The Abyss (Special Edition)

James Cameron's name tends to be synonymous with Aliens or his two Terminator movies, so much so, that The Abyss frequently slips through the net unnoticed. At the insistence of the studio, 27 minutes of footage were hacked from the original cinema version, leaving the story somewhat incoherent. Now being screened in all its glory, The Abyss: Special Edition is a critically neglected masterpiece.

The crew of Deepcore, a deep sea drilling rig, are called to assist in the salvage operation of a submarine disabled by an unknown force. Bud Brigman (Ed Harris) and his crew are not too chuffed with the idea, and Bud is even more irritated to learn that his estranged wife, Lindsey (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) will be lending a hand along with a team of Navy SEALs (led by Cameron regular Michael Biehn as Coffey). Things get dicey when a hurricane cuts off surface support and the disparate crew are left to fend for themselves and deal with the possibility that whatever is lurking at the bottom of The Abyss, they are not human and they have an agenda all of their own.

Techno-wiz Cameron pulled out all the stops to enhance the authenticity of The Abyss, but it is the human drama that endures, giving the film a memorable emotional impact amongst the stunts and special effects. Mastrantonio and Harris give career best performances as the sparring Brigmans and a cast of virtual unknowns make a refreshing impact as the drilling team.

If you blinked and missed the extremely limited 1994 cinema release of The Abyss: Special Edition, make sure you take this opportunity to see it as it was originally intended: on the big screen with all of the pieces intact.

Caroline Smith