Review of The Abyss (1989) by Lenny M — 17 Oct 2009

"I'm going deeper underground", Jamiroquai's 1998 song on the Godzilla soundtrack should have been made 9 years earlier to go on this movies' soundtrack. It would have been perfect, the underwater search team diving farther into the deep sea than anyone else before to the funky groove beats of Jamiroquai, badass!

The filming for this movie must have been one of the most dangerous productions ever, at least for the actors (not including the stuntman). James Cameron filmed almost exclusively underwater in a 40 ft deep hole in a nuclear power plant. 7 million gallons of water was used to fill the hole and that's where the movie was shot, with the actors completely underwater. They all had to become certified divers. I've read stories on how the actors, especially Ed Harris, experienced psychological breakdowns during the production. The movie was filmed over a 6 month period and more than half of that time James Cameron wasn't even filming the movie, he was experimenting with shit underwater with the actors submerged. The actors went crazy and were spontaneously crying on and off the set. There can't be many of these instances in Hollywood at least comparable to that! Perhaps it's commonplace, who knows? James Cameron does.

With all that said, this movie is pretty good and realistic, freakishly. The only downside is there are underwater aliens, but don't let that ruin the movie. If you read into the background of this movies' filming and then watch it, the experience will be great. It's in your face, Ed Harris is literally drowning! Gonna have to watch this movie again, James Cameron is quite the risk taker.