*****SUBMERGED SPOILERS!*****

Several years ago, I wrote a deep-dive review (the first of several puns to come) for James Cameron’s “The Abyss” (1989 & 1993 Director’s Cut), and in that review, I made a sincere wish for the film to make the transition to Blu-Ray.  Well, after an intervening “Avatar” sequel that no one asked for, Cameron and Disney (who currently own the 20th Century Fox film catalog) finally got around to releasing three of Cameron’s best movies on 4K/Blu-Ray; “True Lies,” “ALIENS” and “The Abyss.”

I’ve already vented my disappointment with the overly AI-processed new version of “True Lies,” and I didn’t bother to re-buy “ALIENS,” since I already own it on Blu-Ray (as well as on the ‘quadrilogy’ DVD set) and didn’t feel like making a triple dip for it (or quadruple, if you count my old $100 laserdisc, 32 years ago).  However, “True Lies” and “The Abyss” had never been released on any home video format greater than DVD, and those non-anamorphic 4:3 letterboxed transfers were issued roughly a quarter century ago.  Clearly, it was past time for an upgrade.

Without doing another full review of “The Abyss,” I will add a shorter recap of the story to this column for those reading this who’ve not seen what is (in my opinion) Cameron’s finest film—and his most arduous shoot, according to cast and crew.  The following recap references the longer 171 minute cut, which for my money is the only true version of the movie, as it restores a critical subplot and many great character bits that make the original ending coherent and rewarding. By comparison, the 140 minute theatrical release almost feels like a long trailer.

“The Abyss: Special Edition (1989/1993)” 

The movie opens with a US nuclear submarine USS Montana encountering a bizarre alien submersible, which makes a fatally close pass to the sub at the impossible speed of 80 nautical mph, causing the sub to crash into an oceanic cliff and sink to the bottom of the Atlantic—with its entire nuclear arsenal aboard. 

The US Navy, as represented by the unstable Lt. Coffey (Michael Biehn) and his team of SEALS, are dispatched to commandeer the Deepcore mobile oil exploratory platform and its crew for an emergency rescue mission.  Deepcore is currently stationed on the ocean floor and is crewed by lead ‘tool pusher’ Bud Brigman (Ed Harris) and his colorful crew of blue-collar, deep sea oil riggers.

Further complicating things, Bud is forcibly reunited with his soon-to-be ex-wife Lindsey (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), who designed the Deepcore rig and is accompanying the Navy SEALs as the company’s civilian observer. During their calamitous time together, the Deepcore crew and Navy SEALs realize they’re being observed by something other than the Russian or US militaries (the only thing dating this movie is the Cold War, which has sadly returned, to some degree).  

That ‘other’ is later identified by Lindsey and Hippy (Todd Graff) as “NTIs” (non-terrestrial intelligences); an alien presence which has been overseeing humanity from the ocean depths, and is deeply upset with what they see…so much so that they’re threatening to end the human race with spontaneous global tidal waves they can create with their superior water-manipulation technology. Things go from bad to worse when Lt. Coffey suffers a pressure-induced psychotic break, and drops a live nuclear weapon at implosion depths at the edge of a deep oceanic trench.  Coffey himself then implodes and dies.

Lindsey is drowned when she and Bud try to stop Coffey, until Bud and his crew frantically revive her.  Once she recovers, Bud volunteers to disarm the nuke by breathing a special oxygenated emulsion-liquid in a deep-diving suit (to avoid imploding).  After defusing the nuke, a nearly asphyxiated Bud then encounters the NTIs, who take them into their underwater ‘city of light’ colony, where they show him the many reasons why they’re considering wiping human life off the planet for good.

Bud makes an earnest plea on humanity’s behalf, and the NTIs are won over by Bud’s sacrificial choice, as well as his renewed devotion to Lindsey. The NTIs realize that humanity is capable of making sacrifices and changes in order to overcome our self-destructive reign on this planet. The tidal waves recede, and the Deepcore crew are returned to the surface—without decompressing.  Another gift from the NTIs.

