The Abyss: Open Matte Special Edition (1992) Blu-ray Cover VER 2

First I’d like to start with the actual product. Whe picking this up it feels heavy, they come in nice bluray cases and the insert is printed nicely. Second the video itself. What you’re getting is not a widescreen theatrical presentation, it is an open matte one as stated where there are no bars on top, bottom or sides. You get the full frame which is what the director uses to actually crop the film for release. You don’t get the overly claustrophobic feeling in this like you do with the widescreen version. The picture is excellent. I haven’t a clue where the source came from but it’s damn good, more than likely not the original 35mm film but it could possibly be. Is it razor sharp like you’d expect a filmed movie to be? It’s sure close. This could be an upscale dvd but tbh the 2001 dvd is horrendous and could not upscale this good. Does it look like the new “restoration”? No, not even close…. Thank God. The 4k looks like it was filmed yesterday on digital and for a movie from 1989 shouldnt look digital. This is filmic and natural looking. Honestly could be the laserdisc master judging from the coloring. I’ve never seen a laserdisc so I don’t how sharp they can be uoscaled to, that’s why I’m Thinking it’s not the laserdisc, because more often than not the picture is as sharp as a new bluray. There are some scenes that are softer than others which I come to expect with 35mm film. I’d like to site the final scene where you see the alien ship , it’s fuzzy here and on the restoration blu ray as well. Theres only a little grain that I can notice throughout in mostly darker scenes. This isn’t the 4k that’s been upscale with AI and scrubbed to death. It’s rough like youd expect an older film to look which is the version James Cameron would crap his pants if he knew we had access to it.