Fighting to revive Lindsey is still one of the most intense scenes in cinema for me. Heart wrenching decision, heartbreaking death, heart warming determination that saves her. All in a few minutes. The acting is phenomenal
Per the behind the scenes documentary, this scene almost broke her. If was intense and painful. Cameron was apparently awful this movie. She had to walk off set for a while.
The special effects on this film were unprecedented at the time. We had never seen the kind of CGI in movies like the water 'worm' and it morphing into faces. Imagine back then we were used to seeing practical and makeup effects or stop-motion miniatures, and then this shows up on screen and the entire audience has no idea what the hell they are seeing or how this was being done. It was a breakthrough moment in cinema and Cameron took it to the next level AGAIN 2 years later with the T-1000 liquid metal CGI in Terminator 2, which blew people away even more.
not only is the liquid oxygen real, but that rat was actually put into it and breathing it for real for that shot. Cameron got some shit for doing that.
Considering the reasons for why we have the term "Lab rats" I'm a little surprized by this fact, not that I advocate animal cruelty, it just strikes me as odd.
@@andbrittain We all know where meat comes from, but that doesn't mean most people want to watch the animal be killed and processed. Most people also feel differently about something being done for a beneficial purpose and something that's solely being done for entertainment.
Lol, at the end, I saw Bud in the suit and I thought Wow, he looks just like John Glenn. Then later on, I saw him in The Right Stuff and he played ... John Glenn.
I'm pretty sure that's why Ed Harris got to be the hardass admiral in that section of Top Gun: Maverick that was very obviously The Right Stuff-inspired, too.
Ed Harris still won't talk about the movie, because he almost drowned and felt ashamed that he got scared or something. It was deeply traumatizing to film for almost everyone. Crew and cast during the shoot wore t-shirts with the inscription "The Abuse".
I wonder if The Abyss was released in the late 1970s if it wouldve done better. People mightve been starving to see a troubled couple like this find a way back together
This is my favorite performance by Ed Harris. The “Nooo!!” yell when Lindsay drown always gets me. Then his refusal to give up on her at the rig, trying to revive her was absolutely convincing.
This movie is amazing and is probably Cameron’s masterpiece. It was also the most difficult film shoot in history. Cameron actually used a decommissioned nuclear power plant’s containment vessel and filled it with something like three million gallons of water to do the underwater shots. Half the cast and crew nearly drowned on several occasions.
the first time I watched this was on VHS in my bedroom. During the night I woke up to water pouring out of my closet. I was thinking wow! What a vivid dream until I realized it was really happening. The water heater in the apartment above me broke.
"So raise your hand if you think that was a Russian water-tentacle" is the sentence I thought I'd never hear. 😂😂😂 LOVED this watchalong with you both. I hope yer patreon members vote for Hunt for Red October for you to watch some time. That would be a fantastic watch.
What made this movie so amazing to me when it came out was there were a number of undersea 'alien' type monster films in the theaters at the same time (Leviathan being the one I remember), and the trailer for Abyss made it seem like one of those. I left the theater almost in tears of how much greater a movie I had just watched.
There is a saying in rescue teams around cold environments: You're not dead until you're warm and dead. The theory about letting Lindsey drown and bringing her back is sound, it just doesn't work that often and you don't shock a flatline.
Decompression crash course: - the deeper you go and the longer you stay down result in the gasses you are breathing being dissolved more and more into your blood/tissues. This is similar to shaking a sealed soda can. - the more gasses that have dissolved into your body, the longer you have to wait (decompress) before you can safely walk about on the surface again. This is similar to... well... waiting for a shaken soda can to settle (it's a little bit more complicated but I'm trying to keep it simple). - if you go up too fast, all that dissolved gas in your tissues (that was being kept dissolved by the pressure) now becomes gaseous again => becomes bubbles => you get the bends (bad). This is similar to opening a recently shaken soda. Your blood turns to foam and you die extremely painfully. Or you "only" get a stroke. There was a horrific incident on an oil rig where a decompression chamber (i.e. an area at high pressure) was suddenly decompressed back to sea level pressure and let's just say the results were not pretty for the men inside the decompression chamber. One twist: - for any given pressure there will be a time after which point you reach a "saturation" state: your body can no longer physically store any additional dissolved gas. From this point onwards your decompression time (which will most definitely be in the weeks for the depths being talked about in the movie) remains constant, regardless of how much longer you stay at that pressure. If you increase your pressure (go deeper), then more gas gets dissolved in your body & your decompression timer continues to increase.
Yeah The Byford Dolphin incident was absolutely horrible. I mean it was instant death for the guys but what it did to their bodies was so gruesome, especially the guy who was forced through a tiny opening in an instant. It's amazing that one guy survived the incident.
This was the production from hell. Ed Harris refuses to talk about this movie in interviews, Mary Mastrantonio had a nervous breakdown and Cameron almost died.
The big difference between the DC and the theatrical is a lot of character development (Like when they are all singing the song together in the beginning) and almost all of the alien angle. The few sighting of aliens are in the TC, but in the end it basically skips from but Bud disarming the bomb to the 'city' rising to the surface. Cuts the tidal waves, the alien's messages etc.
I watched this when it was first released, then again with a theater full of Abyss fans when the director's cut came out. For the entire movie, everyone was talking. It was like watching your favorite movie in your living room with 200 friends. My favorite moment: "Oh! That's why his hand was blue!" The rest of us: "Oh, yeah!"
BTW, that pink liquid thing, is actually a thing. Dont know if it's ever been tested on humans, but the rat demoed breathing it, was not practical effect. It's the real deal. It is said to be a rather thick sludge, as far as "breathing" is concerned. It is probably very tiring to use.
