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Ghosts of the Abyss (2003)

tomatometer

80

Average Rating: 7/10
Reviews Counted: 96
Fresh: 77 | Rotten: 19

The underwater footage is both beautiful and awe-inspiring.

88

Average Rating: 7.1/10
Critic Reviews: 24
Fresh: 21 | Rotten: 3

The underwater footage is both beautiful and awe-inspiring.

audience

61

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 6,066

My Rating

Movie Info

Filmmaker James Cameron has long been fascinated with the ill-fated maiden voyage of the great ship the Titanic, and he used the story as the backdrop for his most famous and successful movie. In the summer of 2001, Cameron and his good friend Bill Paxton (who appeared in Titanic) joined a group of scientists, maritime historians, archaeologists, and deep sea explorers for a daring experiment -- to find and document the Titanic's final resting place at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Cameron

Apr 27, 2004

$16.3M

Buena Vista Distribution

All Critics (97) | Top Critics (24) | Fresh (79) | Rotten (20) | DVD (19)

This hour-long feature, edited down from 900 hours of footage, is both a technical marvel and a heartfelt memorial to those who died when the ship sank in 1912.

December 11, 2009 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Cameron, who produced and directed it, does a visually splendid job, though what he has fashioned comes down to a logistical footnote to his great, primal, heart-of- the-ocean blockbuster.

April 23, 2003 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | Comment
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic IconTop Critic

One of the rare Imax movies in which the 3-D effects are completely melded into the picture, rather than simply used as a gimmick.

April 22, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Daily News | Comment
New York Daily News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Aside from his CGI ghostcraft unwittingly co-opting Pat O'Neill's last feature, Cameron is entirely predictable in a marines T-shirt, exhorting, 'Next stop, Titanic -- rock 'n' roll!'

April 15, 2003 Full Review Source: Village Voice | Comment
Village Voice
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Ghosts of the Abyss is an incredible experience that will further enhance our century-long fascination with the Titanic.

April 14, 2003 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | Comment
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Besides the considerable technological magic of the film, it's blessedly done without a spirit of vanity.

April 11, 2003 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Go and marvel at this spectacular piece of visual history; it's 60 minutes very well spent.

February 20, 2011 Full Review Source: Concrete Playground | Comment
Concrete Playground

What's the point of this documentary?

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | Comment (1)
Cinema Crazed

This is a brilliant showcase for IMAX and Cameron who offer an entertaining and fascinating glimpse of history to us all.

October 18, 2008 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | Comment
Urban Cinefile

Despite Paxton's whooping every time a new artefact comes on screen, it's hard to be constantly excited about watching a bunch of rusty, decayed junk -- historic and three-dimensional though it may be.

December 30, 2006 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | Comment
Empire Magazine

It may not have the organisation of 'art', but it's quite some postcard.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Using small robot cameras, Cameron brings the ship to life, recalling its power and splendor.

May 1, 2004 Full Review | Comment
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

Persuading the appealing Bill Paxton to come along for this undersea ride was one of James Cameron's wisest moves.

April 25, 2004 Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | Comment
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Cameron has gone from shaping the zeitgeist to spoonfeeding it

April 22, 2004 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | Comment
Film Freak Central

...utilizing two discs allows both movie versions to be transferred at a low compression rate and leaves plenty of room on disc two for the few extras the set has to offer.

April 17, 2004 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

The picture's beauty and Cameron's amazing photographic work provide much pleasure. It's just that...there is the feeling we've been there and seen it all before.

April 17, 2004 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

As seqüências rodadas nos destroços do Titanic são estupendas, mas o filme constantemente perde o foco e gasta muito tempo com a narração pouco inspirada de Paxton.

March 16, 2004 Comment
Cinema em Cena

Cameron is forever associated with the fateful ship, and I think it's time he moved on.

July 16, 2003 Full Review Source: Mark Reviews Movies | Comment
Mark Reviews Movies

Not as record setting a motion picture as, say, Titanic, but more haunting and ethereal.

July 3, 2003 Full Review Source: Movie Boeuf | Comment
Movie Boeuf

Ghosts Of the Abyss is an interesting experiment which fails to take full advantage of the real opportunity granted in its inception - to utilize emerging technology to explore terrain that has never been witnessed by humans. . .

May 30, 2003 Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | Comment

The Titanic has a haunting beauty that is served well by the movie's 3-dimensional process.

April 30, 2003 Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | Comment
Aisle Seat

Ghosts of the Abyss is a beautifully rendered middle-of-the-road documentary that strikes a perfect balance between entertainment and education.

April 30, 2003 Full Review Source: IGN Movies | Comment
IGN Movies
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Ghosts of the Abyss

Ghost of the Abyss is better.

June 18, 2007
kenstachnik

Super Reviewer

Funny coincidence: GHOSTS OF THE ABYSS is about the Titanic; it's directed by James Cameron, who directed both the 1997 film TITANIC and the similarly-titled (but ultimately-unrelated 1989 film THE ABYSS. Just thought I'd mention that. GHOSTS OF THE ABYSS is a smooth, but overly slow, documentary about the

September 21, 2011
spielberg00
Alexander Diminiano

Super Reviewer

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Foreign Titles

  • Titantic 3D: Ghosts of the Abyss (AU)
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