The Abyss (Special Edition)

Rating:
Summary: One of Cameron's best
Review: One of my favorite movies despite it's flaws. As a story about the conflict between a blue-collar team of underwater oil workers and a Navy seal team with a leader who suffers from a neurological disorder, the movie shines. Engaging characters, great dialog and action, convincing FX and an amazing attention to detail and authenticity. The tension between the two groups is ratcheted up to an almost unbearable level. It's hard to imagine it being done any better. However the primary subplot, the bit about the underwater aliens, is where the movie stumbles. An anticlimactic ending and some sub par FX that suffer by comparison to the rest of the movie. The theatrical version has an ending marred by some overly aggressive editing. There is also a directors cut on this DVD which reinstalls the edited material and adds a whole new element to the story, but to be quite frank, it comes off as sort of preachy and cliché. I prefer the theatrical version. Despite the problems, I still consider this to be one of Cameron's' best, and that's saying a lot. Not quite 5 star material but close.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Surround Sound
Review: It claims to be Dolby Digital 5.0. Unfortunately, it isn't! Its only Dolby 2.0 Surround (English and French).

Rating:
Summary: emotional deep sea impact
Review: First of all, for all those people who call this movie good CGI but weak story... here is the fact, the only so called CGI you really see in the movie is the glowry aliens and that "water worm" thing. Everything else were real things including those undersea robot, the big undersea base which was model. Speaking for realisim, those models visiually works better than a lotta CGI models thats in theater these days. That preservation of heaviness is something CGI yet can deliver, some new movies like Van Hellsing which big suckers, those vamps and wolfies still look pretty prastic, especially when they move, and that IS what the "standard look" of special effect we are looking at today.. , Matrix movies make people never bother to ask the question whether the realistic, that practical sense is important in a SciFi movie anymore, while seeing metalic pieces slashing flesh and blood is all people looking for in a SciFi movie. shame indeed. Something is really fishy about the special effect world today, its like going backward.. I remember back then watching new movies in every year's summer and winter is like seeing technology moving forward bit by bit... to see how real the world's visual can reach in a fictional world, but you dun see that now any more, people already been settled down with the scale a scrotch below what is perfectly practicle and nobody attempt to challenge anything anymore.

Rating:
Summary: Underwater-thrill =)
Review: The abyss is a very tense, mysterious can't wait to find out what this is-story, though I don't find the end as watertight as the rest of this movie lifts the level of the watchers' expectations to. I expected a lot more from the ending of this movie. Therefore, do not watch the extended version of the Abyss, unless you are a HUGE fan, it's toooo looooooong, and really boring.

Rating:
Summary: Missing 5.1 audio!!!
Review: The one star is for the single disk edition of the abyss. The back of the box claims it has 5.1 audio when in fact it does not! I returned the first one I bought thinking it may be an isolated incident, but much to my surprise it was the same!! I have e-mailed fox video several time's but they do not answer, I guess they don't care about their costomers. If you enjoy 5.1 surround as I do then dont buy this movie ,it is defective!!