Description

Academy Award (r)-winning actress Jessica Lange heads anextraordinary cast in this breathtaking adaptation of Willa Cather'sturn-of-the-century epic saga of settlers carving a home from thewilderness and finding the dreams of a lifetime.

Alexandra Bergson is still a young woman when she inherits the familyfarm and struggles to carve a home and a fortune from the the windsweptprairie.Because of her responsibility to the land and her youngerbrothers, she must give up her one chance for love - though she's neverforgotten the teenager who stirred her heart, then left to find hisfuture elsewhere.He returns fifteen years later and rekindles withinAlexandra a long-buried dream and a new-found desire in this timelessmasterpiece of life and love, tragedy and triumph as sweeping as theland and the settlers it portrays. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great Adaptation!
I thought this adaptation would have gotten a nod from Willa Cather. The scenery was beautiful, the characters just as Willa Cather drew them in her book by the same title. Jessica Lange was Alexandra with her quite dignity, and strong will and the chemistry between she and Carl was very believable. Perhaps the best characters were Maria (Anne Heche) and Emile, who did a superb job at playing star crossed lovers. I was very impressed with the screen play. There were so many quotes from the book, who ever did it had a good sense of the book. There were only two faults I found with the film and that was the casting of two characters. I believe they could have found someone else to play the younger Alexandra. Heather Graham seemed too stiff and her accent was always slipping. The other character was the land. There should have been more shots of it. The land was such a central part of the book. It is what gave Alexandra her strength and her faith.

If one likes very accurate novels into film or period pieces and great actor/actress chemistry this is a great movie to watch. ... Read more

Reviews (279)

THIS is why you should own a DVD player!
Few other "Special Edition" discs get you as intimately familiar with a film and the film-making process as this new DVD does, though the laser disc collector's edition of TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY comes awful close. Now you fortunate DVD-player owners can get for about $30-$40 dollars what we laser disc owners shelled out $100 for years ago, plus more. A heart-pounding movie, beautifully and intricately shot under nearly impossible circumstances (it wasn't nicknamed "The toughest shoot in film history" for nothing). Part military action thriller, part love story, and all impressive, THE ABYSS SPECIAL EDITION on DVD gives you both the theatrical version and expanded version of the movie (even the laser disc only had a one-version option), documentaries (the longer one is not to be missed), and enough bonus features to monopolize your entire day. It can really take the whole afternoon and evening to see it ALL. Granted, at 171 minutes the expanded version is a bit cumbersome at times, but by then you are so engrossed you don't mind. We've all seen good-looking special effects movies undermined by a so-so script or lame acting. But THE ABYSS delivers where it counts -- solid performances and an often tense script. This is the version to own. All other versions and formats of this film pale in comparison - even the expensive laser disc version. For what you'll pay for this disc you get much more than your money's worth. This collection sets a new standard for discs with bonus features. And if you enjoyed THE MATRIX for how it took full advantage of your surround-sound system, this disc will also please. Make sure your subwoofer is turned on.

"The Abyss"
The Abyss (PG-13) 5/5
Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn, Leo Burmester, Todd Graff.
Directed by James Cameron.
Synopsis: A deep sea oil rig crew is recruited to investigate a submarine crash, but something unknown resides in the abyss.
Special Features: Original Theatrical and Extended Versions of the Film, Feature Length Commentary for Both Versions, Filmographies.
Review: One of my all time favorite films. An oil rig crew is joined by a military team to investigate a mysteriously downed sub. As they descend into the abyss they begin to realize they may be the only humans down there, but they are not alone. Sci-fi has never been better this deep social commentary was originally cut by hack producers thus again proving they know jack about films. Know it is restored in its originally intended glory. Ed Harris is as always fantastic, Mastrantonio is great, and Biehn has fun with his bad guy role. The rest of the crew excels too. Cameron is in his staple genre and he directs to perfection. As for the DVD? Should've bought the 5-star collection. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! This is a solid disc, but really this is one film worth the extra cash.

What is this digipak version?
This digipak edition DVD does NOT have a 5.1 soundtrack. The picture remains letterboxed, not anamorphic, and it still carries the THX certification, though it is not marked so on the box. If you can, obtain the original Special Edition release in plastic case with black cover, it has the 5.1 soundtrack. If, like me, you are still waiting for the proper anamorphic release of The Abyss, this is NOT IT, it is simply an inferior repackaging.

Beautifully made, a little dramatic
I always had The Abyss on my to-see list and now I finally have. I was not dissapointed for it feels a little like an underwater 'Close Encounters'. The effects are great, the water space aliens are wonderful and the first time view of the underwater city is breathtaking.

The morale of the movie is bad. Americans and Russians are screwing up the world so the aliens try to prevent it. 'Can't we all just get along!?' is what they want for us, then things will turn to better.

Industrial Light and magic did a great job again in this 1989 movie, it's worth seeing for SF fans.

False Advertising
The Abyss single disc edition is a cool movie, but the actual movie is not in Dolby 5.0 as Amazon.com or Dolby 5.1 as the DVD jacket would have us believe, but only in Dolby 2.0 (2 channel) English or French. I tried both the theatrical and the special edition cut, same result.

Buyer beware. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great Movies!
INDEPENDENCE DAY: I still remember very vividly when my mom yelled "Oh My God!" when we watched the preview trailers for this movie around the time it was released. Upon seeing it, I have to say that "Independence Day" is one of the greatest sci-fi action movies that I have ever seen. Seven years later (At the time of this review), this movie still packs a big punch. The story is of when a large and vicious alien race invade the earth through city-sized spacecraft and wage war against Earth's humanity and now the humans all stop fighting each other and join forces to destroy the alien ships and the aliens themselves before they destroy every major city on earth, suck out all of it's resources and move on to the next planet. This is a truly magnificent movie. One of the best of 1996.

THE ABYSS: This beautifully directed 1989 treasure is a very slow yet engaging classic courtesy of James Cameron. It takes place during the heights of the cold war when an American nuclear submarine crashes and goes down to the ocean floor along with several nuclear submarines near an Oil Rig and the Navy SEALS send a crew of divers down to the ocean to investigate and salvage the wreckage and retrieve the nuclear warheads that are still live but unarmed but they encounter two major problems. One is one of their crew is a traitor and is searching for the nukes to use against America while they also discover while down in the dark depths of the ocean that humanity may not be alone afterall. This is a truly excellent movie and the visuals are amazing. ... Read more