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The Abyss

Play trailer 0:37 Poster for The Abyss PG-13 Released Aug 9, 1989 2h 19m Sci-Fi Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
89% Tomatometer 56 Reviews 83% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio are formerly married petroleum engineers who still have some issues to work out. They are drafted to assist a gung-ho Navy SEAL (Michael Biehn) with a top-secret recovery operation: a nuclear sub has been ambushed and sunk, under mysterious circumstances, in some of the deepest waters on Earth.
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The Abyss

The Abyss

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Critics Consensus

The utterly gorgeous special effects frequently overshadow the fact that The Abyss is also a totally gripping, claustrophobic thriller, complete with an interesting crew of characters.

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Critics Reviews

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Duane Byrge Hollywood Reporter Colossally ambitious, this logistically boggling and technically brilliant film from writer-director James Cameron is a visual tour de force, featuring overall, the greatest underwater sequences ever seen on film. Mar 10, 2015 Full Review Variety Staff Variety A firstrate underwater suspenser with an otherworldly twist, The Abyss suffers from a payoff unworthy of its buildup. Jun 19, 2008 Full Review Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader The attempt to extract the essences of several genres (cold-war submarine thriller, love story, Disney fantasy, pseudomystical SF in the Spielberg mode) and mix them together ultimately leads to giddy incoherence. Rated: 2/4 Jun 6, 2007 Full Review Don Shanahan Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast This has all of the James Cameron signatures, some before this and many that would come after it. Oct 22, 2024 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy The Abyss works so well as a straightforward thriller that the e.t. angle, basically Close Encounters of the Nautical Kind, almost feels like an afterthought. Rated: 3/4 Apr 22, 2024 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review Even as The Abyss is Cameron’s least successful film in terms of profits—a bar he usually sets to record-breaking heights—the film negotiates his recurrent themes and lifelong fixations with more effort and sensitivity than any other in his career. Rated: 4/4 Mar 27, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Noel H It was my first time watching this movie, and this is a highly underrated, but a really good movie. The vfx still holds up somewhat today, which is pretty impressive for a very early cgi usage. And the story was easy to follow, but was executed pretty well. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/29/24 Full Review W S B One of my top 10 films of all time, finally mastered to modern a/v standards! I love the special edition of this movie so much that I haven’t watched it in almost 20 years, because it’s never even gotten a proper anamorphic transfer, much less an HD remaster, and I won’t watch it in inferior quality. James Cameron has finally given us the 4K iteration of this film (and True Lies) that we’ve waited for. I’m thrilled to have gotten to see it on the big screen, the way he intended it to be seen. When the digital release hits on 12/12/23 (or best yet, the UHD disc release on 3/12/24), DO NOT sleep on this! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/07/23 Full Review Steven Wonderful. James Cameron was already thinking in 3D — every scene just has so much depth, it’s hard to describe. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/07/23 Full Review Edward W The Special Edition is my favorite movie of all time. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/07/23 Full Review Seth C One of Cameron's best films. Amazing use of practical effects as well as ground breaking cgi that still (mostly) holds up today. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/07/23 Full Review john k Great movie. The big screen with Atmos is the best way to see it Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/07/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Abyss

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio are formerly married petroleum engineers who still have some issues to work out. They are drafted to assist a gung-ho Navy SEAL (Michael Biehn) with a top-secret recovery operation: a nuclear sub has been ambushed and sunk, under mysterious circumstances, in some of the deepest waters on Earth.
Director
James Cameron
Producer
Gale Anne Hurd
Screenwriter
James Cameron
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Lightstorm Entertainment, Pacific Western
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Sci-Fi, Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 9, 1989, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$54.3M
Runtime
2h 19m
Sound Mix
Dolby Stereo, Magnetic Stereo 6 Track, Surround, Dolby A, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
70mm, Scope (2.35:1)
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