Movie #82 - The Abyss

"There's everything you're ever known about adventure, and then there's the abyss."

This is one of my favourite movies from the James Cameron line of films. Although he is somewhat of a pompous ass, he's done some stellar films that I like to watch over and over again. This movie ranks up there with Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day and is a special treat to go along with his other films such as Aliens or True Lies.

A storyline about a deep sea mining team searching for a sunken nuclear submarine is fitting for the cold war era of the late 80's and it definitely has some unique twists along the way - opening up the imagination of fans. Cameron has a tremendous fixation on the wonders that await discovery in the deep sea areas and this movie gives him a chance to explore it.

This film is far better than his Titanic movie, although that one had a love story starring Leonardo DiCaprio. I doubt a love story driven by the great Ed Harris (who is a good looking man by the way) would cause much of a box office stir in comparison to Leo.

Anyhow, this film was groundbreaking for special effects and advancement of underwater cinematography. It was a well-deserved winner of the Oscar for Best Visual Effects in 1989 and set the tone for Cameron's upcoming film, T2, which utilized similar techniques to create his T-1000 character.

There is a solid performance by every one's favourite military hero/villain, Michael Biehn, who is cast as a villain in this film. Like every other movie he's been in except for a small handful, Biehn's casting leads to a tremendous death scene, as he is known in Hollywood for this guaranteed performance.

If you are as big of a fan of Biehn (who is also a Sigma Nu brother in case you didn't know) as I am - seek out his other strong performances in The Rock, Tombstone, and Terminator for his death scenes that strengthen the overall movie in the end.

Although Biehn has recently chosen to pursue the television roles to pay the bills, his appearances in most films are usually as a strong side character to help portray the protagonist in a better light. He accomplishes that here in the Abyss as you really hate him in the end.