Niiiiice... I remember being very underwhelmed as a kid watching the theatrical cut. In high school a friend said I had to see the director's cut. I was a little older and for many reasons this version clicked with me. Cameron is in Spielberg mode here and it works. It also evokes classic 50's sci Fi like THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. I may love T2, ALIENS and TRUE LIES more but... I think this is his best, most mature film. I think this one is special guys.
I don't see that anyone else has commented about it, so I will just say that the novel for the film is pretty much a must-read if you want to know what is really going on...especially if you want to really DRILL DOWN into the characters. (pun intended) As a huge bonus, it was written by one of the great writers of science fiction...Orson Scott Card...who is most famous for the Ender's Game series. For real...the more you like this movie, the more you really have to read the film...it will multiply your appreciation by an order of magnitude. Also, the big thing about being down deep and then coming back up is "the bends", which is the nickname for decompression sickness. The issue is that gasses get dissolved into the blood differently when the body is under compression...especially nitrogen...so the decompression process is needed to allow enough time for that nitrogen to work its way out of your blood while you come up from down deep. If you come up too quickly, the nitrogen forms bubbles that are incredibly painful and debilitating.
Dolphin rib cages and lungs can compress allowing them to dive deep. Good thing that all happened by random chance on the first try or no dolphins would exist today. 🙄
Oil rig workers are called "roughnecks" Oil well fire fighters are called "hell-fighters" Tunnelers and workers who clear the foundations for bridge towers are called "sandhogs"
James Cameron used what he learned from the water tentacle effect in this movie on the Liquid Metal in Terminator 2. For some good behind the scenes information watch the Critical Drinker’s Abyss Production Hell video.
Ridley Scott gave us Ellen Ripley...James Cameron made her a Sci fi icon. First actor or actress to be nominated for a best actress oscar in a Sci fi movie good
Abyss is a Wonder of Water! If you two are interested in another visit in the deep blue water; suggest adding 'Sphere' - 1998 film to your future watch list.
Love how many genres they fit into this. James Cameron movies are always an EXPERIENCE. Can imagine what a pain in the a-- he might be on set, but you can tell he takes filmmaking very, very seriously.
Yes. Normal "hardhat" diving helmets have a much smaller faceplate. Guys that do that kind of dive work typically wear a helium based breathing apparatus like the Helinaut 500.
You guys need to research Cameron more. He’s not just a director that makes movies above deep sea stuff. He’s an expert that has designed his own submersibles, and gone to the depths of the ocean many times.
The liquid oxigen shit its real but not used like that, I dont know now, but back then at least, it was used as a treatment for like newborns to help develop their lungs or something like that, also a fun fact about the subject of a missing sub and the goverment hiring civilians.... Thats how they found the Titanic in 1985, Robert Ballard a civilian was hired by the gov to find the wreck of a nuclear sub, and was hired for a certain amount of time, he manage to find the submarine wreck 4 days before the deadline, and as he was close to the area where he suspected the Titanic's wreck might be, he went and looked for it... and found it.
I'm sure someone mentioned this already, but as I recall from the book, Bud's wedding ring is titanium, which is how it was able to survive the door crush.
@33:55 That’s what I call “The Hammer” moment, and it’s one of my favorite moments in this movie. It’s the ultimate payoff of the earlier scene where Catfish (Leo Burmester) said “they used to call this ‘The Hammer’”. The earlier scene could have easily been a throwaway scene where someone’s just bragging about his younger days, but James Cameron brought it back around to show that “The Hammer” is still pretty powerful and useful in a pinch.
The drowning scene is so traumatic and panic-inducing and the resuscitation part is not much better but well done to the actors for make it so believeable.
The pseudopod sequence was the birth of photoshop. A couple of the guys at ILM took a whole bunch of photos of the set and then created a computer program (became photoshop) so they could stitch them together to create the reflections on the tentacle.
Great reaction fellas. I remember seeing this at the movies with my best pal on release week here in England. We're both in our late 50's and still talk about how good this film is today!! Thanks for sharing. 👊🏻
This film , as many of Cameron's films was trailblazing , groundbreaking in many ways , especially for the first time CG was used to such an extent with the stellar water snake scenes. Many , many awards for this film . Cameron is among the Geniuses of film making.
Great reaction guys! The cast hated making this movie. They were in serious need of therapy it was that bad. Risks were taken, people almost drowned including James Cameron himself. You guys should watch the documentary about the Byford Dolphin rig accident. It’s a good example of why deep saturation divers make so much money. It involved four divers and an explosive decompression from nine atmospheres to one in less than a second. Let’s just say, if it shows aftermath pics, I wouldn’t recommend looking unless you can handle real gore, the holy crap kind.
This film is also kind of a master class in how editing can change the entire theme of a movie, or at least significantly alter it (or water it down)... for better or worse, which is really interesting, it makes you really wonder about agendas sometimes.
The liquid-oxygen “dilemma”. Long before the Internet existed we would argue for hours about whether the liquid-breathing was in fact real. I just want to say to all my childhood friends: Suck it! I was right! Also… they’re working on a sequel. Bud and Lindsey have a kid. It’s gonna be called… Son Of Abyss. 😂🤪
In deep water there are a whole lot of animals that look like plants. They attach themselves to the bottom and filter food out of passing water currents.
