![]() Jim should be knee-deep in thematic concerns by now. Most directors are comparatively grown-up as they enter their late sixties. Naturally, mature work tends to emerge towards the completion of a career. “If a machine a Terminator, can learn the value of human life, maybe we can too.” Sarah Connor, Terminator 2: Judgment Day To me, they’re blatantly ego-inflating, cynically designed, money making ventures, and nothing more. ![]() Compared to Judgment Day, his Avatar sequels are, and will continue to be, a fuck off a waste of time. Although I don’t care for the crowbarred-in, wannabe Bond action, flamboyant misogyny, and desperately infantile humour of True Lies, it was really 1997’s self-serving vanity project, Titanic and his deep sea diving doc horseshit like Ghosts of the Abyss, and Aliens of the Deep, when his pictures weakened and waned. Some might say the signs were always there, with Jim having a keen eye for flashy effects dating way back to the Battle Beyond the Stars Corman days, and throughout his early filmography, but in 1996, T2 3-D: Battle Across Time-an immersive attraction ride at Universal Studios, represented a switch the first step towards shallow, gimmicky engagements, and away from authentic, story and character-driven films.Ĭameron never made another film as solidly dark and dense as Terminator 2, but credit where it’s due, T2 was a technical cinematic accomplishment beyond all others, and has aged like a fine wine. ’84-’91 was his capsule of greatness, neatly bookended by his original two Schwarzenegger-starring Terminator entries. Plumb the depths of the ocean instead, perhaps, in search of new treasures and life distractions? Granted, T2 was also an unadulterated popcorn action movie, but it simultaneously housed such deep, disturbing themes, and disappointingly, now represents the last bastion of the old Cameron the Jim with a nasty, sullen edge-an edge sadly left behind, never to return. Is anyone in their right mind weighing the validity and credibility of T2 against something like Avatar: The Way of Water? Perhaps after a filmmaker births a picture as strong as Terminator 2, there’s really nowhere left for them to go. What on earth happened? At a glance, even in 2023, it appears this is still his modus operandi, and remains his major preoccupation-he’s still unequivocally a top flight filmmaker, but there are levels, especially when you’re the bloke behind the might of Judgment Day. T2 is peak Cameron-pre- king of the world, but undisputed, reigning king of the hi-tech, best sequels ever. ![]() The quality of this era-Jim’s finest work, only muddles matters in terms of his hit-and-miss filmography. It’s an underestimation, and plain insulting to say they’re merely worth your time, though-they’re nothing short of some of the most iconic, pop culture-defining movies ever produced. Discounting Piranha II: The Spawning-from which James Cameron claims to have been sacked, in a shrewd attempt to distance himself from, and disown it-and his underwater documentary work, he’s only actually directed eight films, and for me, only three are worth your precious time: The Terminator, Aliens, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
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