James Cameron's finest hour?

[Khev]

I want to see a hard R sci-fi flick written by Tarantino and directed by Cameron.

As for Avatar Cameron has gone on record as saying the movie is basically a love letter to both his childhood of studying plants and animals in the woods behind his home and every sci-fi story he's ever read. Just like Lucas, Tarantino, and countless other directors have done in honor of their own inspirations. Which apparently is very cool to do as long as you don't make a lot of money as a result.

And Terminator was his first film. He was hired to direct Piranha 2 but was fired a few days into production. His name stayed on the film but he had no part of it.

 

[galactiboy]

Terminator for me... all around a brilliant and enduring film. And it set the pace for his later work

 

[holtrax]

Terminator 2. Its basically Terminator 1 with much better effects a more fleshed out storyline, much more scary villian and better music. Bascially everything cameron had wanted to do with terminator 1 in 84 but couldn't due to effects/budget restrictions.

 

[a-dev]

Tarantino probably has more of a 'style' but to be honest I don't watch films for their 'style'. I'm a man of simpler tastes I guess. Camerons films are more enjoyable to watch and repeat watch and I think hes more consistent aswell. I can't speak of Piranha 2 but all the films in his catalogue are pretty good at the least and modern classics at best. Tarantino? a couple of recognised classics and some others that were good but I'm in no rush to watch again

I grant you sci-fi is and always will be my favourite genre.

 

[CelticPredator]

QT's movies have way more replay value IMO. More quotable too.

 

[a-dev]

QT's movies have way more replay value IMO. More quotable too.

Pulp fiction? Great film. Haven't seen it in years!

 

[devilof76]

Just like Lucas, Tarantino, and countless other directors have done in honor of their own inspirations. Which apparently is very cool to do as long as you don't make a lot of money as a result.

I begrudge no storyteller the prerogative of choosing where they find their stories. For the most part, I just want to hear a story told well. There are some stories I'll listen to no matter how poorly they're told (Star Wars prequels), and there are some stories I don't want to hear, no matter how well they're told (Avatar).

And I definitely would not begrudge them a single penny of however much they make.

 

[Darth_Fatso]

Terminator FTW

 

[olbertfrog]

Shelley Duvall was the weakest actress i'm sure he'd ever encountered. It had nothing to do with breaking her down to get what he wanted. She couldn't handle making a hard film. He was also persistent with Jack, he did multiple takes and the man never complained. She even thanked Kubrick in that same "making of The Shining" documentery.

Not sure she's the weakest.
Ryan O neil and Marisa Berenson are way up there too.
He put Duvall in a permanent state of fear, anxiety to get what he wanted. The guy was willing to do anything in the same vein to obtain the performances was looking for.

 

[Darth Waller]

My vote was for Aliens. I feel it was still his best film and is in my top ten.

 

[sgt.reese]

The Terminator because of its originality. Cameron created a franchise and characters we still love today. How he developed Reese, Connor, and the terminator is beyond genious. It is one of the best sci-fi flicks that will ever exist. Also, Aliens, yes it was a sequel, but he rejuvenated the franchise and dug further into character development. Aliens is the best film of the franchise and with the most memorable characters. From start to finish, it is a work of art. It is just one of those movies you can replay over and over and never get sick of it.. If he came out with Aliens and The terminator now. those two films would win best picture. Biehn and Weaver would both have won academy awards. Cameron would have taken home best director. Cameron was way beyond his time.

 

[a-dev]

If he came out with Aliens and The terminator now. those two films would win best picture. Biehn and Weaver would both have won academy awards. Cameron would have taken home best director.

OK now I don't know about that. Deserving or not the academy wouldn't give serious oscars to these films. Weaver was lucky to even get a nomination for best actress back in 86 or 87 given the genre of the film.

 

[Rock83]

Many great movies but there is one that is a clear favourite...Terminator 1.

 

[IronFingaz]

Aliens
Terminator 2
Terminator
Avatar
Titanic
The Abyss
True Lies






















Piranha 2

 

[78Myers]

good to see avatar ranks so low. the new advancement in filmmaking tech is most commendable, but cameron's imagination is severely lacking in terms of creating a whole new world. everything seems to be borrowed from somewhere else with hardly anything original to add to it. i've seen more creative speculative alien environments in discovery channel years ago(in fact, bio-luminescent plants was one of the idea mentioned), and surely when our imagination wanders far into the distant space we could imagine a more unique civilization than simply a carbon copy of american indians.

most overrated film ever. i had more fun watching true lies, now THAT is criminally underrated. and so it gets my sympathy vote. it's insane to me that true lies ranks below piranha2.

Avatar is the most overrated movie in cinematic history. There was nothing new about the concept of the movie, in terms of the script, storyline et.

Sure, it was eye-candy, but so are a lot of many other films in the history of cinema. That alone means nothing, and to state how much the movie earned is such hog-wash, especially when you take inflation into account, how many screens are open this era and how much is charged per ticket. Heck, if you want to take that into account, then lets bring up the fact that Jaws, Gone with the Wind, The Sound of Music, Star Wars, ET are far more successful and Avatar ranks in the teens to many other movies.

titanic of course... that's where he really made his money and got awarded for his work.

Exactly. As I stated earlier, Titanic. I love Terminator, Aliens et., but those films are more iconic to the fan-base, the niche and the pop-culture world we live in, but in terms of cinema and drawing power, respect and adoration from the masses, Titanic is his masterpiece.

 

[a-dev]

Exactly. As I stated earlier, Titanic. I love Terminator, Aliens et., but those films are more iconic to the fan-base, the niche and the pop-culture world we live in, but in terms of cinema and drawing power, respect and adoration from the masses, Titanic is his masterpiece.

Respect. Titanic is a film so backlashed against that its actually now underrated if anything...unless all those backlashers are just pretending.

 

[Shatterer of Dreams]

Nope, not pretending. Only once the ship starts sinking is that movie watchable, of course this is just an opinion.

 

[DiFabio]

I'm a MAN and I enjoyed Titanic.

 

[CelticPredator]

Titanic is pretty good. A bit melodramatic at times, and even a bit predicible...but good. The love stuff works, and you DO care more for the characters then in Avatar. It just works better.


Hey, you guys realize every Cameron film is a love story? (Except T2...unless you count Boy on Robot love...)

 

[Shatterer of Dreams]

Hey, you guys realize every Cameron film is a love story? (Except T2...unless you count Boy on Robot love...)

I do.........