Abyss Special Edition Review

In addition to the highly-anticipated climactic tidal wave sequence, Cameron has replaced excised footage that further develops the characters and better explains the pre-perestroika paranoia surrounding the events in the film. While the American-Soviet tension was only hinted at in the 1989 theatrical release, here it's a full-blown subplot that widens the scope of the film as frightened civilians anticipating nuclear war are interviewed on news broadcasts and--reminiscent of old Japanese monster movies--massive crowds panic at the sight of thousand-foot tidal waves threatening to wipe out the coastal cities around the world.

I was fortunate to be able to see 'The Abyss: The Special Edition' in a big theater, equipped with a THX sound system (this is the only way a film like this should be seen and heard) and it was truly one of the top five motion picture experiences I have ever had. Blown up on a big theater screen, one of the tidal wave effects seemed a bit shoddy, but otherwise all of the new visual effects were incredible. On a home video system, it's difficult to find the flaws in the effects and therefore the new climax is all the more riveting. Also, the music during the final moments of the resolution has been altered. Every frame of additional or altered footage is documented and described in the accompanying booklet. Unlike the first CBS/Fox Widescreen laserdisc (released in June, 1990), "The Special Edition" has been matted at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 (the original disc was matted at roughly 2:1, leaving many buyers angered at CBS/Fox for lopping off the sides of the image).

To set the record straight, 'The Abyss' was filmed in Super 35 format, at an aspect ratio of roughly 2:1 and is therefore almost perfectly matted on the original laserdisc, revealing more picture information above and below the traditional Panavision frame of 2.35:1. The new "Special Edition" masks off this extraneous vertical picture information and offers the more tightly cropped 2.35:1 image, which is both more pleasing to the eye and it's how the film was intended to look in theaters.

This disc release also marked another breakthrough in laserdisc technology: the use of THX mastering for home video (Paramount quietly mastered its widescreen releases of 'Days of Thunder', 'Star Trek 6' and the remastered reissue of 'Apocalypse Now' with the THX system, but this was the first title to actually boast the THX laserdisc logo).

Among the supplementaries included on the disc are interviews with director Cameron and other members of the cast and crew, a complete history of the film's production, the complete screenplay, three theatrical trailers, production stills and an hour long documentary about "the toughest shoot in movie history."

As a special treat, Fox has righted an old wrong by including here two theatrical trailers for 'Aliens' that were absent from that special edition disc package. Though there is no mention of it anywhere in the liner notes, they can be found following the end credits of the film on side 4 and between chapters 28 and 29 on side 6. Fox Video also released a "Director's Panned-and-Scanned" disc of this "Special Edition," though it hardly seems likely that any laser buff who loves this movie will spend the $99.95 for a version that is not in widescreen.