James Cameron

Conflicteddreamer said:

Who in here thinks James Cameron has wasted his talent with Avatar? He made Terminator 1 & 2, Aliens, Titanic, and True Lies-- epic movies IMO--but then he makes the preachy, garish, misanthropic Avatar. Evil humans practicing their evil ways. Blah, blah, blah. It's a Dances With Wolves/Pocahontas ripoff. It has goofy, blue catlike aliens spouting rubbish about trees. How did this movie surpass Titanic again? How? It doesn't make sense. James Cameron has fallen far since the days of Terminator.

Click to expand...

What talent are we talking about, exactly? Do you mean writing, directing, what?

I think he's done some good movies, some really good movies, some mediocre stuff, and some really hacky, shit movies.

I'd hardly say Avatar was like the fall off the cliff. I agree Terminator was great. Titanic is beautiful but the thing was written in crayon, imo, it's a joke, it's so bad. The direction and acting? Two words: Billy Zane. True Lies was cute but that's all I'd say it was.

The man wrote one of the Rambos.

I liked Avatar. ^_^
And if nothing else, it was beautiful to watch. But I find genius in the fact that he created the technology he needed to make that movie. He's awesome.

On a side note: I enjoyed the preachiness in a movie for once. It was so obvious though, I'm surprised everyone didn't get it.

From what I've heard, Cameron wrote the action, Stallone wrote the politics.

And seeing as how Stallone once wrote a movie is basically Judge Dredd without the irony...or the satire...or sense of humor, I can see how that ended up with the Rambo movies.

I've never seen Avatar. I guess I'm one of the few. I've loved everything else he's done, but that movie just didn't interest me.

I doubt his talent was wasted on it, though, since millions of people have enjoyed it. He also made a crapload of cash.

I enjoyed Avatar, and pretty much every other film he's made. The Terminator is on a different level, yes, but it's on a different level to most films in general, not just the rest of his oeuvre. I don't think he's "wasted his talent".

Well, isn't Avatar meant to be the most successful movie of all time? If it is, hardly a waste. Not that it was my cuppa tea, though. And for Cameron and Avatar fans, he is making Avatar 2, which might appear on screen in 2015.

What he's talented at is getting people in theaters and making tons of money. So in that way, no, he hasn't wasted it a bit.

I thought Avatar was "meh." I have a tendency to rant about it, but that's only because the people who love it don't just love it, but claim it's the BEST MOVIE EVARRR!!! No. No, it's not. It's fine for what it is, but let's not jump to extremes here. What's impressive about it is the visual effects--which weren't Cameron's doing. Credit for that stuff goes to Weta Digital, which has been consistently and reliably mind-blowing since The Frighteners.

To me, what Cameron excels at is how he sets up fight and chase scenes (Aliens) and overall action, but fails at connecting emotionally to his actors. Spielberg was always good at getting inside the heads of his cast and managed to get very natural performances ninety-nine percent of the time. Cameron comes across as cold, if such a word can be used.

Having said that, Avatar was a technological marvel to see in 3D (which I hate because it gives me a headache) but if you have a bunch of Smurfs, well, that's what you get. I liked it, but wouldn't put it in the 'classic' category.

Whatever, these days it's all about cash and CGI. Once in a while you'll have a good story like Captain America or The Avengers...and then you'll have something like Green Lantern which has fine special effects but a very derivative storyline. I'm a DC fanboy--I admit it--but really, they have the talent, so why can't they put out a good superhero flick like Marvel seems to do so effortlessly?

Zoombie said:

From what I've heard, Cameron wrote the action, Stallone wrote the politics.

And seeing as how Stallone once wrote a movie is basically Judge Dredd without the irony...or the satire...or sense of humor, I can see how that ended up with the Rambo movies.

Click to expand...

In Stallone's defense, he did write Rocky, which I thought was a pretty decent character story... before disagreeing, when's the last time you actually watched it?

I loved Avatar. I can watch it over and over again because it's just so visually stunning. The graphics made the world come alive for me. But I also like the characters.... and the story. I don't dislike stories just because I've seen them before. *shrug*

But I guess I'm stupid; I also love Billy Zane.

I'd rather get Battle Angel: Alita before Avatar 2, but I still thought Avatar was a fine movie.
Being basic is not a flaw IMO. It's not great, but it's not a flaw.

What's not to like about Avatar? It has dinosaurs, check. Giant robot walkers, check. Spaceships, check. Freaking awesome flying dragons you can ride, check. Loosely inspired by a classic SF book, check. Helicopters with miniguns, check. All full of win as far as I can see.

Conflicteddreamer said:

Who in here thinks James Cameron has wasted his talent with Avatar? He made Terminator 1 & 2, Aliens, Titanic, and True Lies-- epic movies IMO--but then he makes the preachy, garish, misanthropic Avatar. Evil humans practicing their evil ways. Blah, blah, blah. It's a Dances With Wolves/Pocahontas ripoff. It has goofy, blue catlike aliens spouting rubbish about trees. How did this movie surpass Titanic again? How? It doesn't make sense. James Cameron has fallen far since the days of Terminator.

Click to expand...

I actually just checked my calendar to be sure I was still in 2013.

I think Cameron's a creature of his time. Terminator hit the nail on the head with general techno-phobia during the 80s, or a total lack of technophobia, however you wanna look at it. Aliens, he was handed something that was very very hard to get wrong, but in the process coloured the Alien universe with stuff that it can't get rid of; every Aliens franchise release since then has had to live up to his film, as opposed to living up to the original. By itself though, it's a perfect film. True Lies could, in all honesty be directed by any other action director and still be fun. Titanic? Meh. I enjoy the film but it doesn't have his mark on it. And Avatar? Far too superficial. Cameron himself has pretty much said he's jaded by the business and is really just in it for the business itself now. Which saddens me.

Oh and The Abyss wasn't great either... Mmm... I think his time as a visionary is done.

Zoombie said:

From what I've heard, Cameron wrote the action, Stallone wrote the politics.

And seeing as how Stallone once wrote a movie is basically Judge Dredd without the irony...or the satire...or sense of humor, I can see how that ended up with the Rambo movies.

Click to expand...

Someone else said, but I gotta say it, too. The dude wrote Rocky. Not only did he write it, but he was basically a nobody when he wrote it, and they bought it anyway, and it won Best Picture anyway, because it was that good.

As for Cameron, yeah, some of his movies are better than others. Which is true of just about every other director who makes good movies.

(Regarding Avatar)

Paint it Pink said:

Loosely inspired by a classic SF book, check.

Click to expand...

Well, three famous stories, and a comic book, and a couple of episodes of The Outer Limits. (Not the two episodes he ripped off for The Terminator.) James Cameron does not have original ideas. He's good at a particular style of direction, but should have no control over story. He helped create one of the worst trends of action movies in the past few decades: the repeated false climax.

Conflicteddreamer said:

Who in here thinks James Cameron has wasted his talent with Avatar? He made Terminator 1 & 2, Aliens, Titanic, and True Lies-- epic movies IMO--but then he makes the preachy, garish, misanthropic Avatar. Evil humans practicing their evil ways. Blah, blah, blah. It's a Dances With Wolves/Pocahontas ripoff. It has goofy, blue catlike aliens spouting rubbish about trees. How did this movie surpass Titanic again? How? It doesn't make sense. James Cameron has fallen far since the days of Terminator.

Click to expand...

Just watch the Plinkett review of Avatar for my thoughts on it.

James Cameron is a business man, and he made Avatar in such a way as to maximize profits. And to be honest, Avatar wasn't nearly as offensive to my senses as some of the other trite works being churned out of Hollywood today.

Was it that great? No really. Was it narrow and simple-minded? Yes. But it wasn't terrible.

Manuel Royal said:

(Regarding Avatar)Well, three famous stories, and a comic book, and a couple of episodes of The Outer Limits. (Not the two episodes he ripped off for The Terminator.) James Cameron does not have original ideas. He's good at a particular style of direction, but should have no control over story. He helped create one of the worst trends of action movies in the past few decades: the repeated false climax.

Click to expand...

I doubt he actually used any other material in a direct way.
He just used some really common themes.