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Schwarzenegger was this man’s bizarre obsession and God bless him for it. Cameron also directed a little devoted submarine flick called The Abyss, which, surprisingly enough, bombed in the box office but later became a cult classic – though it remains incredibly hard to find people who actually watched. In any case, I watched The Abyss for you wonderful people, and while I did enjoy some parts, the reasoning for it not having the same explosive reception as Cameron’s other films was not shocking.
The Abyss tackles the tragic sinking of the U.S.S Montana, an American Nuclear Submarine, in the Cayman trough located between Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. It’s extra mysterious. To the rescue comes a US Navy SEAL team with the help of Deep Core, a civilian experimental underwater oil platform built for oil drilling. They hope to salvage the submarine before a hurricane hits and beats them to it. I know this is complicated, I’ll try to explain. The first rescue attempt fails dramatically when a Deep Core crew member, Jammer (John Bedford Lloyd), panics and manages to turn off the oxygen supply while losing consciousness. Lieutenant Coffey (Michael Biehn), the head of the Navy SEAL team, also has a problem with responding well to the light and the surface. The film is a strange mix of an international geopolitical thriller but unlike anything else containing only American characters. It’s entertaining, I wouldn’t call it great, but as movies go it’s ok.
The Abyss is a head trip filled with Cold War paranoia fears wrapped up in a beautiful three hour package. The Deep Core oil workers are not precisely a scheming elite. Rather, they are American middle class people who are caught up in the monotony of daily life, untouched by the clashes of national politics. Working below water lines represents a different civilization living parallel to two fighting superpowers. These characters could have been in space, and The Abyss wouldn’t have changed. The employees constantly encounter the elements of the Cold War, Coffey’s submarine, his SEAL team, etc. The film demonstrates how Americans lived throughout the Cold War in the middle of nuisance fueled hyperbole. While the Americans act and get categorized as absolutely innocent by James Cameron, they do what comes naturally which is hardly impact the world that is volatile.
Everyone once thought that the ocean hid monsters instead of outer space, and this scene perfectly blends the two ideas together.
The film is a beautiful blend of astounding visuals and practical effects set in hyperspace. An underwater oil drilling plateau becomes a stage for interstellar conflict. Not only does The Abyss features futuristic spacecrafts, the author also created giant robots dubbed “motherships” that possess incredible power. These ships shoot laser beams with the ability to destroy everything in their path. The plot revolves around Coffey’s journey aboard a submarine mothership as he tracks down the battle scene and marks attack positions with laser devices. It’s ironic how the narrative focuses on conflict, while at the same time there is no conflict at all, which is pretty strong commentary on modern civilization.
So, The Abyss there’s nuance to it. So why wasn’t it more successful? This is answerable from many angles, but would it even exist without the involvement of James Cameron? Trying to analyze this particular moving from a more detached perspective is next to impossible. Still, I do think that The Abyss demonstrates some of his shortcomings as a director. The man appears to be surprisingly talented at ONE certain kind of film and often lacks the needed finesse that such a piece would need to pull off. Take for example, the incredibly choreographed fight between Ed Harris and Michael Biehn. It’s amazing to watch, but singlehandedly destroys the subtle tension the movie has been building up to that point. The science fiction in this movie is oddly contradictory because the film simply does not follow through on that claim. It ends up being a big and preachy side story. Cameron films have certain prerequisites that must be present: violence for no reason, large proportions, a resolved conclusion, etc. The Abyss workd nothing like this.
Was The Abyss good? In my opinion, it is a good movie. The depth of its smart and multifaceted storytelling, great casts’ performances, and clever execution make it seem great but there are multiple moving factors in the film. As with most of his movies, James Cameron seems to have cared deeply about the narrative of The Abyss with the intention of it being as successful as his other films, but it fails as a blockbuster. To be successful, the film would have needed to take a more minimalist approach in order to achieve its goal. Cameron appears to have been heartbroken over The Abyss’ outcome because after The Abyss, he never went back to this more cerebral narrative style. But, it is probably safe to assume that he got over it, especially considering he has been overly fascinated with blue CGI-animated creatures and animation movie rips since 2009. The Abyss will always stand as a reminder that popular storytellers have their own unique narratives to share and that being liked does not immediately mean you excel at what you do.
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