#scifi

I actively criticized "The Challenge" at the time because in the finale Klim Shipenko reduced everything to the love line of the characters played by Yulia Peresild and Milos Bikovic. So, I was rewatching James Cameron's "The Abyss" from 1989, and he did exactly the same thing. The finale was sealed with a kiss between the characters of Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. At the beginning, the characters hated each other and wanted a divorce, and at the end, a triumphant reunion and love until death.

In short, I take back my complaint about "The Challenge." Now I have a complaint about Cameron. How could you end a film that raises ideas about fighting human hatred on different levels, nationalism, and disrespect for women with a kissing scene? Well, sorry, after this, people should stop reproaching Nolan for putting love at the top of his ideological chain in "Interstellar."

Another revelation after "The Abyss." I realized that I am annoyed by this naive optimism of Hollywood sci-fi from the 80s. How naive "The Abyss" is, like most of Steven Spielberg's films. True, Spielberg carries this optimism into his 2026 films as well, but as they say, he can now afford to do whatever he wants. But this naive optimism sounds completely irrelevant now.

And another question about "The Abyss" — why drag a poor little rat to the bottom of the ocean to an oil platform...