The Abyss is not my favorite James Cameron movie, nor do I find the novelization by Orson Scott Card very compelling. Most people's assessment of the The Abyss is that it's either an underrated gem or it's bloated and has a bad third act. I tend to fall in the former camp, although when I look at The Abyss, I usually don't think about the third act at all.
My fondness for this movie is disproportionate to my assessment of its quality. What I admire about The Abyss--what I think it nails perfectly--are strong characters and taking advantage of the unique setting to drive the action.
First of all, I love how The Abyss establishes the main characters' personalities and lets them steer the plot. Coffey, as the gung ho, increasingly unstable antagonist, makes decisions that Bud, the go-along-to-get-along hero, must adapt to. Eventually, though, Bud must oppose Coffey for the survival of his crew, whom he cares deeply for.
Lindsey, the bull-headed engineer, cares more about her oil rig than anything else, but she changes when she discovers alien visitors. She's what I call an idea person; she falls in love with ideas--first her patented underwater oil rig design, then inquiry into alien life. Her personality and newfound fascination with aliens chaffes the crew-first Bud and the paranoid Coffey, who sees the aliens as a threat.
The B plot, the reconciliation between estranged husband and wife Bud and Lindsey, meshes well with the various plot beats and gives oomph to the stakes in the second and third acts.
Despite the claustrophobic setting--more on that in a bit--the plot gives these characters ample room to breathe. All of them shine as their wills and individuality have direct impact on key plot points.
What I really want to talk about is the action. The Abyss takes place at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea on an oil rig that is designed to operate at extreme water depth and pressure. The rig is supported by a barge on the surface via an umbilical, by which the rig is fed oxygen. In the first act, the barge drifts off course because of a hurricane, dragging the rig by the umbilical along the ocean floor, tossing the crew about like rag dolls. The crane on the barge then detaches and falls to the ocean floor, nearly crushing the rig before falls into a trench and dragging the rig even farther. The rig stops, poised on the edge of the trench. It is very nearly torn apart, subjected to extreme mechanical and electrical failure, then parts of the rig are flooded. For the rest of the movie, the crew face a pending oxygen deficit.
This setup to the rest of the story brilliantly draws from the novel elements of the setting to excite the audience and boost the tension to breathless, white-knuckle levels. But you ain't seen nothing yet. The second act is coming.
After some alien encounters and jousting between Coffey's SEALs and the crew, the mentally unravelling Coffey decides to act. He sequesters the crew and prepares one of the submersibles to deploy a nuclear warhead, which is programmed to strike the suspected alien base. Bud swims outside the rig through freezing water to reach the diving pool and fight Coffey. Coffey gets away and Bud dives to stop the nuke from deploying. Lindsey arrives in another submersible and a duel between Coffey and Lindsey ensues. Coffey's submersible is disabled, and he sinks into the trench and dies. Lindsey's submersible floods and she drowns. Bud carries her back to the rig and administers CPR, miraculously bringing her back to life. Whew!
The deep-sea environment, the layout of the rig, the submersibles, the dive suit... all these pieces that are exposited in the first act are put to excellent use to create thrilling action set pieces in the second act. This sequence feels like a slow devolution of the technology that enables man to survive at extreme depths, until at the end of it we're left with the simple act of reviving someone from drowning.
I can't think of a better example of a movie integrating its setting with the execution of its action-driven storyline. I took lessons from The Abyss when thinking about how I wanted the action to play out in Tendrils to the Moon, first in space, then on the surface of the Moon. I won't pretend that I succeeded on the same level, but that's the effect I was aiming for.
As always, let me know what you think in the comments. I'll reply to you as soon as I can. I invite you to read the first 3 chapters of Tendrils to the Moon for free, and see if the last 9 chapters are worth your time. The paperback version is on sale at Amazon for $8.99. The ebook is still a mere 99 cents, and is available in a variety of formats via Smashwords.
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