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Ghosts of the Abyss

 
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Ghosts of the Abyss

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  • Director: James Cameron
  • AMG Rating: starstarstar
  • Genre: History
  • Movie Type: Tragedies & Catastrophes
  • Themes: Disasters at Sea, Obsessive Quests
  • Main Cast: Lewis Abernathy, Bill Paxton, Lori Johnson, Dr. Charles Pellegrino, Don Lynch
  • Release Year: 2003
  • Country: US
  • Run Time: 59 minutes
  • MPAA Rating: G

Plot

Filmmaker James Cameron has long been fascinated with the ill-fated maiden voyage of the great ship the Titanic, and he used the story as the backdrop for his most famous and successful movie. In the summer of 2001, Cameron and his good friend Bill Paxton (who appeared in Titanic) joined a group of scientists, maritime historians, archaeologists, and deep sea explorers for a daring experiment -- to find and document the Titanic's final resting place at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Cameron brought along a film crew equipped with state-of-the-art 3-D cameras to document the voyage, and Ghosts of the Abyss offers a detailed look at their search for the Titanic, as well as imagining what the final hours for the crew and passengers must have been like. The initial release of Ghosts of the Abyss was limited to big-screen IMAX theaters and movie houses specially equipped to show 3-D features. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Review

Visually and conceptually stunning despite occasional lapses into contrived sentimentality, James Cameron continues his tireless obsession with the legendary tragedy of the Titanic to spectacular results in Ghosts of the Abyss. Cameron's expanded canvas and experimentation with an effective new form of three-dimensional photography brings the audience as close as they're likely to get to experiencing the sight of the remarkable wreckage without standing on the ocean floor, and the discoveries that he and his crew make while floating miles underwater are nothing short of amazing. From the enormous stained-glass windows adorning the dining room that remain perfectly intact (an image which ultimately provides the film one of its most memorable images) to the cabin dressers hauntingly adorned with accessories as if they had just been used, Cameron's innovative use of technology literally offers viewers the ghostly opportunity to roam the corridors of the wreckage in a manner previously unimaginable. Utilizing two remote cameras dubbed "Jake" and "Elwood" to access areas of the ship that would otherwise remain unreachable, the explorers reveal images that to this point would have been physically impossible to capture. Playing the role as Cameron's everyman stand in, longtime friend Bill Paxton's nervous anticipation and genuine awe upon finally seeing the wreckage provides a suitable means of placing the audience in the cramped quarters of his sturdy submarine, though his frequent attempts at poignant observation seem too forced and intrusive to be effective given that the remarkable images speak to audiences in a manner difficult to express in words. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Cast

Bill Paxton - Himself; Lewis Abernathy - Himself; Lori Johnson; Dr. Charles Pellegrino - Himself; Don Lynch - Himself; Ken Marschall - Himself; James Cameron - Himself; Mike Cameron - Himself; Jeffrey N. Ledda; Genya Cherniaev - Himself; Victor Nischeta; Dr. Anatoly Sagalevich - Himself; John Bruno; Vince Pace - Himself; Corey Jakolski; Jason Paul; Eric Schmitz; Miguel Wilkins; Federico Zambrano; Dale Ridge; Judy Prestininzi; Adriana Valdez; Justin Shaw; Thomas Kilroy; Charlie Arneson; Piper Gunnarson; Tava Smiley - Herself; Dr. John Broadwater - Himself; Dr. Lori Johnston - Herself

Credit

Javier Nava - Art Director, Tina Kerr - Casting, Kristie Sills - First Assistant Director, James Cameron - Director, Ed W. Marsh - Editor, Sven Pape - Editor, John Refoua - Editor, Andrew Wright - Line Producer, Joel McNeely - Composer (Music Score), Randy Gerston - Musical Direction/Supervision, Martin Lang - Production Designer, Vince Pace - Cinematographer, James Cameron - Producer, Chuck Comisky - Producer, Gig Rackauskas - Producer, Janace Tashjian - Producer, Ed W. Marsh - Producer, Christopher Boyes - Sound/Sound Designer, Dennis L. Baxter - Sound/Sound Designer, Chuck Comisky - Visual Effects Supervisor, Section L - Digital Effects, Sergio Lino - Special Effects Coordinator, Beau Borders - Supervising Sound Editor, CIS Hollywood - Visual Effects, Complete Post - Visual Effects, Post Group - Visual Effects, Creative Logik Universe - Visual Effects

Similar Movies

Titanic Revealed; Titanic: The Final Chapter; Titanic Chronicles; The Titanic Tragedy; Andrea Doria: Final Chapter
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Ghosts of the Abyss

The theatrical poster for Ghosts of the Abyss.
Directed by James Cameron
Produced by John Bruno
James Cameron
Chuck Comisky
Janace Tashjian
Andrew Wight
Starring Bill Paxton
James Cameron
Dr. John Broadwater
Dr. Lori Johnston
Music by Joel McNeely
Lisa Torban
Cinematography Vince Pace
D.J. Roller
Editing by David C. Cook
Ed W. Marsh
Sven Pape
John Refoua
Studio Walden Media
Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures
Release date(s) April 11, 2003
Running time 60 minutes (IMAX)
90 minutes (DVD)
Country United States
Language English

Ghosts of the Abyss is a 2003 documentary film released by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media. It was Disney's first film produced in 3-D and was directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker James Cameron after his Oscar winning film Titanic. It consists of Cameron and a group of scientists sailing out to the wreck of the Titanic, and then going down to get closer than anyone has before. With the help of specially created cameras, Jake and Elwood, the audience too can see inside the Titanic and with the help of CGI, people can see how it would have originally looked.

