The Abyss: Take a Look Inside James Cameron’s Long-Awaited 4K Release (Exclusive)

James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment has provided ComicBook.com with an exclusive look inside the just-released 4K Ultra UHD remastered release for The Abyss, one of a handful of Cameron’s movies to get that deluxe treatment just in time for the holidays, and arguably the one that fans have been waiting for the most intently. While Titanic and Aliens are much bigger hits, The Abyss has always been a much less-discussed piece of Cameron’s filmography, rarely getting the kind of attention that you would expect from a movie made by one of the most successful filmmakers of all time.

In the behind-the-scenes clip seen above, filmmakers discuss the making of the NTIs, the strange, beautiful creatures that interact with the movie’s heroes deep under the sea. Producer Gale Anne Hurd and visual effects supervisor Hoyt Yeatman discuss the design of the creatures, with Yeatman in particular going into detail about how the puppets were lit with fiber optics, and how the ethereal, unsettling movement of the NTIs was achieved using a fairly conventional camera trick.

“There’s a world of emotions in revisiting these films and I hope we’ve captured some of that in the new bonus materials we created for our fans,” Cameron said in a statement. 

Producer Jon Landau added, “We really wanted to deliver the best possible experience at home so viewers could immerse themselves both in the films, and the journeys we went through to make them.” 

While only Titanic is available on 4K disc right now, the Avatar films are coming next week, and The Abyss, Aliens, and True Lies will be in stores on March 12. You can get the 4K versions of all six movies on digital platforms now.

For those who might have missed it (and it’s worth finding — go get this disc!), here’s the film’s official synopsis: “In this underwater sci-fi adventure written and directed by James Cameron, a nuclear sub mysteriously sinks and a private oil rig crew, led by foreman Bud Brigman (Ed Harris), is recruited to join a team of Navy SEALs on a search and rescue effort. The group soon finds themselves on a spectacular life-and-death odyssey 25,000 feet below the ocean’s surface, where they find a mysterious force that could either change the world — or destroy it. The Abyss also stars Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Michael Biehn.”

The Abyss, Aliens and True Lies are available now in 4K Ultra UHD for the first time ever at digital retailers and will be available on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc March 12, 2024. Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water Collector’s Editions are also available now at digital retailers, and will be available on Blu-ray December 19.