Please correct me if you have more accurate information, but as far as I know the top 200m of the ocean is known as the euphotic (sunlight) zone and it is here that photosynthesis is possible. Between 200m and 1 000m is the dysphotic (twilight) zone. There is rarely any significant sunlight penetration beyond 200m, so photosynthesis is typically impossible here, though a small number of photosynthetic plant/algal species have been recorded at depths of up to around 270m. The region below 1 000m is called the aphotic zone, where no sunlight penetrates. Given the depths this movie is set at, I have to assume that the "plants" we see are actually deep sea sponges. These are animals that come in a great variety of species with a great variety of colours, sizes, and forms. Some do look very much like plants, but they rely on filter-feeding, not photosynthesis.
The ocean actually has 5 zones for depth. The sunlight zone (epipelagic), the twilight zone (mesopelagic), the midnight zone (bathypelagic), the abyssal zone (abyssopelagic) and the hadal zone (trenches). But for the most relevant part, you are correct.
@@jamesmarciel5237 Yeah, I kept it simple below 1 000m as it wasn't really relevant to break it up into it's 3 component zones for a discussion on sunlight penetration, but thanks for the added detail and alternative terms used for each zone. What do you think of my accessment of the "plants" in the movie? Do you think they were sponges or did James Cameron screw up and put photosynthetic plants in his deep sea environment?..... Surely Cameron wouldn't make such a basic mistake, would he?
One of the most stressful movies ever made. You hold your breath then hyperventilate like the characters & at the end you want to take a walk outside & touch grass. Cameron is the Tension Master. The actors did a fantastic job too, skin in the game & all.
Orson Scott Card wrote the novelization of this film (his only film adaptation) the first 3 chapters were about each main character during thier childhood years. They were so good that Ed Harris, Elizabeth Masterantonio, and Micheal Biehn used them to base their performancers off of. The Aliens were much more prevelent in his story, they have the ability to actually read minds and save memories, our being in their eyes alone is horrifying to them. But it's a few chars that change thier minds about us. The called us polluting land slugs. The special edition cut added many additional scenes with the aliens, also added to the standoff developing between the Russian and American Navies, and the escalating international response. If you can find the book I would vehemently recommend reading it. Great reaction, and keep at it fellas
TY guys so, so much for giving the Special Edition the consideration it deserves. And I will very much look forward to you watching the one-word-titled show Cam referenced that Zay hasn't seen yet, because it's such a wild ride.
Not only were tye helmets made special for the cast, but the filming crew were also outfitted with them. Filming went on for long stretches underwater, and the helmets helped with comfort and safety.
When Bud is falling down the wall of the Trench, the set was only like 25-35 feet tall. The entire “fall” was all filmed at the same time. The “fall” was made to seem longer because of multiple cameras shooting from multiple angles.
This is such a great film. It paved the way for CGI effects for future movies. I'm glad you watched this version vs the theatrical cut. The biggest difference the two versions is the scene where Virgil is inside the alien ship @48:26 was edited a lot. There was no huge tidal wave or the aliens showing all the nuclear bombs and war scenes on to him. It didn't really make sense in the theatrical cut. I heard that James Cameron edited it to the TC on his own, not due to pressure from the studio. I believe he was worried about the run time.
For Cam: James Cameron has said that one of his biggest influences was the "Barsoom" series of sci-fi novels from the 1910's by Edger Rice Burroughs. (along with most of the other sci-fi authors and movie makers of the last 60+ years, including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Frank Herbert, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, Gene Roddenberry, Arthur C. Clark, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Ayn Rand, Katheryn Bigalow. The novel series also inspired Superman, Flash Gordon, and Buck Rogers). You should watch the movie "John Carter" (2012) based on the 1st "Barsoom" novel, "A Princess of Mars" (written 1912)
From what I recall, the special editions biggest difference is the ending message about us destroying ourselves, and the aliens sending the tsunamis were also added. These things weren’t in the theatrical cut. The special addition is a much different film, and it’s better for it.
@cam&zay the rat in the breathing fluid is real and the shot from the movies is 100% a live rat breathing the fluid, and 192 warheads that "each one" are 5x Hiroshima
He cuts himself to stay alert,pain has,a,way of reminding you it's there,also when he elbows the cassette player he wasn't supposed to break it hence the look of surprise
The difference between the theatrical version is the water "aliens" didnt try to threaten to destroy the planet. They were there and recognized him for stopping the nuke and said hey... dont fuck up the planet. but no tidal waves.
I had hyperbaric oxygen treatment at UCSD Hospital San Diego, they put us in the hyperbaric chamber 10 people plus 2 attendants, they brought the pressure down 3 times lower than normal, you had to hold your nose and pop your ears like on a plane, then the attendants put on our oxygen helmets and we would breathe pure oxygen for about an hour, then we would do the decompression. This treatment helped to heal wounds faster, they occasionally brought in divers to help them decompress, the chamber took us 35 feet below sea level 😊Gary
May I ask the reason for the treatment? I had three hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatments (as well as three surgeries and massive amounts of IV antibiotics) over a five day period and survived flesh eating bacteria. It was like entering a submarine inside the hospital and donning a space suit! Huge scar but I did heal pretty well. Interesting experience... Hope you're doing well.
I had Hyperbaric Oxygen (HBO) therapy as well. Significantly longer multiple times. Three times a week for 14 weeks each 3X. Mine was for wound care of a diabetic ulcer. Both of the locations I used had individual chambers for each patient. But, yes also 3 surgeries and massive amounts of antibiotics, Clindamycin, I can’t do the other two of the three big antibiotics (Vancomycin caused an allergic reaction in my kidneys and Daptomycin caused rhabdo)
You were right Cam about the light zone, but you were wrong about the "plants" on the bottom by the rig. Those were urchins. And as far as the theatrical cut, it left out the threat of the giant waves, so a big part of the story. Still was an amazing experience in the theater. I got to see it on 70mm with huge THX speakers, so amazing. Felt like I spent two hours on the bottom of the sea.
