First, to address some of the negativity I've heard concerning Avatar and its plot and general appearance. Sure, the outline may seem to be similar to Dances With Wolves or Ferngully or any number of similar films, but ask yourself, are these original plots? It's an epic film set in space - plot originality is not the key draw, and such films tend to draw on archetypes (see: Star Wars). In addition - don't judge a film intended to be viewed in 3D based on 2 minutes that you've seen on your non-HD TV screen. In August, I saw 15 minutes of Avatar footage at a special showing - and let me tell you, it looks like no film I've ever seen. It's one thing to see a 2D trailer of 3D footage, it's another to actually see it. Let's just say that as big a leap forward that T2 was in 1991, this one is even bigger. CGI filmmaking will never be the same, and I'll wager that it will be at least 5 years before we see anything that even comes close to matching this film's technical merit. Cameron wrote the script to "Avatar" in 1995, while he was working on Titanic, and left it on the shelf until the technology existed to make the film consistent with his vision for it. He didn't make a feature-length motion picture in the interim, only a documentary. He invented half of the equipment and techniques used in the film - and visually, I promise you, you will never have seen anything like it. People say that Cameron has created the most expansive fictional universe since Star Wars - and I can get behind such ambition.
So, with no further ado, here come the Cameron rankings:
6 Titanic (1997)
look at how fucking young leo looks.
the most successful film of all time, both in terms of box office receipts and oscar wins, despite mediocre reviews from critics. (i think it stands at an 81% on rotten tomatoes) it was nominated for a record 14 oscars, won a record 11 (it's tied with ben-hur and return of the king for the most ever), and grossed more than 600 million domestically, and more than 1.8 billion worldwide. I remember seeing this one - valentine's day, I was in 8th grade. her parents drove to the theater. awesome. Titanic's box office run is legendary. It opened right before Christmas to 28 million. It went on to earn more than $10 million in 13 consecutive weekends. 13! that's astounding. there's no denying the film's technical merit and filmmaking achievement, it just doesn't do it for me. it's a good movie, no doubt, but i can't get excited about it, and i respect the talent involved, and it certainly tugs at the heartstrings and does a great job of memorializing one of the truly great infamous events of the 20th century. my grade for titanic would be 7/10, more than adequate, and a technical marvel.
5 True Lies (1994)
James Cameron's tongue-in-cheek take on James Bond and straight-forward action movies. Always presented with a wink and a smile in that distinctive Ah-nald way that made him one of America's biggest movie stars, Cameron manages to make a film that is fun on many different levels - as a send-up of the action genre, as an improvement on the James Bond "spy" genre (remember - this is before the Pierce Brosnan Bond reboot), and as a straight up good time. Jamie Lee Curtis goes from bookworm to hot, and made every kid my age sad when they found out she may or may not have been born as a hermaphrodite. (and then look up what a hermaphrodite was) America's ultimate spy (who confusingly has a heavy Austrian accent) has a wife and kid who can't stand him, thinking he's a boring businessman rather than the ultimate badass he really is. Their paths cross with a beautiful exotic woman with ties to international terrorists who plan to detonate a nuclear weapon on American soil. This is easily Tom Arnold's best role, as Arnie's snarky sidekick, and the movie is a rip-roaring good time. The horse chase, the Harrier scene, the opening party scene - all awesome. Easily Cameron's most comic film - True Lies remains one of the highlights of the 90's action genre. I give it a 7.8/10.
4 The Abyss (1989)
Yet another technical marvel of filmmaking by one of the most ambitious directors working today. The Abyss wasn't all that well received when it was initially released, and was considered by many to be a flop, especially in the wake of "Aliens", but it's well worth a watch, and has stood up remarkably well. This was a legendarily tough shoot - they shot much of the film in huge tanks, with the actors required to don full dive gear. An American nuclear submarine mysteriously disappears - leaving the government suspecting the Soviets (this being 1989 after all), and a team of Navy SEALs and a team of underwater oil workers are tasked with recovering the sub. Tensions are high and mysterious vessels are repeatedly sighted, leaving the military suspecting the Soviets - although perhaps something even more strange and wonderful is at work. Ed Harris (the legendary dick that he is), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Cameron favorite Michael Biehn are all great in this one, and once again, at its heart, the film features a tender story between estranged spouses Mastrantonio and Harris. I won't spoil anything - but this truly is a remarkable film technically, and has a lot to say about old MADD policies. I give it an 8.2/10.
