The film was considered the main failure of the director, and his shooting was like a nightmare. But this “failure” looks gorgeous to this day.

The Abyss: James Cameron's magnificent underwater hell

The trailer for Avatar included text listing the credits of its creator: From James Cameron, director of The Terminator, Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, True Lies, and Titanic. Attentive moviegoers immediately noticed that the list is incomplete. There is no Abyss in it.

There is nothing surprising. The Abyss is Cameron's most controversial film. It combined incredibly complex filming and groundbreaking visual effects for the time, but it just didn't grab the audience. The Abyss was not a failure, and yet for such an ambitious project, the financial return left much to be desired.

Released in August 1989, the film was not the version that Cameron intended. He failed to bring his original idea to the end – at least not on schedule. Most likely, this is why The Abyss became the ugly duckling among the films of the Canadian director. Although with all its production problems, it is already considered a classic of the genre. On the occasion of the film's 30th anniversary, let's recall the amazing story of its birth, which features a teenage story, an abandoned nuclear power plant, decompression, Photoshop, and an invasion of wild goats.

The lecture that changed everything

James Cameron on the set of Aliens

The starting point in the story of The Abyss was a diving lecture that James Cameron attended at the age of seventeen. On it, he learned the amazing story of experiments with liquid breathing. The idea captured Cameron so much that he wrote a story about a group of scientists working in a laboratory at the bottom of the ocean.

Years passed. Cameron has tried many jobs, from auto repair worker to truck driver. As a result, fate brought him to Hollywood. Then there was work at the studio of the king of films of the category B Roger Corman, writing scripts for sale and the film Piranha 2, where the Canadian first worked as a director. Filming Piranha 2 turned into a nightmare in every sense of the word. Due to a conflict with the producers, Cameron was fired, and in addition, he caught an infection. While the Canadian was lying with a temperature in the hotel room, he had an incredibly realistic dream in which a metal torso with a knife hunted him out of the fire …

It is hardly necessary to explain what happened next. With every conceivable and unimaginable effort, Cameron managed to transfer his vision to the screen. The Terminator was an unexpected hit, captivating audiences in the US and around the world.

Cameron's next directorial project was Aliens. The picture showed that the success of the Terminator was not an accident. Cameron handled all the challenges brilliantly, making an $18 million movie that looked much more expensive.And this is not to mention the critical and commercial success of the sequel.

“Aliens” opened all Hollywood doors in front of Cameron. Fox Fox financed strangers was ready to invest in any of his projects. It was only necessary to make a choice.

And Cameron chose. For many years, he never forgot his teenage idea of ​​an underwater laboratory. Of course, since then her plot has undergone a lot of changes. Cameron decided that instead of scientists, ordinary hard workers should become – so it would be easier for the audience to associate themselves with the characters. In addition, the aliens who lived on the seabed appeared in the plot.

But Cameron would not be Cameron if he had just shot another movie about evil xenomorphs and brave soldiers, only under water. Instead, the Canadian decided to create “anti-fuckers”-a movie in which the real evil is not aliens, but the confrontation of superpower and the arms race.

When Cameron outlined his idea to the Fox bosses, they did not know how to react. The idea itself seemed interesting. The problem was its implementation. Cameron was not going to make a movie in studio scenery. He wanted to shoot the most part of the film underwater.

Any Hollywood producer knows that water shooting is a visual embodiment of Murphy's laws. Everything that may go wrong will go wrong, and the shooting will turn into hell. Take at least the story of the creation of the jaws. The film was planned to be made in 55 days with a budget of $ 4 million. But due to the constantly breaking mechanical shark, the “jaw” was shot for 159 days, and the final estimate was 9 million. Or you can recall the ill -fated water world. Due to many problems, the budget of the picture was swollen from the original 100 to the $ 175 million completely indecent for that time, which largely predetermined its failure.

But Cameron was adamant. He believed that only in this could achieve the necessary atmosphere. The director replied to the reasonable fears of the studio that he was aware of potential problems and knew how to solve them. Later, Cameron admitted that he was serving: he did not fully realize what he had to face. But he hoped that in the process he would cope with all the problems. The main thing is to start shooting.

