The Resuscitation Scene - The Abyss (2025)

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Member since August 2006

Member since May 2004

I agree that Ed Harris did well in the scene and poured everything he had into it. Still, it was badly conceived to start with and still manages to be my biggest complaint with the overall film.

On a funny note, I recall one of the supplements to the film talking about how they finally filmed the scene perfectlyonly for Cameron to realize that he had run out of film and that it needed to be done again. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio was infuriated and stormed off, refusing to go through it all again. I can fully understand her irritation, though they did go on to get the scene on film.

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If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Member since July 2006

"Still, it was badly conceived to start with and still manages to be my biggest complaint with the overall film."

Elaborate on that point please.

"Fuggedabout Joe the Plumber, what about Don the Jeweler?".

by

Member since March 2002

The brain starts to decay after only around three to five minutes without oxygen. Every minute after that, the damage increases rapidly and in the vast majority of cases, irreparably. Some brain damage can be reversed, but only have years or even decades of painful and meticulous cognitive and physical therapyand those are the lucky ones. After ten minutes of oxygen deprivation, most either go into a persistent vegetative state for the rest of their lives, or will be incapable of speech, motor manipulation, eating, and so on. She was without oxygen for at least ten minutes before they even got back to the paddles, and it took them about five to seven minutes of screen time at least before she started breathing again. Nearly fifteen minutes of brain damage would have destroyed even the parts of the brain that operate the autonomic functions, without intensive care and 100% life support, there is no way she would have been able even be called "alive" on any level, let alone running around without severe hypothermia symptoms and exhibiting full cognitive function and higher-intellect capability.

I was friends with someone who had three minutes out, and there were strong personality adjustments and a noticeable reduction in cognitive ability. She was still well off enough to remain functional and such, but she knew she had lost a lot of her mental capability and will always be "a little less" than she knows she could have been.

And this is of course ignoring the fact that she was out in freezing water for ten minutes. Nobody survives that, nobody, even with a highly equipped ICU team. Certainly not a bunch of amateurs screaming and slapping and doing their CPR all wrong. We'd be reviving Walt Disney if we had that technology.

So it's ludicrous, and while anyone that doesn't know all of that might be able to suspend disbelief, anyone who does know anything about the way the body works is going to have a very difficult time enjoying the scene for it is, which is a pity, because they could have easily written it to be a bit more believable with just a few time tweaks and a reduction of activity on her part. It could have been just as emotionally powerful if she was on a stretcher recovering the rest of the time and he walks out of the "ship" to kneel down beside her in the closing scene. But no, her lips aren't even blue!

Member since June 2003

I think it's possible the cold water would have preserved brain function for a normal than longer time. I remember seeing a story on TV about a guy who was underwater for over 30 minutes in freezing water and survived with little to no brain damage after being resuscitated. They theorized the cold water was one of the reasons the guy survived for so long.

My brother was eaten by wolves on the CT Turnpike

by

Member since March 2008

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Member since November 2002

You're right that brain damage occurs within 3 to 5 minutes without oxygen, but not when a very interesting phenomenon called the mammalian diving reflex is activated, which happens in water under 21C/70F. And the lower the temperature, the greater effect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammalian_diving_reflex

People have been known to survive over half an hour after 'death' from cold water drowning, with no noticeable neurological damage. Here's an article from a medical website on the subject:

http://familydoctormag.com/first-aid-and-safety/1399-the-mammalian-div ing-reflex-how-people-live-after-drowning.html

Interesting to see there's also a comment on that page about the reflex being exploited in heart attack emergencies, as a way of delaying neurological damage.

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Member since March 2012

Interesting. While you are probably correct, your post makes me remember that in cases of films, ignorance is truly bliss.

-LeLu

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by

Member since March 2002

by

Member since November 2010

It's not just the resuscitation scene. It's the whole lead-up to it as well. Trapped in the flooding pod Bud, reminds Lindsay and us that she's "really smart and can get us BOTH out of here".

She comes up with the plan of action that we see that I hope most posters reading this by now will realise is possible given the temperature of the water.

I too did wonder why she didn't begin to swim immediately, but some posters have given what I think are plausible explanations for that too.

The resuscitation scene itself really works for me, because it shows semi-panicking amateurs trying to do the right thing in a complete real life fluster.

True enough the defib won't work if she's flatlined. But through it all Bud kept up the compressions (and his belief in her plan) even when advised (too early by his colleagues) to give it up and that's the most important thing.

The real life message here is don't be scared to just do nothing if confronted by similar circumstances

So often in films CPR practice is virtually treated as a joke because directors arguably just don't want to spend the film time on it. Cameron does the opposite and succeeds in creating not just a breathtakingly (sorry, couldn't help it) suspenseful scene, but IMO a very authentic one.

