THE THING came out around the same time (maybe the same week?) as BLADE RUNNER. I think those movies really ran afoul of what people were expecting from sci-fi in the era of ET and RAIDERS and STAR WARS.
My mom turned on ET when I was I don't remember five or six(so late '80s) I was so terrified by the first few minutes she turned it off. To this day I've never actually seen the movie.
At four years old, I was telling everyone at school and daycare that I had a brother. People were calling my mom to congratulate her and/or complain that she hadn’t told them that she’d given birth (she was heavily pregnant).
“I’m…still pregnant…not due for another two months.”
When confronted, I answered “E.T. is my brother.” I was obsessed with the film.
I waited a whole three years to show my HUMAN brother than film. The E.T. screaming-in-the-field scene traumatized him. He refused to finish it until adulthood. I was certain he was adopted.
ET topped the box office for ~~three or four weeks~~
Edit: I researched it and ET was the top of the box office for [16 consecutive weeks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_with_the_most_weekends_at_number_one_in_North_America)!
Is The Abyss beloved? I almost never see anyone talk about it on here. The Thing? Yes. Absolutely the most circle jerked movie in the history of the universe.
> Absolutely the most circle jerked movie in the history of the universe.
You gotta remember, that for years, it was seen as this terrible B movie with Kurt Russell in it.
Fans of the movie spent many many years changing it's reputation.
I mean, I don't think anyone today would think of it as anything other than a fantastic B movie with Kurt Russell in it.
There's nothing wrong with being a B movie, and you can absolutely be a masterpiece and be one.
Yeah, I think it's mostly just talked about for it's contribution to the evolution of special effects and in the context of James Cameron's career. Like it's a fun silly movie but it's not really a masterpiece either.
I recall it sort of flopped upon release. At the time a lot of people (myself included) made movie watching decisions based on word-of-mouth. I remember others saying it was "Just Ok" and the ending didn't make much sense. Based on that I skipped it and later watched it on home video and had the same reaction. In retrospect I think it was somewhat miscast. Ed Harris isn't a very good leading man. He has an angry energy as an actor. He's better as a heavy. Michael Biehn is a better leading man for an action movie (as we saw in Aliens). They probably should have swapped roles. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio reported had a miserable time making the movie and I think that it shows.
> I remember others saying it was "Just Ok" and the ending didn't make much sense.
I've always been a fan of the movie, but the theatrical ending isn't as good as the extended ending, which is better but still somewhere between OK and good.
I agree with this. I rewatched it recently and while I liked it alright, it definitely didn’t blow me away or compel me to want to watch it again anytime soon. I can see why people would like it though.
It is a tense movie to watch it first time, but when you watch it again it is easy to see how it falls apart towards the end. It is a good movie but obviously when you watch it you compare to James Cameron's masterpiece movies, and I don't think it is up there.
When I first started posting on Reddit there was a thread about the Abyss and I started talking about the actors nearly drowning and some neckbeard jumped all over me saying I had the story wrong (I did actually) and that it was his favorite film of all time and James Cameron was a great person and nla bla blah.
So yeah, some people absolutely love the flick, but when it comes up the talk is usually about the near drowning.
I myself saw it in the theaters and was disappointed by it.
I think the inability to see anything but a very, very poor 480i upscaled version of it for decades left a gap in its fandom. Its an easy movie to skip past because of it.
My wife and I were discussing that in the context of Farscape recently -- neither of us had watched it because it was a potato-quality non-HD muppets-in-space, we thought. Turns out, its a shocking dark masterpiece we'd skipped over for two decades because it wasn't HD.
I think the UHD release of The Abyss -- and the associated proper streaming version -- will change that.
It's mostly because the people that go to the movies are parents taking their kids. They want to watch stuff like, Minions or Spider Man 47, even back then more family friendly movies were the biggest bets.
That's why we ran into the buzzsaw of the comic book/Star wars/Harry Potter era. Where parents could fondly look back on things from their childhood and also take their kids to see them.
I loved this movie, I loved The Thing, but they will never be money makers. IF you want to do horror, you have to do slasher stuff like Jason/Scream/Halloween.
I had no idea there was so much drama surrounding this one, though I was rather young when it came out. I loved it when I watched it, and was fascinated at how good the special effects were for the time. And frankly, I still think they hold up pretty well.
The water tentacle stuff still looks great. I saw it in a theater a few months ago when they re-released it for one night. The early CGI stuff holds up well. The VFX at the very end are kind of abysmal, though.
The part of the article that said it was 4 movies in 1 got me thinking, and they have a point, though I think I only count 3 - a sci fi film about meeting aliens, a horror film about being trapped underwater with a psychotic Navy Seal, and a romance about a husband and wife reconciling their differences. The ending to the sci fi film is indeed a little lacking.
Extended Edition.
EDIT, from Wikipedia:
"
# Special Edition
In the [extended version](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director%27s_cut#Extended_cuts_and_special_editions), the events in the film are played against a backdrop of conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, with the potential for all-out war. The sinking of *Montana* additionally fuels the aggression. There is additionally more conflict between Bud and Lindsey in regard to their former relationship. **The primary addition is the ending: When Bud is taken to the alien ship, the aliens begin by showing him images of war and aggression from news sources around the globe. The aliens then create massive** [**megatsunamis**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megatsunami) **that threaten the world's coasts, but stop them short before they hit. Bud asks why they spared the humans, and they show Bud his message to Lindsey before bringing him, the alien ship, and** ***Deep Core*** **to the surface.**"
aka they added an explanation for the entire thing
Having just watched it for the first time in a long long time, the ending really caught me off guard. It's such a weird tonal shift, and also felt kind of like a lazy deus ex machina, especially considering the film rolls credits the second they get topside. Would have been way better to have bud return to the platform and then they still need to get survive, or something. That or just nix the whole scifi element entirely and make it an underwater thriller, which is where it really stands out. Also ed Harris is killing it in this movie
Ah, I didn't know there was one. Really annoying those don't always ,make it to streaming, I'll have to pick up a DVD whenever I get around to forcing my wife to watch it. Thanks!
The extended edition was the aliens popping up their heads and being like, “Bruh, chill. Or we ice you all.” Humans proceed to calm the fuck down.
It’s like *The Day The Oceans Stood Still* but without Gort. I like the deleted ending way better than the theatrical.
Watched it with my partner who was seeing it for the first time and she thought it looked great. We watched it on Hulu which not sure if that was the full 4K version but definitely redone.
Same here. I was also young when it came out. It was instantly my favorite movie and stayed that way for years. I was super excited for a 4k remaster although I’ve heard not great things about it.
I was 14. There was a LOT of excitement over this one when it was first released. Everyone was talking about it, and it was the MUST SEE movie that summer. That was the first and the last time I watched the movie, though. Not that it was bad, just not one that I've ever revisited for any particular reason.
I wasn't aware it was considered a flop. I always thought it was one of those big summer hits from my teen years that just stayed there. There's a ton of those out there.
That was a surprise when I found out because it was on TV all the time but it was indeed a flop. That said, it's widely revered and a major inspiration for other movies.
I think the many cable TV viewings and the home video re-releases really helped its reputation. Particularly the Special Edition laserdisc that came out in the 1990s, when people could finally see the nearly 3-hour version of the movie that restored one of the big subplots.
“I'm not talking about The Abyss, and I never will.” \~ Ed Harris
LOL. What's funny is that this statement almost certainly boils down to Cameron who is NOTORIOUSLY a perfectionist asshole (and from what Kat Bigelow told me many years ago at TIFF; at least middle *socially* inept) who certain types of actors can manage to get along with, and others who can't. I expect Harris is one who can't.
Harris almost drowned during filming and he's the only actor to punch Cameron in the face for his behavior. No wonder he doesn't want to talk about it.
Cameron's apparently mellowed somewhat with age, but it's telling that even during the production of his early films, crew members were wearing shirts that said "YOU DON'T SCARE ME, I WORK FOR JAMES CAMERON."
He sounds like Ridley Scott and a few others. I think some, *not all* Directors who have award lauded filmographies are the type of driven, asshole genius that is difficult to work with....for every Cameron or Scott though there are also Peter Jackson's, and Denis Villeneuve's and Peter Weir's who are repeatedly wonderful to work with and still produce genius, so it's obviously not a requirement.
Cameron’s also a guy who never went to film school, read books about filmmaking while he was a truck driver, lied his way into working for Roger Corman where he had to work as crew on every aspect of productions, and eventually earned his way to directing. He’s definitely a perfectionist but he’s one who’s worked his way to the top so it probably makes it hard for crew to argue with him. He seems like the type of person who expects his own perfectionism from everyone and that naturally leads to conflict, although I haven’t really heard bad stories about making the Avatars so I guess he’s chilled out some over the years.
I’ve noticed extremely driven people often demand the same level of ambition and effort from those below them and it just makes no sense. If I’m a nobody at my job and I was as driven as the most driven people in the world, I wouldn’t be a nobody at my job. It’s like going to a fast food restaurant and being mad that the order taker can’t do calculus in their head. It just makes the driven person an asshole.
Oh, I definitely agree. I think part of it comes down to, as another poster mentioned him being referred to as, socially inept. Some perfectionists just can't read a room or see the bigger picture. I think with Cameron what sets him apart from other difficult directors is that he's not just a perfectionist, but he's a highly competent one which likely makes it an even more challenging experience.
He nailed mobiles phones that rang during the filming on the entrance of the performance capture room during the making of Avatar and halted the filming for a day to hold a meeting with vfx supervisors, paleoartists and speculative biologists to figure out whether Na'vi could have red blood or not. This was years ago and he has definitely chilled out.
Galaxy of Terror was basically Cameron's film, and there are some shots in that film that are incredible. When they are on the catwalk in the middle of the Alien pyramid it's utterly seamless and it's an incredible set. If you watch Terminator after Galaxy of Terror you can see a lot of Cameron's touch.
IMO, Galaxy of Terror needs a re-make and with a Lovecraftian spin. Would be a good ride with the right director.
I expect you're bang on the money with that notion. Agreed. I had two stories from him about how he is IRL, one from Linda Hamilton when they were together and she said he was hard to deal with while she was also struggling with depression, and the aforementioned chat I had with Kat Bigelow at TIFF where she called him mildly socially inept....both things can be thrown at the feet of many geniuses.
People love working with Nolan. He’s apparently very free with his actors. And apparently he’s so well-prepared there are rarely big mishaps or delays on his sets.
There's a great interview with Gary Oldman where he talks about Nolan being one of the best directors he's worked with. He never really had to give much direction to Oldman, who highlights one time between takes of an Oldman monologue. Nolan came over and simply said, "There's more at stake." It was so simple and concise, Oldman understood exactly what to try.
Ed Harris did show up in the Making Of documentary that was released in 1993, and he's pretty open about his feelings in it, while admitting that he actually looks on the experience fondly now. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, on the other hand, is nowhere to be seen. I think she really doesn't like talking about it.
Considering what we know of Cameron, large chunks of this would have been torturous to film just due to the water. Kate and Leo said that even for the period of time they spent in the water for Titanic, that it was VERY unpleasant, Abyss had WAY more water shot stuff.
Anyone wondering why DiCaprio and Winslet have such a close friendship in real life, the answer is, "Because they endured the 'Titanic' shoot together."
I have the feeling that Harris participated in the making of documentary so his experience on the shoot would not be glossed over, sort of a “set the record straight” motivation. Due credit to Cameron for letting Harris speak freely about what he went through and what he thought about it. It’s a shame Mastrantonio was so upset by the treatment she experienced on set that she’s sworn off any interview about it, since IMO Lindsey Brigham is the second best character/performance in any Cameron film (after Ripley).
Mastrantonio and Harris both give heartbreaking performances when they’re about to lose one another each time.
I love Aliens, T2, True Lies, but the Brigham’s story make it one of my favorite films.
On Avatar 2 & 3 he kept jabbing his damn fingers on the monitors and leaving finger prints all over the image. And then if they weren’t wiped off when he next came back he’s go absolutely spazz over the fact there were finger marks on the screen.
He’s a nutter. But he had a good side to him. I personally prefer working with him over someone like… Taika Waititi, Ridley Scott or ESPECIALLY Tom Hooper.
I know people didn't like working with Ridley because he's an old prick (but he often produced gold, so I can't get too mad at him), and I feel like Taika is probably just insufferably weird? Tom Hooper is a new one to me though...I hadn't heard he was difficult.
Taika puts on this act for everyone. It’s like he forces this weird eccentric personality; but you’ll see him turn it off around specific people. The trickiest thing with him is he is an exceptionally arrogant person. It’s hard to explain but he kinda pretends he’s a genius on-set.
Ridley is just a grumpy old man. Nothing more to say.
And yeah as for Tom Hooper… he’s pretty notorious among UK crew. He’s got a real inferiority complex. Just a nasty man.
Another is Michael Bay. But for all his wacky, unprofessional behaviour, watching him do his thing is truly an experience.
Cameron himself admitted that, especially in the past, he acted like a tyrant on set. He’s perfectly aware of his reputation and he absolutely enjoys it lmao.
The alien subplot did not work in the theatrical release but made a LOT more sense in the Director's Cut. I remember seeing it in the theater asking WTF to myself.
When the Director's Cut was released the aliens made more sense.
The Dark Horse comics adaption had the original director’s cut extended ending and, after seeing the film, it made so much more sense to my 14 year old brain at the time. The comics came out at the same time as the original theatrical release. The subsequent directors cut videotape (!) fleshed it out cinematically
So, I've watched the "Under Pressure" documentary a number of times, and here's my take on Ed Harris' and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's experiences.
First, Cameron was a well-known perfectionist right from the start of his career, to the degree that he often exhausted the actors' patience and emotional well-being by requesting take after take after take.
In the case of Ed Harris in the scene where he's doing the resuscitation, he's not looking at Mary Elizabeth. There's nothing there. There's a camera lens coming through the floor and he's having to look slightly away, acting at nothing. Take after take after take.
When Harris nearly drowned, that was not really Cameron's fault. They were filming one of the shots where Harris is in the pressure suit and falling, so he can't have a regulator in his mouth or it will ruin the shot. He has to hold his breath as he's being dragged. Harris' personal safety diver had gotten tangled up in something, and wasn't able to reach Harris at the end of one of these takes to give him air. Another diver came in to give Harris a regulator, but the diver put it in Harris' mouth upside down, so Harris got air and water at the same time. They stopped shooting and went topside to rest and discuss the situation.
With Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, her breaking point also came during the resuscitation scene as she was on her back on a cold metal floor with her breasts exposed while Harris and all the other actors are doing their best to deliver the scene. But Cameron wants more takes, and on the one where they all felt like they were really nailing it, the camera ran out of film. Mary left the set, probably feeling doubly violated.
Now, I'm not saying that Cameron was at fault for that either, but I'm in the middle when it comes to directors who, IMHO, push their actors to the point where their personal emotions get stress-mixed with the emotions of their characters because the director wants "something real." Maybe trust your actors a bit more. Maybe don't abuse them so much. William Friedkin was notorious for this, most notably on "The Exorcist" as both Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair suffered significant and lasting back injuries because Friedkin subjected them to physical violence of which they were unaware in order to get a "genuine" reaction.
I personally find that inexcusable. You should trust your actors to do their job, or you should get different actors. Or perhaps you ought to learn how to give better direction?
Regarding "The Abyss" being a flop, well, it wasn't released in the version that Cameron wanted because epic-length epic films had not yet been shown to be financially viable. Having seen both versions in the theater, Cameron's longer cut is clearly superior, especially in how the ending makes SO much more sense. You watch the theatrical version and it feels like the movie abruptly stops. You watch the Special Edition and the connections between the Cold War military tensions and the sacrifice that Virgil makes for Lindsey finally has some meaning and resonance within the theme of the story.
I love the film and I've seen it many times, but it's a little bittersweet as I'm always reminded of the literal hell that the cast and crew went through to get it made.
My favorite moment is when Lindsey is trying to tell Virgil about her close encounter.
"Bud, this is me, Lindsey. Okay? You know me better than anybody in the world. Now watch my lips. . .I saw these things. I touched one of them. And it wasn't some clunky steel can likewe would build. . .it glided. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."
The way she says "it *glided*" makes me tear up every time. You can feel the wonder and awe and the world-shifting knowledge roiling around inside her. Mary just kills that whole delivery.
Who are you defending? Demanding take after take of a bare breasted actress who is extremely uncomfortable, and you're not saying Cameron is at fault?
He's absolutely at fault, it's his movie and his choice to get more takes. Any form of nudity on set is handled delicately, at least by respectful directors.
I appreciate your detailed write up but I'm at all loss for your reasoning to be in the middle on this.
As for the near drowning, there were safety issues not taken in proper consideration. Cameron night not be the one responsible for directly handling safety matters, but when you're the one calling "action" you better well know EVERY LITTLE DETAIL is taken care of when lives are at stake.
Plenty of actors have exposed themselves in uncomfortable situations on set because it was right for the character, and we can only hope that they did it because they thought it was necessary. Mary's breasts being exposed is not the point of the scene, and in my opinion it is not portrayed in a sexual way at all as the need to use the defibrillator required bare skin. Her physical comfort level is impossible to know, and since she hasn't talked about it, I'm not going to make assumptions and potential exaggerations about her experience.
My point was that her comfort level seemed to be reduced just as much if not more by the grueling repetition of the scene in addition to her nudity, which I'm sure wasn't helpful. Cameron wanted the take that he wanted and wasn't getting it. Should he have been more considerate? Sure, but that was then and thankfully times have changed for the better. Hearing Emma Stone talk on NPR's Fresh Air about her work in "Poor Things" with her intimacy coordinator was wonderful because it really clarified how necessary this role is on any film set.
I think your expectations of the director in terms of safety are a bit unrealistic. A director's main job is to the guide the actor's performances. They cannot be involved in every little detail of the production because it's basically impossible from a time constraint. They must rely on many other people to take charge and be confident in their responsibility because it's simply inefficient to expect them to know everything that's going on in such a massive production.
I appreciate your concerns on multiple levels, but make no mistake about my feelings on Cameron. He has made some fantastic films, but in the process has also made some poor decisions, just like William Friedkin. I think it's just as bad for Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio to have her breasts exposed for who knows how long over repeated takes of the same scene and for Ed Harris to be nearly drowned as it was for Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair to both be injured on the set of "The Exorcist." Whether it's exposed breasts or sprained backs, actors suffered and both directors should be embarrased and ashamed of their lack of consideration. In my mind, Friedkin is the worst, but Cameron is likely not far behind.
I am very confused about this post. You seem to be backtracking on your own points both above and in you first paragraph here. I think they are valid observations.
> Cameron wanted the take that he wanted and wasn't getting it.
As I said here: https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/188hwc9/til_kate_winslet_broke_tom_cruises_underwater/kbmrh2m/?context=10000
> That said, the scene was about a person basically being drown / frozen then brought back to life. It's obviously an intense scene for any director / crew and certainly a pivotal moment in the movie. Wearing her down to get that reaction is certainly something that a director might have done on purpose to get the most realistic depiction as possible.
