Rate James Cameron's Movies (One-Sentence Reviews)

The Terminator 10/10
Aliens 10/10
The Abyss 10/10
Terminator 2 10/10
True Lies 10/10
Titanic 10/10
Avatar 9/10

Titanic technically outdated? Seriously? One of the best visual effects ever presented on the silver screen. Even the people who hate Titanic can vouch for its technical accomplishments. Looks better than most films produced today.

Terminator - 9.3
Aliens - 9.6
Terminator 2 - 9.0
Titanic - 8.7
Avatar - 6.7 (7 is my line between good and bad)

Haven't seen The Abyss and haven't seen True Lies in many years.

10 The Abyss - imo the most edge-of-my-seat engaging movie ever made but too bad the ending is weak in both versions
10 Terminator 2 - the best sequel of all time, and top 5 action movie ever
9.5 Aliens - A superb reinterpretation of 'Nam movies with an insanely great varied rogues' gallery of supporting characters (the opposite of flat, OP)
9 Titanic - ultimate spectacle with superb script structure but cardboard supporting characters and so-so dialog
8.5 The Terminator - gritty, groundbreaking and influential low-budget action/sci-fi//time-travel thriller
7 True Lies - one of few comedy/action combos that actually work but unfortunately the political landscape has aged the main plot very badly
7 Avatar - incredible audiovusual experience in theaters but I hate shaman-culture movies so not my bag
2 Piranha 2 - a piece of crap, which shows absolutely no promise


Overall my favarite "modern-time" North American director. Superbly gifted at creating narrative structure - a true multihyphenate talent (artist and technician)

1986 Aliens: A retarded but noisy kid standing on the shoulder of a giant that is Ridley Scott's ALIEN.

1991 Terminator 2: A movie that loses tension half way through.

1997 Titanic: An otherwise mediocre movie that is not only saved but also made miraculously touching by James Horner's beautiful and ethereal music.

2009 Avatar: Good graphics that should be enjoyed only in 3D cinemas, otherwise those colorful images will make me wanna puke.

Overall, James Cameron's movies do not age well. They are good upon first viewing.

Agree with almost everything of what you say but I always have to add:

Abyss: my wife LOVES the movie & of course it's wonderfully acted & technically brilliant-but because it makes Michael Biehn a 'crazy guy', I was always bugged by that.

True Lies: Again wonderfully acted & technically brilliant(the whole sequence from the Overseas Highway attack/rescue is mindblowing) but the 'stupid terrorist' humor makes me 'itchy' & the Bill Paxton subplot, while funny, seems out of place...all in all, Cameron should probably stay away from action comedies.




Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?

Overall, James Cameron's movies do not age well. They are good upon first viewing.To me the polar opposite. Not a single one is any less impactful/good now than they were on release 6 to 31 years ago.

I'd say most people who liked em back then still like or even love em em today and the people (esp. young fanboy types) who hated Titanic and Avatar still likely hate em :)

Good! I love hearing different opinions. Let's first look at ALIEN and ALIENS.

When I first saw ALIENS over 10 years ago, I wouldn't have been thrilled if not for ALIEN. Today when I see ALIENS again, I feel that ALIENS fails to portray those alien beings as ALIEN. In ALIEN they are unstoppable, mysterious, and utterly creepy, whereas in ALIENS they become space cockroaches that can be dealt with by a colonial marine grunt using a machine gun.

This change of direction from horror to action spawned countless action shooter video games. But the recent ALIEN: ISOLATION that captured the feel of the original masterpiece is truly a gem.

ALIEN and ALIENS are different in the way their game counterparts ALIEN: ISOLATION and ALIENS: COLONIAL MARINES are different, and ALIENS nowadays is dated in a way ALIEN can never be.

They should have let Ridley handle the ALIEN sequel in the first place. Now, I can't wait for Ridley's ALIEN: COVENANT. I know Ridley will treat the creature with respect, because in Prometheus the alien beings become a force to be reckoned with, ancient bioweapons to be used to cleanse civilization on Earth.