The Abyss (2-disc) OOP Question
 

A quick question...I am trying to find the differences of the two different DVD releases of James Cameron's film "The Abyss". The older 2-disc DVD is OOP, and there is another 2-disc release currently available (white cover; digipack). What are the differences? And, does the older release have more complete extras (same as the LD boxset)? Any help is appreciated.

They are identical, save for the altered packaging; all LD contents have been ported over save for one of the ALIENS Easter Egg trailers, which can be found on the latest release of ALIENS, so it's no loss anyway...

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Why then was the original 2-disc discontinued? Also, does the current release retain the same menus/options?

Um, because they changed the packaging.

That I don't know for 100% certain but I'm 99% certain they do. If Fox was going to revamp the actual disc contents/layout, I'm sure they also would have provided the anamorphic transfer fans have been clamoring for for years...

It's a shame we haven't heard anything about an anamorphic release of this. Fox is waiting for a next-gen format/HD release?

It's a shame they didn't do it right the first time, there are plenty of bonus features with the current 2-disc release...

They did everything right cept the anamorphic transfer :(

Does anyone know if the trivia tracks for the theatrical and extended versions are identical except the extended would have additional comments during the scenes that weren't in the theatrical version?

I remember when Fox used to release nothing but non-anamorphic DVDs, ironically The Abyss was released during 2000, the year they made their magnificent turnaround (starting with Fight Club) and became one of the dominant DVD producing companies.

It's kinda lame that almost every Fox movie except The Abyss has had an anamorphic re-issue.

I'm still waitiing for True Lies and Broken Arrow to also get much needed 16x9 transfers.

I agree, but remember, to be fair, they have to wait for James Cameron's input, so if he's not ready to devote his time and attention to the task, there's little Fox can do expect go ahead without him and potentially piss him off.

I saw a version of The Abyss a few weeks ago that had a gold slipcase. It said on the back of the slipcase that the movie had a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. However on the actual case itself it said nothing of it. I was all happy for a second that Fox finally got their act together. Looks like they didnt.

"I saw a version of The Abyss a few weeks ago that had a gold slipcase. It said on the back of the slipcase that the movie had a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. However on the actual case itself it said nothing of it. I was all happy for a second that Fox finally got their act together. Looks like they didnt." - Leechboy

I saw that one too several months ago and pretty much blew it off as a misprint since I hadn't heard anything about a new anamorphic re-release.

I have heard rumors that a new version is coming out this fall. Have no details about release date or anything like that.

Jacob

All of the DVD editions of The Abyss have mis-stated on the cover that the transfer is anamorphic, but none of the discs actually are. I believe Fox's reasoning for never correcting this is that the disc menus are anamorphic even if the movie isn't.

I think the older version had two editions, one has a 5.1 mix with no french track (that's the one I have) and one with both french & english, but in 2.0.

I think the one with the Digipack has only has the 2.0 tracks, no 5.1...

This only applies to the Canadian releases. The American releases all have English 5.1.

Lucky for me then that I bought in Canada the english only copy!...

is a 5.1 track takes that much space on a DVD ?

the recent HiDef airing I saw of 'True Lies' on HBO looked amazing, albeit at a cropped aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (boo!!!).

I think in this case it was just a stupid marketing decision to separate the English version from the French version.