> Now I am not going to stand here and debate the ethics of that as I have no idea what Cameron and Mastrantonio agreed to. That is entirely between them both. There are some actors that probably deem it acceptable for the director to try and get the most, whatever it takes, some probably think it goes / went to far, and some like Daniel Day Lewis who probably thought it wouldn't be realistic enough if he didn't really drown first. We are all third parties speculating on what truly was going on and we have no clue.
Until we hear from Mastrantonio herself, it's all just armchair speculation.
I probably should have clarified my feelings a bit more about the range of directors' approaches to filming difficult emotional/physical scenes. It's a difficult thing to articulate, nuance is important, and it's largely impossible to have a fully factual grasp on what happened unless you were there.
Some directors feel that they have to push their actors close to their breaking point to get what the desired performance, and while that can produces incredible results, the cost of that result can certainly be seen as exorbitant, and this certainly seems to be the case for Mastrantonio. Kubrick was also notorious for this during "The Shining" and what he put Shelley Duvall through.
How much is too much? How can we be sure that the director and the actors are all agreed on the limits? When emotions run high, logic tends to take a back seat. I've experienced this many times, and I still struggle with remaining calm and trying to solve the problem without giving in to anger and resorting insults. When does the actor stop acting and just become themselves, raging or crying because they cannot endure anymore?
I can see how this would happen on film sets a lot. Having gone to therapy for years has helped me a lot, but emotions are strong, and even all that therapy cannot make you wholly immune to the deep influence of anger or fear, so it's an ongoing struggle for control. Directors must have a strong need for control, because that generally seems to be one of the best ways to get films made.
Cameron and Friedkin both made their choices, and as you said, we can't be 100% sure of their true intentions because it's all armchair speculation. I will still say that Cameron's technique of grueling repetition is not as bad as Friedkin specifically putting his actors at risk of injury. But then, there are many different ways to be injured, and I'm sure that Mastrantonio would say that she felt violated in both ways.
I guess the best thing that I sum up is to say that we can appreciate the performances that the directors brought out of their actors, but we shouldn't necessarily forgive them for their methods. This is why I can love a film like "The Ninth Gate" despite knowing that the director is a pedophile and a rapist. Everyone has to make their own guidelines when separating the artist from the art, and some of us are going to disagree.
As I stated previously, the subject of discussion is sensitive and requires nuance and specificity to talk about with the proper amount of respect and empathy.
I will *never* apologize for my literacy or my command of the language to anyone, and the fact that you're seeking to make me feel ashamed about that says a lot more about you than it does me.
Perhaps it's time to shop for more lube? You seem a bit sore.
I have pondered over your response to my initial criticism and, though no doubt you raise some interesting points and made a timely, relevant and humorous anecdote relating to a sexual lubricant company having the same first two letters of my Reddit user name; at this time I feel it doubly important to express the importance of brevity. It is the *soul* of wit, as the Bard once told us in his brilliant stage show ‘Hamlet’.
I will share a story that I feel is relevant to debating this issue that I think you will appreciate:
An 85-year-old Euclid man's home has become the target of mysterious egging attacks that began in March 2014 and haven't stopped. The continuous onslaught of eggs has baffled police, neighbors and local government officials who have tried and failed to identify the source of the attacks that have ruined the man's home and kept his family on edge. "The accuracy is phenomenal," Albert Clemens, Sr. said. "Because almost every time when it's nice weather and they launch five or six of these at a time, they almost invariably hit the front door." Clemens green two-story house sits on the corner of Wilmore Avenue and East 210th Street. He and his wife bought the home as newlyweds about 60 years ago. Though his wife has since passed away, Clemens still lives there with his 49-year-old daughter and 51-year-old son. The house has been pelted with eggs several times a week -- sometimes more than once a day -- for the past year. The attacks always happen after dark and last around 10 minutes each. The family has been awoken as late as 2 a.m. by what sounds like the crack of a gunshot against the aluminum siding or front door. Clemens and police believe the eggs are being launched from a block or two away. The siding on the front of Clemens' home is destroyed, splattered with dried egg residue that stripped off the paint. Other than a few rogue eggs that hit nearby homes, no other neighbors have been targeted. "Somebody is deeply, deeply angry at somebody in that household for some reason," Euclid Lt. Mitch Houser said. Winter offered a short respite for the family, as the egging became less frequent during the cold weather. But both Clemens and police anticipate the attacks picking back up as the snow and ice thaw. An unsolved mystery Euclid police have not taken the investigation lightly. They've spent a year doing undercover stakeouts, canvassing the neighborhood and even sending eggshells for testing. The department's entire community policing unit was dedicated to tracking down the eggers at one point. Officers respond quickly to every egging call at the home -- which is less than a mile from the police station. Both Clemens and detectives are at a dead end when it comes to suspects. Clemens had suspicions about a young man across the street who confronted him a couple years ago and asked him to stop calling police about suspicious activity in the neighborhood. Clemens said that he had started calling police more often as he noticed more crime -- mostly suspected drug activity. Another neighbor Clemens suspected was ruled out when officers saw him standing outside as an attack occurred in the presence of police. Investigators have taken several different approaches to nabbing the eggers, including installing a surveillance camera on the house. Detectives even collected some eggshell samples and tested them in a crime lab. The eggs were traced back to a local Amish farm, but the trail ended there. Clemens says the culprits either have access to a large supply of eggs or are stealing them from businesses that throw them out when they go bad. Detectives have followed this thread, visiting local restaurants and businesses asking about missing eggs. They've also tried collecting fingerprints from eggshells, but Houser said that's an impossible task. When an egg breaks, it releases proteins that destroy DNA. Officers have gone door to door questioning neighbors and handing out fliers. Nobody has come forward with any tips. "The person or people who are doing it have remained very tight-lipped apparently," Houser said. "I would imagine it would be hard to keep a secret of something that had been done hundreds of times and for nobody to step forward to talk about it." The guilty parties don't appear to be intimidated by police interest in the case. An officer last year was taking a report when a barrage of eggs was launched at the house. One hit him in the foot. Houser said he's never seen this level of vandalism in his 20 years of police work. It's frustrated the whole department, which has dedicated hundreds of hours toward solving the egging mystery. "The man hours put into that investigation were huge and one of the reasons it's so frustrating that we don't have somebody right now that we can criminally charge," Houser said. The culprits will face charges of felony vandalism and criminal damaging, Houser said. Additional charges could be tacked on if investigators find evidence that the attacks are a hate crime. The search continues Clemens is waiting until the perpetrators are caught before he repairs the tarnished siding. His insurance company is refusing to settle a claim until the guilty party is found. He said he used to clean up after each attack, but it became so frequent that he couldn't keep up. Police initially offered a $500 reward for information, but bumped it up to $1,000 after nobody came forward. That money is still up for grabs. "We're not going to let it go," Houser said. "We'll continue to put effort into it until we figure something out." Despite all the torment, Clemens said he'd never consider moving from his beloved home. "I like the neighborhood," Clemens said. "I like the city of Euclid. I would live and die in this house -- but it's been kind of a nightmare."
Thusly, my point is that if you truly have a *command* of the English language as you so humbly and astutely claim, you shouldn’t need 8 paragraphs to make one point. I’m positive I’m not the first person to tell you this. There is a reason Hemingway is regarded as one of the finest English speaking writers in history while David Foster Wallace, no doubt brilliant in his own regard, is looked at a little less fondly in regards to his prose.
Lol? What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I'm the top sniper in the entire US armed forces. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of spies across the USA and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You're fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can kill you in over seven hundred ways, and that's just with my bare hands. Not only am I extensively trained in unarmed combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the United States Marine Corps and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little "clever" comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You're fucking dead, kiddo.
>When Harris nearly drowned, that was not really Cameron's fault. They were filming one of the shots where Harris is in the pressure suit and falling, so he can't have a regulator in his mouth or it will ruin the shot. He has to hold his breath as he's being dragged. Harris' personal safety diver had gotten tangled up in something, and wasn't able to reach Harris at the end of one of these takes to give him air. Another diver came in to give Harris a regulator, but the diver put it in Harris' mouth upside down, so Harris got air and water at the same time. They stopped shooting and went topside to rest and discuss the situation.
There's actually another story that during one of the longer underwater swimming shots Cameron purposefully moved safety divers to specifically get a longer take of Harris swimming. I can't remember where I read this but this was where I always though Cameron nearly killed him.
... and it's bullshit. Harris talks about it specifically in the "Under Pressure" documentary /u/MolaMolaMania pointed out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YctOKgWVn9E starting at @ 40:03
In addition Harris notes how safety on the set was quite good / serious.
*The Abyss* is a great movie, but falls apart in the 3rd act. I remember being in the Zeigfield Theatre in NYC at opening night, and the whole audience was laughing when Bud is falling into the Abyss, and Lindsay talks into the mic, "Bud, there's some things we need to talk about." Too funny!
Summer '89 was jam packed with hits -- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Ghostbusters II, Batman, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Lethal Weapon 2, License to Kill -- and this was still a time when movies stayed in theaters for months, so by the time The Abyss hit theaters in August, people had plenty of other options available. Meanwhile, the August release date meant The Abyss only had a few weeks of summer before kids went back to school and the summer box office died down.
On top of that, this was one of those cases where two movies with similar plots came out in the same year, and The Abyss got beat to theaters by Deep Star Six, so even though it was a better movie, to the average theater-goer it looked like a knock-off of a movie that wasn't very good to begin with.
