On Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, "The Abyss" has an 89% approval rating based on 45 reviews and an average rating of 7.19/10. The critical consensus states: "The utterly gorgeous special effects frequently overshadow the fact that "The Abyss" is also a totally gripping, claustrophobic thriller, complete with an interesting crew of characters." On Metacritic, the film has an average score of 62 out of 100, based on 14 critics indicating "generally favorable reviews". The reviews tallied therein are for both the theatrical release and the Special Edition.