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I'd even say T2 is basically a repeat of Terminator with better fx, but I know it has its fans. I find Terminator superior: a neat dark sci-fi thriller. They're solid films, just terribly overrated. And yes, Cameron knows exactly what to give to his audiences.
I think they're both superb. T2 is a pretty perfect blockbuster, T1 is a pretty perfect horror film.
Yes, you said that :D
Absolutely, I think True Lies is brilliant. And it actually gets better in the climax too.
I think there's an argument that only Ivan Reitman and Cameron could direct Arnie to get his very best out of him.
Maybe Joel Schumacher showed us a side we didn’t know he had.🤓
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: James Cameron is NOT a great director. He can’t write something without plagiarizing, he tortures people with his ego, and his last good movie was almost 30 years ago. He also thinks he talks like a average person, but he really speaks and does things like a rich person. Had Titanic or Avatar bombed financially and critically, he’d be the next Michael Cimino. Just a mean person with little talent that went to waste, with the expectation of computer technology. The Donald Trump of directors, sorry to get political, everyone.Avatar 2 is either going to be really good financially and critically, or really bad. There will be no one to blame but James Cameron, either way it seems. P.S. JC’s top 5 favorite movie list is the most boring, generic list ever. Everyone calls these one of their favorites.
https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/five-favorite-films-with-james-cameron/
I know I’ve repeated this in this thread before, but sorry. Say something that I’ve said before on this thread, Richard Donner is underrated. He tried every genre, and that’s why he’s underrated: he wasn’t afraid to try something different. James Cameron only makes action and science fiction. While generally good at it, he could have expanded his range.
I'm assuming you're talking about Titanic and Avatar. I'd hardly call Avatar forgettable. The Incredible images on Pandora seem to burn themselves on my retinas! And for all it's unoriginality, Avatar is spectacular and entertaining.
Titanic whilst technically impressive suffered from a terribly simplistic and mawkish script.
I've loved most of his output though.
Cameron is one of the best action directors in cinema history IMO.
It's like saying Federico Fellini was massively overrated as a blockbuster, spectacle-focused filmmaker.
Ask anyone who has seen the film what they remember about Avatar. It looks good, but it's pretty much Dance with Wolves in space.
I think that's a good assessment re the proto Marvel. Interestingly he did work on a Spider Man project.
The difference is that Fellini did not make blockbusters. Cameron was nominated (and won) Oscars he didn't really deserve imo. I was very glad Avatar didn't win Best Picture. That it was nominated for something else than technical awards always baffled me. And that's why I said he's a director of overrated movies and not an overrated director.
That was rather the point CraigM was making.
The Terminator is my favorite non-horror horror film ever. Schwarzenegger is brilliant in it and always gave me the creeps as a kid. It's impossible for me to pick a favorite out of the first two installments, they're both excellent in what they set out to do and are both different films in many respects.
I'll always love T2 for being unapologetically kick ass.
Absolutely; it's so simple yet so effective. I wouldn't ever want it remade in full but I wish any new sequels or remakes in the series would tackle this approach, a sort of "less is more" attitude instead of full-blown CGI and spectacle all the time.
Of the 1997 nominations, I would pick L.A. CONFIDENTIAL as best picture.
I agree on L.A. Confidential being at least one of the best movies of ‘97. As for Oscars, it’s all a person’s opinion. Even the voters. They gave 4 to Woody Allen, and he says it meant nothing to him. The only time that he bothered to show up for the Oscars was too promote for people too keep filming in New York City after 9/11. I’m sure if it came with a underage girl, he’d be happy to have them. A horrible human being and a repetitive artist. Not much different from James Cameron.
You obviously haven't watched them very much then...😉
The chase through the flood channels in T2 is one of the greatest action sequences put to film. If you can't recall Arnie's shotgun reload twirl then there really is no hope for you 😁
My point is that at least some blockbusters of Cameron made it to the Oscars. And Titanic won best picture. That's what I meant.
Right...? But, again as Craig was saying, the emotional beats land in his films. They do nothing wrong, and are in fact really rather good. Why wouldn't his films get Oscars? As Makeshift said, blockbusters can be worthy of Oscars.
I didn't say his films were bad, just overrated. Even as blockbusters, I don't think Titanic or Avatar were worthy of Best Picture.
Sorry, the comment I was more replying to was referring to his entire filmography and I don't think you can describe them as being overrated without the implication being that he's also overrated as a director.
I'm no big fan of Avatar, mind you.
@Creasy47 … I’m wondering if Terminator was a concept that lightning in a bottle happened not once, but twice; and now it can no longer strike at all?
The first film is so beautifully executed. It’s a nightmare of a story that’s as relentless as the robot-assassin; T2 went in a completely different direction; big and wild and unapologetic; a feast for the eyes.
But without Cameron, is it possible to continue this story? Is it worthy to expand as a film series? I’m not so sure…. The first two are so remarkable, anyone taking on the sequels not named Cameron, was always going to have an uphill battle. But the sequels just failed to capture my attention. Is this a story worth “plundering “?
I wholeheartedly agree. Perhaps the reason why I don't hold Avatar in high regard is because I missed out on it while it was in theatres. I only saw it later.
Yes I think the question of whether Cameron is overrated comes down to what you think he's rated for. As a showman who gives the audience what they want and a huge bang for their buck, I can't see how he's overrated at all.
Oh I'll give him that. He's a good director of women and he started a trend of female protagonists that nobody after him really mastered as well and he did. His women are genuine, if that makes sense, as action characters.
Cameron is very good at what he does, but I still don't think Titanic and Avatar deserved the praise they received at the time, except for technical achievements.
Another controversial opinion: take away the music of Ennio Morricone and The Untouchable is little more than a well cast mediocre movie.
And here's a last one: while Kevin Costner is a perfect cast for average, somewhat bland good guys and everymen, he's a terrible casting choice for larger than life heroes. He works as Eliot Ness, albeit he's very different from the historical one, because he plays him as a conscientious civil servant. I will always say that he was catastrophic as an unheroic and un English Robin Hood.
I thought AVATAR sucked.
Regarding women, yes, agreed, Cameron knows how to write for them and direct them.