris and Mastrantonio, who both deliver strong and compelling performances that rank with the best work either has done. And for both of them, that's saying something.

Whatever trauma they experienced cannot be diminished, but every sacrifice they made has proven to be in service of a movie that in many ways is better and more fulfilling now than it was 34 years ago, when it underwhelmed at the box office and left many audiences puzzled.

In part, at least, that was because of an anti-climactic third act in which the film moves from an intense, industrial-strength (and -looking) action film to a gentle encounter with underwater aliens. In the original theatrical release, the aliens appear, they act as a sort of deus ex machina to rescue our heroes from an impossible situation, then the film just sort of ends.

A few years after the theatrical release, director and writer James Cameron—whose technical mastery is unassailable and whose scripts are often derided for the simplicity that makes them fun, accessible, and insanely popular—went back and added in an extended ending, along with some additional scenes earlier in the film, that make all the difference.

The story, in broad terms, involves the crew of an experimental underwater oil rig that is called in to assist with the military search for a nuclear submarine that crashed with live warhead aboard. The rig was built by Lindsey Brigman (Mastrantonio) and its crew is led by Bud (Harris), who are estranged, warring husband and wife. There are evil Navy SEALS, a topside hurricane, and political tensions that drive the story and lead to some incredible action sequences and one of the most wrenching and nail-biting near-death scenes in movie history.

Everything about The Abyss is impressive and works as well as it did three decades ago, often better because we've become so used to empty spectacles lacking in character development, story and ideas. The Abyss has all of those things, arguably maybe a little too many ideas not entirely thought through, though to my mind even those climactic aliens and their renewed sense of purpose fits both the story, the mood of the late 1980s, and, more importantly, the title.

In 1989, the world was looking into an abyss. Now, here we are again. And it's something of a timely joy to have James Cameron's The Abyss back with us (it played in theaters for one day only, and will be released next week to streaming services) to remind us that our worst instincts are often little more than the mirror image of our best.

Viewed Dec. 6, 2023 — AMC The Grove

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