What I love about James Cameron

M

myownself

I'm sure you all knew this already, but the fact that he started the concept of Avatar when Titanic was out is crazy. He imagined things that couldn't be done in the present and made sure to make them happen in the future. He had that kind of faith to write a movie that he couldn't be sure could ever be made.

It inspired me to do that with one of my feature right now. The only difference is that now a days a lot more can be done now, so I have to be even more creative, which needs more faith lol.
 
You know what I love about James Cameron? Besides the fact that he makes AWESOME movies?!

I love the fact that James Cameron is a risk-taker. When he makes movies, he goes all-in!

I also love the fact that he makes movies about things he is passionate about. The dude is a nerd, and he makes blockbuster movies for nerds. Fuck yeah, James Cameron!

He went to the deepest spot in the ocean, because he thought it'd be fun! That's just about as difficult as travelling to the moon, and the dude did it as a hobby!

I can't wait for Avatar 2!!! :D
 
I just got the Avatar 3D blu-ray, and despite the weak, bland storyline it is super fun to watch, and looks absolutely beautiful in 3D. I know a lot of people are hating the technology, but I'm very glad Cameron pushed it as far as he did.
 
I'm annoyed that he was snubbed for the Oscar last year --I'm sure mainly because, while the biggest grossing film of all time deserved the recognition, the Academy felt the need to "take him down a knotch."

Petty.

Oh well.
 
An Oscar for technical achievements I can see, but let's face it -- Avatar was "Dances with Wolves" in space. Entertaining and beautiful, but hollow.
 
I'd pay good money to see Dances with Wolves in space, in 3D, on an IMAX screen directed by James Cameron. Oh wait, I did! And I loved it. :)
 
I disliked Avatar because it was all about the special effects. Take away the special effects and 3D and it was an average movie at best. That, coupled with the fact that I felt like I was in some weird amalgamation world combining a Tarzan Playstation game with Pocahantas...

I also am not a big fan of Titanic, maybe I'm just not a Cameron fan.

I certainly respect him for the success he's had.
 
I didn’t like ‘Avatar’, I just felt bored while watching it. I am keen to watch it again however, to see if I missed something. You never know, it might become my new favourite film!

James Cameron is pretty amazing. His body of work is incredible. Who else could make the highest grossing film of all time, take a decade off, then come back and surpass his own record? ‘The Terminator’ is my favourite, followed closely by ‘Aliens’.

Even his Piranha sequel was better than Piranha 3DD!
 
Cameron is hated by a lot of the fanboy community. I have friends who like to quote Spike Lee, David Lynch and Jean Luc Godard etc. as filmic influences, and when I mention Cameron, they wrinkle their noses at me.

Yes, Cameron did make Pocahontas in space. Hollow indeed, but visually it's outstanding. Whenever I want to show off my Bluray setup, Avatar is one of the first films that goes on. Highest grossing film? I don't really think that means much as a benchmark of artistic achievement. But as we know, Cameron makes big, exciting popcorn flicks, and damn is he good at it.

Titanic is Romeo and Juliet on a sinking ship (apparently the pitch he used to the studio when selling the film) but it's still an incredible piece of work. As mentioned, Cameron is a geek and his love for the history around the ship is plainly visible through the film, if commercialised to meet a wider audience.

And not to forget he wrote and directed The Terminator, Terminator 2 and Aliens. I believe his design work was also crucial in visualising all 3 films.

The Abyss and True Lies are fun too.
 
I can understand why some people wouldn't like Avatar, but Titanic? What is not to be liked about that movie? It's one of my top 10 favorites by far.
 
richy said:
I'm annoyed that he was snubbed for the Oscar last year --I'm sure mainly because, while the biggest grossing film of all time deserved the recognition, the Academy felt the need to "take him down a knotch."

Petty.

Oh well.
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Hmmm, that might be true but it kind of disregards the fact that Katherine Bigelow is also a very talented film director (see Zero Dark Thirty for further information) and The Hurt Locker is a very fine film. I think the main reason that Avatar lost to it is because the Academy voters felt like that was the more serious film and more serious artistic achievement.
 
Zensteve said:
I think he was meaning Prometheus being snubbed.
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That was Ridley Scott, not James Cameron. :)

I also own Prometheus on 3D blu-ray because it's a phenomenal display of what 3D can bring to a movie. I can sit through it if I just pretend it's a movie about the dumbest crew ever shot into space. (And the character of David is just brilliantly performed. It's rare to see a robot portrayed well.)
 
myownself said:
I can understand why some people wouldn't like Avatar, but Titanic? What is not to be liked about that movie? It's one of my top 10 favorites by far.
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There's nothing interesting about it and had no discernible reason to take place on the Titanic
 
mussonman said:
There's nothing interesting about it and had no discernible reason to take place on the Titanic
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That second point is debatable: there's nothing quite like setting a romantic tragedy in a 100% guaranteed doomed setting. I agree with the first point.
 
mussonman said:
There's nothing interesting about it and had no discernible reason to take place on the Titanic
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No discernible reason?

Jack and Rose's story is a basic star-crossed lovers story, sort of echoing Romeo and Juliet. Like any of these rich/poor stories, you know that there are going to be hurdles for them to overcome and that if their love is to be accepted then they'll have to win over their friends and family. So all that seems like a pretty basic romantic storyline EXCEPT we're on the Titanic. So, from the first frame of the movie, we know how things are going to end. This brings a sense of inevitable tragedy (which in another story, at its best, would be a sense of foreboding) to their story, but also ramps the tension up. Not only are we focusing on their blossoming romance, but we're constantly on the look out for the point at which the ship is going to sink and their romance cauterised. And then, when the ship does sink, we have a massive third act that, ignoring the fact that it draws in an entirely new box office demographic, reenforces out commitment to the characters. We want them to survive! And we know that, in the case of the Titanic, there were hundreds of survivors and we already know that Rose has survived from the frame narrative. Whilst we know that her romance with Jack ends, we don't know how and we don't know what the significance of the ring is. We have invested an awful lot in the story of this woman who is standing above the wreckage of the sunken ship- and that final event is every bit as heart wrenching and evocative as it ought to be. This is a Shakespearean story where the audience knows that, at some point, an iceberg is going to come smashing into the plot and if that's not at least a little bit interesting, then I don't know what is.
 
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