The Abyss (1989)

FILM4, 6.15PM ★★★★

Long before Avatar, James Cameron was cooking up innovative special effects for this sci-fi adventure in which oil rig workers (including Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) explore a marooned nuclear submarine. The ending seems tacked on from another movie, but Cameron makes up for it with some spectacular underwater action scenes – proof that effects can stay “special” if they’re imaginatively used.