The Abyss (1989), directed by James Cameron.
When a US Navy sub has a close encounter with a mysterious object it crashes on the ocean bottom. Deep sea miners are tasked with investigating the wreck and looking for survivors. (Shades of Armageddon (1998): roughnecks to the rescue!)
Compared to the other undersea thrillers that appeared that year -- DeepStar Six (1989) and Leviathan (1989) -- this is an entirely different level of filmmaking. The budget, dedication to realism and actual underwater filming are vastly impressive.
Further: unlike the others there is no monster in this thriller. The deep-sea aliens turn out to be friendly. The humans bring their own terrors with them.
Great cast, and we particularly love the three leads:
Ed Harris could easily be a villain, but here he is the everyman hero, always ready to do the right thing.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio: we see why people don't like her, with that sharp sarcastic tongue. But with her lovely face, physical bravery and moral courage: we can't get enough of her.
Michael Biehn is another actor who could be hero or villain, a favorite of the 1980s. In this case it is not his fault he has deep-sea psychosis and he even retains a sense of humor during his breakdown.
I had forgotten: in the final instant of the submersible battle, just as Biehn is about to slip over the edge, both he and Mastrantonio reach out as if to touch:
On the downside:
The blue-collar workers are always the same in these pictures. Homely but colorful.
Another race to clip the wires on the nuclear warhead before the countdown timer expires.
Strangely humanoid aliens.
The alien rescue platform (?) on the ocean surface is disappointing, looking like a concrete sculpture. How else could it have been done? If at night we could have had the standard alien carnival lights, also unsatisfactory.
The happy ending is supposed to be moving, but tends toward a Spielbergian sweetness.
Are we to suppose the aliens magicked away the hurricane, just as they waved away the decompression problem?
A romantic reunion in the last moment. That's always so nice.
Score by Alan Silvestri -- Predator (1987), Contact (1997).
I'm not going to review the long weepy history of Home Video Hell for this title. It never even had an anamorphic DVD and every few years we are teased with promises of a superb Blu-ray "real soon now". I don't know if the holdup is Cameron or Fox (now Disney) or what. Why I should care more than they do escapes me.
1080p broadcasts have appeared on cable channels.