When it comes to the best directors of the 21st century, James Cameron deserves his spot on the list. The filmmaker has established himself as one of the most impactful and successful filmmakers with iconic movies like Titanic, Avatar, and The Terminator. But another movie from the ‘80s remains Cameron’s most controversial film yet, and it just started streaming on Tubi months after a banned scene prompted its removal from a different platform.
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That movie is, of course, The Abyss, Cameron’s 1989 sci-fi movie about a civilian underwater drilling crew tasked with recovering a sunken nuclear submarine during the Cold War, only to encounter a mysterious, intelligent alien species in the deep ocean. The movie started streaming on Tubi on February 1st, just months after it was pulled from Disney+ in the UK after its remastered version violated an almost 40-year ban on a scene featuring animal cruelty. Outside of its removal from Disney+ in the UK, the film has a long history of being pretty difficult to stream and only occasionally makes returns to US streaming services.
James Cameron’s The Abyss Controversy, Explained
The controversy that led to The Abyss’ removal from Disney+ in the UK has persisted for decades and boils down to a single scene roughly midway through the film. In the scene, the movie attempts to show how a mammal can survive in oxygenated fluorocarbon fluid, technology that Ed Harris’ character utilizes later in the film, by submerging a rat in a vat of fluorocarbon liquid. The scene stirred outrage over the fact that a real rat was used in the scene. Although all rats used in the scene, for which the production consulted with experts, survived, it caused significant uproar regarding animal safety. The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) eventually banned the scene after it was deemed a violation of animal cruelty laws, and for decades the controversial scene was cut from theatrical, TV, and home video releases in the UK – until the mishap over the summer that saw the movie added to Disney+ in the UK in its uncut form.
Piqued curiosity stemming from the movie’s controversy is far from the only reason to add The Abyss to your watchlist. Controversy aside, the movie is actually really good and definitely one of Cameron’s most underrated movies ever. The Abyss is “Certified Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes with a 75% critic score and an 83% audience rating, and it deserves those high scores. The movie is a testament to Cameron’s dedication to creating truly immersive, visually stunning films, and it features groundbreaking practical underwater special effects and excels at intense claustrophobic tension, which is grounded in a deeply emotional human story on the strained relationship between estranged spouses.
What’s New on Tubi?
Tubi features a pretty deep catalog of movies, and they’re all streaming for free. That library grew on February 1st with the arrival of other sci-fi movies like The 5th Wave and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Other films also freshly streaming on Tubi include Marvel’s Runaways, Jurassic World, and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
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