Christ, James Cameron is amazing!

[Neil]

I like the Abyss, even though it's flawed... The cinema version was cut to hell, but the directors version was great... Now Cameron is a detail nut, this is part of why his films are great... In the Abyss I knew the technology was based on fact, but what I didn't realise was how close the film was to fact. In the scene where the rat was submerged into the 'liquid oxygen', a rat REALLY was submerged into the 'liquid oxygen' In one scene, a Navy Seal uses a live rat to demonstrate the liquid oxygen solution that Bud will breathe during his dive. The scene is real: the rat was really submerged in the solution, and its struggle to breathe isn’t faked. The American Humane Association censored the movie for this scene, despite the rat being demonstrably unharmed; in England the scene was clipped from the film and replaced by dialogue describing the rat’s reaction.

[bassman]

I have the special edition of The Abyss, but don't recall anything about this. So are they saying that there actually is a liquid that mammals can breathe? Or just that they killed a rat for the scene?

[Eyebiter]

Liquid breathing is an experimental technology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_breathing Issue seems to be how to make a mixture thin enough to breath but will still transport enough oxygen in and remove Co2 and Nitrogen out. Might be possible in the future with a pump and computers to regulate the mixture.

[_liam_]

Eh?! This scene was in the version they showed on channel 4 in the 90s, the guy who owns the rat has to be held back and he says "He's goin under!" or whatever

[MinionZombie]

I've got the Dir Cut on VHS and it has that scene in it, I figured it was a fake one, but ... damn.

[slickwilly13]

That scene wasn't edited over here.

[Yojimbo]

James Cameron is a decent director, but I just did not groove with the stupid romance crap that he inserted into Titanic. Gotta say that while I enjoyed that movie, especially the real time sinking of the boat, the entire superficial, one dimensional, "its true love!" crap that was DiCaprio/Winslett on the Titanic gave me hemorhoids. But that is my one real complaint, and moving forward form that I agree that Cameron is a rocking director.

[bassman]

James Cameron is a decent director, but I just did not groove with the stupid romance crap that he inserted into Titanic. Gotta say that while I enjoyed that movie, especially the real time sinking of the boat, the entire superficial, one dimensional, "its true love!" crap that was DiCaprio/Winslett on the Titanic gave me hemorhoids. But that is my one real complaint, and moving forward form that I agree that Cameron is a rocking director. While trying to avoid another argument about Titanic's storyline, I have to say that there is no way he could make a film with ONLY the sinking of the ship. He incorporated some actual members of the ship, but had to create fictional characters in order to give it an emotional grounding. There is not enough information on actual members that would allow him to create an engaging story. He took fictional characters and dropped them into an insanely detailed recreation of the real event. Sometimes I think too many males just think they're too macho for a good love storyline...

[_liam_]

Yeah it was ass, there's enough truly moving stories within that tragedy without having to fabricate a vapid subplot. I can sympathise though, he was burning studio money & probably had to ensure that the masses would go and see the movie if he ever wanted to work again It's worth pointing out that A Night to Remember told largely the same story without fictionalising it too much though

[slickwilly13]

There is only 2 things I liked about the movie, Titanic. 1. The nude scene 2. The ship sinking.

[MinionZombie]

There is only 2 things I liked about the movie, Titanic. 1. The nude scene 2. The ship sinking. Yep, same here. The ship sinking was terrifyingly real, it freaked me out that's for sure, plus there was lots of detail throughout the ship, and scenes of people curling up on bed with their loved ones as water seeps under the door, or steerage class people locked below etc - all shiver-inducing scenes. I could have done without all the Leo/Kate stuff, didn't like any of that at all.

[slickwilly13]

Yeah, same here. But she has a beautiful body and skin. Kind of homely in the face though. Especially, now.

[SymphonicX]

I like the Abyss, even though it's flawed... The cinema version was cut to hell, but the directors version was great... Now Cameron is a detail nut, this is part of why his films are great... In the Abyss I knew the technology was based on fact, but what I didn't realise was how close the film was to fact. In the scene where the rat was submerged into the 'liquid oxygen', a rat REALLY was submerged into the 'liquid oxygen' In one scene, a Navy Seal uses a live rat to demonstrate the liquid oxygen solution that Bud will breathe during his dive. The scene is real: the rat was really submerged in the solution, and its struggle to breathe isn’t faked. The American Humane Association censored the movie for this scene, despite the rat being demonstrably unharmed; in England the scene was clipped from the film and replaced by dialogue describing the rat’s reaction. Yeah that poor rat did look a bit disturbed....but a cool scene nonetheless!

[Yojimbo]

Sometimes I think too many males just think they're too macho for a good love storyline... Bassman, though I consider myself pretty "macho" (though somehow that sounds kinda gay...not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you) I hate to admit that I do dig a good love story. A Very Long Engagement, and Amelie are two that spring to mind primarily because my wife and I just watched these last night. Not that I am any sort of romance afficionado, but just that I am not too manly to admit enjoying a good love story provided that it is done well. While I grok what you are saying about the "need" to add an additional character's story arc to the Titanic story, it seems to me that there were so many compelling stories from real life folks who had been on the Titanic that I think they would have been able to carry this off without clumsy additional characters. On some level, it is kind of offensive to the memories of the actual victims that there would be any perceived need to add more drama to what is already a very dramatic situation. That being said, my issue with the romance between Dicaprio and Winslett is not simply the fact that there was a "romantic" story line added, but just that Dicaprio and Winslett in my opinion were just crap and their individual storyline clumsy and hamhanded. This, of course is just a personal preference issue. All the same, I did enjoy Titanic, as I did Aliens, and Terminator. Cameron is indeed a decent director, in spite of my issue with this choosing Dicaprio and Winslett and the funky storyline. I can sympathise though, he was burning studio money & probably had to ensure that the masses would go and see the movie if he ever wanted to work again This is my thought too, that the addition of Dicaprio and Winslett and the godawful romance story was at the demand of the suits and of focus groups rather than someting that Cameron would have insisted upon. Yep, same here. The ship sinking was terrifyingly real, it freaked me out that's for sure, plus there was lots of detail throughout the ship, and scenes of people curling up on bed with their loved ones as water seeps under the door, or steerage class people locked below etc - all shiver-inducing scenes. I could have done without all the Leo/Kate stuff, didn't like any of that at all. Exactly, why could they not have had the story focus on some other invented storyline, like the dude that lies to his children that he will be taking the next boat out, or the character that tells her children to go to go to sleep and dream of angels, or even a side story about the immigrant father and kid that stupid Leo tries to save. Anything but a tween oriented "romance"

[Bub666]

There is only 2 things I liked about the movie, Titanic. 1. The nude scene 2. The ship sinking. There's one more thing I like about Titanic,and thats when Leonardo DiCaprio dies.