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In this exclusive section we will follow the development of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s “The Abyss Special Edition”. In irregular updates we will keep you informed whenever new developments occur and new information becomes available, so make sure to check by frequently to keep up with the latest development on this highly anticipated title.

the first wave
a multi-story presentation
making a long story short
two discs versus one
updating the supplements
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by Guido Henkel
 March 1, 2000

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ith only a few short weeks to go until the final release of the special edition of “The Abyss,” the project is slowly coming to an end - and this Production Diary with it. The DVD has taken some giant steps towards completion over the past weeks and all rumors about

James Cameron pulling the plug on the project are complete nonsense. The disc is on its way as scheduled and as a matter of fact I have proof lying right in front of me in the shape of two shiny little discs that make up the special edition of “The Abyss”.

With these discs in hand I have finally had the chance to take a tour through the project I had heard so much about myself. Excited I loaded up the second disc that contains all of the release’s supplements, and began going through the material step by step. The wealth of bonus material on this disc is simply overwhelming, and step by step I slowly explored the depths of “The Abyss” and found many interesting, informative and exciting tidbits. During the course I took some screenshots for you so that you can get a better idea of what to expect from this incredible package.

After a gorgeous, but brief, animation when inserting the disc I ended up on the main menu that we have seen in some detail in one of our previous installments already. From there I went straight to the “Drill Room,” where I learned how to navigate through the disc and where I was able to select the level of detail that I wished to go into. After going through a number of segments there I eventually decided to go back to the menu and navigate through the materials myself.

This is the Imaging station where you find a great number of video segments about the production. Each one of those videotapes you see in the image represents a different segment, covering something special, like the building of the Deepcore, the multi-angle presentation of the Pseudopod effect shots, the flooding of the Montana and so much more, like the entire shooting script of the movie.

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Here you will find trailers to “The Abyss” and some other movies by James Cameron that are not as obviously visible at first. Just keep looking and eventually you will find them.

In beautifully sweeping menu transitions you even leave Deepcore in the menu to explore some more of the movie’s “Mission Components.”
All these menus and transitions have been completely modelled from scratch and perfectly represent the vehicles from the movie, even recreating the lighting and atmosphere of the film.

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