Cameron's ostentatious optimism had its fruits. The studio gave the abyss green light. There were long months of filming, which would later be called one of the most difficult cinema in the history of cinema.

Selection of actors and locations

Ed Harris and Mary Mastonio

In Fox they wanted the main male role to be received by a large star of militants. Among the candidates for the role of Bad Brigman, Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford were considered. But Cameron gave preference to Ed Harris, whose type was much better suited to the image of an oil worker.

Cameron was expecting to take Jamie Lee Curtis for the main female role. But he was ahead of his future wife Katherine Bigelou: she gave Curtis the main party in the film “Blue Steel”. As a result, Lindsay went to Mary Elizabeth Mastonio.A month after the trial, she suddenly called from the studio and reported that she was approved for the role. The actress for a long time could not believe that this was not a draw.

For the role of Lieutenant, Kofy, the director took his longtime ally Michael Bin (Kyle Reese from the Terminator). He had to play a military man in a fantastic film for the third time in his career. But if before that he played heroic characters, then this time he was supposed to play the role of a crazy person who was gradually losing touch with reality.

Cameron planned to take another old acquaintance into the abyss. The role of Commodore de Marco was intended for Lance Henriksen. But he could not accept the proposal due to employment on another project. As a result, this role was played by the relatively little -known J. Kenneth Campbell.

All actors passed the mandatory courses of divers and received appropriate certificates. Only after that they were allowed to shoot.

Michael Bin is villains in the abyss

Now it was necessary to resolve the issue with filming locations. Cameron recklessly believed that he would be able to make a film in kind, in the Bahamas, next to which the events unfolded. But, having appreciated everything well, the director realized that he was at risk of making a huge mistake. Given the complexity of the project, Cameron required an absolutely controlled situation, which cannot be created in the open sea.

The director visited Malta, where the largest reservoir for underwater filming was at that time. But even he was too small for the directorial ideas. As a result, Cameron went to an unprecedented step. The location of the filming was chosen by the unfinished nuclear power plant “Cheroki” in South Carolina.

The full -size decoration of the Deepcore deep -sea station, the construction of which took more than six months, was placed in a cylindrical tank intended for a nuclear reactor. Then it was filled with 28 million liters of water to a mark of 13 meters. So Cameron created the largest underwater pavilion in the world. For filming, two auxiliary locations were also used-a water turbine hall and a cave in Bonn-terr, where there is a huge underground lake filled with water.

Filming at the nuclear power plant

Contrifer's basin with scenery of the underwater station (photo: Mike Prendergast)

The filming of the abyss began in August 1988. Already on the first day a serious problem arose. One of the tanks leaked through which the liters of water was erased every minute. The flow was covered, the tank was filled again, and the shooting resumed. But soon it became clear that too much light from the surface falls on the bottom. The problem was solved in an original way: many tiny black plastic balls were poured into the water and covered it with tarpaulin. When a strong storm destroyed the tarp, the shooting had to be transferred to the night.

Another unexpected problem was … goats.The nuclear power plants had long been abandoned, and herds of wild goats bred in its environs. They wandered to the set, ate valuable equipment and climbed onto the scenery.

From the very beginning, the film crew worked in exhausting mode – six days a week to 12, 13, and sometimes 16 hours a day. Since the shooting took place at a depth, after their completion, the filmmakers had to undergo decompression daily. Cameron himself, in order not to lose time, used these periods of expectation to view the filmed materials.

James Cameron's brother plays a drowned man

Most of the tricks were performed by the actors themselves almost without the participation of stuntmen. For example, in the scene, when Bad drags under the water drowned Lindsay, this is really Ed Harris and the holding his breath by Mary Elizabeth Mantonio. In the scenes of the fire and flooding of the platform, the actors themselves also filmed. And one of the most unpleasant episodes of the film, in which a crab crawls out from the mouth of a dead submariner, is also done for real. By the way, Mike Cameron, brother of James, starred in it. He had to hold his breath at a depth of 4.5 meters and take a real crab into his mouth. Even the episode of shooting from a bathyscapon machine was removed live using combat cartridges. Of course, in the preparation, increased security measures were taken.

