James Cameron explains that THE ABYSS was heavily influenced by THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL

After a recent screening of the new 4K version of the 1989 sci-fi classic The abyssdirector James Cameron participated in a Q&A session to talk about the film. We already reported the story he told about how he almost drowned and died during the making of the film, but in this post we talk about his inspiration behind the film.

Speaking with moderator Jim Hemphill, Cameron talked about how The abyss it was a mix of romance, alien encounters and Cold War politics. He explained:

“I think anyone who was a movie fan at that time – we’re talking 34 years ago – could see the DNA of other films, from ‘Close Encounters’ to the Cold War subfilms, so obviously I was being pulled in different directions.”

He then went on to reveal his biggest inspiration for The abyss was the classic 1951 science fiction film The day the Earth stopped. She explained that she wanted to tell that story his way and underwater. He said:

“But the one that stands above the rest is ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still,’ a philosophical science fiction film that asked the question ‘are we worthy if we were to be judged by a higher intelligence?’ This had a big impact on me as a child and I wanted to make my own version of it, but set it underwater because I was fascinated by the underwater world.”

When asked why it was necessary to scale back the plot instead of focusing on just one or two of these ideas. “It all made sense to me at the time, that’s all I can say.”

Now that he talks about it, I can totally see the influence of The day the Earth stopped In The abyss. I’m a huge fan of both of these movies and while The abyss wasn’t a huge commercial success when it was first released, it certainly found its audience. I’m pretty excited about the opportunity to watch this movie in 4K.

Via: Variety