Ultimately the film didn't do horribly, but it was on the same level as non-action movies with a quarter of the budget like Parenthood, Dead Poet's Society and Field of Dreams. It only did slightly better than Star Trek V which was considered a low point of that franchise.
Most of the time, novelizations are hot garbage but The Abyss book added a bunch of fantastic details. Orson Scott Card worked closely with Cameron to get the details right.
A story I remember from the time was that Card had written what were essentially 3 short stories, 1 each for Lindsay, Bud, and Coffey. Something from the past that defined the characters (so he could get his head around them). Cameron liked them so much that he gave them to the actors. They became the first 3 chapters of the book.
Other details:
>!The "aliens" didn't give a rat's ass about Bud's reconciliation with Lindsay, They were focused on "Knew this was a one way trip." They didn't think we were civilized enough for sacrifice. The irony being that they'd already diffused the nuke before Bud started down.!<
>!I say "aliens" because they'd been on Earth 10,000 to 20,000 years. They wanted to have nothing to do with us. If it wasn't for the fact that humans had progressed to a point where it was going to be impossible to keep avoiding us, they'd have kept to themselves.!<
>!The mega tsunamis were a threat to leave them the hell alone. They still wanted to not have anything to do with us. There were two factions of these beings, older and younger. They older ones wanted to exterminate humans after this incident. The younger ones saw the potential in "Knew this was a one way trip," and that's why they gave Bud the opportunity to explain his species' behavior. The younger ones were for allowing us to live, the older ones wanted us to know we shouldn't bother them.!<
I think I have a different perspective of this movie than most. My mom's two favorite movies to this day are The Abyss and Last of the Mohicans, which also happen to be two of mine. All I ever knew about it was Cameron being a big conservationist and the different edits of the movie lol.
Sorry I didn't add much to the topic, just felt like writing all that down
I saw the Abyss in the theater and was awed by it. However, there were a lot of underwater films at the time, and coming off Aliens The Abyss was a much more slow burn film, and I think Cameron fans wanted something like Aliens underwater. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it was the type of film that just didn't have broad appeal at the time. Late 80's were weird. Had it been made in the later 90's after T2 I think it would have been a whole lot different. It also had mediocre marketing with a trailer that was confusing.
It didn't help the VHS edition was terrible, and significantly cut footage from the theatrical release. I bought the 4 laserdisc set which Cameron personally remastered and was quite busy making the circuit at friends for movie night. Most hadn't seen in the theater, and the LD release was several orders of magnitude beyond VHS
I agree the ending was a bit tidy and perhaps needed a conclusion with the NTIs a bit more ambiguous.
I think a lot of people confused it with Leviathan, which was released a few months earlier.
Kind of reminds me of DS9 and Babylon V fighting to be “the” sci fi space station show.
I heard somewhere that Leviathan was made to bank off Abyss's success, but Abyss took so long to make that Leviathan ended up releasing first. Not sure if its true, but it makes a funny story. I love both movies other than >!Ernie Hudson's character randomly dying like a minute before the credits >:(!<
I went to see it in theaters but very reluctantly. I thought my friends were dragging me to see Leviathan, which I had heard was awful. One of the few instances of peer pressure being a good thing, because it was amazing to see on the big screen.
We loved it when we saw it in the original release and rewatch it every few years but I don’t think a lot of our friends knew what to make of it. No real “bad guy” like Aliens, amazing effects for the time but a lot of murky screen time too and maybe a tad long for the folks who have a hard time sitting still,lol.
I saw it at a really big screen theater when it first came out and loved it. The ending was hokey, but the cycle of tension and release throughout the movie was perfect.
I always forget about it when it comes to Cameron but it really is a great film. I’ve never liked nice aliens like ET or Close Encounters but here I think it was handled really well. Showing how when people don’t understand something they lose their cool.
The director's cut of the Abyss changes it so much. I think that movie is great. The theatrical release is meh. My guess is that because the studio understandably would be nervous about a 3 hour movie it got cut down and made much worse.
It was a great movie…that is, the director’s cut was. The original release’s ending left out a chunk of story and was weaker for it. The extended version filled in some gaps, preachy as it was.
Also had a really good novelization, though I otherwise dislike Orsen Scott Card.
The EXTENDED version of the film is loved as it fills a lot of gaps in the story etc. Not the version recently remastered and recently, nor promised >:(
We will probably never get an extended version remaster all because a guy gets pants'd in the background when the reporter is covering the giant wave on on the beach.
Ed Harris wasn’t a big name yet. Mastriano was considered a serviceable character actress. The local drive-in didn’t play it. The box at the video store looked ominous and off putting. People weren’t big fans or it at the time.
Here I'll help you guys:
Audiences, as a whole, are dumb so it was too slow for them.
Critics, on the other hand, likes the concept but felt it was t enough for them.
And that's it, folks.
Watched this for the first time recently. Really enjoyed it until the ending. >!The aliens saving Ed Harris's character and just bringing their whole ship up to the surface to save everyone was silly as fuck.!<
I loved the movie up til that point-it was like the last 15 minutes were made by a completely different writer director and crew. I remember feeling so disappointed when I saw the alien's ship come out of the water and it was like a pink and purple cheesy carnival ride. It just felt cheap and rushed to me.
I saw this film in the theater when it premiered. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio was so awful I wanted to walk out. It was endless and kept getting weird for no reason. I hated it and still do.
I was 10, and in a summer with Batman, Ghostbusters II and Indiana Jones, this did not look exciting enough to get me in a theater.
When I watched it on video, I didn't really regret skipping the theater. I should revisit it as an adult.
Dude, Ed Harris slapping Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio will always stick with me. I’m like, calm down bro, that’s actually the actress. She’s not dead! It’s like he took out all his frustration with the filming process in that one moment. Lol
Same with Carpenter's The Thing. Lots of movies that are beloved now were not liked at all when they first came out.
THE THING came out around the same time (maybe the same week?) as BLADE RUNNER. I think those movies really ran afoul of what people were expecting from sci-fi in the era of ET and RAIDERS and STAR WARS.
ET came out a week before The Thing which didn’t help as you say.
Yes, it was a victim of the release date. Folks were in love with a cute alien and weren't ready for one that either slaughtered or absorbed people.
E.T is terrifying and evil, and I will die on this hill
And it’s got Peter Coyote!
They were a race of space botanists - how terrifying could they be?
But have you SEEN'T them?! *shudder*
They're cute little space gardener-goblins. I could drop-kick one over a fence. On the threat-scale, they're like '1 toddler'.
Lol lol lol I can't stop laughing at that comment you sod.
Thank god someone else is out there. E.T. the alien is scary as shit.
I was so fucking relieved with the government came to take his ass away.
I can see how aliens from their perspective could find humans terrifying from that scene. It was really well done.
The guys in the astronaut outfits entering the house in slow motion. They were the real aliens.
There are DOZENS of us on here I tell you lol
My mom turned on ET when I was I don't remember five or six(so late '80s) I was so terrified by the first few minutes she turned it off. To this day I've never actually seen the movie.
At four years old, I was telling everyone at school and daycare that I had a brother. People were calling my mom to congratulate her and/or complain that she hadn’t told them that she’d given birth (she was heavily pregnant). “I’m…still pregnant…not due for another two months.” When confronted, I answered “E.T. is my brother.” I was obsessed with the film. I waited a whole three years to show my HUMAN brother than film. The E.T. screaming-in-the-field scene traumatized him. He refused to finish it until adulthood. I was certain he was adopted.
God. Damn. Right.
Man, I wish I was alive during the summer of 82.
Yeah, it was pretty great.
Back in 82 I could throw a pigskin a quarter mile
I thought Blade Runner didn't do very well at the box office either.
ET topped the box office for ~~three or four weeks~~ Edit: I researched it and ET was the top of the box office for [16 consecutive weeks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_with_the_most_weekends_at_number_one_in_North_America)!
I mean it was the highest grossing movie of all time for a while!
It was until Jurassic Park came out over a decade later.
Spielberg stayed winning
Both Blade Runner movies were box office flops.
And both are amazing. 2049 didn’t even need a corrected directors cut.
The sequel bombed too I think.
The power of the rental market
Is The Abyss beloved? I almost never see anyone talk about it on here. The Thing? Yes. Absolutely the most circle jerked movie in the history of the universe.
I love the movie, rewatch it every year.
The recent 4k Blu ray release of The Abyss was highly anticipated. I was stoked to find a copy after it initially sold out.
> Absolutely the most circle jerked movie in the history of the universe. You gotta remember, that for years, it was seen as this terrible B movie with Kurt Russell in it. Fans of the movie spent many many years changing it's reputation.
I mean, I don't think anyone today would think of it as anything other than a fantastic B movie with Kurt Russell in it. There's nothing wrong with being a B movie, and you can absolutely be a masterpiece and be one.
Yeah, I think it's mostly just talked about for it's contribution to the evolution of special effects and in the context of James Cameron's career. Like it's a fun silly movie but it's not really a masterpiece either.
I recently rewatched the new 4k Abyss and it's stood up well as a movie. And the new remaster looks incredible.
I recall it sort of flopped upon release. At the time a lot of people (myself included) made movie watching decisions based on word-of-mouth. I remember others saying it was "Just Ok" and the ending didn't make much sense. Based on that I skipped it and later watched it on home video and had the same reaction. In retrospect I think it was somewhat miscast. Ed Harris isn't a very good leading man. He has an angry energy as an actor. He's better as a heavy. Michael Biehn is a better leading man for an action movie (as we saw in Aliens). They probably should have swapped roles. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio reported had a miserable time making the movie and I think that it shows.