Given the unprecedented complexity of filming, dangerous incidents were inevitable. Fortunately, they all ended safely, but several times filmmakers went on the brink. For example, on the shooting of the scene where Ed Harris had to hold his breath, he began to lack air. The actor showed a gesture that he needed oxygen. But the insured Harris Diver is confused in the cable. Another member of the film crew handed the actor a regulator, but he was turned over. Instead of oxygen, Harris dragged water and almost choked. According to rumors, after this incident, an angry actor crashed James Cameron.

The water in the tanks was so chlorinated that some participants in the filming of their hair acquired a gray and even white tint. Due to the technical problems of shooting many episodes, they constantly endured. According to the memoirs of Michael Bin, in five months spent in South Carolin, he starred for three or four weeks. The rest of the time was taken by the expectation.

Perfectionism of the director also did not facilitate the task of his colleagues. Cameron spent a lot of time on preparation, achieving that each scene looked perfect. When it reached the filming, even for the most tiny episodes, many takes. Of course, there is nothing shameful in the desire to do work as high quality as possible. But, coupled with extremely difficult conditions, this exhausted the entire group. Mastonio had a real nervous breakdown during the filming of her heroine resuscitation. She shouted to Cameron that the actors were not animals, and left the site. The shooting continued without her, and Ed Harris had to shout: “You never gave up! Fight! – into emptiness.

To throw out the accumulated irritation, the actors began to give the film mocking nicknames – “Son of the Abyss”, “The bottom of my career”, “In hell is much better than in the abyss.” However, Cameron believed that the actors were too exaggerating their suffering. He said that for every hour, which bored lying people spent a choice of a journal for reading, there is an hour spent by a film crew at the bottom with scuba gear.

After completing the filming and tour, in support of the film, Ed Harris refused to talk about the abyss for many years. A couple of years ago, the actor confirmed that he still considers her the most difficult film in his career. And Mastonio summed up her participation with these words: “A lot of things were happening on the filming of the“ abyss ”. But not the fun. Even Cameron, over time, admitted that everything went completely different from he planned, and he would not want to repeat such an experience.

Ironically, despite the complexity and realism of underwater filming, they were not brought by the glory of the “abyss”, but an “demonstrator” episode with a water tentacle. It was completely drawn on a computer. The scene was supposed to show new opportunities that the use of three -dimensional computer images. None of the specialists in special effects could give Cameron a guarantee that everything would work out as it should. Therefore, in the script, the episode was prescribed so that in case of failure to remove it without prejudice to the plot.

Small tentacle for the film, a huge leap for the film industry

To create a tentacle, they hired a large team of specialists from companies such as Dream Quest Images, ILM, Stetson Visual Services and XFX. In the work, they used the early version of the Adobe Photoshop program. In total, it took them six months to animated the 75-second episode.

The result was worth it. The scene has become not only the hallmark of the film, but also the messenger of the future film industry. It is believed that it was this episode that was a decisive factor that allowed the Terminator 2 to appear. Thanks to the “abyss”, Cameron proved that the technology has already reached a level that allowed to show the T-1000 changing form on the screen. But, paying tribute to the efforts of programmers, it would be a crime not to mention the efforts of people who worked on practical effects. Even thirty years later, the work they did is fascinating.

So, the Deepcore underwater platform was not an empty shell. It took lighting in it, arranged a hermetic compartment, ventilation system, and even a bathroom. The bathyscaphees used on the set were models made on a scale of 1 to 4, but possessed all the capabilities of full -sized devices. They had engines, could move under water at a speed of four knots and withstand collisions. The aliens were dolls made by XFX specialists. They were made of flexible translucent cast uretians and hard acrylic shells. Different methods were used to illuminate them, from built -in neon tubes to ultraviolet radiation.

Reduced station layout

Detailed models of the Montana submarine, military equipment and an alien ship were also created. The latter were so convincing that when watching the draft version of the film, the studio bosses decided that Cameron went crazy and built it in full size. And the Benthic Explorer ship used to shoot at sea turned out to be so great that it had to be registered in coast guard.

