Even without aliens or creatures of unknown origin, the ocean contains its share of the strange, the uncanny, and the dangerous. Never mind the sea creatures that will eat you without a moment's thought; the human body is not capable of surviving in the ocean without extreme measures and hard-developed technology. With the cold, the water pressure, and lack of air, humans are outmatched and out of their element.
Moments like this, especially in the first half of the movie, suggest The Abyss will be a horror thriller in the vein of director James Cameron's previous movie, Aliens, which was also filled with frightening creatures, claustrophobic tunnels and passageways, and rugged, blue-collar types coming face-to-face with the unknown. Indeed, few filmmakers can capture action as well as Cameron, and The Abyss is packed with exciting thrills and unbearable tension.
But there's more. There's a sense of awe and wonder, a streak of curiosity and amazement. The unknown creatures are not nasty, deadly xenomorphs that would conquer or devour us. The mysterious beings in The Abyss share a kinship with the unseen aliens of 2001: A Space Odyssey and the aliens of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. They are not ravenous, violent creatures bent on destruction; they are advanced beyond humanity, observing us to see if we are worthy to ascend to a more important place in the universe or if our baser instincts and selfish habits are too great a threat.
The Abyss is more than an exciting, tense, and action-packed undersea thriller. It's about catching a glimpse of the unknown in the unlikeliest of places and a reminder that we as a species can be better. Maybe it is a bit of a letdown once we finally see the creatures from beyond the veil, but it is quite the journey getting there.
The story begins with the sinking of a U.S. nuclear sub after it encounters something strange near the Cayman Trough. With a hurricane bearing down and the risk of Soviet salvaging its payload, the Navy recruits Deep Core, a nearby private underwater drilling platform, to assist with a rescue and recovery mission. Among the civilian crew are Dr. Lindsey Bigman (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), who designed the platform, and her husband Virgil "Bud" Brigman (Ed Harris), the foreman. They're in the middle of an ugly divorce. The Navy also sends a team of SEALS down to the platform, led by Lt. Coffey (Michael Biehn), to oversee the operation.
Tensions are the high, the work grueling, but everything escalates after some of the crew encounters "non-terrestrial intelligence" and the platform becomes trapped on the ocean floor. Coffey, suffering the effects high-pressure nervous syndrome, becomes increasingly paranoid and violent, convinced he must detonate a nuke this new perceived threat.
The parallels between outer space and the deep sea have been well documented. In both environments, humans are at a distinct disadvantage, requiring special equipment and training just to survive, and there remains so much about both that we don't know. Are there aliens beyond the stars, and what kind of creatures lurk on the ocean floor? H.P. Lovecraft, the innovator of cosmic horror, wrote a fair number of stories involving the ocean, and it's easy to see how Cameron could have turned this into an aquatic Aliens.
Watching The Abyss decades later, in the modern age of CGI, I'm astounded how convincing and lived-in the world Cameron and his team has created is. I watch The Abyss, and I feel I'm down there on the ocean floor. As strong as I feel the movie, I don't think I'd be able to watch this in a movie theater; I'd probably have a panic attack. There were several sequences I felt my breath hitch and my chest contract, and reading up all the stories about how grueling and dangerous the film's production was, I can believe it. Strictly from a technical aspect, The Abyss is praiseworthy.
But, as I said above, there is more. Cameron's script, for the most part, gives the characters a strong sense of reality and believability. The Brigman's, their troubled marriage, and gradual reconciliation gives the narrative a beating heart and doesn't feel schmaltzy. The other crew members, especially in the special edition, all get moments to stand out, make an impression, and be memorable. These people feel like a real oil rig crew: hardworking, direct, intelligent, and grounded. I felt involved with them even before the screws turned in the plot.
The only character that feels off is Coffey. Biehn gives a good performance, but from his very first scene, where we learn about high-pressure nervous syndrome, we know he's going to be the villain, and his early chauvinism and dismissive attitude make us inclined to dislike. I can picture this character starting off friendly and reasonable and only gradually, subtly succumbing to his worst instincts, and I think it would have been a more interesting arc.
The aliens, creatures, beings, or whatever you want to call them, work best when suggested, caught only in glimpses. The best moment of the film occurs when they control a tentacle made out of water to navigate through the facility and interact with the humans, leading to a scene of mutual curiosity and interest (before Coffey ruins it with his paranoia).
When we see them in their full form, as angelic, translucent beings, I don't think they stand out. Compare them to the Alien Queen or even ET, and it feels like a bit of a letdown. With the amount of buildup and mystery surrounding them, I would have liked it if they had a more evocative, memorable presence.
Maybe that's too tall of an ask. Stanley Kubrick reportedly omitted any depictions of the aliens guiding humanity in 2001 because he never developed them in a way he was satisfied and decided the movie worked better without showing them. I do like the tentacle scene in The Abyss, so maybe this is the best I could have hoped for.
The Abyss had long been the biggest omission from Cameron's oeuvre. I had never seen it until recently, and when I watched it, I almost immediately watched it again. First the theatrical version and then the special edition, which includes an expanded ending. Either version is a worthy watch, in many ways equal to The Terminator movies and Aliens, but with a more hopeful, optimistic ending.
Cameron created absolutely nightmarish images of the apocalypse and otherworldly monsters. Here, he demonstrates he also can create a vision of hope, wonder, and humanity. One person, acting out of love and willing to sacrifice themselves for love, can make a difference and even save the world.
The special edition expands on that idea. Bud, in his extended encounter with the aliens, learns they hold the power to wipe out humanity, and they know about our history - war, nuclear weapons, genocide, tyranny - but Bud's actions convinced them to stay their hand.
Maybe I find the aliens a letdown because I'm still too much of a jaded, cynical horror fan, one who seeks out the dark and frightening and instinctively blanch at something optimistic and hopeful. Cameron's hope and wonder are genuine and sincere, and maybe on some level, I'm resisting that when I say the aliens disappoint when we see them.
Just as the aliens twist and turn the aquatic tentacle to connect with the humans, so too does Cameron twist and turn his movie, away from horror and terror, to make an impression on his audience, one that tells us we need to shape up if we don't want to destroy ourselves but also letting us know that we have that potential.
We can be great, loving, and responsible. We can be human.
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