3 The Terminator (1984)
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Few films have had as big an impact on sci-fi as this 1984 classic. The film that started it all, spawned multiple sequels, massive mythology, and innumerable imitators (would the matrix have been created without the terminator? i doubt it) This, and conan, launched the career of the man who would be one of the two or three biggest movie stars on the planet... and few times have man and material come together in such perfection. Ah-nald is fucking terrifying in this one as an unstoppable cybernetic killing machine from the future where machines are trying to wipe out the human race, sent back to kill the mother of mankind's savior before he is even conceived. Michael Biehn (how he didn't become a star, I'll never know) is great as future resistance fighter Kyle Reese, and the glimpses we get of the future are truly terrifying. Linda Hamilton is more than believable as overwhelmed regular girl Sarah Connor, supposed mother of mankind's savior. This one is almost a horror film, with the entire film focused on escaping from this terrible killing machine that is completely impervious to gunshots and most weapons thrown at it. Although once again, the heart of the film lies with an unlikely love developing between future resistance fighter and protector Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor. The Terminator is a sci-fi classic and really doesn't look all that bad effects wise, especially considering it had a low budget and is 25 years old. 8.5/10.
2 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Rare is the sequel that is better than the original - especially when the original is a classic. Cameron, Arnold and Hamilton are back, along with (an amazing) Edward Furlong as the now 12 year old John Connor, future savior of humanity. Hamilton's Sarah Connor has been... effected by the aftermath of 1984's Terminator, having been committed to a mental institution for raving about the (true) supposed future and danger of machines. Cameron really switches the bill on this one - bringing back Arnold as a good guy, (he was captured and reprogrammed by the resistance) now charged with protecting the young John Connor from the badass T-1000 sent back through time to kill him, and presumably mankind's future. The T-1000 has significant upgrades over Arnold's model (the T-800), being made of liquid metal so that he can form weapons, change shape, absorb gunshots, get blown up, run over, frozen and basically anything else with no ill effects. With the largest budget of any film at the time, T2 made huge steps in special effects and is a true technical marvel of a film. Despite all of the awesome shit blowing up, being shot at, etc., the heart of the film is the touching relationship that develops between the fatherless John and his robot protector. This is the first R-rated film I ever saw, and one of the greatest action movies of all time. This is the way blockbusters should be made - just sit back and enjoy the ride - for years this was the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, and is a real blast. 9/10.
1 Aliens (1986)
In the pantheon of great sci-fi (star wars, star trek 2, blade runner, the matrix) "Aliens" is in elite company, and other than the original star trek series and the first star wars, nothing else has had the same impact on sci-fi conventions and "rules". Cameron flipped the script completely on "Alien", which is a great film in and of itself, but a small scale, terrifying film. Cameron took an awesome character, Ripley, an awesome bad guy, the "xenomorph", an awesome universe, and added a team of badass Marines and some dastardly intentions from an omnipotent galactic company. Watch 'Aliens" sometime - check out how badass the effects look - and consider this film came out in 1986. It looks cooler than half of the shit being put out today. This is truly one of the best sci-fi/action films of all time - with memorable characters throughout. Bill Paxton is especially memorable as the clown of the crew. Like all of Cameron's films, this one features surprisingly strong characters, not reverting to stereotypes when it would have been exceedingly easy to do so. Also, the heart of the film is in the relationship between Ripley and the one surviving colonist, a young girl named "Newt". The subtitle says it all: "this time, it's war". 9.2/10, I'll show this one to my kids when they're old enough. It's that awesome.
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