A civilian diving team is enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and faces danger while encountering an alien aquatic species.A civilian diving team is enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and faces danger while encountering an alien aquatic species.A civilian diving team is enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and faces danger while encountering an alien aquatic species.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 9 wins & 16 nominations total
Captain Kidd Brewer Jr.
- Lew Finler
- (as Capt. Kidd Brewer Jr.)
Dick Warlock
- Dwight Perry
- (as Richard Warlock)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaReal oxygenated fluorocarbon fluid was used in the rat fluid breathing scene. Dr. Johannes Kylstra and Dr. Peter Bennett of Duke University pioneered this technique and consulted on the film, giving detailed instructions on how to prepare the fluid. The only reason for cutting to the actors' faces was to avoid showing the rats defecating from momentary panic as they began breathing the fluid.
- GoofsWhile treating Jammer, Ensign Monk says that he is "just a medic, which is mainly about patching holes." SEAL medics have previous medical training before being trained as combat medics, and since they work with a scuba diving unit, he would also be well trained in any facet of diving related injuries and or maladies. However, Jammer is in a coma, and unless it is a medically-induced one (which it is not), he will have to wake up on his own. No medic can treat a natural coma, no matter how well trained.
- Quotes
Lindsey Brigman: We all see what we want to see. Coffey looks and he sees Russians. He sees hate and fear. You have to look with better eyes than that.
- Crazy creditsIn the cast list, Super Seal Rover is credited as Big Geek and Mini Rover Mk II is credited as Little Geek. These are the actual models used for the unmanned submarines.
- Alternate versionsThe end credits were famously shortened to run under 5 minutes in 1989 in order to hit a target runtime and maximize daily showings; doing so also made the crawl almost illegibly tiny and fast. The credits on the extended edition were almost 10 minutes, with a bigger and slower crawl, and extended/alternate music. Several home video releases of the theatrical edition on laserdisc and DVD actually use the newer credits, so they are not entirely faithful! One VHS tape (Fox Video Selections 1561), at least, uses the original short credits; though the tape is formatted for 4:3, the credits merely gain picture information above and below the intended window (which, for some reason, is very high up in the frame after the first few names). However the new HD master, which has popped up on a few HDTV broadcasts (like Cinemax) go back to the original shortened credits, plus is in the original theatrical aspect ratio, making it the most faithful version available.
- SoundtracksWilling
Written by Lowell George
Performed by Linda Ronstadt
Courtesy of CEMA Special Markets and Capitol Records, Inc.
Featured review
"These guys are about as much fun as a tax audit."
The Abyss was a movie of destiny. First off, this movie either began or was the result of a lifetime obsession James Cameron has the ocean (see later Titanic and his IMAX deep sea movies). The Abyss is also full of echos of claustrophobic thriller/adventure movie Alien, in which Cameron directed the sequel. So combining one of Cameron's old movies with his new obsession, we get The Abyss, a solid sci-fi thriller starring Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. Ed Harris plays Bud, the head of an undersea oil rig where very little actually happens and the people on the rig are only there in case something goes wrong. Well, wouldn't you know it, but an American nuclear submarine patrolling the US coast near the oil rig suddenly sinks, killing the sailors on board. The Americans suspect it's the Soviets, but we know better. Something pink and glowing does something to the submarine causing it to sink. A team of Navy seals, ferried down to the rig by Bud's ex-wife Lindsey (Mastrantonio), boards the oil rig and uses it as a command base for their mission to recover the submarine. And that is when the fun begins. Of course a hurricane has to enter into the plot, in movies like this, there is always a hurricane, but beyond, The Abyss is a solid sci-fi thriller, where the oil rig becomes a character in the movie. Much like the Nostromo in Alien or The Discovery in 2001, the tight spaces adds flavor to the movie, bringing the setting in as another character of the movie. The special effects were groundbreaking at the time and hold up well today. The scene of a column of water snaking its way through the oil rig still creeps me out to this day.
helpful•5831
- ryan_kuhn
- Apr 29, 2005
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Abyss - Abgrund des Todes
- Filming locations
- Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant, Gaffney, South Carolina, USA(two tanks - underwater scenes)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $70,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $54,981,151
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $9,319,797
- Aug 13, 1989
- Gross worldwide
- $90,520,202
- Runtime2 hours 20 minutes
- Color
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