The Abyss
Image taken from wikipedia.org
After the box office success he had with The Terminator and Aliens, James Cameron turned his attention towards the deepest depths of the ocean. Taking it from a story he had written while in high school, the film explored the possibility of what truly lives deep inside the abyssal trenches of Earths oceans. With an all-star cast and millions of dollars in hand, Cameron got to work.
Since the film was mainly taking place under water, a huge sound stage was turned into a water shed. The actors had to undergo SCUBA training and were subjected to extreme difficulties that they had never encountered in their entire careers. Ed Harris, who played the main character in the movie, almost drowned while filming a scene in which he had to use no breathing apparatus and swim a few yards to the next part of the set.
James Cameron was pushed to the limit many times during filming. Having random outbursts and losing his temper uncontrollably many times, he briefly considered dropping out of the filming process. Yet after long hours of hardships, the film paid off. It was a moderate box-office success and was nominated for best visual effects and cinematography. To this day, the film is regarded to be one of the turning points in film history’s use of visual effects.
