Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 43
Fresh: 38 | Rotten: 5
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.
Average Rating: 6.5/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 2
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.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 98,971
Meticulously crafted but also ponderous and predictable, James Cameron's 1989 deep-sea close-encounter epic reaffirms one of the oldest first principles of cinema: everything moves a lot more slowly underwater. Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, as formerly married petroleum engineers who still have some "issues" to work out, 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
Aug 9, 1989 Wide
Nov 7, 2000
20th Century Fox Film Corporat
All Critics (43) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (5) | DVD (24)
A firstrate underwater suspenser with an otherworldly twist, The Abyss suffers from a payoff unworthy of its buildup.
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.
Anyone looking for a discouraging word about this stupendously exciting and emotionally engulfing film should read no further. The Abyss confirms James Cameron as a world-class filmmaker.
The human stuff is more than worth the descent.
I'd sooner believe that Moby Dick could swim up the drainpipe.
The Abyss gains in some ways from its own Achilles heels, in a way most movies don't... its formal technique, its reckless obsessiveness, and its gutsy emotionalism are what I can't stop turning over in my mind.
One need not be a Cameron acolyte to recognise that The Abyss has aged better than some of the films that outshone it back in the day.
The movie was a bear to make and it shows onscreen, parading around a series of mesmerizing set-pieces that look deliciously hard-earned in ways our current CG-drenched filmmaking climate never allows.
Undersea UFO adventure is breathtaking but intense.
As a follow-up to Cameron's great sci-fi Aliens, The Abyss is too verbose for an actioner and the special effects, striking as they are, are not well integrated into the narrative, but it's still worth seeing.
What ultimately saves the film are its extraordinary sets and phenomenal Oscar-winning visual effects.
Great blending of spectacle and drama.
Forget Titanic this is Cameron's best underwater flick
This overlong concoction is scuppered by dire dialogue, histrionic performances and maudlin sentimentality.
What was once a well-made, well-acted mess is now a very poignant and satisfying sci-fi adventure.
A gorgeous and fascinating underwater adventure.
A remarkable film...the vfx are super!
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After the phenomenal action classic, Terminator, James Cameron pushed the boundaries yet again with astounding special effects with The Abyss. This is a special effects milestone that helped advance the use of CGI in film. The result is a very good looking film that has breath taking special effects. Cameron has always
August 27, 2011
Super Reviewer
The Abyss is one of the Wonderful and Beautiful Alien Movies I have ever seen. I liked the Idea Aliens Underwater.
December 14, 2009
Super Reviewer
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