James Cameron’s The Abyss has landed in 4K on Disney+ in the UK – and it appears that the controversial rat scene is included.
Earlier this year, surprisingly, James Cameron’s The Abyss arrived on the ITVX streaming service in the UK. It was the new 4K remaster of the film too, one that’s reawakened difficulties over the film’s classification in the UK.
The brief version – more of it is explained in the video at the bottom – is that The Abyss has always fallen foul of the BBFC in the UK, courtesy of the ‘drowning rat’ sequence of the movie. This is a scene where a real animal was used for the footage, and that put it on the wrong side of animal cruelty legislation.
The version of The Abyss that was originally passed and released in the UK had this scene snipped out to get a certificate. When it came time to get the 4K version reclassified, with the possibility of a fresh cinema release, the BBFC refused (as it has done before) to grant the movie a certificate unless the scene concerned was taken out. This time, James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment refused to agree the cut, and as such, The Abyss remains unavailable on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray in the UK.
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A surprise, then, to see the film turn up on Disney+ in the UK over the weekend. The 4K remastered version, too. Although this time, it’s the theatrical version of the film that’s appeared on the service, and – puzzlingly – the rat scene is now intact.
Disney+ doesn’t display a BBFC certificate next to the film on its service, and instead offers age guidance of 16+. That’s presumably how it’s managed to get around the lack of a traditional certificate for the film, while also keeping Lightstorm Entertainment and James Cameron happy.
We’re still missing the extended special edition version in remastered form in the UK, though. But at least localised clouds over The Abyss’ available are clearing a little.