The only other thing IRL that may well have occurred is that she probably would have ended up with at least some busted ribs from the impact of the compressions. Is it any wonder Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio wasn't all that keen to redo the scene after Cameron had run out of film in one of his cameras, as apparently happened?

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Member since November 2010

Really? You think people should take guidance and wisdom from FICTIONAL characters??

Care for an exaggeration Luke? When and where did I say that? I said it was an authentic looking CPR scene with a bunch of semi-panicking people making mistakes (defib), wanting to give up early, but getting there in the end, primarily because one person didn't give up.

And you're talking Terminator, high school shootings and telling me that's it's best they do make mistakes.

Get a grip on reality bro or book into remedial reading lessons!

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by

Member since November 2010

Seriously Luke, why are we having this discussion?

I didn't say the scene was frustrating to watch. On the contrary, I said the scene "worked for me", was "suspenseful"l and "authentic" and you're lecturing me about

characters should definitely be human enough to make mistakes

and hopefully not questioning my maturity???

I reiterate that you need to pay special attention to the last paragraph of my previous post.

Member since February 2016

Yeah but then there's the aliens, who are watching it all. In the novelization which worked with the film's notes, the aliens probably had something to do with it; they save Bud, they keep Catfish alive long enough to reach the other section of the rig while swimming, and they probably helped her too.

http://68.media.tumblr.com/9761fd0e7d817b52be8e477d6f9ada8c/tumblr_inline_mzew4uySa11rkuju9.jpg

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Member since January 2000

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Member since March 2002

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Member since August 2001

Welcome back o clueless mistakenly conceited one.

The way your posts read are as follows: "hey I had this happen to one person I knew so therefore I know everything about it". 3 minutes to serious damage said as if it is some truism. Are you for real?

http://www.sitezed.com/an-analytical-look-at-survivable-submersion-times/

Instances of people having FULL recovery after an hour in water

Some factors
* The key of course is how cold the water is
* another huge factor is of course variability of people/bodies/ages
* And of course, as mentioned above, in the movie about aliens helping out people under water (getting rid of the bends when they resurfaced at the end "we should have been dead", making Bud be able to breathe at the bottom of the trench etc) you feel it is bugaboo/mythical fairies/deux ex machina that the aliens also helped out in this dire situation? How is that so unlikely? I'd say the opposite - it was very much in line with the rest of the film and the actions in it. And as mentioned the book spells it out that they did indeed help out. Keeping with your condescending tone I suggest you pay more attention to movies when you watch em.

but I wish you a jolly day nonetheless

by

Member since March 2002

What are you talking about, as I mentioned we had this discussion years ago. It was very interesting and I learned some neat things about the topic as it pertains to water and temperature as opposed to brain injury that happens at room temperature in atmosphere. What strikes me as odd are the people still responding to this old obsolete post from 2009 and thinking that is still the viewpoint I maintain, and getting all haughty and bent out of shape over it.

Why are you repeating things up-thread that have already been discussed as if none of this has been gone over yet? It's hilarious, really.

by

Member since August 2001

Cool.

I'm not sure why you take it so seriously, why you have a false sense of superiority and why you felt the need to belittle the other poster(s) who actually quite logically pointed out that the movie was about aliens who had mastered water and pressure But hey if that makes your life better keep at it

by

Member since March 2002

My my, the answer to your question is very simple: I don't. What you seem to have missed is that the other poster was not coming in here to leave a calm and collected logical post contributing to a conversation nearly a decade out of season. They wanted to get filthy, and I kindly engaged them for it is my pleasure to do so. If that wasn't their intention, then they have a long and winding road ahead of them in mastering the art of civil discourse. Surely they shouldn't be coming to me for practice, however.

Mainly that leaves you. The awkward white knight, blundering into the stable all jangling plate mail and pompous speeches, thinking to solve a brawl and instead tripping over two rutting beasts.

Might want to check the bottoms of your velvet boots on the way out.

by

Member since August 2001

I don't understand your English, your weird words, or attempts at condescending humor. Sorry.

And I do believe you completely didn't understand my objective. In no way was I trying to solve some brawl. Whatever gave you that idea? The same lack of attention that led you to not getting that The Abyss was an alien movie about "superpowered" aliens doing alien stuff?

Anyways. I've gotten enough arrogant snickers outta this little thread so I'm out. Have a better one.

by

Member since March 2002

And yet you responded, did you not? :) You have yourself needlessly mystified and barking at metaphors like a squirrel in autumn, so I will spell this out for you since illustrative speech dizzies your mind:

Nobody here is confused over what genre the film is from. Nobody needs to have it pointed out to them that aliens were in the film, and indeed, I am sure everyone here understands that aliens were influencing events within the film as well. The concept of whether aliens magicked the whole resuscitation event was also discussed a long time ago, and with a fair amount more politeness than either you or smooth1-2 could muster. As already mentioned, you strutting in here with your articles under your arm like a little scholar was also unnecessary as we went over all of that earlier in the discussion to.