Also along for the ride Cameron invites friend and actor Bill Paxton who played Brock Lovett in the 1997 film. He narrates the event through his eyes. The film itself was produced for IMAX 3D during the Summer of 2003. It was also nominated for a BFCA award for Best Documentary. The submersibles Mir 1 and Mir 2 carried the Ghosts of the Abyss team on twelve dives.[1]

Contents

Outline

Director James Cameron returns to the site of the wreck of the Titanic. With a team of history and marine experts and friend Bill Paxton, he embarks on an unscripted adventure back to the final grave where 1,517 souls lost their lives almost a century ago. Using technology developed for this expedition, Cameron and his crew are able to explore virtually all of the wreckage, inside and out, as never before. With 3D photography, moviegoers experience the ship as if they are part of the crew, right inside the dive subs. This documentary was made for IMAX 3D Theatres and specially outfitted 35mm 3D theaters. Cameron and his team bring audiences to sights not seen since the sinking 89 years previous to the filming and explore why the landmark vessel, more than any shipwreck, continues to intrigue and fascinate the public.[2]

Release

The film was screened out of competition at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.[3]

The feature film on the DVD is 90 minutes long and is available in a 2-disc edition and as the 5th disc in the Titanic 5-Disc Deluxe Limited Edition.

Soundtrack

Ghosts of the Abyss
Soundtrack by Joel Mcneely
Released April 26, 2003
Length 58:29
Producer Paramount

The official soundtrack's songs were composed and conducted by Joel McNeely, and the orchestrations were conducted by David Brown, Marshall Bowen, and Frank Macchia. The album was also recorded and mixed by Rich Breen, edited by Craig Pettigrew, and mastered by Pat Sullivan. The album was ultimately produced by James Cameron, Randy Gerston and Joel McNeely.

Track listing
  • Departure (written and performed by Glen Phillips) (2:33)
  • Main Title (1:16)
  • Apprehension (1:29)
  • Getting Ready (1:20)
  • Titanic Revealed (3:11)
  • Floating Above the Deck (3:01)
  • Dangerous Recovery (1:28)
  • Valse Septembre (written by Felix Godin) (2:19)
  • The Windows (0:47)
  • Jake and Elwood (2:14)
  • The Bots Go In (1:33)
  • Titsy Bitsy Girl (written by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton) (1:52)
  • The Grand Staircase (1:33)
  • Exploring the Staterooms (1:51)
  • Song Without Words (written by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky) (2:26)
  • Elegance Past (2:10)
  • Building the Ship (1:28)
  • I... I Had to Go (1:54)
  • The Ship's Engines (1:42)
  • Alexander's Ragtime Band (written by Irving Berlin) (1:53)
  • The Final Day (2:15)
  • The End (3:17)
  • Memorials (1:18)
  • Go Toward the Light (1:31)
  • The Next Morning (2:08)
  • Nearer My God to Thee (written by John B. Dykes) (0:55)
  • Saying Goodbye to Titanic (1:55)
  • Eternal Father, Strong to Save (written by John B. Dykes and William Whiting) (3:02)
  • Darkness, Darkness (written by Jesse Colin Young, performed by Lisa Torban) (4:05)

References

  1. ^ 47218_GotAEGv15_A
  2. ^ Anonymous Summary taken from IMDB
  3. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Ghosts of the Abyss". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4086888/year/2003.html. Retrieved 2009-11-09. 

External links

v • d • e
James Cameron
1980s
Piranha II: The Spawning (1981) · The Terminator (1984) · Aliens (1986) · The Abyss (1989)
1990s
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) · True Lies (1994) · Titanic (1997)
2000s
Avatar (2009)
Documentaries
Expedition: Bismarck (2002) · Ghosts of the Abyss (2003) · Aliens of the Deep (2005)
Producer / writer
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) · Point Break (1991) · Strange Days (1995) · Dark Angel (2000–02) · Solaris (2002) · Exodus Decoded (2006) · The Lost Tomb of Jesus (2007)
Associates
Production company
v • d • e
RMS Titanic on film and TV
Saved from the Titanic (1912) · In Nacht und Eis (1912) · Atlantic (1929) · Titanic (1943) · Titanic (1953) · A Night to Remember (1958) · S.O.S. Titanic (1979) · Raise The Titanic (1980) · Titanic (TV miniseries) (1996)  · No Greater Love (1996)  · Titanic (1997) · Ghosts of the Abyss (2003)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
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