The Abyss

Other mistake: When Ed Harris is dropping down the Abyss there are a couple of time that bubbles come out of his mouth or can be seen in his nostrils, even though he is supposed to have been breathing liquid for quite some time. (02:13:28)

Other mistake: Near the beginning there is a scene where they are launching a submersible with Lindsey and the seal team in it. Lindsey waits until the sub is dangling over the water then pulls a lever and the sub drops about 10 feet into the water with a big splash. Several problems: 1) Those subs are hugely expensive. They put them in the water very gently. 2) Those subs are so expensive that they don't risk having a release mechanism as depicted. They use a standard screw shackle to ring and would have to have a swimmer let them go. 3) Due to the buoyancy of the sub, falling that far to the water would give all passengers back injuries due to the sudden deceleration when the sub hits the water.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: They're on an emergency rescue mission and don't have time to be delicate with the equipment. Also, everyone in the sub is shown being thrown around when the sub hits the water. Hence the angry looks toward Lindsey.

They would still put the sub safely in the water. The first thing in priority in a rescue situation is scene and crew safety. If you damage the rescue sub or hurt the rescue team what's the point of the rescue. They would take the extra few minutes necessary to put the submersible safely in the water.

Other mistake: During the submarine interior scene, there are several dead seamen shown floating about. One of them is pretty close to the camera and floating with his eyes open. He blinks before the shot ends.

Nicki

Other mistake: When the water tentacle enters the rig, in one shot in the 4:3 version of the film on video you can see that the tentacle is a superimposed special effect because of the dead straight line where it is supposed to have come out of the water.

Factual error: [Special Edition] The Statue of Liberty is incorrectly shown to be facing the Narrows bridge.

More mistakes in The Abyss

Bud Brigman: The guy is on his own, he's cut off from his chain of command, he's showing signs of pressure-induced psychosis, and he has a nuclear weapon. So as a personal favour to me, could you put your tongue in neutral for a while?!

More quotes from The Abyss

Trivia: The fictional company that owns and operates the undersea drilling rig is called Benthic Petroleum. In Terminator 2: Judgment Day (also directed by James Cameron) after the escape from the mental hospital, our heroes hide out at a gas station. The pumps at the station feature the Benthic Petroleum logo.

rbryant73

More trivia for The Abyss

Question: What was Lindsey referring to when she called Coffey "Roger Ramjet"?

Answer: Roger Ramjet was a 1960's American cartoon character who was extremely patriotic, but dimwitted.

BaconIsMyBFF

Answer: She's comparing the overzealous, gung-ho Coffey to the 1960s cartoon character, Roger Ramjet, a frenetic, extremely patriotic, though not particularly bright American-hero guy. He worked for the U.S. government and routinely saved the world, using energy pills that gave him brief increased strength.

raywest

Answer: Dudley Do-right, Inspector Clouseau or Maxwell Smart, only in a '50's space cartoon, that's Roger Ramjet (I imagine Buzz Lightyear is the nearest pop cultural successor).

dizzyd

More questions & answers from The Abyss

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