Been waiting for this one. In April 1993 I drove from Laramie, WY-I was in my last semester at U-Dub-to see this at the old Continental 70mm auditorium in Denver. It was worth cutting a day of classes and driving through the end of a blizzard east of town to see its rerelease in a massive theater.
“..coming out of the theater asking how can I be better?..” That reminds me of a quote from another movie, one of my favorites,.. “How can a man die better, than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his ancestors and the temples of his gods?..” Oblivion starring Tom Cruise. Few reactors have covered that film, but I think it’s worth it.
The deeper you dive the more pressure water exerts on your body. The body is mostly water. The higher the pressure the more dissolved gasses water can hold. If you rise up too fast the dissolved gases will form bubbles in your blood and tissues. This is called the bends and is VERY painful and can be lethal. Decompression is simply rising slow enough to allow the dissolved gasses to diffuse out of the body without forming bubbles. This takes longer the deeper you dive. Deep divers actually breath a mixture of oxygen and helium, which makes you sound funny. This is because nitrogen at high pressure causes people to act drunk. Due to how long decompression takes the only practical way to work at deep depths is for long periods of time. This is called Saturation diving. Divers spend weeks working at depth and living in a pressurized chamber at the surface. Fun fact, the Brooklyn Bridge tower foundation was supposed to be built on bedrock but when they tried to dig down to it people kept getting sick and they didn't know why so they just stopped and one tower actually rests on sand.
34:27 Zay, shooting a nuclear warhead will not set it off. It has its own electrical trigger that has to set it off. That’s why when the Air Force lost a nuclear bomb off the U.S. eastern coast and lost another nuclear bomb of the coast of Spain, they didn’t go off. Those were dropped from bombers around 30,000 feet or so. Interesting fact: the U.S. has literally lost about 6 nuclear weapons since 1950 and NONE have been recovered. It’s also why C4 will not detonate from being shot by a bullet, despite what the movies would have you believe. I know C4 is a plastic explosive and not nuclear. Just a pet peeve of mine about all the times C4 blows up from being shot by the hero in the movies.
Finally, I believe that if this film were released finished in 1989, with everything removed from the theatrical edit, that it would have been nominated for the big Oscars, not just the tech stuff.
James Cameron has made a few stinkers like "Dark Star", which he co-wrote with Dan O Bannon who also plays Pinback in this movie. Dan O Bannon also co-wrote the first "Alien" movie and "Return of the Living Dead, another zombie satire you'll both get a kick out of. However I highly recommend watching Dark Star because you'll get a great laugh at a satire comedy done in outer space.
Fighting to revive Lindsey is still one of the most intense scenes in cinema for me. Heart wrenching decision, heartbreaking death, heart warming determination that saves her. All in a few minutes. The acting is phenomenal
Did you see southpark do it ?
@@citizensunitednegatingtech9783 no?! Lol I'll try find it
@@pickmeasinner cripple fight is the episode
Cameron is a cinema and storytelling genius and, for me, the entire Lindsey Drowns & Revival idea is Cameron's best idea...ever.
Per the behind the scenes documentary, this scene almost broke her. If was intense and painful. Cameron was apparently awful this movie. She had to walk off set for a while.
The special effects on this film were unprecedented at the time. We had never seen the kind of CGI in movies like the water 'worm' and it morphing into faces. Imagine back then we were used to seeing practical and makeup effects or stop-motion miniatures, and then this shows up on screen and the entire audience has no idea what the hell they are seeing or how this was being done. It was a breakthrough moment in cinema and Cameron took it to the next level AGAIN 2 years later with the T-1000 liquid metal CGI in Terminator 2, which blew people away even more.
The guy with the tremors, and mustache, was Kyle Reese In Terminator and was in Aliens
Johnny Ringo
Try using his name, Michael Biehn.
He was also in the Mandalorian
@@mikelundquist4596 “Why, Johnny Ringo, you look like somebody just walked over your grave”
@@MsAppassionata "okay, lunger..."
not only is the liquid oxygen real, but that rat was actually put into it and breathing it for real for that shot. Cameron got some shit for doing that.
Correct 👍😎
@@Anthony-ss8ob That's why the film censors in the UK won't let the new BluRay release be sold here... 😞
The rat went on to live a long happy comfortable life as his house pet.
Considering the reasons for why we have the term "Lab rats" I'm a little surprized by this fact, not that I advocate animal cruelty, it just strikes me as odd.
@@andbrittain We all know where meat comes from, but that doesn't mean most people want to watch the animal be killed and processed. Most people also feel differently about something being done for a beneficial purpose and something that's solely being done for entertainment.
The Abyss (Special Edition) is a great and underrated Cameron film. To me, The Abyss is James Camerons Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Lol, at the end, I saw Bud in the suit and I thought Wow, he looks just like John Glenn. Then later on, I saw him in The Right Stuff and he played ... John Glenn.
I guarantee that look was exactly what Cameron was going for. He just looks like an astronaut in that suit.
He should have been cast in every film featuring astronauts or characters who just looked like astronauts made after 1980.
I'm pretty sure that's why Ed Harris got to be the hardass admiral in that section of Top Gun: Maverick that was very obviously The Right Stuff-inspired, too.
13:00 Yes, this scene with the rat in the breathing fluid was totally real... ;)
Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio brought their A game to this film. Easily one of my top 20 all time favorites
Ed Harris still won't talk about the movie, because he almost drowned and felt ashamed that he got scared or something. It was deeply traumatizing to film for almost everyone. Crew and cast during the shoot wore t-shirts with the inscription "The Abuse".