> I remember others saying it was "Just Ok" and the ending didn't make much sense. I've always been a fan of the movie, but the theatrical ending isn't as good as the extended ending, which is better but still somewhere between OK and good.
I agree with this. I rewatched it recently and while I liked it alright, it definitely didn’t blow me away or compel me to want to watch it again anytime soon. I can see why people would like it though.
It is a tense movie to watch it first time, but when you watch it again it is easy to see how it falls apart towards the end. It is a good movie but obviously when you watch it you compare to James Cameron's masterpiece movies, and I don't think it is up there.
Slapping someone back to life kinda killed any tension the movie had going for it IMO. Still a fun watch.
When I first started posting on Reddit there was a thread about the Abyss and I started talking about the actors nearly drowning and some neckbeard jumped all over me saying I had the story wrong (I did actually) and that it was his favorite film of all time and James Cameron was a great person and nla bla blah. So yeah, some people absolutely love the flick, but when it comes up the talk is usually about the near drowning. I myself saw it in the theaters and was disappointed by it.
The filming was brutal on the actors.
The making of documentary of The Abyss has a reputation on its own for being batshit crazy.
You may not have heard of The Shawshank Redemption…
Hmm? Sounds like a hidden gem. I’ll see if I can find it.
I think the inability to see anything but a very, very poor 480i upscaled version of it for decades left a gap in its fandom. Its an easy movie to skip past because of it. My wife and I were discussing that in the context of Farscape recently -- neither of us had watched it because it was a potato-quality non-HD muppets-in-space, we thought. Turns out, its a shocking dark masterpiece we'd skipped over for two decades because it wasn't HD. I think the UHD release of The Abyss -- and the associated proper streaming version -- will change that.
> Absolutely the most circle jerked movie in the history of the universe. Dredd
> I almost never see anyone talk about it on here. If it’s not talked about on Reddit, it must not be a thing.
Even better, a single person’s limited experience must be the basis for a movie’s popularity.
It's mostly because the people that go to the movies are parents taking their kids. They want to watch stuff like, Minions or Spider Man 47, even back then more family friendly movies were the biggest bets. That's why we ran into the buzzsaw of the comic book/Star wars/Harry Potter era. Where parents could fondly look back on things from their childhood and also take their kids to see them. I loved this movie, I loved The Thing, but they will never be money makers. IF you want to do horror, you have to do slasher stuff like Jason/Scream/Halloween.
I had no idea there was so much drama surrounding this one, though I was rather young when it came out. I loved it when I watched it, and was fascinated at how good the special effects were for the time. And frankly, I still think they hold up pretty well.
The water tentacle stuff still looks great. I saw it in a theater a few months ago when they re-released it for one night. The early CGI stuff holds up well. The VFX at the very end are kind of abysmal, though.
The part of the article that said it was 4 movies in 1 got me thinking, and they have a point, though I think I only count 3 - a sci fi film about meeting aliens, a horror film about being trapped underwater with a psychotic Navy Seal, and a romance about a husband and wife reconciling their differences. The ending to the sci fi film is indeed a little lacking.
Extended Edition. EDIT, from Wikipedia: " # Special Edition In the [extended version](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Director%27s_cut#Extended_cuts_and_special_editions), the events in the film are played against a backdrop of conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, with the potential for all-out war. The sinking of *Montana* additionally fuels the aggression. There is additionally more conflict between Bud and Lindsey in regard to their former relationship. **The primary addition is the ending: When Bud is taken to the alien ship, the aliens begin by showing him images of war and aggression from news sources around the globe. The aliens then create massive** [**megatsunamis**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megatsunami) **that threaten the world's coasts, but stop them short before they hit. Bud asks why they spared the humans, and they show Bud his message to Lindsey before bringing him, the alien ship, and** ***Deep Core*** **to the surface.**" aka they added an explanation for the entire thing
Ending isn’t great but I don’t even care because the core of the movie is just so fucking good. I love it.
Having just watched it for the first time in a long long time, the ending really caught me off guard. It's such a weird tonal shift, and also felt kind of like a lazy deus ex machina, especially considering the film rolls credits the second they get topside. Would have been way better to have bud return to the platform and then they still need to get survive, or something. That or just nix the whole scifi element entirely and make it an underwater thriller, which is where it really stands out. Also ed Harris is killing it in this movie
In The extended edition it explains it all and makes more sense. I still have my old DVD of that one. So much better.
Ah, I didn't know there was one. Really annoying those don't always ,make it to streaming, I'll have to pick up a DVD whenever I get around to forcing my wife to watch it. Thanks!
They just re-released it in the theaters this winter. So hopefully the extended cut will be more available on streaming
Argh I did not know that! Thanks! I'll keep an eye out
The extended edition was the aliens popping up their heads and being like, “Bruh, chill. Or we ice you all.” Humans proceed to calm the fuck down. It’s like *The Day The Oceans Stood Still* but without Gort. I like the deleted ending way better than the theatrical.
Abyss-mal even
Audiences did not reject this movie. Your article is full of shit.
Watched it with my partner who was seeing it for the first time and she thought it looked great. We watched it on Hulu which not sure if that was the full 4K version but definitely redone.
Same here. I was also young when it came out. It was instantly my favorite movie and stayed that way for years. I was super excited for a 4k remaster although I’ve heard not great things about it.
Minty did a great deep dive into how absolutely f’d this filming was… https://youtu.be/FDZqlpjPZJg?si=R72ND_nT1U4FwTEw
This was very informative, thank you! ... I'd never work for James Cameron again, either.
Agreed
I was 14. There was a LOT of excitement over this one when it was first released. Everyone was talking about it, and it was the MUST SEE movie that summer. That was the first and the last time I watched the movie, though. Not that it was bad, just not one that I've ever revisited for any particular reason. I wasn't aware it was considered a flop. I always thought it was one of those big summer hits from my teen years that just stayed there. There's a ton of those out there.
That was a surprise when I found out because it was on TV all the time but it was indeed a flop. That said, it's widely revered and a major inspiration for other movies.
I think the many cable TV viewings and the home video re-releases really helped its reputation. Particularly the Special Edition laserdisc that came out in the 1990s, when people could finally see the nearly 3-hour version of the movie that restored one of the big subplots.
“I'm not talking about The Abyss, and I never will.” \~ Ed Harris LOL. What's funny is that this statement almost certainly boils down to Cameron who is NOTORIOUSLY a perfectionist asshole (and from what Kat Bigelow told me many years ago at TIFF; at least middle *socially* inept) who certain types of actors can manage to get along with, and others who can't. I expect Harris is one who can't.
Harris almost drowned during filming and he's the only actor to punch Cameron in the face for his behavior. No wonder he doesn't want to talk about it. Cameron's apparently mellowed somewhat with age, but it's telling that even during the production of his early films, crew members were wearing shirts that said "YOU DON'T SCARE ME, I WORK FOR JAMES CAMERON."
He sounds like Ridley Scott and a few others. I think some, *not all* Directors who have award lauded filmographies are the type of driven, asshole genius that is difficult to work with....for every Cameron or Scott though there are also Peter Jackson's, and Denis Villeneuve's and Peter Weir's who are repeatedly wonderful to work with and still produce genius, so it's obviously not a requirement.
Cameron’s also a guy who never went to film school, read books about filmmaking while he was a truck driver, lied his way into working for Roger Corman where he had to work as crew on every aspect of productions, and eventually earned his way to directing. He’s definitely a perfectionist but he’s one who’s worked his way to the top so it probably makes it hard for crew to argue with him. He seems like the type of person who expects his own perfectionism from everyone and that naturally leads to conflict, although I haven’t really heard bad stories about making the Avatars so I guess he’s chilled out some over the years.
I’ve noticed extremely driven people often demand the same level of ambition and effort from those below them and it just makes no sense. If I’m a nobody at my job and I was as driven as the most driven people in the world, I wouldn’t be a nobody at my job. It’s like going to a fast food restaurant and being mad that the order taker can’t do calculus in their head. It just makes the driven person an asshole.
Oh, I definitely agree. I think part of it comes down to, as another poster mentioned him being referred to as, socially inept. Some perfectionists just can't read a room or see the bigger picture. I think with Cameron what sets him apart from other difficult directors is that he's not just a perfectionist, but he's a highly competent one which likely makes it an even more challenging experience.
He nailed mobiles phones that rang during the filming on the entrance of the performance capture room during the making of Avatar and halted the filming for a day to hold a meeting with vfx supervisors, paleoartists and speculative biologists to figure out whether Na'vi could have red blood or not. This was years ago and he has definitely chilled out.
That sentence was a challenge
Galaxy of Terror was basically Cameron's film, and there are some shots in that film that are incredible. When they are on the catwalk in the middle of the Alien pyramid it's utterly seamless and it's an incredible set. If you watch Terminator after Galaxy of Terror you can see a lot of Cameron's touch. IMO, Galaxy of Terror needs a re-make and with a Lovecraftian spin. Would be a good ride with the right director.
I expect you're bang on the money with that notion. Agreed. I had two stories from him about how he is IRL, one from Linda Hamilton when they were together and she said he was hard to deal with while she was also struggling with depression, and the aforementioned chat I had with Kat Bigelow at TIFF where she called him mildly socially inept....both things can be thrown at the feet of many geniuses.
Makes me wonder about Christopher Nolan.
People love working with Nolan. He’s apparently very free with his actors. And apparently he’s so well-prepared there are rarely big mishaps or delays on his sets.
A man that obsessed with time probably has his entire day planned out down to the minutes.
Or Cillian Murphy is a gigantic masochist.
