The Abyss

The Abyss

Release Date

1989

Director

  • James Cameron

Cast

  • Ed Harris
  • Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
  • Michael Biehn

A civilian diving team is enlisted to search for a lost nuclear submarine and face danger while encountering an alien aquatic species.

When the USS Montana, a submarine carrying nuclear warheads, inexplicably collides into a sea wall and sinks to the bottom of the ocean, a deep-sea oil operation team is called upon to assist with the search and rescue. Led by Virgil “Bud” Brigman (Ed Harris), the drill team is partnered with a squad of Navy S.E.A.L.S. whose orders may not be as transparent as they seem. Bud’s hard-edged, estranged wife, Lindsey Brigman (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), is also brought on board to lend her expertise as the designer of the massive underwater drilling rig. Upon reaching the Montana, the divers encounter something out of this world, an apparently new species of aquatic life, which they dub “N.T.I’s,” or non-terrestrial intelligence. While the team of civilian divers views these life forms as the discovery of the century, S.E.A.L. team leader Lieutenant Hiram Coffey (Michael Biehn) sees only a threat that should be eliminated by any means necessary. However, the hurricane gathering strength on the water’s surface may prove to be the greatest adversary of all.

Past Programs

2014

Underwater Mysteries

Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline, MA

2015

Deep Ocean Research

The Little Theatre, Rochester, NY

2017

Deep Sea Exploration

Egyptian Theatre, Coos Bay, OR

Going off the Deep End: Marine Research Explorations under Alaskan Seas

Juneau Underground Motion Picture Society and Gold Town Theater, Juneau, AK

2018

Deep breaths: Mixed-gas and liquid breathing for deep-water diving

Indiana University Cinema, Bloomington, IN