The Abyss with Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

The Abyss (B-)
	STARS... Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn, Todd Graff, Leo Burmester, and John Bedford Lloyd. PLOT SUMMARY... An undersea research team encounter the wonders and terrors of the deep, including extraterrestrials. QUICK SCAN... This film could be compared to "E.T.". THE ABYSS contains action and FX. Ed Harris ("The Right Stuff") and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio ("Class Action") are terrific as a ocean researchers on the verge of divorce. The FX involving the aliens, when they finally DO show up, are rather disappointing.
DIRECTOR: James Cameron YEAR & RATING: 1989 (PG/13) BEST BETS: Cocoon Lords of the Deep Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind	SYNOPSIS... An undersea research team, which includes an about to be divorced husband and wife duo, is stationed on the ocean bottom. They receive some new orders, as well as a new crewman: a twitchy military type. They investigate a Russian sub that sank under mysterious circumstances. The ex-wife to be drowns. The ex-husband to be brings her back to life. The undersea crew encounters a strange liquid creature. During an emergency, the ex-husband is left behind when the rest of the crew returns to the surface. The ex-husband meets the aliens, then hitches a ride back to the surface in their ship. He reunites with his ex-wife.
Review: With THE ABYSS, action Director James Cameron takes a shot at "Close Encounters"/"E.T. friendly alien encounters, without much success. THE ABYSS details the encounter between an undersea research team, headed by Ed Harris, and some strange events that turn out to be of alien origin. Strangely enough, most things work in this film EXCEPT the aliens themselves. Unfortunately, in an "alien encounter" movie, this is a fatal flaw. Before the aliens actually show up and we meet them, eyeball to eyeball, THE ABYSS doesn't seem like a Sci-Fi film at all. Rather, its a contemporary adventure, with some of the feel of "Hunt for Red October". The film excels in conveying the claustrophobia of life underwater, and even a sense of the pressure of millions of tons of water over its head. The acting in this film is uniformly good. Usually reliable, though not big box office, Ed Harris ("The Right Stuff" and "Apollo 13") delivers the cinematic goods, once again. And Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio ("Class Action") as Harris' soon to be ex-wife, is quite convincing as a no-nonsense contemporary woman. However, great Sci-Fi films aren't just about acting, they're also about FX, and this area THE ABYSS screws up. The aliens, when they finally show up, are friendly glowing jellyfish. I guess it's as valid an E.T. interpretation as any other, but they don't live up to the long build up. I know "Close Encounters" and "E.T." are hard acts to follow, Jimbo, but if you can't take the competition, don't enter the ring. To add insult to injury, the huge alien spaceship which surfaces at the end of the movie, is phony and plastic. THE ABYSS truly ends with a whimper, not a bang. THE ABYSS may be somewhat watchable for fans of undersea films. Others may be well advised to avoid going down with the ship. THE ABYSS is a real sinker! MovieMonday.com * Super Star Index * Award Winners * CelebrityFrame.com