Abyss, which to watch, theatrical or Special edition feature? (1 Viewer)

[Jay Mitchosky]

Personally I always watch the director's cut when the option is available.

 

[Jeff Bamberger]

Assuming you purchased this recently, I am going to go out on a limb and assume you have the one disc version....

If this is correct, what you should do is this....

Return it, find yourself the 2 disc version, THEN watch the director's cut immediately followed by Under Pressure, the AWESOME making of documentary on the second disc.

Trust me, it is worth the effort to find the 2 disc version. I have seen them still around Boston, so I'd be glad to help you acquire it.......

 

[Sam Davatchi]

For clarification, people who recommend the director’s cut here, please specify which one! You are not helping very much by saying watch the director’s cut!

 

[TonyD]

yea can't we just say long version and short version.

unless we actually read a quote from the director who are we to guess that either one is a director's cut on any movie.

even when it says director's cut on the dvd do we always really know that to be true.

i prefer the longer version as it makes much more sense then the edited for time in the theater shorter version.
also it was a money and ran out of time reason that the short version is short.

he went back 2 or 3 years later and filmed all the additional scenes. then added them in for a laser release.

I have a quote here from James Cameron about the Director's Cut:

"This restored cut includes 28 minutes additional material and ...is now the film we set out to make five years ago... and fulfills the original goals of the script".

this would basically make it a director's cut but long or short is still easier.

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

I didn't like the endgame of the director's cut. I agree with whoever said it was shmaltzy. I thought it was really cliched and unoriginal.

 

[wally]

Can someone explain branching please?! I do have this DVD so using Abyss examples would be great.

Thanks

 

[Patrick_S]

I too perfer the longer version of the movie.

I also agree that the docs on the two disc version are very good and worth a watch.

 

[Brian Kidd]

Seamless branching is a feature of dvd that allows multiple versions of films to exist on the same disc. Basically, when it's time for an added scene, the dvd automatically "branches" to that scene and then continues on. It's seamless in that you'd never know the disc was skipping around if you weren't told. It's nifty!

 

[jeff lam]

Hold the phone! There are two released versions of this movie? I just got the 1 disc edition and it had the original theatrical feature and a special edition feature. Is the SE feature on the single disc version the same as the directors cut on the 2-disc? Was the DC 2-disc an anamorphic transfer?

 

[Lyle_JP]

You essentially own disc one of the two disc set. Disc 2 had 2 documentaries (one a 20 minute promo piece, the other a one hour fantastic, unflinching look at the nightmare of filming The Abyss), and a wealth of in depth supplemental materials that take hours to get through.

It's all packaged in a double Alpha case that's Deepcore Grey. A very cool set to own... if you can find it (it's out of print).

-Lyle J.P.

 

[TheoGB]

And it's never been anamorphic.

 

[Charlie Essmeier]

Short version. The ending of the long version is just plain silly, preachy, and too Cameronesque.

Charlie

 

[Aaryn Chan]

Saw two copies for 33$CDN. worth?

 

[Jeff Kohn]

I didn't like the endgame of the director's cut. I agree with whoever said it was shmaltzy. I thought it was really cliched and unoriginal.

I couldn't agree more, I really disliked the SE cut of the movie. It's bad enough when a movie decides to get preachy, but when they do it in a condescending, ham-fisted way that makes it seem that the director assumes the viewer is a simpleton, it just ruins the movie for me.

 

[Jon Robertson]

I like the air of mystery at the end in the shorter version - a strange comparison perhaps, but very much like an MR James ghost story where mysterious and ghoulish things just happen without any sort of explanation - and it's infinitely more exciting and tense.

The theatrical version for me.