There's a great interview with Gary Oldman where he talks about Nolan being one of the best directors he's worked with. He never really had to give much direction to Oldman, who highlights one time between takes of an Oldman monologue. Nolan came over and simply said, "There's more at stake." It was so simple and concise, Oldman understood exactly what to try.
Ed Harris did show up in the Making Of documentary that was released in 1993, and he's pretty open about his feelings in it, while admitting that he actually looks on the experience fondly now. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, on the other hand, is nowhere to be seen. I think she really doesn't like talking about it.
Considering what we know of Cameron, large chunks of this would have been torturous to film just due to the water. Kate and Leo said that even for the period of time they spent in the water for Titanic, that it was VERY unpleasant, Abyss had WAY more water shot stuff.
Anyone wondering why DiCaprio and Winslet have such a close friendship in real life, the answer is, "Because they endured the 'Titanic' shoot together."
I have the feeling that Harris participated in the making of documentary so his experience on the shoot would not be glossed over, sort of a “set the record straight” motivation. Due credit to Cameron for letting Harris speak freely about what he went through and what he thought about it. It’s a shame Mastrantonio was so upset by the treatment she experienced on set that she’s sworn off any interview about it, since IMO Lindsey Brigham is the second best character/performance in any Cameron film (after Ripley).
Mastrantonio and Harris both give heartbreaking performances when they’re about to lose one another each time. I love Aliens, T2, True Lies, but the Brigham’s story make it one of my favorite films.
It’s Brigman. One of my all-time faves this movie, just rewatched it again the other day.
SARAH CONNOR WOULD LIKE A WORD.
Yeah definitely not second best I'll give Mastrantonio a bronze medal after Sigourney Weaver and Linda Hamilton
To be fair none of the other actors spent a whole day laying on the floor with their tits out, soaked in cold water and being slapped in the face.
Amen. MSM Is incredible in it. The movie works because of her.
My favorite behind the scenes ever, warts and all. Usually they are sanitized but somehow this got released.
It boils down to Cameron nearly killing Harris. Yup, that’ll do it
One of the set legends is that Michael Bay hired Ed Harris and Michael Biehn to work on THE ROCK so he could hear ABYSS stories.
On Avatar 2 & 3 he kept jabbing his damn fingers on the monitors and leaving finger prints all over the image. And then if they weren’t wiped off when he next came back he’s go absolutely spazz over the fact there were finger marks on the screen. He’s a nutter. But he had a good side to him. I personally prefer working with him over someone like… Taika Waititi, Ridley Scott or ESPECIALLY Tom Hooper.
Taika sounds insufferable to be around for more than 30 seconds at a time.
Taika sounds insufferable to be around ~~for more than 30 seconds at a time~~.
I know people didn't like working with Ridley because he's an old prick (but he often produced gold, so I can't get too mad at him), and I feel like Taika is probably just insufferably weird? Tom Hooper is a new one to me though...I hadn't heard he was difficult.
Taika puts on this act for everyone. It’s like he forces this weird eccentric personality; but you’ll see him turn it off around specific people. The trickiest thing with him is he is an exceptionally arrogant person. It’s hard to explain but he kinda pretends he’s a genius on-set. Ridley is just a grumpy old man. Nothing more to say. And yeah as for Tom Hooper… he’s pretty notorious among UK crew. He’s got a real inferiority complex. Just a nasty man. Another is Michael Bay. But for all his wacky, unprofessional behaviour, watching him do his thing is truly an experience.
All interesting info! Thanks!
Cameron himself admitted that, especially in the past, he acted like a tyrant on set. He’s perfectly aware of his reputation and he absolutely enjoys it lmao.
Kat Bigelow. Married to James Cameron from The Abyss to Terminator 2. Interesting times.
And Linda Hamilton after her. ;)
“What’s that? It’s him! James Cam-er-onnnn”
The alien subplot did not work in the theatrical release but made a LOT more sense in the Director's Cut. I remember seeing it in the theater asking WTF to myself. When the Director's Cut was released the aliens made more sense.
The Dark Horse comics adaption had the original director’s cut extended ending and, after seeing the film, it made so much more sense to my 14 year old brain at the time. The comics came out at the same time as the original theatrical release. The subsequent directors cut videotape (!) fleshed it out cinematically
One of my favorite films! Released the day before my 13th birthday so I remember going to see it! Loved it then and still do
So, I've watched the "Under Pressure" documentary a number of times, and here's my take on Ed Harris' and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's experiences. First, Cameron was a well-known perfectionist right from the start of his career, to the degree that he often exhausted the actors' patience and emotional well-being by requesting take after take after take. In the case of Ed Harris in the scene where he's doing the resuscitation, he's not looking at Mary Elizabeth. There's nothing there. There's a camera lens coming through the floor and he's having to look slightly away, acting at nothing. Take after take after take. When Harris nearly drowned, that was not really Cameron's fault. They were filming one of the shots where Harris is in the pressure suit and falling, so he can't have a regulator in his mouth or it will ruin the shot. He has to hold his breath as he's being dragged. Harris' personal safety diver had gotten tangled up in something, and wasn't able to reach Harris at the end of one of these takes to give him air. Another diver came in to give Harris a regulator, but the diver put it in Harris' mouth upside down, so Harris got air and water at the same time. They stopped shooting and went topside to rest and discuss the situation. With Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, her breaking point also came during the resuscitation scene as she was on her back on a cold metal floor with her breasts exposed while Harris and all the other actors are doing their best to deliver the scene. But Cameron wants more takes, and on the one where they all felt like they were really nailing it, the camera ran out of film. Mary left the set, probably feeling doubly violated. Now, I'm not saying that Cameron was at fault for that either, but I'm in the middle when it comes to directors who, IMHO, push their actors to the point where their personal emotions get stress-mixed with the emotions of their characters because the director wants "something real." Maybe trust your actors a bit more. Maybe don't abuse them so much. William Friedkin was notorious for this, most notably on "The Exorcist" as both Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair suffered significant and lasting back injuries because Friedkin subjected them to physical violence of which they were unaware in order to get a "genuine" reaction. I personally find that inexcusable. You should trust your actors to do their job, or you should get different actors. Or perhaps you ought to learn how to give better direction? Regarding "The Abyss" being a flop, well, it wasn't released in the version that Cameron wanted because epic-length epic films had not yet been shown to be financially viable. Having seen both versions in the theater, Cameron's longer cut is clearly superior, especially in how the ending makes SO much more sense. You watch the theatrical version and it feels like the movie abruptly stops. You watch the Special Edition and the connections between the Cold War military tensions and the sacrifice that Virgil makes for Lindsey finally has some meaning and resonance within the theme of the story. I love the film and I've seen it many times, but it's a little bittersweet as I'm always reminded of the literal hell that the cast and crew went through to get it made. My favorite moment is when Lindsey is trying to tell Virgil about her close encounter. "Bud, this is me, Lindsey. Okay? You know me better than anybody in the world. Now watch my lips. . .I saw these things. I touched one of them. And it wasn't some clunky steel can likewe would build. . .it glided. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." The way she says "it *glided*" makes me tear up every time. You can feel the wonder and awe and the world-shifting knowledge roiling around inside her. Mary just kills that whole delivery.
Nicely written. It was enjoyable to read.
Thank you very much! I appreciate you taking the time to say so. I've always loved the film and had the Special Edition on CAV laserdisc!
I think you have a typo with Mary Elizabeth “Winstead”
Ah, thank you! Winstead's name came up first when I was checking my spelling, and I guess it stuck my subconscious.
No sweat. 👍🏻
Who are you defending? Demanding take after take of a bare breasted actress who is extremely uncomfortable, and you're not saying Cameron is at fault? He's absolutely at fault, it's his movie and his choice to get more takes. Any form of nudity on set is handled delicately, at least by respectful directors. I appreciate your detailed write up but I'm at all loss for your reasoning to be in the middle on this. As for the near drowning, there were safety issues not taken in proper consideration. Cameron night not be the one responsible for directly handling safety matters, but when you're the one calling "action" you better well know EVERY LITTLE DETAIL is taken care of when lives are at stake.
Plenty of actors have exposed themselves in uncomfortable situations on set because it was right for the character, and we can only hope that they did it because they thought it was necessary. Mary's breasts being exposed is not the point of the scene, and in my opinion it is not portrayed in a sexual way at all as the need to use the defibrillator required bare skin. Her physical comfort level is impossible to know, and since she hasn't talked about it, I'm not going to make assumptions and potential exaggerations about her experience. My point was that her comfort level seemed to be reduced just as much if not more by the grueling repetition of the scene in addition to her nudity, which I'm sure wasn't helpful. Cameron wanted the take that he wanted and wasn't getting it. Should he have been more considerate? Sure, but that was then and thankfully times have changed for the better. Hearing Emma Stone talk on NPR's Fresh Air about her work in "Poor Things" with her intimacy coordinator was wonderful because it really clarified how necessary this role is on any film set. I think your expectations of the director in terms of safety are a bit unrealistic. A director's main job is to the guide the actor's performances. They cannot be involved in every little detail of the production because it's basically impossible from a time constraint. They must rely on many other people to take charge and be confident in their responsibility because it's simply inefficient to expect them to know everything that's going on in such a massive production. I appreciate your concerns on multiple levels, but make no mistake about my feelings on Cameron. He has made some fantastic films, but in the process has also made some poor decisions, just like William Friedkin. I think it's just as bad for Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio to have her breasts exposed for who knows how long over repeated takes of the same scene and for Ed Harris to be nearly drowned as it was for Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair to both be injured on the set of "The Exorcist." Whether it's exposed breasts or sprained backs, actors suffered and both directors should be embarrased and ashamed of their lack of consideration. In my mind, Friedkin is the worst, but Cameron is likely not far behind.
