I first saw The Abyss on Sunday, 24th January 1993 on Channel 4 in the UK. They mistakenly broadcast the film uncut for which the governing body, OFCOM, slapped their wrists.
Not long after, the Special Edition had a UK release on VHS, which I would snap up instantly. Although, I would be amazed at the terrible editing used to hide the rat in the infamous scene where they force it to breathe oxygenated liquid.
In 2000, I would import the two disc DVD from the US which was fantastic, but the only setback was the picture was non-anamorphic. This didn't worry me too much at the time because I was watching on a 14-inch portable.
Finally, after waiting over two decades, I finally have the film in HD and 4K! It's been so long, it's skipped a generation. 😁 Plus, I had to import the film from the Netherlands as it isn't getting a release here in the UK!
This copy has been imported from Europe as the official release date is this week I think. It has Danish, Finnish, Swedish and Dutch subtitles. I got an email saying it was being packed and dispatched on 24th, and it arrived today on the 29th. FedEx shipped it to the UK, where it was handed off to the Royal Mail.
I've been following the use of AI to de-grain the picture fairly closely ever since this, along with True Lies and Aliens, dropped on US streaming services last year.
From what I've been seeing, The Abyss came off the lightest, with True Lies looking the worst. I've seen comparison screenshots and can see the difference, but to be honest, once the film starts, I forget all that and get sucked into the experience.
The only other way to watch the film would to download a pirate rip of an old HD cable broadcast...apparently. 😉
I was wondering, many 4K releases are probably just an upscale of the existing release, no? Is there any way to know if the image is native 4K made from the original material when buying?
I'd like to think that the majority of releases are new 4K scans of the original camera negatives. The only way to know for sure is to read detailed reviews beforehand. For example, here's the information about The Abyss from The Digital Bits.