So not only do none of us need your help, you are being a bore about it: hence a clueless knight smashing into things and thinking to "solve a brawl". Nobody thinks you were literally wearing plate mail at the time, either.

Just repeat after me, "Would that it were so simple!" "Would that it were so simple!" "Would that it t'were so simple!"

Member since September 2005

Sorry if some else brought up this point, but i couldnt be bothered to look through the rest of the posted comments.

Since they both knew that she would deliberately drown but the cold water would preserve her for resuscitation, why didnt they both start swimming back to safety while she was still awake? instead of letting her drown and then him towing her back.
Then, when she drowned en route, they would be much closer to safety and there would have been a significantly smaller chance that she would suffer brain damage.

Member since October 2011

Since they both knew that she would deliberately drown but the cold water would preserve her for resuscitation, why didnt they both start swimming back to safety while she was still awake?

Probably in part because of the risk that she'd jerk loose from his grasp while he was taking her back.

Possibly also in part because, until the submersible fills up completely, they're not even certain that she has to drown at all. The only way it would fill entirely with water would be if the hole were at the top. If the filling stops before that, they might have time to work out a different rescue plan.

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Please don't use the "reply" button on this post unless you're replying to it.

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Member since November 2004

"why didnt they both start swimming back to safety while she was still awake?"

Read my possible explanation to a similar question from another thread: http://www.imdb.com/board/10096754/board/nest/203062942?d=203108160#2 03108160

On IMDb, nobody knows you're a (I said nobody knows!).

Member since June 2005

Member since April 2003

Watching that scene has made me shed a tear once or twice.

I'm open! There's just nothing in there!

by

Member since June 2000

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Member since September 2003

The scene is completely plausible, even if highly unlikely. But isn't that why we enjoy movies? If you don't like this scene, you don't like movies. It's that simple.

Absolutely agree with this, as well as with the three posts above this one.

That second-to-last sentence may be a bit hard for some to swallow, though. Some people prefer Stanley Kubrick movies. Some of us prefer scenes like the resuscitation one in The Abyss. Some of us like both. If I had a choice, though, I'd be pulled by my humanity to stick with the latter.

I'm not a control freak, I just like things my way

by

Member since April 2004

I agree that Ed Harris did well in the scene and poured everything he had into it. Still, it was badly conceived to start with and still manages to be my biggest complaint with the overall film.

My biggest complaint with the film is Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's (aka Lindsey Brigman's) acting. Throughout the movie she laughs or looks about to burst out laughing when everyone around her is serious. Her style of acting is better suited to a Disney movie than to a serious science-fiction film.

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Member since March 1999

Ed Harris is utterly spellbinding in this scene

Especially when he screams 'FIIIIGHT, FIIIIIIGHT'

Proper actor in a proper film!

Member since December 2005

Member since February 2006

I realize I'm digging up an ancient post here. But it's important to point out that we actually use a similar technique in medicine. Lowering the body temperature to below 18c and stopping the heart for certain surgical procedures. Studies show that a patient can potentially spend 45 minutes in this state before neurological damage begins to occur.

High Pressure Nervous Syndrome is a real thing as well. Though the level of paranoia is questionable. But whose to say the character wasn't already a highly paranoid unstable type to begin with?

If you wanna rant about the methods of CPR then fine, almost every movie that's ever had a CPR scene will have the same complaint though. And as has been mentioned, it's amusing that this is the "disbelief" part you have an issue with in a movie involving aliens.

Member since August 2009

Did you also notice that we use defribulators to actually stop fribulations hence the term just wondering because you're bringing medicine into one of THE worst CPR sequences in movie history. Love the movie. Even love the scene. Think the reality bit got left on the cutting room floor.

SpiltPersonality

Member since November 2010

Spelling.

I always thought the best culmination to the scene would have been Virgil giving up after his dramatic re-try allowing the audience to believe Lindsay had really died. Then, while everyone is sitting around stunned and crying, the nonterrestrial comes up out of the pool and performs some kind of alien CPR on her and she comes back.

I thought the scene was kind of hammy, actually.

Member since February 2005

4 thoughts:

1. As somebody else mentioned, Lindsey had a "flatline" or in medical parlance what is known as "pulseless electrical activity." Defibrillators dont work and you should not give shocks to someone who has PEA. It works for situations where people are in ventricular fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia. Many defibrillators nowadays have voice commands built in and if you put the leads on a person's chest who is in PEA, the computerized voice will say "no shock advised" and tell you continue CPR

2. CPR on a real person requires a large amount of force/energy. Pumping on someone's chest wears people out quickly. Even when you are amped up it is hard to give effective compressions for longer than a few mins at a time. In the ER we usually switch off every 1-2 mins

3. Giving a shock to a person covered in water wont work. The electrical current delivered by the giant capacitors in the machine will travel around the skin thru the water down to the ground instead of going into the chest where it needs to. A small percentage of the current would travel thru the water to anybody standing in it, although shoes would protect them somewhat.

