Review of Abyss, The: Special Edition

Introduction

I first saw the Abyss when it received its original VHS rental release many years ago. This was of course the theatrical edition of the movie…

The Abyss had run well over budget and the running time scared studio executives, so they cut a great deal of the film out to squeeze in an extra show in cinemas, hoping to minimise losses. As is often the case, this destroys the movie, removing whole sequences that alter the context or coherence of the film.

In the case of The Abyss, the cuts made a total nonsense of the plot, leaving viewers perplexed at the end, so a few years later James Cameron revisited the editing room and put the film back together properly as a “Special Edition”. I purchased the VHS limited edition box set when it was released and discovered just how much better the revised version of the film was.

The Abyss has now made it onto DVD and you can chose to watch either version of the film, although personally, I wouldn’t even consider watching the Theatrical Release.

As far as the plot goes (I’ll not give too much away for those who haven’t seen it) - after an encounter with an unidentified object underwater, an American Nuclear submarine sinks in deep water. With a storm brewing overhead, the only chance of rescue is a nearby underwater drilling rig which is commandeered by the navy and moved to the wreck. The crew then find themselves embarking on a journey into the unknown. Meanwhile on the surface, tensions mount and American and Russian forces gather above the wreck...

Video

A great deal of work went into the DVD releases of The Abyss on both sides of the Atlantic, however, unfortunately the video is non-anamorphic which really is irritating on such an important release. There’s been a great deal of discussion on this subject, but you’ll get the truth if you check out our interview with Van Ling who was the DVD Producer of The Abyss. Basically, the only print approved by Jim Cameron for The Abyss at the time of production was the non-anamorphic version. Whether we will ever see an anamorphic version remains to be seen, but is unfortunately unlikely.

Having said the above, the transfer is fine, it’s just not quite as crisp as a release of this stature deserves. As far as non-anamorphic transfers go, it’s up there with the best and is generally of high quality.

Visually, the film still looks stunning. If you watch the “Under Pressure” documentary you’ll see why – Cameron built a huge tank and filmed the cast underwater, often with punishing schedules – with the result that most of them hated him by the end of production!

There are plenty of special effects in the movie, most of which still look pretty good despite their age. One exception to this at the end of the film where one scene suffers from noticeable rear-projection.

For fans of the film there is a huge grumble, this time not the fault of the studio. The original theatrical VHS release in the UK included a scene where a rat is immersed in the fluid used in the deep sea breathing apparatus as an example to the doubting crew that the liquid works. This scene was removed for the “Special Edition” at the request of the Chief Vetinary officer in the UK although the rat was unharmed. Channel 4 have shown the fully uncut version of the film on UK terrestrial television, yet it is not on this DVD release, instead we have a daft shot where the image is zoomed in so we can’t see the rat. This scene is of course on the Region 1 release.

Audio

The soundtrack for The Abyss used to impress me on VHS through a Pro-Logic system, so the remix into Dolby Digital 5.1 was eagerly anticipated. I wasn’t disappointed with good use made of the extra channels and range for effects and the excellent score. Being underwater gives plenty of scope of sound effects, and we have the creaking and groaning of the rig, bubbles, water, various things moving around the soundstage and a great deal of incidental noises to keep our ears busy during the film. Dialog is always clear and understandable.

Features

The Abyss is split over two discs with the first containing both versions of the film (utilising seamless branching – and it certainly was seamless on my Pioneer DV525) and a subtitled commentary – Cameron doesn’t do audio commentaries unfortunately, as this film is a perfect candidate for a very interesting commentary track.

The second disc contains the extras, and before we get to them, I’ll start with another grumble. It’s difficult to see which menu option you have selected. I went into one area five times by accident because of this, which was particularly frustrating. The menus themselves look fantastic, but a red rather than white selection outline would have solved the navigation problem.

The box-set version of the VHS Special Edition contained the excellent “Under Pressure” documentary, which is also contained here and even if you rent this film, you must take the time to watch it as it is one of the best around.

In addition there are numerous text-based bios, behind the scenes footage, photo gallery, storyboard comparison, visual effects reels, and trailers.

Overall, an excellent set of extras let down by the navigation and the lack of a commentary.

Conclusion

Overall, The Abyss has been one of my favourite films for years, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching this DVD despite the non-anamorphic picture and missing rat scene.

Visually, the film still looks fresh and Cameron’s usual high quality of production has helped the film age well. If you watch the Under Pressure documentary you’ll see how hard Cameron pushed the cast, but he extracted superb performances across the board, the characters have depth, passion and emotion, but also perform the action sequences without fault.

In “Special Edition” form, the story and plot are superb, and the film’s message is clearly put across to the viewer. In my opinion, the “Theatrical Edition” should be consigned to the bin as the cuts make it worthless compared to the “Special Edition”.

The extra features are very good, but the lack of a proper commentary is disappointing and the menus look great but can be hard to navigate.

This is a great film, and a great DVD. Fans of the film won’t be disappointed.