I think The Abyss is their career best
This film should be WAY more famous.
I wonder if The Abyss was released in the late 1970s if it wouldve done better. People mightve been starving to see a troubled couple like this find a way back together
This is my favorite performance by Ed Harris. The “Nooo!!” yell when Lindsay drown always gets me. Then his refusal to give up on her at the rig, trying to revive her was absolutely convincing.
This movie is amazing and is probably Cameron’s masterpiece. It was also the most difficult film shoot in history. Cameron actually used a decommissioned nuclear power plant’s containment vessel and filled it with something like three million gallons of water to do the underwater shots. Half the cast and crew nearly drowned on several occasions.
A never completed nuclear power plant, not a decommissioned one. Construction was stopped long before anything nuclear was installed.
the first time I watched this was on VHS in my bedroom. During the night I woke up to water pouring out of my closet. I was thinking wow! What a vivid dream until I realized it was really happening. The water heater in the apartment above me broke.
😂😂😂. Art imitating life (or vice versa)😭😭
"So raise your hand if you think that was a Russian water-tentacle" is the sentence I thought I'd never hear. 😂😂😂
LOVED this watchalong with you both. I hope yer patreon members vote for Hunt for Red October for you to watch some time. That would be a fantastic watch.
I second this
🤚
What made this movie so amazing to me when it came out was there were a number of undersea 'alien' type monster films in the theaters at the same time (Leviathan being the one I remember), and the trailer for Abyss made it seem like one of those. I left the theater almost in tears of how much greater a movie I had just watched.
Honestly Leviathan is gross and disgusting and awful but I love that film too, LOL... for a totally different reason!
That scene with Lindsey having to drown and be revived is incredible.
There is a saying in rescue teams around cold environments: You're not dead until you're warm and dead. The theory about letting Lindsey drown and bringing her back is sound, it just doesn't work that often and you don't shock a flatline.
Glad you done the special edition - is so much better than the theatrical cut.
fact
That drowning revival scenes is one of the best scenes in movie history.
Decompression crash course:
- the deeper you go and the longer you stay down result in the gasses you are breathing being dissolved more and more into your blood/tissues. This is similar to shaking a sealed soda can.
- the more gasses that have dissolved into your body, the longer you have to wait (decompress) before you can safely walk about on the surface again. This is similar to... well... waiting for a shaken soda can to settle (it's a little bit more complicated but I'm trying to keep it simple).
- if you go up too fast, all that dissolved gas in your tissues (that was being kept dissolved by the pressure) now becomes gaseous again => becomes bubbles => you get the bends (bad). This is similar to opening a recently shaken soda. Your blood turns to foam and you die extremely painfully. Or you "only" get a stroke. There was a horrific incident on an oil rig where a decompression chamber (i.e. an area at high pressure) was suddenly decompressed back to sea level pressure and let's just say the results were not pretty for the men inside the decompression chamber.
One twist:
- for any given pressure there will be a time after which point you reach a "saturation" state: your body can no longer physically store any additional dissolved gas. From this point onwards your decompression time (which will most definitely be in the weeks for the depths being talked about in the movie) remains constant, regardless of how much longer you stay at that pressure. If you increase your pressure (go deeper), then more gas gets dissolved in your body & your decompression timer continues to increase.
Yeah The Byford Dolphin incident was absolutely horrible. I mean it was instant death for the guys but what it did to their bodies was so gruesome, especially the guy who was forced through a tiny opening in an instant. It's amazing that one guy survived the incident.
You guys always make my day with your reactions and jokes. I’m going through a really hard time right now. So thank you.
This was the production from hell. Ed Harris refuses to talk about this movie in interviews, Mary Mastrantonio had a nervous breakdown and Cameron almost died.
It still blows my mind that Cameron shot a full on underwater chase scene with submersibles in 1988-89.
The big difference between the DC and the theatrical is a lot of character development (Like when they are all singing the song together in the beginning) and almost all of the alien angle.
The few sighting of aliens are in the TC, but in the end it basically skips from but Bud disarming the bomb to the 'city' rising to the surface. Cuts the tidal waves, the alien's messages etc.
I watched this when it was first released, then again with a theater full of Abyss fans when the director's cut came out. For the entire movie, everyone was talking. It was like watching your favorite movie in your living room with 200 friends. My favorite moment: "Oh! That's why his hand was blue!" The rest of us: "Oh, yeah!"
BTW, that pink liquid thing, is actually a thing.
Dont know if it's ever been tested on humans, but the rat demoed breathing it, was not practical effect. It's the real deal.
It is said to be a rather thick sludge, as far as "breathing" is concerned. It is probably very tiring to use.
Niiiiice... I remember being very underwhelmed as a kid watching the theatrical cut. In high school a friend said I had to see the director's cut. I was a little older and for many reasons this version clicked with me.
Cameron is in Spielberg mode here and it works. It also evokes classic 50's sci Fi like THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. I may love T2, ALIENS and TRUE LIES more but... I think this is his best, most mature film.
I think this one is special guys.
I don't see that anyone else has commented about it, so I will just say that the novel for the film is pretty much a must-read if you want to know what is really going on...especially if you want to really DRILL DOWN into the characters. (pun intended) As a huge bonus, it was written by one of the great writers of science fiction...Orson Scott Card...who is most famous for the Ender's Game series. For real...the more you like this movie, the more you really have to read the film...it will multiply your appreciation by an order of magnitude.
