Man, it's been at least 7-8 years since I have watched this, if not longer. There was a time for awhile when this was my favorite
James Cameron movie, but not in regards to the original theatrical release of the film. I remember thinking it was just ok. Good, but not great because I was kind of confused by what I just saw with the whole aliens thing. It wasn't until I picked up the
Special Edition on DVD when it came out did I really end up digging this movie on a whole other level. A friend of mine had it on
Laser Disc and had told me about the added content that comes at the end of the film with the 1,000 foot tidal wave and all that and how the movie plays completely different from what I saw in the theaters. I can't remember exactly when the DVD came out, but I have not watched the original cut of the movie since 1989, so I can't even remember what that one was like now. Whenever I have watched the movie since then it's always been the
Special Edition or nothing.
I do hear a lot of negativity regarding
The Abyss. You either love it or you hate it. The ones that hate it usually bring up the ending as the reason why. I think it's unfair to say that the ending sinks the entire movie. Is it different in tone from the 2 1/2 hours that preceeds it? Yeah, kinda. But I think everything leading up to
Bud's sacrifce for his wife, his co-workers and humanity itself was neccessary for the
Aliens to see that we can be saved. Sure it's a bit preachy, but I'm okay with it.
This is a definite
Buy for me. Duh.
Now I'm off to watch the documentary, which I remember actually being better than the film itself. Stay tuned.......