The Abyss (1989) 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review (Technical Analysis)

The Abyss is the best of the bunch from James Cameron, but still suffers from the "Cameron effect" and has overly digital look. This indicates that James Cameron has yet again gone slightly too far with his style of restoration. Film grain is controlled and subdued, way too much for my taste. This makes the image quite soft in certain scenarios and makes film grain appear digital. This movie can certainly look better, however, "better" is subjective. To the casual movie-watcher, film grain is the devil in disguise. But to me, film grain is an indication of quality, and how respectful a restoration is to the original source material. Film and its analog artifacts are a thing of beauty in my opinion, and to strip this from a film's history, and its look is disrespectful. With that said, this is digital restoration on Cameron's lighter side, and most of the movie looks good even though I think too much grain control has been applied.
The Dolby Atmos sound provides a substantial upgrade, with deep low-end. The use of heights and surround sound, while not obvious, allows for a nice immersive 3D sound experience that is traditionally mixed. The underwater scenes feel as though you are surrounded by water. I really appreciated that. Sound designers are very respectful when it comes to films, and the way they sound. Why can't the restoration teams be equally respectful?
I'm only slightly disappointed by this restoration style, but after watching Aliens and True Lies, it could have been so much worse. I despise James Cameron's style of restoration, because it goes too far. I know how strongly James Cameron hates the film look, but The Abyss seems to have escaped without obvious damage. For the people that care about the authenticity of film, it's still not be a perfect restoration, but for Joe Average, and the crowd that don't take this too seriously, this is a fine release.
VIDEO: 3.75 out of 5
AUDIO: 4.5 out of 5
Let me know what you think, thanks.
Carl.
#TheAbyss #TheAbyss4K #TheAbyss4KReview
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MOVIE REVIEWED: The Abyss (1989) 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
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ABOUT ME
Hi, I'm Carl, and I run a family-owned business called HD MOVIE SOURCE with my dad, Glen, and my brother, Mark. I'm a passionate movie fan and tech enthusiast, and I love talking about the quality of video transfers. Calibrating speakers and subwoofers, encoding 4K content, and exploring all things techy are all my favorite things to do. I'm also a big gamer, and World of Warcraft takes up a lot of my time, but hey, someone's gotta do it!
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[@See.MidnightWatchers.Blogspot]

The average bitrate is lower because so much of the movie is dark and underwater where youre not going to have a ton of information on the frame to encode. Common sense. The 4K looks amazing.

[@hdmoviesource]

It's good.

[@ScottSullivanTV]

When checking focus, look at the eyes. That is where focus pullers want to put critical focus.

[@hdmoviesource]

Yeah, true.

[@entertainmentwizard2703]

I think The Abyss they went back to the camera negative for the 4K but I don't think they did for Aliens or True Lies!

[@hdmoviesource]

You're right. That's true.

[@hdmoviesource]

It did yes. I don't understand why they wouldn't use a 4KDI for Aliens of True Lies.

[@entertainmentwizard2703]

@@hdmoviesource Agreed!

[@hdmoviesource]

Maybe one day they will try again.

[@entertainmentwizard2703]

@@hdmoviesource Maybe and let Sony do it!

[@johnbarsby8382]

i liked everything about this new restoration but for me they could have done more with the bass. I found it lacking and was hopeful for more. Back in the day when we ran this on old laser-disc I reckon we were getting more presence and authority from the bass.

[@hdmoviesource]

I'd like to watch it again, because I have two new subs, so I'll definitely have a good idea now.

[@ps5andstuffhere]

Abyss native 4k. Aliens and True Lies 2k source or something similar that's why they look very strange

[@hdmoviesource]

I think you're right.

[@dlbsyst]

I agree about OLED being the best. I have a Sony A80J and am still blown away by the picture quality.🙂

[@hdmoviesource]

Yeah, that's a great TV.

[@dlbsyst]

LED TVs are LCD. LED refers to the back light. It's a silly naming convention. LoL

[@hdmoviesource]

Yeah, I was getting a little confused there, LOL.

[@TWISTEDBULLET]

Agreed 100%, great review Carl.

[@hdmoviesource]

Thank you.

[@cheekster777]

Thank you Carl.

[@hdmoviesource]

As always, thank you Cheekster.

[@cheekster777]

@@hdmoviesource 🤝

[@hdmoviesource]

Thanks.

[@ps5andstuffhere]

Abyss pretty good

[@hdmoviesource]

I liked this one.

[@gillmartin1758]

I apologize in advance, I found your presentation a bit too detailed for me. Is The Abyss in Dolby vision? An early screen shot says Dolby vision on your monitor but nowhere on the slipcover or case do the words Dolby Vision appear. I have yet to unseal the disc itself.

[@ps5andstuffhere]

Has that yeah

[@hdmoviesource]

It's Dolby Vision yes.