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Welcome to my nightmare!
By the time the cast arrived, Cameron was already way behind schedule.
The director himself had little sympathy for his cast at the time.
Elsewhere, hedeclared, I shed not one tear for them …
Actors are pampered in this country more than [in] any other country in the world.
Beset by delays,The Abyssunderperformed financially in the summer of 1989.
Most of the press focused on the troubled nature of the shoot.
After all was said and done,The Abyssprobably broke even.
But it was supposed to be a hit.
By contrast,The Abyssdidnt even crack the annual top 20 financially.
1989 set records for the box office, but it wound up being a dismal year for Fox.
The greatness ofThe Abyssis pretty much undisputed today.
Its one of Camerons signature titles.
The recent 4K UHD release sold out even before it hit stores.
There are even those who will tell you its the last good film the director ever made.
But its also not impossible to see why critics and audiences were perplexed by it 25 years ago.
It uses the cinematic vernacular of horror to tell an essentially hopeful story.
The director tends to reject such readings, noting that the idea for the story predated his divorce.
But thats not how art works.
It clearly comes from a very personal place.
The marriage subplot also resonates because it contains the two best performances in Camerons filmography.
When Bud grunts to one of his underlings, Get rid of these empty sacks.
If these two can resolve their differences, we figure, then world peace might be possible.
It turns out thats exactly what the aliens are thinking, too.
This is a subplot that Cameron cut large chunks of from the films release version.
Certainly, the VFX here leaves something to be desired.
But thats not the real reason why this final section doesnt really work.
Its not about the VFX, nor is it about excised subplots.
No, the sensibility here is all wrong.
And Cameron just isnt that kind of guy, at least cinematically speaking.
Spielberg does Spielberg best.
When other directors try it, they usually embarrass themselves.
Its not that Cameron is a cynic or a phony.
Rather, in his universe, hope comes with a harder edge.
These endings avoid corniness because Cameron builds them on what feels like real loss and grief.
For him, hope is the blood-soaked smile you give after life takes its best shot.
And it is, but thats part of the problem.
And it completely betrays the bracing humanity of the rest of the picture.
And yet, Im not sure Id want it any other way.
In that sense,The Abysspoints to the future in more ways than one.
