Siskel & Ebert Review The Abyss Special Edition (1993) James Cameron

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the footage I used. Copyrights belong to their respective owners. This video is covered by "fair use".

[@simian01]

I’m glad the special edition won Siskel over on the NTI portion of the story.

[@rickleemusic1]

I miss Siskel & Ebert.

[@jedijones]

Damn, I guess I need to start getting into LaserDiscs.

[@LukeLovesRose]

LMAO. No. Wait for Cameron to release this underrated gem on Blu-ray.

[@jedijones]

@@LukeLovesRose Well...we're waiting!

[@michaelperkowski641]

I like this version of The Abyss much better. The special effects are really more incredible then 1989 film. I agree with Siskel and Ebert on Special Edition of The Abyss.

[@RoyalBlue43]

Nice job cutting the newer looking footage w the original Siskel and Ebert footage. Its so clean that you don't realize how well you've done it

[@vivaciousom5347]

December 6 2023-one night only event at the theatre. Definitely going to experience this movie. I remember seeing this in 1989 when it was new and it was so gorgeous to look it.

[@drewlovelyhell4892]

I'm glad they liked it. Saves me having to exhume them and beat them up! The Abyss is one of my most favourite films. It's arguable that the theatrical cut was somewhat of a halfway measure. They could have made a shorter film about a tense underwater rescue and climactic battle against a rogue Navy Seal, without all the Alien stuff, or focus more on the cold-war/alien interaction aspect like the Special Edition. As usual with Cameron films, longer is usually better. "20 miles of rough road" as he says.

[@qtrfoil]

Cameron is Canadian. "20 hard miles" is a common hockey reference to a tough/hard-worked 20-minute period in a game.

[@michaelperkowski641]

The 4K and Blu ray of The Abyss is coming this march. James Cameron over see the digital transfer of film.

[@LukeLovesRose]

I cant wait

[@chrisk5204]

It's almost March with no word on it.

[@michaelperkowski641]

@@chrisk5204 I think it's been push back til Avatar the way water comes out on Blu ray there also releasing True Lies and Titanic 35 anniversary as well so the wait is little longer then I was told.

[@Victory-in-YAHUSHA]

I've never watched The Abyss before. Always passed it up. Would be happy to watch the Special Edition in 4K.

[@jedijones]

March I can believe. WHICH March is the question.

[@lpquagmire3621]

They cut the most important scene in the movie.

[@LukeLovesRose]

Cameron doesnt snip a shot here or there. He cuts entire subplots. It's like pulling the threads of a quilt

[@Durwood71]

Imagine if Siskel and Ebert had lived to see the new 4K release. They would have been astounded.

[@georgeharris9873]

I previously had this director's cut on Laserdisc 30 years ago in 1993. It definately is the superb version. i can't wait to get the up-coming 4-K Super High Definition Blu-ray in March.

[@JasonBagherian]

I still have the CAV Laserdisc of The Abyss 😀

[@steveb0503]

SUCH a better version - I won't even watch the theatrical cut!

[@charlesbell74]

LaserDisc technology!! :)

[@LukeLovesRose]

Getting this on Laserdisc was a dream. I was already such a fan

[@two_owls]

People gotta get on that LaserDisk technology!

[@shijoejoseph2011]

I hope they release its 4K and Blu-ray this year! How long must fans of the extended cut wait?!

[@hankforeman91]

Just one more month!

[@shijoejoseph2011]

@@hankforeman91 yes, the limited run in theatres is due in December. Hopefully, they would release the 4k and blu-ray box this Christmas without anymore delays. I hope to God they leave alone film grain and classic 24 frames per second frame rate the way they be! 😭❤️

[@GatorMcKluskyRules]

nice job with this presentation

[@LukeLovesRose]

These guys took forever to see and appreciate the work of James Cameron. I wonder what they would say about The Way of Water

[@jedijones]

Ebert would give it 3.5 stars.

[@LukeLovesRose]

@@jedijones Out of 4? Maybe

[@tronam]

Ebert gave Avatar (2009) 4/4 stars, so I suspect he would've rated TWOW pretty highly. Unlike many other critics he understood and appreciated how diverse the cinematic language can be. He could love small, character dramas where the narrative is almost completely driven by dialogue, but also equally appreciate the experiential visual storytelling of James Cameron or George Lucas films.

[@jedijones]

@@tronam Right, but he argued pretty hard that Avatar should not be considered for Best Picture. And 3 or 3.5 stars was given to a lot of mega blockbusters in the 2000s, like Avengers, Dark Knight Rises and Revenge of the Sith, or sometimes less, as with Spider-Man 1 and 3, Attack of the Clones and War of the Worlds. Ultimately, Avatar 2 is a ton of set-up for a story that isn't resolved at all in this movie. Ebert favored movies with complete stories, not ones that were constantly talking about the past chapter and teasing future chapters. He didn't give a Harry Potter movie 4 stars after the first two. And none of the LOTR movies got 4 stars.

[@tronam]

@@jedijones I wonder what he'd think of current day MCU, now 31 movies deep. Everything feels like a setup for more setups now.

[@selcuk1479]

Studio cut these scene because it was "too political" for them...

[@Durwood71]

Not true. Cameron chose to cut it himself in order to shorten the run time, because in 1989, a film that ran over two hours was considered a financial risk.

[@viarnay]

The Abyss was badly butchered on its theater version

[@ahsenkhan5386]

They didn;t mention about the man pully the other guy pants down ?

[@GringoLatino941]

WTF HAPPENED TO MY COMMENT. I typed it and disappeared so had to write one again. NOW: i own the laserdisc version; longer version much better. Sound and picture were great; I am getting the 4k in March. I still liked the movie in 1989 as I saw it with a black woman I was dating at the time; we both loved it. BUT longer version is THE BEST. I also own the dvd.

[@protiliusproductions]

Hi, we’re gonna review this movie again, and then play all of the extra footage so you don’t have to watch it again.

[@345mrse]

That's just so swell of this aquatic alien species. To encounter a species of homicidal blunt-skulls and warn them about self preservation rather than just appropriating a planet which is mostly covered by the alien's liquid metier. Hunh.