During a screening of the masterpiece Abyss, James Cameron (Avatar 2, T2…) made an announcement long awaited by fans of the science fiction film.
Not content with having delivered a masterclass with Aliens Returns, James Cameron delivered another slap three years later with Abyss. A monumental work of science fiction that has its place perfectly in any top of the best SF films. But unlike Terminator, the second part of the adventures of Ellen Ripley or Titanic, there is no way to see this gem again in optimal conditions. What if it was finally possible?
Abyss in 4K, a dream that will soon come true?
A new domestic version of The Abyss is a very old sea serpent, something that has despaired fans for years. But clearly, the time for promises is over and James Cameron assures that he can put an end to this endless wait. The director of Avatar 2 was invited to the Beyond Fest in Los Angeles to screen a supposedly restored 2K copy – it’s not entirely clear – of his gem. A viewing which was followed by a question and answer session where the fantastic news broke. Cameron has completed his work on the 4K blu-ray of The Abyss, it’s finally happening!
“The mastering is finalized and I think it will be released soon. In a few months or something. There are lots of extras and this will be available simultaneously for streaming. We finished the transfer and I wanted to take care of it myself because Mikael Salomon did a magnificent job of photography on this film » (via Collider). Tea Abyss in 4K blu-ray, is it the dream? Yes, but…
Worrying feedback on quality
Some lucky people were therefore able to attend this 2K screening, probably from the new edition of the special (long) version. And the feedback on the blu-ray.com forums is worrying. “There was no grain in the image. It was quite detailed, but there was no grain” said a user. Another agreed and seems to be of the same opinion. “The most frustrating thing for me is that DNR makes the visual effects even worse. There is no longer any grain to diffuse the points of light during the scenes with the aliens, and we have the impression that there is posterization around them. Sometimes the image is so smoothed that it looks like an uploaded Youtube video in which all the details have disappeared due to compression.”
Lukewarm comments that remind us of a bad memory: the different blu-rays of Terminator 2. Including the last one on the occasion of the 3D release of the feature film. Where the Aliens blu-ray was a reference, a very fine piece of careful restoration work, T2 was quite the opposite. The faces of the characters had been passed through the DNR mill, without dosage, for a result in wax model mode. An excessive abuse which therefore resulted in an edition that was still extremely disappointing, even though Cameron had assured that he had supervised this version. Did it please Studio Canal at the time? Was he sincere and did Studio Canal make these atrocious changes without consulting him? Mystery.
But these returns after the broadcast of The Abyss, combined with the T2 experience and an old statement from James Cameron, are slightly worrying. Of course, we will wait for the 4K release to be fixed, which could happen in March 2024.