Top James Cameron Films

The role that Arnold was meant to play. A role that perfectly manages to take his limitations as an actor and play them as strengths. There are many elements of The Terminator that may look a bit outdated today, but this is still a rock solid action film.

The plot is engaging. The characters are well-developed. The humour is spot-on, the threat is menacing and the action sequences are thrilling.

The movie that made Arnold a star and gave Cameron a chance to meld his B-movie roots with amazing technical precision.

The movie that rocketed both James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger towards the Hollywood A-list remains as gripping as ever, almost 30 years since its release. Based on a vivid dream the director had about a metallic figure crawling away from an explosion, Cameron sold the rights to the movie for $1 as long as he was able to direct. And as they say, the rest is history. With a budget of just $6.5m to deliver a sci-fi action thriller that primarily takes place at night, the sophomore director had a hell of a job on his hands. It didn't help either that Linda Hamilton had an injured ankle, considering she spends a great deal of the movie running away from The Terminator. You couldn't tell from watching the finished product though; The Terminator is a relentless barrage of gunfights, car chases and wanton destruction that features three instantly iconic performances from Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton. The Terminator was also a surprising success at the box office; topping the domestic charts for two weeks on its way to a worldwide gross of over $78m. The movie succeeds on so many levels, delivering a brilliant original sci-fi concept, a fast-paced thriller, an explosive action spectacle, and belied its status as a low-budget genre flick to become one of the most popular and iconic action movies of all time.

He'll be back.

Viewers didn't know in 1984 just how prophetic Arnold Schwarzenegger's line would be. Before Terminator became a franchise and a household name, it was one lean and gritty sci-fi/action film.

The premise of a killer robot being sent back in time to murder the savior of the human race could have been fodder for an enjoyable but simplistic shoot-em-up flick - or worse, a B-movie that time heckles now and then. Instead, Cameron mined the concept for all its emotional worth. Even as Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese fled the unstoppable Terminator, they fostered a believable romance that ultimately led to a tragic yet uplifting outcome.

Terminator remains impressive on a technical level even 25 years later. Though the climatic stop-motion Terminator vs. Sarah sequence is a little clunky (given today's SFX standards), Cameron's vision of a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles remains a sight to behold. Reese's dreams of the future add context and depth to his struggle. And Arnold's terminator is one of the great villains of modern cinema. Who didn't stare gaping as he mowed down dozens of noble LAPD officers or cringe when he nonchalantly cut out his eyeball in a dirty hotel room?

Though Arnold's terminator would eventually be recast as a hero, this machine inside the shell of a man is still the stuff of nightmares.

Seven years after the lo-fi original, James Cameron reverse-engineered the Terminator franchise to place Arnold Schwarzenegger's T800 as the hero of the sequel. Armed with cinema's first $100m budget, the end result is one of the greatest action movies ever made, and arguably the genesis of the oncoming CGI revolution. Building on the effects work that had seen his last movie, The Abyss, feature a convincing fully-digital character, Cameron and ILM pulled out all of the stops in creating the liquid metal T1000. Although the liquid metal form only appears on-screen for less than five minutes, Robert Patrick's T1000 became instantly iconic and was parodied for the rest of the decade. Besides the villain, Schwarzenegger successfully turns the T800 from the original's ruthless killing machine into a protector and father figure using nothing more than minimal dialogue and buckets of charisma, while Linda Hamilton turned from timid victim into one of the all-time great action heroines. Cameron used his massive budget wisely, and spared no expense when it came to both practical and visual effects. The articulated truck chase remains one of the best vehicular action scenes ever shot, the Cyberdyne assault makes inventive use of the T800's instructions not to kill, and the final showdown in the steel mill ends on a surprisingly emotional note, bringing many a grown man to tears which isn't something you'd usually associate with a Terminator movie.

Here's the thing: When your movie's opening titles consist of the nuclear holocaust of Los Angeles, and end with a T-800's metal skull full of redrum in its Skynet eyes, you have officially achieved badassness.

