One of the most ambitious and ground-breaking films ever made, James Cameron’s THE ABYSS, in its’ extended DIRECTOR’S CUT, is a wonderful aquatic experience (the original 1989 version appeared to be compromised in length and story points) right from the outset, with visual effects that paved the way for the T-1000 in TERMINATOR 2 two years later.
A US nuclear submarine collides with a deep sea wall after suffering an energy surge that causes it to veer off course. A deep drilling oil complex of workers, led by Bud Brigman (Ed Harris, THE RIGHT STUFF) and his wife Lindsey (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, SCARFACE, ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES) have to try and salvage the submarine, with some Navy SEALS en route, led by Coffey (Michael Biehn, ALIENS, THE TERMINATOR) who have come with a nuclear device.
However, there is something else in the ocean, more luminescent and mysterious that may have bearing on the future of the mission – and even the human race itself….
Shot in a disused power plant in Gaffney , South Carolina, THE ABYSS has some terrific sequences and pioneering water camerawork techniques, as well as Oscar-winning visual effects.