4. This was a masterful scene, one of the top 5 in movie history IMHO. The sense of despair as Bud is trying to fight to bring Lindsey back and his absolute refusal to let her go despite the long odds is incredible. As Bud showed, when it is somebody you love, then we fight, we claw, we scratch, we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch! Because when we add up all those inches, we know it is the difference between living and dying! (< bonus points to whomever gets that movie reference) Who cares about the nitpicky technical flaws, it is a masterpiece!

"Goddamnit you bitch you never backed away from anything in your life! Now fight! Fight! Fight!"

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Member since August 2001

Great comment medstudent. Personally I didn't know about the PEA no-no - had seen way too many movies with the same mistake :) Read up on it now. Intresting!

And agreed about the scene being superb. Easily Cameron's best scene ever imho. The movie even used to be my favorite of all time, mainly bc of the mix of groundbreaking effects with actual emotional content and great acting.

And the quote is from some American Football movie I believe. Can't remember which one.

Member since April 2006

Harris was amazing in the scene, it's definitely one of Cameron's best scenes!

"I am the ultimate badass, you do not wanna `*beep*` wit me!"- Hudson in Aliens.

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Member since July 2008

Member since May 2009

Yes, fantastic scene. And the music is just as good. Alan Silvestri did a phenomenal job for this movie

The largest and most detailed Cameron website online - www.JamesCameronOnline.com

Member since April 2001

That scene has to be the single most powerful scene in the entire movie. And as you say, Ed Harris made it seem real. Actually, the events leading up to this scene are the most heart wrenching in the movieand then cap it off with the resuscitation that is as close to being as unreal, while still being real..and you have one hell of an emotional movie experience.

I never fail to get choked up at that scene.

Member since May 2004

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Member since March 2000

the op and i share the same opinion of this scene. while i want to like it and submit myself completely to its dazzling emotional heights, the scene is fundamentally absurd and i cannot get past it. the elaboration you asked for and did not receive: they use everything scientifically/medically available, and none of it works. then he slaps her around and calls her a b***ch and she wakes up. and the idea that this might support the film's various themes doesn't work; you can't subvert logic in a film this serious just to underline a theme. if you do, it becomes silly. like aristotle said, too many tears and tragedy ceases to be tragedy and becomes funny. cameron pushed this too far.

to me, i feel ripped off by this. the "drowning" is so incredibly well done - perhaps the finest moment of cameron's [weak] careerand it's followed by "let's push this emotionally as far as it can go but not really commit to actually killing off a character." no brain damage, coma or anything. just give her some coffee and a bathrobe.

i like the movie a great deal, but like the op, this scene sinks the whole enterprise for me. south park's infamous "imaginationland" trilogy parodied it, i recently saw. someone else feels like the op and i out there.

"Rampart: Squad 51."

Member since May 2003

"perhaps the finest moment of cameron's [weak] career"

Oh yeah, you're right. Cameron's had a really weak career. He's created a legendary iconic character (the Terminator), made two of most universally praised sequels of all time (Aliens and Terminator 2), made probably the single best action/comedy movies of the 90s (True Lies), made the highest grossing movie of all time (Titanic and won 11 Oscars to boot) now he's managed to make one of the most hyped movies of all time and has pushed the limits of what computer generated imagery can achieve.

Geez if that's a weak career, I'm dying to know what you think a strong career is. Must be f\/ckin' amazing!

As for the scene being illogical yes, it is. Does that matter? No. It's a movie. Even in a very realistic movie like The Abyss, you have to accept that the movie exists in it's own world. This is a world where Ed Harris' name is Virgil "Bud" Brigman, Michael Biehn is susceptible to pressure induced psychosis, there's luminous jellyfish-like aliens that can control water on a molecular level hiding at the bottom of an underwater chasm and people can survive being dead for 15 minutes without suffering brain damage as long as they're cooled enough by low-temperature water.
And having the will to keep fighting the death of a loved one, despite there being little hope, will pay off it's a moment when poetic license becomes more important than logical reality. If you truly understand storytelling, you will understand what Cameron did here. If you don't, then don't criticize.

It's really not that hard to suspend disbelief people. Let it go and enjoy the movie.

Member since September 2007

Yeah. They have trouble with the resuscitation scene, but are perfectly fine with the aliens? Lol.

Come with me if you want to live.