Bud and Lindsey then cancel their divorce and renew their commitment to each other. They kiss, music swells…

The End.

The 2024 4K/Blu-Ray vs 2000 DVD

While the newly remastered version of “The Abyss” does have some of the digital smoothing seen in “True Lies,” it is nowhere near as obvious as we saw with that latter release.  There is also a major color timing change with “The Abyss” that injects more cyan into the uniform blues and purples of the 2000 release.  This change might be debated among purists, but personally, I’m glad to see yellows that looks like yellow instead of green. There is also boosted color with the NTI encounters, giving them greater overall pop.  

The level of sheer detail evident throughout the remaster is a radical improvement over the 2000 DVD as well (most evident in closeups of the actors’ faces).  The red emergency lighting aboard the USS Montana in the opening scene leans slightly closer to brown now than the bright cherry red of the original 2000 release, but it also yields more accurate skin tones as well, so it’s a tradeoff.  Overall, the new color timing is more vivid than the uniformly bluish palette seen in the 2000 release.  Granted, the bluer 2000 version was perhaps closer to the theatrical release (as I remember it), but the 2024 remaster looks more varied and lifelike (to my old eyes, anyway).

Sound quality is also predictably more advanced than the DVD’s once cutting edge 5.1 sound mix. The new Dolby Atmos track, even when played on my non-Atmos digital projector sound system, is immediately more immersive (another pun for a deep-sea film, but it fits), and it felt downright claustrophobic during Lindsey’s nail-biting drowning scene—perfectly in keeping with the onscreen sound environment. 

Best of all, there are two new bonus featurettes on the 2024 set, as well as the inclusion of “Under Pressure: the Making of The Abyss”; an hour-long 1990s-era documentary which chronicled the brutally challenging making of “The Abyss” in great detail. Produced closer to the film’s original release than the 2024 material, the painful memories of the movie’s production seem fresher and more vivid to everyone interviewed for the doc. There is also a wealth of other archive material ported over from the 2000 DVD, which was an otherwise great release in its own right, save for the unforgivably cheap, non-anamorphic transfer of the film itself.

As someone who’s wanted to see “The Abyss” on a higher quality format since the DVD release 24 years ago, this new transfer is breathtakingly beautiful, though it is a change; both from what I remember theatrically in 1989, and from the 2000 DVD.  However, “The Abyss” is the same movie we saw before, unlike the continually changing Star Wars Special Editions, which (maddeningly) never seem to settle on a final form. Once again, a bit of advice; watch the 171 Special Edition of “The Abyss” from 1993—yes, it’s a half hour longer, but it’s well worth the time.

As we’ve seen with 2007’s “Final Cut” of “Blade Runner,” not all changes made to movies are for the worse. Overall, the arrival of “The Abyss: Special Edition” on 4K/Blu-Ray is cause for celebration among fans of the film, though the new color timing may raise a few eyebrows.  At least we don’t see Lt. Coffey being given a digital pet goldfish to soften his character, or an all-new CGI makeover for the NTIs’ appearance.  This is the same movie, with the same narrative, and it’s great to see it in this new Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Unlike the disappointing 4K/Blu-Ray of “True Lies,” “The Abyss” on 4K/Blu-Ray is a must-own release. After 24 years of waiting for this deserving movie to get a true widescreen HD release, fans of “The Abyss” can finally decompress (last pun, I swear…).

Where to Buy

The 4K/HD version of “The Abyss” is also available to rent/purchase for streaming on Amazon Prime and YouTube, or it can be streamed with subscriptions to Hulu, Paramount+, and Showtime.  Personally, I’d recommend plunking down the money to buy the uncompressed 4K/Blu-Ray release, not just for the more stable image quality, but also for the bonus content, which gives the audience and the film much greater context into its creation. The new 4K/Blu-Ray is available from Amazon.com, and Barnes and Noble (prices vary).