The Abyss

Play trailer

0:37

The Abyss

PG-13

1989

2h 19m

Sci-Fi

Adventure

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

75%

Tomatometer

178 Reviews

83%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio are formerly married petroleum engineers who still have some issues to work out. They are drafted to assist a gung-ho Navy SEAL with a top-secret recovery operation: a nuclear sub has been ambushed and sunk, under mysterious circumstances, in some of the deepest waters on Earth.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

The utterly gorgeous special effects frequently overshadow the fact that The Abyss is also a totally gripping, claustrophobic thriller, complete with an interesting crew of characters.

Read Critics Reviews

Neil Norman

London Evening Standard

Dec 10

Where the first version seemed sluggish and overlong at two and a bit hours, the extended director's cut seems shorter, more exciting.

Go to Full Review

Bruce Westbrook

Houston Chronicle

Dec 10

A

The Abyss is slick yet real, fanciful yet gripping, and truly an eye-popping adventure.

Go to Full Review

Kevin Jackson

Independent (UK)

Dec 10

The first 40-odd minutes of Special Edition remain about as gripping as anyone could reasonably wish, but seeing Cameron compounding the errors of his original Abyss... is like watching a captain willfully scuppering his own ship.

Go to Full Review

Eddie Harrison

film-authority.com

Mar 19

5/5

A plea for tolerance and mutual understanding, just what we need right now.

Go to Full Review

David Crumpler

Florida Times-Union

Feb 3

3/5

The Abyss is all spectacle, no heart.

Go to Full Review

Rachel Wagner

Rachel's Reviews (YouTube)

Dec 26

The first half is a lot better than the second but it is overall entertaining.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

mike d

01/09/2025

I’m so glad I got to see this on the big screen!

See more

Noel H

10/28/2024

It was my first time watching this movie, and this is a highly underrated, but a really good movie. The vfx still holds up somewhat today, which is pretty impressive for a very early cgi usage. And the story was easy to follow, but was executed pretty well.

See more

W S B

12/07/2023

One of my top 10 films of all time, finally mastered to modern a/v standards! I love the special edition of this movie so much that I haven’t watched it in almost 20 years, because it’s never even gotten a proper anamorphic transfer, much less an HD remaster, and I won’t watch it in inferior quality. James Cameron has finally given us the 4K iteration of this film (and True Lies) that we’ve waited for. I’m thrilled to have gotten to see it on the big screen, the way he intended it to be seen. When the digital release hits on 12/12/23 (or best yet, the UHD disc release on 3/12/24), DO NOT sleep on this!

See more

Steven

12/07/2023

Wonderful. James Cameron was already thinking in 3D — every scene just has so much depth, it’s hard to describe.

See more

Edward W

12/07/2023

The Special Edition is my favorite movie of all time.

See more

Seth C

12/07/2023

One of Cameron's best films. Amazing use of practical effects as well as ground breaking cgi that still (mostly) holds up today.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

James Cameron

Director

Ed Harris

Virgil "Bud" Brigman

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

Lindsey Brigman

Michael Biehn

Lt. Hiram Coffey

Leo Burmester

Catfish DeVries

Todd Graff

Alan "Hippy" Carnes

Dune

36%

65%

Dune

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Dune

Star Trek: Nemesis

37%

49%

Star Trek: Nemesis

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Star Trek: Nemesis

Chaos Walking

21%

71%

Chaos Walking

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Chaos Walking

The Dinosaur Project

29%

20%

The Dinosaur Project

Watchlist

Stargate

53%

73%

Stargate

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

The Abyss: Trailer 1

0:37

The Abyss: 4K Restoration Trailer

1:58

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio are formerly married petroleum engineers who still have some issues to work out. They are drafted to assist a gung-ho Navy SEAL with a top-secret recovery operation: a nuclear sub has been ambushed and sunk, under mysterious circumstances, in some of the deepest waters on Earth.

Director: James Cameron
Producer: Gale Anne Hurd
Screenwriter: James Cameron
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Pacific Western, Lightstorm Entertainment
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Sci-Fi, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 9, 1989, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $54.3M
Runtime: 2h 19m
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Magnetic Stereo 6 Track, Surround, Dolby A, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio: 70mm, Scope (2.35:1)