Some underwater scenes were actually shot under water. For an episode where bathyscaphers are examined by a sunken submarine, their models were suspended on cables in a smoke -filled room, and then removed with a slowing effect.

Another technical revolution has remained unnoticed for most spectators. So that we can see and hear actors in underwater scenes, completely functional equipment was developed with special masks equipped with microphones for recording sounds. The actors were truly talking under water, and those remarks that we hear in the film were really said at a depth. During the post -production of these records, unpleasant noises were removed from the regulators in helmets and replaced them with more “cinema” sounds.

As we have already said, experiments with liquid breathing were the starting point in the history of the “abyss”. And it really can be seen in the film in an episode with a rat. In total, five animals were used for filming. All of them remained alive and, according to Cameron, were not injured. However, this did not stop the green from criticism of the film. It got to the point that this episode was cut out of the British version of the abyss.

Ed Harris, of course, did not have a chance to breathe liquid. To shoot the scene, the actor’s helmet was filled with painted water, after which he had to hold his breath.

Incorrect story

In the history of Hollywood, there are many examples of how the creators of the film heroically coped with problems and shot everything they planned. Abyss is not one of them. For the first time in his career, Cameron was seriously out of the schedule and went beyond the budget. In total, the shooting lasted 140 days. How much was spent on the film is still unknown. According to studio officials, the final costs amounted to 43–47 million dollars. But many believe that these numbers are seriously underestimated and spent up to 70 million on the film. This is a huge amount by the standards of 1989.

Alas, the problems of the tape were not limited to overspending. The original version of the picture lasted almost three hours. Although the director had the right to final installation, he could not help but feel the pressure from the studio, longing for a reduction in the timing, which would allow more sessions in cinemas.

Which is even worse, despite numerous technical achievements, the creators still had unresolved problems. The final scenes were especially difficult, where the aliens directed giant waves to the earthly cities, threatening to erase humanity from the face of the earth.The creators did not have time to make the necessary effects for the first test screenings. As a result, the audience did not understand the original ending.

To finalize the finale, it took time – and Cameron did not have it. The Abyss was planned as a summer blockbuster and was supposed to be released on July 4th. Due to all the delays, the studio had to move the premiere to August. Another delay would be an acknowledgment of serious problems.

Neither Cameron nor Fox could afford it. As a result, the Canadian had to step on the throat of his own song and abandon the original ending, as well as cut out a number of other scenes. The Abyss was released on August 9, 1989. The film finished its debut weekend in second place in the box office rankings with a modest $9 million, not at all the result the studio was expecting. For Cameron, The Abyss was the only film in his career (not counting Piranhas 2, of course) that did not win the opening weekend.

Critics generally reacted positively to the tape. She was praised for her effects, technicality, acting, and ambition. But the incompleteness of the ending was too obvious. Many noted that after the death of Coffey and the rescue of Lindsey, the cinema was losing ground.

In the end, The Abyss grossed only $54 million at the US box office and another $36 million internationally. According to the studio budget numbers, the film hit zero. If you take unofficial estimates – Abyss failed. Of course, due to the sale of rights to screenings and video cassettes, the movie eventually made a profit. But the residue still remains.

The studio promoted Michael Biehn for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor. However, the movie received only technical nominations. As a result, Abyss got one – absolutely deserved – figurine for the best visual effects.

Fake Abysses

Hollywood has a long history of mockbusters, low-budget movies that hope to cash in on blockbuster premieres. The Abyss was also their target. After Cameron announced his film, a whole series of underwater horror films was put into production. Among them are Leviathan, Deep Sea Star Six, and Deep Dive. But their creators miscalculated: none of these paintings brought either money or fame.

Interestingly, the script for Deep Star Six was written by Cameron's friend Louis Abernathy. He met a Canadian on one of the diving sessions. Upon learning that Abernatty was writing a script for an underwater film, Cameron asked him to hold onto the manuscript so as not to compete with The Abyss. Abernatty refused, and Cameron stopped talking to him for several years. Later they reconciled: Abernatty dived with Cameron to the wreckage of the Titanic and played one of the underwater explorers.

