Review of The Abyss (1989) by Irina T — 27 Nov 2011

Surprisingly entertaining and piercingly emotional, The Abyss completely captured me as a immediate classic. It is rare to find an underwater adventure THIS good; especially they are usually connected to kids' movies and end up not being much of an entertaining movie to me due to the tendency for these kinds of movies to be more childish and less aimed at an older audience.

Despite not being as famous as James Cameron's other works such as Aliens (1986) and The Terminator (1984), The Abyss is a rare classic in which there is more drama between the characters which enhances the appeal of the movie, as compared to Aliens where most of the characters fight alone, especially in Ripley's case.

Ed Harris stars as "Bud", who feels alone in the darkness. His wife left him and he has to be stuck working with her for a few weeks in an underwater submarine, which furthers his feeling of melancholy. Meanwhile, his ex-wife, Lindsey, is a strong-headed woman (typical of these kinds of movies) who is more concentrated on her work. The chemistry found between them, especially when "Bud" has to disarm a bomb that is more than 20,000 feet underwater, is extremely heart-warming and makes up for the seriousness of the movie.

In addition, the fact that Cameron adds a tinge of his resentment against war adds another dimension to the movie. It does not only become a sci-fi movie, but also a drama and a critique against the invention of the nuclear bomb and suffering and poverty in many war-torn countries. Being an environmentalist, Cameron was able to make me burst into tears showing the realities of how idiotic humans are, as they only know how to make each other suffer.

The most heartbreaking moment is when the mysterious underwater creatures stopped what they were doing to mankind because they realised that there is still some love and hope that makes it wrong to destroy human beings. It brings the movie into an anticlimax as we discover that Bud's not going to die, however it is a really significant moment in the movie where it forces the audience to rethink what they have done in their lives.

The gloomy atmosphere and the amazingly realistic soundtrack also further contributes to the reasons why the movie is so great in the place. It is worth watching for the entire family. I thought it would be boring at first, but it turned out to have a very great impact on me and I'm sure to other people who have watched it as well.

10/10.