Buy it... if you enjoyed the magnificent final twelve minutes of choral majesty on the original version of the film.

Avoid it... if those twelve minutes aren't worth half an hour of mundane and sparse, electronically atmospheric underscore prior to that finale.

Silvestri

The Abyss: (Alan Silvestri) Two decades after James Cameron impressed audiences with a preview of liquid digital effects that would become famous in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the 1989 underwater alien thriller The Abyss has gone somewhat forgotten. Also off the radar is Cameron's much-discussed director's cut of the film that included a 20-minute ending that the studio felt was far too long and editorial to be included in the original theatrical release. Despite Cameron's previous collaborations with Brad Fiedel and James Horner (who was reportedly too busy at the time to have taken The Abyss as an assignment anyway), he collaborated with up and coming composing star Alan Silvestri for the score. Silvestri had caught the attention of action score collectors with his exciting and ambitious music for Back to the Future and Predator, two scores that would influence small sequences of music in The Abyss. For the film, Silvestri was tasked with creating two completely separate sounds for the same project, mirroring the story's two sides. In the first half of The Abyss, an underwater platform crew is tested by the elements and each other while slowly beginning to realize that some of the problems they (and a recently sunken submarine) are experiencing are due perhaps to unknown creatures that exist at the bottom of a nearby abyss. The second portion of the film involves the creatures of the abyss themselves and their triumphant surfacing as a method of saving Ed Harris' life and announcing themselves to the world of humanity. Cameron was impressed by Silvestri's ability to handle these two differing sides of the score with ease, and in the film, the score is functional in the first half and magnificent in the second.

The climactic scenes of the film, underscored by Silvestri's magical choral and orchestral blend, put the finale cues of the score into concert halls around the country, and caused a lengthy series of re-recordings. Everyone from The City of Prague Philharmonic and Crouch End Festival Chorus to Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops began producing equally impressive performances the finale cue. The score opens with a preview of the romantic and redeeming themes that Silvestri would largely save until the climax of the film. A burst of straight militaristic snare bravado would accompany the sinking of the U.S.S. Montana at the outset. Most of the following nine major cues would be defined by Silvestri's cost-saving electronics (one can only imagine the woes of the exploding budget for The Abyss in its final weeks). Many of the cues are so lightly atmospheric that they barely register, often including a slight synthetic tingling to help further the wondrous aspect of the deep. Silvestri also attempts to utilize electronic pinging and underwater clanging effects, causing an eerie echo to many of these soft cues, though he doesn't quite capture them with the same resounding and convincing authenticity of Basil Poledouris at roughly the same time. The orchestra does make two notable appearances before the alien influence begins to shape the score. In "The Crane," a terrific storm sequence moves with similar action styles to the final storm scene in Back to the Future. Likewise, the "Sub Battle" cue cranks up some of the rhythmic and brass heat directly from Predator the previous year. The only distracting cue during the first half is "The Fight," for which Silvestri employs a more invasive and primal electronic rhythm.

	Learn about supporting Filmtracks

In "Resurrection" we first hear hints of the "humanity" theme that would develop in full in "Bud on the Ledge." The final twelve minutes of the score are pure orchestral and mixed choral magic, featuring Silvestri's two major themes in a simple, broad harmonic spectrum, often with outstandingly satisfying counterpoint. The "Finale" cue features a symbolically rising flourish of these themes to rousing conclusion. The mixing of the male and female sides of the choir are of particular note, with the cues featuring the sensitive female tones and the deep male counterparts in elegant layers at the same time. The director's cut of the film added scenes both before and after the aliens' surfacing, and Silvestri's music is not employed to any great length during these additions. For the scene in which Bud (Harris) is shown the horrors of mankind, Cameron purchased the rights to Jack Nitzsche's "The Walk to the Gas Chamber" cue from The Seventh Sign, with moderate success. The tragedy of the extended version of the film is the original music written by Robert Garrett specifically for that director's cut (apparently, Silvestri was working on the film after it had already been slimmed down). Garrett's music is a far departure in quality compared to Silvestri's obviously superior material, and this sudden change in musical tone causes a distinctly unnerving reaction for the score fans who witness the tidal wave sequence on the director's cut. As such, the consistency of Silvestri's music makes the original version of the film (regardless of the numerous other factors that go into the debate about the merits of the additional plotline) a better overall experience. The album, of course, includes only Silvestri's original material, and you have to be patient with it. The score won't impress you until its final quarter, but those final three tracks will be well worth the price. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Alan Silvestri reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.34 (in 32 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.27 (in 30,725 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.