The Abyss - Theatrical Cut vs Director's Cut

[amoergosum]

Which cut do you prefer and why?

Detailed comparison:
http://movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=728

The Abyss - Deleted scene - YouTube

[L-Rouge]

directors cut. basically expands the presence of the alien lifeforms, their encounter in the theatrical cut to me always felt unrealized and convenient. I could see in the Directors version the drive of the aliens, their determinations, I keep looking upon that tidal wave and it was remarkable to see their their control over water fully realized. it supports Lindsey and Bud's connection all the more that their love could be seen as an influence or deciding factor in their assessment of humanity.

that was a great triumph which just feels "right".

[Number 6]

I find the Director's Cut of any film to be better than the theatrical release.

[filmmusic]

when i first saw the theatrical cut I went "Ok, what happened now? What was the point of this whole movie?"

It really felt more than any other movie that I had seen that something was missing!

[amoergosum]

Contrary to what may be thought, the omission of the wave scene was not a studio decision; director James Cameron and producer Gale Anne Hurd had final cut as long as the movie was kept under an agreed-upon length of 135 minutes, and according to Cameron, the studio was even disappointed to see the wave scene go. However, the special effects of the scene had not been finished, and reactions from test audiences to the unfinished scene were mixed. So Cameron and Hurd were faced with the decision to either trim shots and parts of scenes away from other parts of the movie, or remove an entire subplot. They decided upon the latter, feeling that the first option would hurt the movie's focus and character development, and they also thought that the movie's theme still work without the wave scene, although less overtly. So the tidal wave scenes were never completely finished during post-production.

Source:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096754/faq#.2.1.3

[Todd Tomorrow]

The preachy last act of the film is slightly less terrible in the theatrical cut and the shots of the tsunami waves are a break with the claustrophobic feel of the film. Cameron tried to pull off the same thing Spielberg did with Close Encounters in making the aliens possibly a threat for much of the film only to reveal them to be benign by the end. But Spielberg succeeded far better because he wasn't determined to hit the audience round the head with a trite "war bad, peace good" message by the end. A first step of communication was all it needed.

That said, until Ed Harris' decent into the abyss I adore this film, I just think the wheels come off in the last 20 minutes and no cut can fix that.

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

That said, until Ed Harris' decent into the abyss I adore this film, I just think the wheels come off in the last 20 minutes and no cut can fix that.

Yeah, i agree with that.
After that point, each of the 2 cuts isn't satisfying enough..
And I don't know how the story could turn to fix it..

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

Yeah, i agree with that.
After that point, each of the 2 cuts isn't satisfying enough..
And I don't know how the story could turn to fix it..

The aliens don't turn out to be a bunch of wet peacenic glow hippies and try to kill the crew. Major action scene!

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

The preachy last act of the film is slightly less terrible in the theatrical cut and the shots of the tsunami waves are a break with the claustrophobic feel of the film. Cameron tried to pull off the same thing Spielberg did with Close Encounters in making the aliens possibly a threat for much of the film only to reveal them to be benign by the end. But Spielberg succeeded far better because he wasn't determined to hit the audience round the head with a trite "war bad, peace good" message by the end. A first step of communication was all it needed.

That said, until Ed Harris' decent into the abyss I adore this film, I just think the wheels come off in the last 20 minutes and no cut can fix that.

I agree with every word. I like Abyss quite a bit (the usual Cameron sermonising aside) but it really does fall apart at the end. It says something about how the climax doesn't work that the filmmakers themselves made the decision to gut the ending, yet when it's restored it still doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the film.

Sure, I'll be watching the SE from now on, but that's purely for the extra character moments, not for the Cold War subplot and goofy wave ending.

[LordCrumb]

Directors Cut for sure. I always like longer versions anyway

[Dbuck64]

I saw this in the theater and my reaction was 'meh'.

Then I purchased the extended laserdisc and I thought it was soooo much better. Everyone who saw it with me thought so, too.

But the best part of the directors cut is the making of doc.

[amoergosum]

Originally Posted by Dbuck64

But the best part of the directors cut is the making of doc.

The making of is pretty incredible:

making of the abyss-part 1 - YouTube

making of the abyss-part 2 - YouTube

making of the abyss-part 3 - YouTube

making of the abyss-part 4 - YouTube

making of the abyss-part 5 - YouTube

making of the abyss-part 6 - YouTube

[kylor]

Director's Cut.

A Blu-Ray cut wouldn't hurt though.

[JediJones77]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

The aliens don't turn out to be a bunch of wet peacenic glow hippies and try to kill the crew. Major action scene!

For how few movies we get with optimistic alien contact, I don't see the need to quibble about the story to this one or demand it be exactly like CE3K. Nuclear war was simply a big theme of the '80s. WarGames, Superman IV, Terminator and the Watchmen graphic novel all dealt with it and said something about it, to name a few. No one knows exactly how to bring peace to humanity, so what's wrong with letting a filmmaker explore the possibilities?

I like both cuts. I think it's probably the best of all Cameron's director's cuts, because none of the new material was bad. It's just more of a good thing.

[Dark City Denizen]

I watched & compared these over this past weekend. I have voted for the Director’s Cut, but reluctantly. I quite enjoy the film, but to nowhere near the extent most people seem to. Bordering on three hours is tough going, which would have made the 2 hr 20 min Theatrical Cut my choice were it not for the utterly pointless conclusion. It just adds up to nothing. I really wish it were better because the film desperately needs that 30 minute shortening, but no dice.

[Dark City Denizen]

Originally Posted by JediJones77

For how few movies we get with optimistic alien contact, I don't see the need to quibble about the story to this one or demand it be exactly like CE3K. Nuclear war was simply a big theme of the '80s. WarGames, Superman IV, Terminator and the Watchmen graphic novel all dealt with it and said something about it, to name a few. No one knows exactly how to bring peace to humanity, so what's wrong with letting a filmmaker explore the possibilities?

I like both cuts. I think it's probably the best of all Cameron's director's cuts, because none of the new material was bad. It's just more of a good thing.

Nothing wrong with it in broad terms, but people may object to the fact it comes from a man notoriously one of the most insufferable & unreasonable ********s on the planet.

[JediJones77]

Nobody's perfect.

[DR Herbert West]

Director's Cut

[pab1219]

Director's Cut