But when you can follow that up with a fatalistic tale of using the past to save a future full of warring machines, you have made a sci-fi film that accomplishes more dramtically than arguably any modern film since T2's release.

Cameron continued the story he began with 1984's Terminator, picking up where he left off: The remains of the first Terminator sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor are now being used by one Miles Dyson to pave the way for Skynet's unique brand of genocide. Following her encounter with the killing machine, Sarah Connor is in a rubber room and battle-ready. And John Connor is a punk teen who rides around on motor bikes with that kid from Salute Your Shorts and hacks into ATMs.

Enter Arnold, once again, this time to protect John Connor from the mimetic metal alloy clutches of a T-1000. Dodging hands that can be turned into knives, and stabbing weapons, the new Terminator joins forces with Sarah and her son in an attempt to save a future that has and has not happened yet, all the while learning why human life is worth saving.

We've seen this film at least 657 times, and it keeps getting better every time. All of Cameron's talents and faculties create a movie that changed the way movies were made and seen. The guy can't make a movie without reinventing the wheel, and we're glad to see that T2 still holds up despite the less-than-stellar efforts of its sequels.

Following the critical and commercial success of his breakthrough feature The Terminator, James Cameron's next move saw him take over the reins of the Alien franchise. Taking the sequel away from the 'haunted house in space' nature of Ridley Scott's original, Cameron turned the sequel into a sci-fi action spectacular and delivered not only one of the decade's best action movies, but one of the greatest sequels ever made. Despite the undoubted quality of the finished product, the ten month production was a difficult one. Cameron often found himself arguing with the predominantly British crew, who in turn believed that the director was too inexperienced to be working on a project of this scale. Clearly, they were yet to see The Terminator. The crew even walked out on the production after Cameron had fired the director of photography for refusing to follow instructions on how to light a scene. Then there were the problems in successfully operating the 14 foot tall Alien Queen puppet, which required no less than 18 puppeteers and a combination of hydraulics, cables and cranes. It's incredible to think that the movie wasn't even completed until the week of its release! When it finally hit theaters, Aliens was a critical and commercial success and ended up grossing over $130m against an $18m budget. Led by an Academy Award-nominated performance from Sigourney Weaver, the movie is a thrilling blend of action, horror, adventure and sci-fi that almost 30 years later holds up as one of the most accomplished pieces of action filmmaking ever released.

True Lies is often overlooked when discussing the groundbreaking cinematic career of James Cameron, which as a shame as it remains the most light-hearted and downright enjoyable entry in his filmography. Belying his tyrannical reputation to create a fun-filled spy caper, True Lies is anchored by a career-best performance from Arnold Schwarzenegger and a Golden Globe-winning turn from Jamie Lee Curtis. One of the best action movies of the 1990's, True Lies delivers action and humor by the bucketload, although the plot's constant twists and turns can bog down the story on occasion. The basic story centers around Arnie's spy questionably using government resources to find out if his wife is having an affair, before the duo become involved with a terrorist plot to detonate a nuclear weapon. Although Art Malik's villain is painfully two-dimensional, the rest of the supporting cast get plenty of time to shine, especially a scene-stealing Bill Paxton. The movie's action scenes are expertly staged with tongue firmly in cheek, and each set-piece is wildly different from the last. Arnie's horseback chase through a building is ridiculous but played for laughs, the highway chase is nothing short of incredible (and features some brave stunt-work from Curtis), and the sight of The Austrian Oak dispensing one-liners while piloting a Harrier jet has to be seen to be believed. Besides the action, there are plenty of memorable one-liners, and how can we forget Arnie doing the tango or Jamie Lee Curtis' iconic dance scene? It's a shame that James Cameron hasn't delivered a straight-up action flick since True Lies, because it's one of the best around.

