Ed Harris heads the mining team down about 2,000 feet below the surface. So far so good. Suddenly we're meeting friendly underwater aliens and receiving preachy lessons about loving one another. Most of the extra scenes simply bring more depth to the characters.
Mankind gets the point.
We all live happily ever after. It would have been nice if Cameron had provided audio commentary for one of his most important films. What we didn't realize is that it was going to be impossible in the sense that we never really got things under control. Shot in an abandoned nuclear power plant, the movie required the cast and crew to remain submerged for as long as 12 hours at a stretch, exposing everyone to chlorine burns and all manner of stress. Mastrantonio actually stormed off the set one day when the camera ran out of film in the middle of a difficult scene.