Also, the big thing about being down deep and then coming back up is "the bends", which is the nickname for decompression sickness. The issue is that gasses get dissolved into the blood differently when the body is under compression...especially nitrogen...so the decompression process is needed to allow enough time for that nitrogen to work its way out of your blood while you come up from down deep. If you come up too quickly, the nitrogen forms bubbles that are incredibly painful and debilitating.
Totally second all of this. The movie novelization is exceptional.
Completely agree. I normally dislike movie novelizations but I loved this one. Having a real sci-fi author write made a huge difference.
@@dneill8493 your comment made me chuckle- because I actually collect film novelizations.
Dolphin rib cages and lungs can compress allowing them to dive deep.
Good thing that all happened by random chance on the first try or no dolphins would exist today. 🙄
Oil rig workers are called "roughnecks"
Oil well fire fighters are called "hell-fighters"
Tunnelers and workers who clear the foundations for bridge towers are called "sandhogs"
James Cameron used what he learned from the water tentacle effect in this movie on the Liquid Metal in Terminator 2. For some good behind the scenes information watch the Critical Drinker’s Abyss Production Hell video.
Imagine making a movie today that will still hold up 35 years from now.
Making this movie was absolute hell for everyone involved and took a huge toll on the actors. You should watch the Documentary about it.
James Cameron does such a great job creating and developing strong female characters.
Ridley Scott gave us Ellen Ripley...James Cameron made her a Sci fi icon. First actor or actress to be nominated for a best actress oscar in a Sci fi movie good
If you watch the making of the Abyss, you will see how hard this was for the actors and crew to film.
@@InjuredRobot. also, Son of Abyss
Abyss is a Wonder of Water! If you two are interested in another visit in the deep blue water; suggest adding 'Sphere' - 1998 film to your future watch list.
The movie Sphere was eh… read the book, it’s monumentally better (of course)
I was going to mention SPHERE. The book is much better, but the movie is worth a watch.
Love how many genres they fit into this. James Cameron movies are always an EXPERIENCE. Can imagine what a pain in the a-- he might be on set, but you can tell he takes filmmaking very, very seriously.
I believe the production crew hired Raytheon to create special helmets so that their faces could be seen for the cameras.
Yes. Normal "hardhat" diving helmets have a much smaller faceplate. Guys that do that kind of dive work typically wear a helium based breathing apparatus like the Helinaut 500.
Kyle Reese was in nearly every action movie from 1984 - 1989
You guys need to research Cameron more. He’s not just a director that makes movies above deep sea stuff. He’s an expert that has designed his own submersibles, and gone to the depths of the ocean many times.
He's also insufferably arrogant and self important.
@@MB-oc1nw Might be true, but doesn’t negate what I said
The liquid oxigen shit its real but not used like that, I dont know now, but back then at least, it was used as a treatment for like newborns to help develop their lungs or something like that, also a fun fact about the subject of a missing sub and the goverment hiring civilians.... Thats how they found the Titanic in 1985, Robert Ballard a civilian was hired by the gov to find the wreck of a nuclear sub, and was hired for a certain amount of time, he manage to find the submarine wreck 4 days before the deadline, and as he was close to the area where he suspected the Titanic's wreck might be, he went and looked for it... and found it.
Find the DVD extras , it was a live rat on screen breathing the fluid, not a puppet or a doll or a robot.
I'm sure someone mentioned this already, but as I recall from the book, Bud's wedding ring is titanium, which is how it was able to survive the door crush.
@33:55 That’s what I call “The Hammer” moment, and it’s one of my favorite moments in this movie. It’s the ultimate payoff of the earlier scene where Catfish (Leo Burmester) said “they used to call this ‘The Hammer’”. The earlier scene could have easily been a throwaway scene where someone’s just bragging about his younger days, but James Cameron brought it back around to show that “The Hammer” is still pretty powerful and useful in a pinch.
The drowning scene is so traumatic and panic-inducing and the resuscitation part is not much better but well done to the actors for make it so believeable.
The Abyss, Avatar and Titanic. Cameron loves the sea.
And the T and A
The pseudopod sequence was the birth of photoshop. A couple of the guys at ILM took a whole bunch of photos of the set and then created a computer program (became photoshop) so they could stitch them together to create the reflections on the tentacle.
The dead guy with the crab that crawls out of his mouth. James Cameron‘s brother.
Does he not like his brother? LOL
"Remember when your wife tasted me?" I about lost it!
Great reaction fellas. I remember seeing this at the movies with my best pal on release week here in England. We're both in our late 50's and still talk about how good this film is today!! Thanks for sharing. 👊🏻
This film , as many of Cameron's films was trailblazing , groundbreaking in many ways , especially for the first time CG was used to such an extent with the stellar water snake scenes. Many , many awards for this film . Cameron is among the Geniuses of film making.
Great reaction guys! The cast hated making this movie. They were in serious need of therapy it was that bad. Risks were taken, people almost drowned including James Cameron himself.
You guys should watch the documentary about the Byford Dolphin rig accident. It’s a good example of why deep saturation divers make so much money. It involved four divers and an explosive decompression from nine atmospheres to one in less than a second. Let’s just say, if it shows aftermath pics, I wouldn’t recommend looking unless you can handle real gore, the holy crap kind.
Love your reactions guys. You’re doing some of my favorites!
Thank you for taking the effort to find and watch the special edition.
This film is also kind of a master class in how editing can change the entire theme of a movie, or at least significantly alter it (or water it down)... for better or worse, which is really interesting, it makes you really wonder about agendas sometimes.
The liquid-oxygen “dilemma”.
Long before the Internet existed we would argue for hours about whether the liquid-breathing was in fact real.
I just want to say to all my childhood friends: Suck it!
