The Terminator (1984) and Aliens (1986) had both blown me away, so I my anticipation for The Abyss was massive. What kind of sea monster(s) was writer-director James Cameron planning to unveil and unleash from the bottom of the ocean?
When one of my friends told me he had heard that Cameron described the film as more of a love story, that its plot did not involve any kind of monster threat, I was not the least bit disappointed or dissuaded. The Terminator had been propelled by a love story, after all. The strong emotional bond that was forged between Ripley and Newt is what gave Aliens its heartstring strumming heft. I knew that Cameron was capable of delivering something special, unique, and interesting with The Abyss, with or without a monster.
I was not wrong. The movie swept me away and, despite its theatrical version feeling a tad truncated to me, went on to become my favorite James Cameron movie. He might have made 'better' films, but none of them swept me away as completely as The Abyss.
The soundtrack release that accompanied the film turned out to be every bit as truncated and incomplete as the theatrical version. While it did offer a nice sampling of Alan Silvestri's enchanting and exciting score, the elements that I really loved about it were missing.
It took twenty-four years, but, in 2013, Varèse Sarabande finally managed to release this Deluxe Edition that contains Silvestri's complete score.
In his liner notes for the original album, and that were reprinted for this release, James Cameron described Silvestri's work as "by turns explosive, delicate, intensely emotional, wondrously expansive, mysterious, fiercely driving, tender, and ecclesiastical." I agree and do not feel capable of putting it any better than that.
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