How The Abyss Changed Cameron

Over time, Cameron became not only a director, but also a famous submariner.He descended to the bottom of the Mariana Blood (all the third in history), acquired a personal submarine and shot two documentaries about the underwater world

Although the “abyss” did not become the hit that Cameron was counting on, she left a significant inheritance that had a serious influence on the director’s subsequent career. Firstly, the tape largely contributed to the appearance of the Terminator 2. And the point here is not only in a computer tentacle. The financial failure of the abyss harmed the reputation of Cameron as a director who does not lose. Therefore, when the producer Mario Kassar bought the rights to the Terminator and invited Cameron to remove the sequel, he quickly agreed. Canadian needed a hit that would return to him the opportunity to build his own worlds.

Secondly, the problems of creating the abyss changed Cameron's approach to shooting. “Piranha 2” taught the director that you can’t make films without complete creative control. The abyss showed that this is not always enough. If you want to make the perfect movie, there is little good script and actors. It is necessary to foresee all potential technical problems and be able to solve them.

The answer to the question of why Cameron is not in a hurry with the continuation of the Avatar, you need to look for the filming of the abyss. Canadian made conclusions from them. It is better to wait an extra decade in order to probably remove everything than to endure the torment again due to the fact that the technology was not ready. Good or bad – judge for yourself. But it is difficult to argue that the experience of the abyss has formed James Cameron's late.

Another curious heritage of the “abyss” – Cameron never worked with the main participants in its team: not with the actors (the only exception was Michael Bin, who starred in Camo for Judgment Day), nor with the operator Michael Salamon, nor with the composer Alan Sylvestri . But usually the Canadian loves to call the people with whom he has already collaborated in new projects. This to some extent confirms the stories about how unpleasant the shooting of the abyss for all participants turned out to be.

Cameron and Hurd. Still together

Finally, the “abyss” marked the end of the creative and personal union of Cameron and producer Gail Anne Hurd. She became their last joint project. Analyzing the plot of “abyss”, it is easy to notice that the history of the relationship between Bad and Lindsay in many ways echoes the real story of Cameron and Hyard. They got married shortly after the release of the Terminator. By the time of work on the abyss their marriage had already begun to crack at the seams.

But, unlike the film, the Happy End did not happen-by the end of the filming, the couple divorced. Perhaps that is why the screen reunion of Bad and Lindsay seems somewhat false. Most likely, like Cameron and Hurd, in the future they would still part.

In the Abyss there is such a dialogue between Lindsay with a dietary supplement: I have invested for four years in this project.“Yes, and only three years in me.” The marriage of Cameron and Heard lasted just three years. Did James just put his real conversation with his wife into the script?

Return to the Abyss

The Abyss alternate ending is now considered canon

After the resounding success of Terminator 2 and the release of the extended version of Aliens on video, Cameron returned to The Abyss. He wanted to refine the picture in order to show the audience the version he had always wanted. Fox agreed to invest half a million dollars in the project. With this money, Cameron completed the missing effects and recut the film, adding a number of new scenes to it.

A special edition of The Abyss was released in 1993. It corrected many of the shortcomings of the theatrical version. The plot gained more integrity, and the ending sparkled with new colors. Of course, The Abyss still did not gain the same popularity as the other films of the Canadian. Most still perceive it as a decent, but still not a great movie. But let's be realistic: for 90% of Hollywood directors, such a film would be the main achievement in their career, the creation of which they would talk about at Comic-Cons until their old age. For Cameron, it turned out to be a transitional stage.

The fact that The Abyss remains a sensitive topic for the director is indirectly hinted at by the fact that the film has not yet been released on Blu-ray. Just this year, Cameron confirmed that he is remastering the film in 4K. The reissue is dedicated to the anniversary of the tape and should be released before the end of this year. This means that soon a new generation of moviegoers will be able to discover the film and appreciate the incredible effort required to create it. The main thing is not to forget that if you look into the abyss for a long time, the abyss can start looking into you.