The Abyss

[Chebby]

Just watched Abyss on sci-fi for the third or forth time, but something caught my eye this time: there was a good size air pocket above Bud’s head in his liquid breathing suit. His helmet should have been crushed like a golf ball! You could see it once when he puts it on and one more time on the alien ship when he tilts his head back to take the helmet off. Little things like that ruin great movies for me…

 

[pipedope]

There was a lot of stuff in that movie (and all science fiction movies) that really wouldn't work the way presented.

I usually note them and let them slide for the sake of the story.

I love the way that in movies, commercial diving helmets have lights on the inside. Like I really want a light inside the hat to blind me on those rare dives where I have a chance to see something.

 

[boomx5]

There was a lot of stuff in that movie (and all science fiction movies) that really wouldn't work the way presented.

I usually note them and let them slide for the sake of the story.

I love the way that in movies, commercial diving helmets have lights on the inside. Like I really want a light inside the hat to blind me on those rare dives where I have a chance to see something.

Not to mention that they would drain those tanks in about 4-5 minutes at that depth and be out of gas.

 

[Firebrand]

What I like most is that Navy S.E.A.L.s are sent to that depth. They are not trained to go down that deep. They are combat swimmers (very shallow for extended periods of time). Navy divers would have been sent instead.

 

[The Kraken]

Two words, ladies and gentlemen . . .

"Movie Law"

 

[Chebby]

Pipedope, my problem with the air pocket that it’s something that should have been noticed and fixed right away. I’m not complaining about, let’s say, impossiblity of a dive to 20,000: they needed it for the plot, so it goes in, plausible or not. Movie law, like Kraken said. But the air pocket is just sloppy! And we all know, sloppy and diving do not mix. It voids the whole believability of that dive. Btw, did you notice that his light folded somewhere between 8000 and 20000? I would have thought if the light had a big air pocket (and it did cause some bubbles came up when it collapsed) it would have done it long before 8000 feet. More dramatic effect to fill the descent phase, I guess.

boomx5, I think they were using rebreathers for diving, which don’t require large tanks. Not that I know anything about rebreathers. Now I wish I had this movie on DVD so I could look at it again, because I thought they did have bubbles coming out of them…Which is probably the reason Bud did not have an octo to give to his wife.

Firebrand, I think they needed the Seals because of their special assignment: to prevent nukes from falling into the hands of the Russians. And you are right, they seemed completely unprepared for the situation, not physically but mentally. You could see it by the way that guy was driving the little sub.

Btw, I found an interesting thread online about liquid breathing if anyone is interested:
http://yarchive.net/med/liquid_breathe.html
I am trying to sift through and separate all the scientific postings from the pseudo-scientific ones. Not an easy task…

 

[Chebby]

I have a question about the AIR pressure on the rig. Because it wasn’t closed and pressurized, that meant the air pressure was the same as in the surroung sea, right? I don’t remember the exact depth, but it was definitly over 200 feet. Would nitrogen narcosis be something that could have been constantly affecting them?

 

[boomx5]

boomx5, I think they were using rebreathers for diving, which don’t require large tanks. Not that I know anything about rebreathers. Now I wish I had this movie on DVD so I could look at it again, because I thought they did have bubbles coming out of them…Which is probably the reason Bud did not have an octo to give to his wife.

I have it on DVD and they where not diving rebreathers. This conversation is like talk about Star Trek theory...it's all just fiction.

 

[Pez de Diablo]

My favorite site for picking apart sci fi movies is Bad Astronomy. Check it out.

Dennis

 

[Sloth]

Just watched Abyss on sci-fi for the third or forth time, but something caught my eye this time: there was a good size air pocket above Bud’s head in his liquid breathing suit. His helmet should have been crushed like a golf ball! You could see it once when he puts it on and one more time on the alien ship when he tilts his head back to take the helmet off. Little things like that ruin great movies for me…

It's a movie about aliens but it took air in his "liquid breathing suit" to ruin it for you :05: