THE HERALD OUTLOOK Saturday August 26 1989- Page The Abyss takes the plunge into adventure THE ABYSS The producer director team of Gale Anne Kurd and James Cameron The Terminator Aliens takes to the deep in this gripping underwater thriller Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mas star as an estranged couple who work as civilian divers on a deep sea oil drilling rig Their latest mis sion is to search for the Montana a ballistic missile sub that has been incapacitated at a depth of 2000 feet The submarine is perched on the edge of the Cayman Trough a forbid ding pit in the floor of the Atlantic Early on a problem faces The mission is being coordinat ed by a team of Navy SEALS one of whom Michael has a danger hidden agenda Cameron and his production team achieve some stunning harrowing ac sequences and effects remlnls cent of an aquatic Aliens The mov te was shot in water tanks instead of the open ocean but you 11 never know FILMETER The film has a hypnotic sense of place with the majority of the action occurring underwater The film plays on our fears of drowning and of losing our breath this is definitely not a picture fbr people with respiratory problems Though a lot of the movie is darkly involving and suggestive it takes a di sastrous turn toward the end a mystical Spielbergian turn Sudden ly the movie tries to be upbeat There a friendly terrestrial force that is visualized in fashion It looks like a giant glowing stingray with in it Harris an actor of earthy power has a wonderful scene when he wont accept the idea that might be dead Alas Mastrantonio has a corresponding moment when she thinks Harris may be dead Her scene is less well written and played than his In a canny piece of casting Carrier on regular makes a compelling villain In other roles Biehnssoft voice and baby blue eyes have been used for their heartthrob appeal Here they take on real If only the movie get the bends about twothirds of the way through GRADE YOUNG EINSTEIN PG Who is Yahoo Serious And do you care Warner Brothers is banking on the idea that he will become the new Aus tralian rage this country the new Paul Hogan Admittedly Mr Serious is something of a the producer director writer and star of this oddball Down Under comedy which creates a fictional biography of Albert Einstein Serious stars as Einstein who in this version is a wild haired patent of fice clerk who hails from Tasmania where his parents are apple farmers Not only does Albert come up with the theory of atomic energy as a method of adding bubbles to his dad s beer recipe but he also invents rock roll turning his viola into an electric guitar On the personal front he ro mances scientific whiz Mane Curie Odile is committed to the Sydney lunatic asylum and almost has his scientific ideas appropriated by the devious Preston Preston John Howard For adventurous kids the movie will probably seem cute and clever a whirling pastiche of jokes puns and amusing anachro nisms Serious is a talented fellow on all fronts but he overdoes it In fact older viewers may find the picture too antic for words And as an actor Se nous wears out Ins welcome You want to give him a Valium and tell him to ease up on the GRADE New Home Video Pacific Arts The MTV generation gets a razzing in this satirical comedy about two music video makers John and Tim who try to make stars of a soul duo actual soul legends Sam Moore and Walkerl The soundtrack includes music by King Cotton Biafra of The Dead Kennedys and Bo Diddley The eclectic cast includes Connie Ste vensand Lyle GRADE Film grading k k good kk poor excellent fair BUD BRIGMAN Ed Harris right shares a parting moment with Brigman Mary Elizabeth before descending into a mile- deep ocean trench In The Abyss a new film from director Cameron