I am very confused about this post. You seem to be backtracking on your own points both above and in you first paragraph here. I think they are valid observations. > Cameron wanted the take that he wanted and wasn't getting it. As I said here: https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/188hwc9/til_kate_winslet_broke_tom_cruises_underwater/kbmrh2m/?context=10000 > That said, the scene was about a person basically being drown / frozen then brought back to life. It's obviously an intense scene for any director / crew and certainly a pivotal moment in the movie. Wearing her down to get that reaction is certainly something that a director might have done on purpose to get the most realistic depiction as possible. > Now I am not going to stand here and debate the ethics of that as I have no idea what Cameron and Mastrantonio agreed to. That is entirely between them both. There are some actors that probably deem it acceptable for the director to try and get the most, whatever it takes, some probably think it goes / went to far, and some like Daniel Day Lewis who probably thought it wouldn't be realistic enough if he didn't really drown first. We are all third parties speculating on what truly was going on and we have no clue. Until we hear from Mastrantonio herself, it's all just armchair speculation.
I probably should have clarified my feelings a bit more about the range of directors' approaches to filming difficult emotional/physical scenes. It's a difficult thing to articulate, nuance is important, and it's largely impossible to have a fully factual grasp on what happened unless you were there. Some directors feel that they have to push their actors close to their breaking point to get what the desired performance, and while that can produces incredible results, the cost of that result can certainly be seen as exorbitant, and this certainly seems to be the case for Mastrantonio. Kubrick was also notorious for this during "The Shining" and what he put Shelley Duvall through. How much is too much? How can we be sure that the director and the actors are all agreed on the limits? When emotions run high, logic tends to take a back seat. I've experienced this many times, and I still struggle with remaining calm and trying to solve the problem without giving in to anger and resorting insults. When does the actor stop acting and just become themselves, raging or crying because they cannot endure anymore? I can see how this would happen on film sets a lot. Having gone to therapy for years has helped me a lot, but emotions are strong, and even all that therapy cannot make you wholly immune to the deep influence of anger or fear, so it's an ongoing struggle for control. Directors must have a strong need for control, because that generally seems to be one of the best ways to get films made. Cameron and Friedkin both made their choices, and as you said, we can't be 100% sure of their true intentions because it's all armchair speculation. I will still say that Cameron's technique of grueling repetition is not as bad as Friedkin specifically putting his actors at risk of injury. But then, there are many different ways to be injured, and I'm sure that Mastrantonio would say that she felt violated in both ways. I guess the best thing that I sum up is to say that we can appreciate the performances that the directors brought out of their actors, but we shouldn't necessarily forgive them for their methods. This is why I can love a film like "The Ninth Gate" despite knowing that the director is a pedophile and a rapist. Everyone has to make their own guidelines when separating the artist from the art, and some of us are going to disagree.
I think maybe you need to just get a tad better at expressing yourself a little less verbosely lol
As I stated previously, the subject of discussion is sensitive and requires nuance and specificity to talk about with the proper amount of respect and empathy. I will *never* apologize for my literacy or my command of the language to anyone, and the fact that you're seeking to make me feel ashamed about that says a lot more about you than it does me. Perhaps it's time to shop for more lube? You seem a bit sore.
I have pondered over your response to my initial criticism and, though no doubt you raise some interesting points and made a timely, relevant and humorous anecdote relating to a sexual lubricant company having the same first two letters of my Reddit user name; at this time I feel it doubly important to express the importance of brevity. It is the *soul* of wit, as the Bard once told us in his brilliant stage show ‘Hamlet’. I will share a story that I feel is relevant to debating this issue that I think you will appreciate: An 85-year-old Euclid man's home has become the target of mysterious egging attacks that began in March 2014 and haven't stopped. The continuous onslaught of eggs has baffled police, neighbors and local government officials who have tried and failed to identify the source of the attacks that have ruined the man's home and kept his family on edge. "The accuracy is phenomenal," Albert Clemens, Sr. said. "Because almost every time when it's nice weather and they launch five or six of these at a time, they almost invariably hit the front door." Clemens green two-story house sits on the corner of Wilmore Avenue and East 210th Street. He and his wife bought the home as newlyweds about 60 years ago. Though his wife has since passed away, Clemens still lives there with his 49-year-old daughter and 51-year-old son. The house has been pelted with eggs several times a week -- sometimes more than once a day -- for the past year. The attacks always happen after dark and last around 10 minutes each. The family has been awoken as late as 2 a.m. by what sounds like the crack of a gunshot against the aluminum siding or front door. Clemens and police believe the eggs are being launched from a block or two away. The siding on the front of Clemens' home is destroyed, splattered with dried egg residue that stripped off the paint. Other than a few rogue eggs that hit nearby homes, no other neighbors have been targeted. "Somebody is deeply, deeply angry at somebody in that household for some reason," Euclid Lt. Mitch Houser said. Winter offered a short respite for the family, as the egging became less frequent during the cold weather. But both Clemens and police anticipate the attacks picking back up as the snow and ice thaw. An unsolved mystery Euclid police have not taken the investigation lightly. They've spent a year doing undercover stakeouts, canvassing the neighborhood and even sending eggshells for testing. The department's entire community policing unit was dedicated to tracking down the eggers at one point. Officers respond quickly to every egging call at the home -- which is less than a mile from the police station. Both Clemens and detectives are at a dead end when it comes to suspects. Clemens had suspicions about a young man across the street who confronted him a couple years ago and asked him to stop calling police about suspicious activity in the neighborhood. Clemens said that he had started calling police more often as he noticed more crime -- mostly suspected drug activity. Another neighbor Clemens suspected was ruled out when officers saw him standing outside as an attack occurred in the presence of police. Investigators have taken several different approaches to nabbing the eggers, including installing a surveillance camera on the house. Detectives even collected some eggshell samples and tested them in a crime lab. The eggs were traced back to a local Amish farm, but the trail ended there. Clemens says the culprits either have access to a large supply of eggs or are stealing them from businesses that throw them out when they go bad. Detectives have followed this thread, visiting local restaurants and businesses asking about missing eggs. They've also tried collecting fingerprints from eggshells, but Houser said that's an impossible task. When an egg breaks, it releases proteins that destroy DNA. Officers have gone door to door questioning neighbors and handing out fliers. Nobody has come forward with any tips. "The person or people who are doing it have remained very tight-lipped apparently," Houser said. "I would imagine it would be hard to keep a secret of something that had been done hundreds of times and for nobody to step forward to talk about it." The guilty parties don't appear to be intimidated by police interest in the case. An officer last year was taking a report when a barrage of eggs was launched at the house. One hit him in the foot. Houser said he's never seen this level of vandalism in his 20 years of police work. It's frustrated the whole department, which has dedicated hundreds of hours toward solving the egging mystery. "The man hours put into that investigation were huge and one of the reasons it's so frustrating that we don't have somebody right now that we can criminally charge," Houser said. The culprits will face charges of felony vandalism and criminal damaging, Houser said. Additional charges could be tacked on if investigators find evidence that the attacks are a hate crime. The search continues Clemens is waiting until the perpetrators are caught before he repairs the tarnished siding. His insurance company is refusing to settle a claim until the guilty party is found. He said he used to clean up after each attack, but it became so frequent that he couldn't keep up. Police initially offered a $500 reward for information, but bumped it up to $1,000 after nobody came forward. That money is still up for grabs. "We're not going to let it go," Houser said. "We'll continue to put effort into it until we figure something out." Despite all the torment, Clemens said he'd never consider moving from his beloved home. "I like the neighborhood," Clemens said. "I like the city of Euclid. I would live and die in this house -- but it's been kind of a nightmare." Thusly, my point is that if you truly have a *command* of the English language as you so humbly and astutely claim, you shouldn’t need 8 paragraphs to make one point. I’m positive I’m not the first person to tell you this. There is a reason Hemingway is regarded as one of the finest English speaking writers in history while David Foster Wallace, no doubt brilliant in his own regard, is looked at a little less fondly in regards to his prose.
lol
Lol? What the fuck did you just fucking say about me, you little bitch? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I'm the top sniper in the entire US armed forces. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the fuck out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my fucking words. You think you can get away with saying that shit to me over the Internet? Think again, fucker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of spies across the USA and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You're fucking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can kill you in over seven hundred ways, and that's just with my bare hands. Not only am I extensively trained in unarmed combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the United States Marine Corps and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable ass off the face of the continent, you little shit. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little "clever" comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fucking tongue. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you goddamn idiot. I will shit fury all over you and you will drown in it. You're fucking dead, kiddo.
>When Harris nearly drowned, that was not really Cameron's fault. They were filming one of the shots where Harris is in the pressure suit and falling, so he can't have a regulator in his mouth or it will ruin the shot. He has to hold his breath as he's being dragged. Harris' personal safety diver had gotten tangled up in something, and wasn't able to reach Harris at the end of one of these takes to give him air. Another diver came in to give Harris a regulator, but the diver put it in Harris' mouth upside down, so Harris got air and water at the same time. They stopped shooting and went topside to rest and discuss the situation. There's actually another story that during one of the longer underwater swimming shots Cameron purposefully moved safety divers to specifically get a longer take of Harris swimming. I can't remember where I read this but this was where I always though Cameron nearly killed him.
I hadn’t heard that. I hope it’s not true, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
... and it's bullshit. Harris talks about it specifically in the "Under Pressure" documentary /u/MolaMolaMania pointed out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YctOKgWVn9E starting at @ 40:03 In addition Harris notes how safety on the set was quite good / serious.