I was right!
Also… they’re working on a sequel. Bud and Lindsey have a kid. It’s gonna be called…
Son Of Abyss. 😂🤪
God dammit! You had my hopes up for that sequel. What a let down, you son of abyss!
I'm so glad you guys watched this one. One of my favorite movies. That death scene was the best. Thanks guys.
In deep water there are a whole lot of animals that look like plants. They attach themselves to the bottom and filter food out of passing water currents.
Please correct me if you have more accurate information, but as far as I know the top 200m of the ocean is known as the euphotic (sunlight) zone and it is here that photosynthesis is possible. Between 200m and 1 000m is the dysphotic (twilight) zone. There is rarely any significant sunlight penetration beyond 200m, so photosynthesis is typically impossible here, though a small number of photosynthetic plant/algal species have been recorded at depths of up to around 270m. The region below 1 000m is called the aphotic zone, where no sunlight penetrates.
Given the depths this movie is set at, I have to assume that the "plants" we see are actually deep sea sponges. These are animals that come in a great variety of species with a great variety of colours, sizes, and forms. Some do look very much like plants, but they rely on filter-feeding, not photosynthesis.
The ocean actually has 5 zones for depth.
The sunlight zone (epipelagic), the twilight zone (mesopelagic), the midnight zone (bathypelagic), the abyssal zone (abyssopelagic) and the hadal zone (trenches). But for the most relevant part, you are correct.
@@jamesmarciel5237 Yeah, I kept it simple below 1 000m as it wasn't really relevant to break it up into it's 3 component zones for a discussion on sunlight penetration, but thanks for the added detail and alternative terms used for each zone.
What do you think of my accessment of the "plants" in the movie? Do you think they were sponges or did James Cameron screw up and put photosynthetic plants in his deep sea environment?..... Surely Cameron wouldn't make such a basic mistake, would he?
@26:04 The “Roger Ramjet” reference always gives me a chuckle. It’s too bad that a lot of the younger generations don’t understand it.
One of the most stressful movies ever made. You hold your breath then hyperventilate like the characters & at the end you want to take a walk outside & touch grass. Cameron is the Tension Master. The actors did a fantastic job too, skin in the game & all.
Orson Scott Card wrote the novelization of this film (his only film adaptation) the first 3 chapters were about each main character during thier childhood years. They were so good that Ed Harris, Elizabeth Masterantonio, and Micheal Biehn used them to base their performancers off of. The Aliens were much more prevelent in his story, they have the ability to actually read minds and save memories, our being in their eyes alone is horrifying to them. But it's a few chars that change thier minds about us. The called us polluting land slugs. The special edition cut added many additional scenes with the aliens, also added to the standoff developing between the Russian and American Navies, and the escalating international response. If you can find the book I would vehemently recommend reading it. Great reaction, and keep at it fellas
YES!! I have not watched the reaction yet, but this is one of my all-time favorite movies.
TY guys so, so much for giving the Special Edition the consideration it deserves. And I will very much look forward to you watching the one-word-titled show Cam referenced that Zay hasn't seen yet, because it's such a wild ride.
Not only were tye helmets made special for the cast, but the filming crew were also outfitted with them.
Filming went on for long stretches underwater, and the helmets helped with comfort and safety.
Thank you so much for watching Special Edition! It makes so much difference!
Thank you, Cameron! Thank you, Isaiah! 🪼
When Bud is falling down the wall of the Trench, the set was only like 25-35 feet tall. The entire “fall” was all filmed at the same time. The “fall” was made to seem longer because of multiple cameras shooting from multiple angles.
This is such a great film. It paved the way for CGI effects for future movies. I'm glad you watched this version vs the theatrical cut. The biggest difference the two versions is the scene where Virgil is inside the alien ship @48:26 was edited a lot. There was no huge tidal wave or the aliens showing all the nuclear bombs and war scenes on to him. It didn't really make sense in the theatrical cut. I heard that James Cameron edited it to the TC on his own, not due to pressure from the studio. I believe he was worried about the run time.
The Fluid Breathing System is real, btw. The scenes with the rats breathing it was real and got banned in Europe
The liquid breathing system is very real. They actually used it on the rat.
6:30 More people really should expect "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" elements in movies!
For Cam:
James Cameron has said that one of his biggest influences was the "Barsoom" series of sci-fi novels from the 1910's by Edger Rice Burroughs. (along with most of the other sci-fi authors and movie makers of the last 60+ years, including George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Frank Herbert, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, Gene Roddenberry, Arthur C. Clark, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Ayn Rand, Katheryn Bigalow. The novel series also inspired Superman, Flash Gordon, and Buck Rogers).
You should watch the movie "John Carter" (2012) based on the 1st "Barsoom" novel, "A Princess of Mars" (written 1912)
The Cayman Trench (where this is set I think) is 26,216 feet deep.
From what I recall, the special editions biggest difference is the ending message about us destroying ourselves, and the aliens sending the tsunamis were also added. These things weren’t in the theatrical cut. The special addition is a much different film, and it’s better for it.
@cam&zay the rat in the breathing fluid is real and the shot from the movies is 100% a live rat breathing the fluid, and 192 warheads that "each one" are 5x Hiroshima
He cuts himself to stay alert,pain has,a,way of reminding you it's there,also when he elbows the cassette player he wasn't supposed to break it hence the look of surprise
This is a really good movie. I haven't seen the director's cut in a long time! Thanks for sharing!
this is one of my fave movies. I'm so excited to see you guys react!!
The difference between the theatrical version is the water "aliens" didnt try to threaten to destroy the planet. They were there and recognized him for stopping the nuke and said hey... dont fuck up the planet. but no tidal waves.
