健康・医療
TriStar/20th Century Fox
James Cameron’s imprint on movie culture is a big, beautiful mess. Though he started making hard-scrabbled, R-rated action and sci-fi fare (The Terminator, Aliens), he has evolved into the rarest thing in Hollywood these days: a visionary. We could even go a step further: he’s a true auteur who not only gets his weird and expensive original projects greenlit—he also reliably turns them into massive hits.
Now, that’s not to say everyone loves Cameron’s work. There have been legions of Titanic haters since it came out in 1997 and went on to sweep the Oscars. Avatar awed audiences the world over with pure technophilic spectacle, but 13 years later, some feel cheated by what was essentially a 3-D spin on the Pocahontas story.
Sniping at Cameron is easy—sometimes too easy. The early reactions to the long-awaited, three-hour Avatar: The Way of Water (out December 16) indicate that he’ll wow critics and regular folks on his way to the bank once again (You can read our review right here.). Forget Marvel CGI; Cameron is motion-capturing whales for your eyes’ enjoyment! On the occasion of his latest Na’vi-vs.-human blockbuster, we decided to rank every feature-length, theatrically released movie Cameron has directed (the under-one-hour documentaries and collaborations with other directors, including ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, don’t count).
Love him or hate him, in a sometimes bumpy yet always forward-thinking career, Cameron has continued to find ways to leave a lasting impression.
9
Piranha II: The Spawning (1981)
James Cameron’s feature debut as a then-27-year-old director (alas, you can’t blame him for the writing on this one) is his only movie that looks like it cost $5 to make. But it does establish his career-long fascination with oceanic excursions: In the opening set piece featuring extremely murky underwater camerawork, two scuba enthusiasts staying at a seaside resort get it on while diving around a wrecked ship, only to be violently interrupted by the killer fish in question.
Oh, and in this (not quite delightfully) junky sequel, from which Cameron has understandably distanced himself, the freshwater piranha have not just evolved to live in the ocean—they also can fly… with wings… picking off unsuspecting humans at the jugular. Cameron would go on to become a sequel king, but not here. This is for Cameron completists and campy horror fans only.
If you were alive and addicted to action movies in the ‘90s, it was hard to deny the rush of True Lies: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis going toe to toe in a madcap espionage plot that at least it knows it’s silly.
But while the over-the-top set pieces, each one outdoing the last, are rigorously engineered, the terrorist big bad narrative and emotional core feel like leftovers from a more generic Hollywood thriller. Sorry, Arnold and Jamie Lee, but you’re both better than this material, and you know it.
It is possible for James Cameron to be a cinematic visionary and a goofball at once. Avatar, his technically revolutionary tale of blue-skinned extraterrestrial Na’vi going up against human would-be conquerors, sits slightly uncomfortably between those labels. While Cameron genuinely gave us a new way of seeing movies, seamlessly hybridizing digital animation with distinctly human movement (or as the director would conceive of the original sensation produced by Avatar, “dreaming with your eyes wide open”), it’s also true that: A) Its story beats and politics aren’t so far evolved from FernGully, B) it plays much better on the biggest screen possible. And yet C) wait, how the hell did he do that again?
Over three decades later, The Abyss’ visuals still provide a deeply satisfying jolt. Cameron understood that glancing at the deep-ocean expanse cameras can barely capture is more stunning than any traditional effect. But then-innovative computer graphics are more effective than they need to be within a tight, taut, intensely claustrophobic thriller that finds its crew encountering alien life. As always, Cameron has an eye toward swooning romance. Luckily, Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio deliver the emotional payload.
This movie is not currently available to stream online.
Cameron used the Titanic and its tragic sinking as the canvas for his most epic, ambitious filmmaking up to that point. He seems to want to contain all of human life on that boat—youth and death, the upstairs and downstairs classes, romance and massacre—and that he almost pulls it all off speaks to his immense talent. Yes, Titanic is a soapy melodrama, which didn’t used to be a crime. It’s also as majestic as any ship, and gave us Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, a screen couple built for the ages.
4
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
James Cameron’s drive as a filmmaker has always been to discover the unseen. In that way, Avatar: The Way of Water marks an unprecedented accomplishment. Visually, this sequel has no comparison. The closest thing would probably be actually visiting another planet. Set in an arrestingly beautiful reef territory of the distant Pandora, the story—in its sweeping view of fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, clans, conflict, and the rhythm of nature that inevitably connects all things—is as primal as it gets. (The “But is it relatable?” crowd need not apply. It’s still a movie about blue people.)
As for the plot specifics: The Way of Water probably didn’t need a white, dreadlocked “monkey boy” to double down on the vague air of cultural appropriation. (A dissertation on Na’vi ethnic signifying awaits.) And when the “sky people” (read: militaristic humans) invade with bigger, badder weapons, you might be able to guess who wins, who dies. But you might not expect an alien whale-like creature to bring you to tears in the process. (Oh, just wait for that whale.) As in any Cameron movie, it’s best to let go of expectations, and instead keep your eyes wide open to its sense of revelation.
Cameron announced his creative powers in earnest with the release of The Terminator, based on his own original story. You probably know the outline: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s seemingly impenetrable and wickedly cool robot travels from the future to 1984 in order to kill Linda Hamilton and her unborn son, who offers hope to humanity’s continued survival. This is bullet-flying, high-concept sci-fi at its smartest and sleekest, and Cameron makes the most of both a limited budget and his star’s seemingly limited range, influencing over a decade of genre filmmaking trailing its mesmerizing wake.
Just like the best covers re-engineer the songs they’re building upon, the best sequels know to stray from their origins. Whether you prefer Ridley Scott’s sublimely spare Alien or Cameron’s maximalist follow-up, there’s no denying the craft here. Sigourney Weaver is the beating heart once again as the traumatized Ripley out for alien-annihilating vengeance, even while she’s nearly upstaged by Cameron’s space colony-exploding pyrotechnics. Just when you thought it couldn’t get more terrifying, well, there’s another slithering surprise around the corner. This is the kind of thriller that makes you sweat from the first frame to the last, then leaves you panting for more.
1
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
An interplanetary preamble gets right to the point: Following the events of The Terminator, the menacing AI overlord of Earth’s wasteland future sends an even more advanced cyborg back to the humble ‘90s grunge heyday to kill the plaid-and-Public Enemy-tee-wearing child John Connor (a wonderfully unguarded Edward Furlong) before he becomes the human resistance’s leader. What a batshit setup that couldn’t be more relevant amid our increasingly realistic AI fears.
But T2 is as visceral as it is brainy. The chase involving the liquid-metal T-1000, Linda Hamilton’s soldier, and the suddenly frail-looking Terminator played by Arnold Schwarzenegger (now defending humanity) leaves nothing less than modern civilization hanging in the balance. Cameron doesn’t just top his original Terminator; he pushes what’s possible to depict in film at the time, leaning on the innovation of the George Lucas-founded Industrial Light & Magic to form T-1000’s sinewy shapeshifting and other effects that still manage to shock. But the operatic action and emotional devastation at play are far more potent than any Star Wars saga. Why? Because Cameron makes the stakes feel as real as our own real-world bloodletting.
Paul Schrodt
Paul Schrodt is a freelance writer and editor who also contributes to Esquire, GQ, Money, The Wall Street Journal, and more.
