The Abyss (1989)

As my cinematic odyssey continues I am slowly working on seeing all those movies many of us have already seen. I apologize for my late arrival to the party. But perhaps being more well versed in the language of cinema, seeing movies, like "The Abyss," now as opposed to when I was 8 isn't such a bad thing.

Director James Cameron's tale of deep sea adventure isn't your typical wham-bang popcorn muncher; it's slow and methodical. This lends itself nicely to creating intense situations in an environment (underwater) where high speed shenanigans would seem grossly out of place. And even at two and a half hours "The Abyss" is rarely a snoozer.

It does suffer from an awkward and slower beginning, where plot exposition hits you over the head so hard you'll cry. But soon enough it sheds it setup to focus on the story at hand, which is executed with simple dignity by lead man Ed Harris and the lady that played Maid Marian in "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves." Aside from Michael Biehn's character descending into madness with all the subtlety of turning on a light switch, there's very little to complain about with this thoughtful, well made sci-fi picture.

Well, the very end kind of sucks, but once you see the movie you'll realize it's really inconsequential.

Grade = B