The Abyss is a 1989 science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. The original musical score was composed by Alan Silvestri. It was released on August 9, 1989, in North America.
Underwater scenes were filmed in the containment building of Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant, an unfinished nuclear power plant on Owensby Road, near Gaffney, South Carolina, in the United States. It took 7 million US gallons (26,000 m3) of water to fill the tank to a depth of 40 feet (12 m), making it the largest underwater filming set ever constructed. The depth and length of time spent underwater meant that the cast and crew sometimes had to go through decompression. Filming was also done at the largest underground lake in the world — a mine in Bonne Terre, Missouri, which was the background for several underwater shots.
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