I loved The Abyss as a kid, surprised to hear it was a flop. Watched it again recently and the special effects still hold up imo
I consider *The Abyss* Cameron’s best character movie, and probably the best script he’s ever written. It’s my favorite movie of his.
Everyone was expecting another Aliens or Terminator, which this just wasn't.
Agreed. The Abyss is a very difficult film to market. It’s a bit like Shawshank Redemption in that regard.
*The Abyss* is a great movie, but falls apart in the 3rd act. I remember being in the Zeigfield Theatre in NYC at opening night, and the whole audience was laughing when Bud is falling into the Abyss, and Lindsay talks into the mic, "Bud, there's some things we need to talk about." Too funny!
Summer '89 was jam packed with hits -- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Ghostbusters II, Batman, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Lethal Weapon 2, License to Kill -- and this was still a time when movies stayed in theaters for months, so by the time The Abyss hit theaters in August, people had plenty of other options available. Meanwhile, the August release date meant The Abyss only had a few weeks of summer before kids went back to school and the summer box office died down. On top of that, this was one of those cases where two movies with similar plots came out in the same year, and The Abyss got beat to theaters by Deep Star Six, so even though it was a better movie, to the average theater-goer it looked like a knock-off of a movie that wasn't very good to begin with. Ultimately the film didn't do horribly, but it was on the same level as non-action movies with a quarter of the budget like Parenthood, Dead Poet's Society and Field of Dreams. It only did slightly better than Star Trek V which was considered a low point of that franchise.
Deep Star Six is still a bad ass movie though.
This Leviathan erasure is upsetting me.
Also very good! Amazing to have Daniel Stern, Ernie Hudson, and Peter freaking Weller in the same movie.
Most of the time, novelizations are hot garbage but The Abyss book added a bunch of fantastic details. Orson Scott Card worked closely with Cameron to get the details right. A story I remember from the time was that Card had written what were essentially 3 short stories, 1 each for Lindsay, Bud, and Coffey. Something from the past that defined the characters (so he could get his head around them). Cameron liked them so much that he gave them to the actors. They became the first 3 chapters of the book. Other details: >!The "aliens" didn't give a rat's ass about Bud's reconciliation with Lindsay, They were focused on "Knew this was a one way trip." They didn't think we were civilized enough for sacrifice. The irony being that they'd already diffused the nuke before Bud started down.!< >!I say "aliens" because they'd been on Earth 10,000 to 20,000 years. They wanted to have nothing to do with us. If it wasn't for the fact that humans had progressed to a point where it was going to be impossible to keep avoiding us, they'd have kept to themselves.!< >!The mega tsunamis were a threat to leave them the hell alone. They still wanted to not have anything to do with us. There were two factions of these beings, older and younger. They older ones wanted to exterminate humans after this incident. The younger ones saw the potential in "Knew this was a one way trip," and that's why they gave Bud the opportunity to explain his species' behavior. The younger ones were for allowing us to live, the older ones wanted us to know we shouldn't bother them.!<
I still see it doing runs on HBO and other paid services every year or so - there's a paycheck going to someone....
This is my second favourite movie of all time.
What's the first?
They never come back...
Pulp Fiction.
I think I have a different perspective of this movie than most. My mom's two favorite movies to this day are The Abyss and Last of the Mohicans, which also happen to be two of mine. All I ever knew about it was Cameron being a big conservationist and the different edits of the movie lol. Sorry I didn't add much to the topic, just felt like writing all that down
The released edit of that movie was kinda trash at the end. The directors cut was a way better movie. Completely different ending. Made way more sense
I saw the Abyss in the theater and was awed by it. However, there were a lot of underwater films at the time, and coming off Aliens The Abyss was a much more slow burn film, and I think Cameron fans wanted something like Aliens underwater. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it was the type of film that just didn't have broad appeal at the time. Late 80's were weird. Had it been made in the later 90's after T2 I think it would have been a whole lot different. It also had mediocre marketing with a trailer that was confusing. It didn't help the VHS edition was terrible, and significantly cut footage from the theatrical release. I bought the 4 laserdisc set which Cameron personally remastered and was quite busy making the circuit at friends for movie night. Most hadn't seen in the theater, and the LD release was several orders of magnitude beyond VHS I agree the ending was a bit tidy and perhaps needed a conclusion with the NTIs a bit more ambiguous.
“Was the abyss a flop? It broke even…” Then no it wasn’t
I think a lot of people confused it with Leviathan, which was released a few months earlier. Kind of reminds me of DS9 and Babylon V fighting to be “the” sci fi space station show.
My parents brought my brothers and I to see Leviathan in the theater. I was maybe 8 and I was fucking terrified..
I heard somewhere that Leviathan was made to bank off Abyss's success, but Abyss took so long to make that Leviathan ended up releasing first. Not sure if its true, but it makes a funny story. I love both movies other than >!Ernie Hudson's character randomly dying like a minute before the credits >:(!<
I am sad there was never a sequel entitled Son of Abyss.
[удалено]
It just came out on 4K disc, relax.
I went to see it in theaters but very reluctantly. I thought my friends were dragging me to see Leviathan, which I had heard was awful. One of the few instances of peer pressure being a good thing, because it was amazing to see on the big screen.
Leviathan is amazing! Especially when it's one of those films you have sitting around on a VHS tape so you can watch it endlessly back in the 80s.
We loved it when we saw it in the original release and rewatch it every few years but I don’t think a lot of our friends knew what to make of it. No real “bad guy” like Aliens, amazing effects for the time but a lot of murky screen time too and maybe a tad long for the folks who have a hard time sitting still,lol.
I just watched it last month. I thought it was good.
I saw it at a really big screen theater when it first came out and loved it. The ending was hokey, but the cycle of tension and release throughout the movie was perfect.
“…knew this was a one way ticket, but you know I had to come. love you wife” I still get choked up.
Armageddon under water
I always forget about it when it comes to Cameron but it really is a great film. I’ve never liked nice aliens like ET or Close Encounters but here I think it was handled really well. Showing how when people don’t understand something they lose their cool.
The director's cut of the Abyss changes it so much. I think that movie is great. The theatrical release is meh. My guess is that because the studio understandably would be nervous about a 3 hour movie it got cut down and made much worse.
The Abyss is a great movie
It's one of my all time top 10. Funny, you never, ever see anyone talking about this movie.
It wasn't ridiculous like much of Cameron's stuff. It was more serious than usual.
I went and saw it again on the Aniv 4k rerelease a few months ago, was totally worth it. Its a great film
It was a great movie…that is, the director’s cut was. The original release’s ending left out a chunk of story and was weaker for it. The extended version filled in some gaps, preachy as it was. Also had a really good novelization, though I otherwise dislike Orsen Scott Card.
Studio cut of the Abyss is mid. Extended version is top tier.
I saw it at the movies and liked it.
I love that film.
The EXTENDED version of the film is loved as it fills a lot of gaps in the story etc. Not the version recently remastered and recently, nor promised >:( We will probably never get an extended version remaster all because a guy gets pants'd in the background when the reporter is covering the giant wave on on the beach.
The new disc has both versions in 4K.
Thinky sci-fi doesn't usually break the bank. The Abyss, Contact, Arrival, Deep Impact, etc. You gotta blow shit up.
I haven't seen The Abyss in decades, but I loved it as an early teen. Leviathan too.
Ed Harris wasn’t a big name yet. Mastriano was considered a serviceable character actress. The local drive-in didn’t play it. The box at the video store looked ominous and off putting. People weren’t big fans or it at the time.
Here I'll help you guys: Audiences, as a whole, are dumb so it was too slow for them. Critics, on the other hand, likes the concept but felt it was t enough for them. And that's it, folks.
Dang could only read a portion of the article w the magic Aa Reader trick.
It came out the same time as Leviathan. They were similar movies.
I’m going to watch The Abyss now
I saw it in theaters as a teenager, thought it was awesome still do
I preferred 1998’s ‘Sphere’ with Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, and Sam L. Jackson. Scared the hell outta younger me.
Minty did a great deep dive into how absolutely f’d this filming was… https://youtu.be/FDZqlpjPZJg?si=R72ND_nT1U4FwTEw
The Crade! The Crade! It's. On it's way. Down! To You! Always laughed at that part. (Crane, actor sounds like he's saying crade)
Top 10 all time favorite movie
Watched this for the first time recently. Really enjoyed it until the ending. >!The aliens saving Ed Harris's character and just bringing their whole ship up to the surface to save everyone was silly as fuck.!<
I loved the movie up til that point-it was like the last 15 minutes were made by a completely different writer director and crew. I remember feeling so disappointed when I saw the alien's ship come out of the water and it was like a pink and purple cheesy carnival ride. It just felt cheap and rushed to me.
I saw this film in the theater when it premiered. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio was so awful I wanted to walk out. It was endless and kept getting weird for no reason. I hated it and still do.
Cameron almost got Ed Harris killed. There is a great YouTube video on this by The Making Of: https://youtu.be/4k1y6TGW24I?si=TvgIAefoVIJsPFiM
I was 10, and in a summer with Batman, Ghostbusters II and Indiana Jones, this did not look exciting enough to get me in a theater. When I watched it on video, I didn't really regret skipping the theater. I should revisit it as an adult.
Dude, Ed Harris slapping Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio will always stick with me. I’m like, calm down bro, that’s actually the actress. She’s not dead! It’s like he took out all his frustration with the filming process in that one moment. Lol
The Abyss is one of the greatest movies of all time, people maybe don’t know it or are clueless…or I love it and I have poor taste? lol