You pop the disc in. The screen goes black. There is no bombastic fanfare or heavy metal guitar riff. Instead, you hear it:
It is a deep, resonant, mechanical thrumming—the sound of a submersible hull groaning under thousands of pounds of pressure. Then, the image fades in. You are not looking at a menu box. You are looking through a porthole. the abyss dvd menu
Even now, over two decades later, veterans of the format still talk about leaving the menu running just to listen to the hum. It is the sound of the deep. And once you hear it, you never forget it. You pop the disc in
If you ever find a copy of The Abyss on DVD at a thrift store, buy it. Not just for the film, but for the five minutes you’ll spend sinking into that menu. They don’t make depths like that anymore. Instead, you hear it: It is a deep,