The Abyss

Name: The Abyss
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Released: August 9, 1989
Duration: 138 min
Rating: 62
Cast: Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

1989

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 123 Ratings

See All

7.6

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7.6	Your Score
7.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 123 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

The Abyss

Now Playing: The Abyss

Movie Details & Credits

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: August 9, 1989 | PG-13

Starring: Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

Summary: When a nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks, one diver (Harris) soon finds himself on an odyssey 25,000 feet below the ocean's surface where he confronts a mysterious force that has the power to change the world or destroy it. (20th Century Fox)

Director: James Cameron

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 138 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Stream On

Buy on

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

100

Peter Travers

Stupendously exciting and emotionally engulfing... With probing intelligence and passionate feeling, Cameron has raised the adventure film very close to the level of art. Read full review

Desson Thomson

Before this voyage plummets into Stevie Spielberg's locker, the human stuff is more than worth the descent. Read full review

Mike Clark

If you end up cursing, try not to forget The Abyss' spectacular oil-rig collapse, a killer chase scene, two fine leads, and one Oscar-worthy "creature'' special effect midway through. Do forget the rest - unless you really dig Casper, the Friendly Ghost. [9 Aug 1989, Life, p.1D]

Empire Kim Newman

Weirdly, the film’s problem is that it revs up the tension so much that, like one character’s submersible sinking into the high pressure of the titular Abyss, it finally bursts. The climax – as Bud descends to defuse the nuke and meet the aliens – just doesn’t work. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Barbara Cramer

It lacks the emotional impact and suspense of its predecessors and is spoiled by a disappointingly inane ending. What ultimately saves the film are its extraordinary sets and phenomenal Oscar-winning visual effects. Read full review

Richard Schickel

Harris and Mastrantonio do have a strong death and resurrection sequence, but long before that, one is pining for a rubber shark or a plastic octopus -- anything, in fact, out of a good old low-tech thriller. [14 Aug 1989, p.79]

David Sterritt

The Abyss' isn't abysmal, but it's a replay of hits we've already seen - a recycled "close encounters of the wet kind'' with far too few ideas of its own. [18 Aug 1989, Arts, p.10]

SEE ALL 14 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

OnlytheBrave194

Jun 19, 2020

This is probably the most underrated of Cameron's movies. It laid the foundation for much of what we see after, and has some absolutely stellar performances by the cast.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

alejandro970

Jul 20, 2019

From same mastermind of Terminator and Titanic, about how the mission for retrieve a sunken nuclear submarine becomes an encounter with the uncanny, in the bottom of the sea. Astonishing special effects that not hampers the plot. For watch with a big bag of potato chips.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Compi24

Dec 18, 2012

Riding tall on its still-majestic production design and visuals, James Cameron's "The Abyss" also scores high for its cleverly high-brow story and impressively varied display of performances.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

amheretojudge

Sep 12, 2019

Cameron understands each individual emotion so perfectly, almost humanly, that you have to give in.

The Abyss James Cameron's another sci-fi adventure surprisingly doesn't resemble with Ridley Scott's Alien but Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters Of The Third Kind; I know that's a lot ofCameron understands each individual emotion so perfectly, almost humanly, that you have to give in.

The Abyss

James Cameron's another sci-fi adventure surprisingly doesn't resemble with Ridley Scott's Alien but Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters Of The Third Kind; I know that's a lot of name drops, but I am going to try and write about the film with as many references as possible. Like how the film also resembles with Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later in the sense that nature doesn't behave as an evil entity (just as Anne Hathaway whispers it beautifully in Interstellar) but by the humans at the point of crisis.

And it is simply moving to see a visual galore like such, fit in both socially and politically. Usually you'd have to enter a different screening for that amount of drama. Speaking of drama, Cameron is monetizing the film by doing something impossible even for now, I am not even going over the fact at what year was this released. Perhaps this has always been his style or motto or identity, he has always been ahead of both the technology and expectations of a movie goer.

If he has kept his arms tied on pushing the boundaries as a narrator, he certainly directs then, all his guns towards the embroidery of that iconic fabric. While making such green screen CGI mashup, Spielberg has always said that he prioritizes his animation on having emotional bond with the audience. And Cameron with his wit is weaving a nail-biting drama from such technical aspects that you wouldn't expect it to be anything beyond a distraction or a matter of panache. There is celebration with that technology, but surfing for almost three hours, he terrorizes the textual communication that we are told, comes from The Abyss. Now walking in the dark alone is really scary, but someone or something strange present in that darkness is on a whole new level.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

The3AcademySins

Mar 23, 2020

James's Cameron's The Abyss is an oft-overlooked sci-fi epic. It's incredibly inventive, and the brutal way in which this movie was filmed definitely adds to the constant atmosphere of tension the film portrays. This is a very stressful watch, made even more stressful with the knowledge ofJames's Cameron's The Abyss is an oft-overlooked sci-fi epic. It's incredibly inventive, and the brutal way in which this movie was filmed definitely adds to the constant atmosphere of tension the film portrays. This is a very stressful watch, made even more stressful with the knowledge of what Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrionomo, and the rest of the cast and crew had to endure to bring this story to life. This movie is DENSE. There are a lot of moving pieces, but everything gets tied up nicely at the end. It's a little long, a little dated, but it has its place in sci-fi movie history.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

HellHoleHorror

Feb 16, 2022

This was a really good underwater thriller. The special edition version is definitely too long though. The ending is brilliant and the middle good but a few bits really did drag on too long. This is definitely worth watching but probably only the theatrical version. That is assuming that theThis was a really good underwater thriller. The special edition version is definitely too long though. The ending is brilliant and the middle good but a few bits really did drag on too long. This is definitely worth watching but probably only the theatrical version. That is assuming that the ending remains intact. Ignoring occasional slow pacing the bottom of the sea was never so exciting.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Film_Fanatic_15

Nov 24, 2010

The true wonder of the movie seems to take a direct nosedive toward the abyss after temporarily becoming a long war crime drama. Special effects will grab anyone's attention, especially in 1989's case. The characters: developed. Romance: average. Action is "average" as well. The plotline isThe true wonder of the movie seems to take a direct nosedive toward the abyss after temporarily becoming a long war crime drama. Special effects will grab anyone's attention, especially in 1989's case. The characters: developed. Romance: average. Action is "average" as well. The plotline is the center of attention, and it wouldn't be much of a movie without it. James Cameron's vision of aliens under the sea are not what you would expect. They appear like giant electric sea creatures that are distorted in a way, making the line hazy between a giant sea creature never before discovered and something that actually came from space. By the end, everyone could be thinking "entertainment under the surface, who knew?"… Expand

0 of 5 users found this helpful05

SEE ALL 18 REVIEWS