I had hyperbaric oxygen treatment at UCSD Hospital San Diego, they put us in the hyperbaric chamber 10 people plus 2 attendants, they brought the pressure down 3 times lower than normal, you had to hold your nose and pop your ears like on a plane, then the attendants put on our oxygen helmets and we would breathe pure oxygen for about an hour, then we would do the decompression. This treatment helped to heal wounds faster, they occasionally brought in divers to help them decompress, the chamber took us 35 feet below sea level 😊Gary
May I ask the reason for the treatment? I had three hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatments (as well as three surgeries and massive amounts of IV antibiotics) over a five day period and survived flesh eating bacteria. It was like entering a submarine inside the hospital and donning a space suit! Huge scar but I did heal pretty well. Interesting experience...
Hope you're doing well.
@@mitzifrancis9843 if you want to reduce the scar, applying vitamin E oil might help
I had Hyperbaric Oxygen (HBO) therapy as well. Significantly longer multiple times. Three times a week for 14 weeks each 3X. Mine was for wound care of a diabetic ulcer. Both of the locations I used had individual chambers for each patient. But, yes also 3 surgeries and massive amounts of antibiotics, Clindamycin, I can’t do the other two of the three big antibiotics (Vancomycin caused an allergic reaction in my kidneys and Daptomycin caused rhabdo)
Thanks!
Also he got to develop a lot of the special effects that he got to use later on in Terminator 2, so there's that.
30:33 "take the gun"! They wouldn't have a chance in hell of doing that, dealing with Navy Seals!
You were right Cam about the light zone, but you were wrong about the "plants" on the bottom by the rig. Those were urchins. And as far as the theatrical cut, it left out the threat of the giant waves, so a big part of the story. Still was an amazing experience in the theater. I got to see it on 70mm with huge THX speakers, so amazing. Felt like I spent two hours on the bottom of the sea.
Been waiting for this one. In April 1993 I drove from Laramie, WY-I was in my last semester at U-Dub-to see this at the old Continental 70mm auditorium in Denver. It was worth cutting a day of classes and driving through the end of a blizzard east of town to see its rerelease in a massive theater.
This version had a two VHS package back in the day.
“..coming out of the theater asking how can I be better?..”
That reminds me of a quote from another movie, one of my favorites,.. “How can a man die better, than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his ancestors and the temples of his gods?..”
Oblivion starring Tom Cruise.
Few reactors have covered that film, but I think it’s worth it.
All subs are nuclear-powered and nuclear weapons stations.
Slight correction, all U.S. subs are nuclear. There are still other nations that use Diesel-Electric subs.
Ed Harris said it was the hardest shoot of his life. He almost died.
I heard Cameron put the actors through hell making this movie. It must have been a nice paycheck.
"Did you just lick me?" Almost made soda come out my nose.
There are plants that are very deep that don't need sunlight. Weird but true
The deeper you dive the more pressure water exerts on your body. The body is mostly water. The higher the pressure the more dissolved gasses water can hold. If you rise up too fast the dissolved gases will form bubbles in your blood and tissues. This is called the bends and is VERY painful and can be lethal. Decompression is simply rising slow enough to allow the dissolved gasses to diffuse out of the body without forming bubbles. This takes longer the deeper you dive. Deep divers actually breath a mixture of oxygen and helium, which makes you sound funny. This is because nitrogen at high pressure causes people to act drunk.
Due to how long decompression takes the only practical way to work at deep depths is for long periods of time. This is called Saturation diving. Divers spend weeks working at depth and living in a pressurized chamber at the surface.
Fun fact, the Brooklyn Bridge tower foundation was supposed to be built on bedrock but when they tried to dig down to it people kept getting sick and they didn't know why so they just stopped and one tower actually rests on sand.
There are plants in parts of the very deep ocean that can survive with out light.
34:27 Zay, shooting a nuclear warhead will not set it off. It has its own electrical trigger that has to set it off. That’s why when the Air Force lost a nuclear bomb off the U.S. eastern coast and lost another nuclear bomb of the coast of Spain, they didn’t go off. Those were dropped from bombers around 30,000 feet or so.
Interesting fact: the U.S. has literally lost about 6 nuclear weapons since 1950 and NONE have been recovered.
It’s also why C4 will not detonate from being shot by a bullet, despite what the movies would have you believe. I know C4 is a plastic explosive and not nuclear. Just a pet peeve of mine about all the times C4 blows up from being shot by the hero in the movies.
The ring didn’t crush in the door because it’s made of titanium in the novelization
Finally, I believe that if this film were released finished in 1989, with everything removed from the theatrical edit, that it would have been nominated for the big Oscars, not just the tech stuff.
The Garfield stuck to the window was a popular item. People would put them on the back or rear windows of their car.
yep, I remember having one on our car in the late 80s or early 90s. I would have been a teen at the time.
'you are now an exhibit' 😂
Military guy gets "bends" crazy!!!
James Cameron has made a few stinkers like "Dark Star", which he co-wrote with Dan O Bannon who also plays Pinback in this movie. Dan O Bannon also co-wrote the first "Alien" movie and "Return of the Living Dead, another zombie satire you'll both get a kick out of. However I highly recommend watching Dark Star because you'll get a great laugh at a satire comedy done in outer space.
This movie is Amazing. In the theater, opening weekend, this movie was AMAZING!
Can you imagine how pissed off the NTI's would be now? Instead of weapons, there is trash!
Continue the string of awesome Cameron movies, with the Cameron written, Bigelow (Cameron's Ex, and dual Academy award winner) directed, Strange Days.