Any word on The Abyss? (2 Viewers)

[ROclockCK]

The Abyss, especially, remains a landmark production...as in the largest underwater set in film history...plus the longest, most extensive underwater shoot. Heck, they even invented new technology just to make it possible. One of a kind in so many ways...

 

[dpippel]

And yet both Fox and Cameron are treating it like some sort of embarrassing red-headed stepchild.

 

[TravisR]

And yet both Fox and Cameron are treating it like some sort of embarrassing red-headed stepchild.

I don't think that's the case. I'd bet my left nut that Fox wants to release those movies more than nearly anything left in their entire catalog. And I'm just guessing but it seems like James Cameron is more interested in new projects than old ones. Since so many artists today have become greatest hits acts that spend more time re-releasing their old movies/music/whatever than doing something new, I'm glad that he wants to move forward but I still wish he'd take a trip down memory lane once in a while.

 

[Bill Coolidge]

Xyty ugh

 

[dpippel]

Once again I'll just point out that in the case of The Abyss, the ONLY release of the film in any digital video format is a non-anamorphic DVD that's 14 years old. That says it all right there.

 

[TravisR]

Once again I'll just point out that in the case of The Abyss, the ONLY release of the film in any digital video format is a non-anamorphic DVD that's 14 years old. That says it all right there.

Yes, it says that there's something stopping Fox from releasing it- a guy who directed the two biggest grossing movies in history for their studio.

 

[dpippel]

I'm not disagreeing with you Travis, but I think there's a good possibility that it's not only Cameron who's holding things up. Studio politics are a rocky place.

 

[JColl]

Maybe it's a situation like IRON GIANT, where the studio wants to put out a plain version and the director wants to do something more elaborate (in this case, new extras? Polishing effects for the long version?) and won't sign off on anything less, and it's stalemate.

 

[Dave Moritz]

Personally I am hoping that The Abyss will get a really good 4K scan and that new 4K Mastered Blurays and 4K UHD Blurays will be in stores by christmas 2016! I have no proof that this might be the case it is just what I hope will happen!

 

[Brian Dobbs]

Abyss on Blu-ray now please!

 

[youworkmen]

Here in the UK I had a chance to record The Abyss to Bluray when C4 aired it in HD . It was the correct ratio but as always the rat scene is badly edited due to BBFC interference . So even if it comes out on Bluray a UK release is unlikely . As with some other titles which require cuts to things like horsefalls studios release in Europe and just miss out the UK completely.

In hindsight - I should have made do . At least it would be The Abyss in HD - but cuts annoy me a lot

 

[Dave Moritz]

I would love to own The Abyss on 1080p Bluray disc or even 4K video if it would become available after Dec 2015!

 

[Jobla]

It certainly won't be released BEFORE then.

 

[Mark Booth]

I broke out my DVD copy (non-anamorphic) of the extended version of 'The Abyss' and watched it about two weeks ago. What a terrific movie! And, God, what a terrible transfer! It's a travesty that it's not available in at least 1080p.

I hope I live long enough to eventually see it in HD!

Mark

 

[cineMANIAC]

I hope I live long enough to eventually see it in HD!

At this point I'm inclined to believe Cameron doesn't want it released. I wonder how many people come up to him on a daily basis and ask "when will the Abyss be released on Blu-ray?" - he should release it and get it over with if only to get people off his back

 

[Dave Moritz]

Heck if I want to watch The Abyss I have to fire up the laser disc player So I really want this title to be released on 1080p bluray or the upcoming 4K bluray.

 

[Jobla]

I tend to agree with CineManiac that Cameron really doesn't want THE ABYSS to be re-released. He will dither around until physical media is gone.

 

[Dave Moritz]

I do not see physical media going away for some time. Even if they wanted it to go away the average person does not have the internet connection for 4K content. And Japan is supposedly working on 8K already. So even if the average connection improved for 4K what would people do if 8K was offered? Not saying that there is any chance of that happening with in the next 10 years because I do not think there is any way that happens. 1080p content may eventually match bluray discs after 4K has been out for many years and internet speeds increase. But for movies physical media is not going anywhere for the foreseeable future. The day that there is no physical media and you have to pay a stupid monthly fee or pay for each time you want to view a movie I will just watch the movies I have because there is no way I will buy movies where the only way I can access them is via the internet, not going to happen. I am however thinking of getting Netflix to supplement my Direct TV but I will not buy movies through that service and it is mainly to watch tv shows and watch older movies that I do not own and do not expect perfect presentations. There are uses for some services like Netflix, Apple TV and others but they do not offer what physical media does with picture quality and lossless audio.

 

[Peter Neski]

I put of burning a BR of The Cinemax version because of that Mock ad ,saying its coming out ,now I am not sure what to do

 

[Dr Griffin]

I do not see physical media going away for some time. Even if they wanted it to go away the average person does not have the internet connection for 4K content. And Japan is supposedly working on 8K already. So even if the average connection improved for 4K what would people do if 8K was offered? Not saying that there is any chance of that happening with in the next 10 years because I do not think there is any way that happens. 1080p content may eventually match bluray discs after 4K has been out for many years and internet speeds increase. But for movies physical media is not going anywhere for the foreseeable future. The day that there is no physical media and you have to pay a stupid monthly fee or pay for each time you want to view a movie I will just watch the movies I have because there is no way I will buy movies where the only way I can access them is via the internet, not going to happen. I am however thinking of getting Netflix to supplement my Direct TV but I will not buy movies through that service and it is mainly to watch tv shows and watch older movies that I do not own and do not expect perfect presentations. There are uses for some services like Netflix, Apple TV and others but they do not offer what physical media does with picture quality and lossless audio.

This is if you are considering renting physical media from Netflix.
I've had Netflix for about 6 years, and I've had a lot of titles dumped from my queue to either the saved list (read: probably never gonna see this one again), or outright no longer available. I've had about 30 titles taken out of my active queue in the past 2 months, that were all older, oop or obscure. Apparently they are not or cannot replace these movies (mostly DVDs). I get the feeling they would rather get to all streaming sooner than later. I'm considering some alternatives for older films on DVD that will never see a Blu-ray release. These mass title dumps started about a year ago, and are getting more frequent.