An idea that had been in development since 1994, Avatar finally made it onto big-screens across the world in 2009. Why the long wait? The technology needed to realize James Cameron's vision simply didn't exist at the time, so the director spent the intervening years developing it himself. Since its release, Avatar has greatly divided opinions but there is no arguing the fact that watching it at the theater in 3D is one of the most immersive cinematic experiences one can have. During his extended absence from cinema screens, Cameron had been extensively developing and testing the 3D camera system needed to create the world of Pandora. By the time the movie entered production in 2007 the technology was now available to create the photo-realistic performance capture needed, with the director shooting on a stage known as 'The Volume', which was six times bigger than any other of its kind. With a budget rumored to be nudging $300m and a crew that almost numbered 1000, Avatar was once again seen as Cameron making a massively expensive gamble. Of course, once again the director proved his detractors spectacularly wrong as the movie grossed a ridiculous $2.78bn at the box office. The narrative aspects of Avatar have been widely criticized for being formulaic and derivative, and the ecological message is pretty on-the-nose, but as a visual spectacle there is nothing quite like it. As well as the groundbreaking performance capture and incredible use of 3D, Cameron also delivers several massive action set-pieces that proved he hadn't lost his touch in that department. Although Avatar loses much of its appeal when viewed on home video, it was a movie that simply had to be experienced in theaters to be fully appreciated. With Avatar 2, 3 and 4 on the horizon, the director once again has huge expectations to live up to.

James Cameron's 194 minute romantic epic was more akin to a cultural phenomenon than a hit movie when it was released; despite a middling $26.8m domestic debut, Titanic would go on to hold the top spot at the US box office for an unprecedented fifteen weeks, and would ultimately play in theaters for nearly ten months. In the process, it obliterated all box office records on its way to an incredible $1.843bn gross. Not bad for a movie that was dubbed 'Cameron's Folly' by some in the press due to the troubled production process. The production saw studio executives panic at the thought of a three-hour love story, fears which were hardly eased when the budget swelled to an unheard-of $200m. To pacify them, Cameron waived his director's fee in return for a percentage of the profits which in hindsight turned out to be a very, very smart move. The 160 day shoot also turned out to be a nightmare for the cast and crew, with Cameron's notorious temper flaring up on multiple occasions. Everything worked out okay in the end of course, thanks to the record-breaking commercial success and 11 Academy Award wins including Best Picture and Best Director. As a movie, Titanic is a mixed bag. The pacing of the story is funereal at times due to the mammoth running time, with several archetypal characters and some cringeworthy dialogue. From a technical standpoint, it remains nothing less than stunning. The mix of flawless CGI and practical effects make the sinking of the eponymous ship a visceral set-piece that is equal parts visual and emotional, coupled with incredible production design and a cast that do their best given the limitations of the script. Still, is it as great a movie as its reputation would suggest? I certainly don't think so

An idea that the director had initially come up with as a 17 year old high school student, The Abyss finally came to fruition almost 20 years later. The story centers on an oil crew working with a team of Navy SEALs to investigate a sunken US submarine, before encountering 'non-terrestrial intelligence' and while a serviceable enough sci-fi adventure, the movie didn't find a huge audience and is best remembered these days for its groundbreaking visual effects. The director's penchant for overworking his cast and crew whilst also managing to go over-budget and over-schedule were prevalent during the production; the release date was delayed by over a month due to the complex nature of the visual effects, with principal photography lasting 140 days and costing at least $5m more than originally intended. Stars Michael Biehn, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Ed Harris were less than complimentary about the shoot, with the latter refusing to discuss it to this day. Despite featuring the stunning special effects and expertly-staged set pieces you would expect from a James Cameron movie, as well as solid performances from the ensemble cast, The Abyss is bogged down by its 140 minute running time (with the Special Edition clocking in at 170 minutes), convoluted plot and an ending that almost derails the entire movie. The Abyss is almost flawless from a technical standpoint when you consider the time period, but narratively the movie has a lot of problems. Audiences agreed, and it ultimately only grossed $90m against a $70m budget.

What else was it going to be? Even the biggest names in Hollywood need to start somewhere, and this low-budget sequel to Joe Dante's 1978 cult hit will forever be remembered as the directorial debut of James Cameron. After cutting his teeth as art director on Battle Beyond the Stars and providing effects work on Escape from New York, the 26 year old Canadian was promoted from his post as Piranha II's special effects director when original helmer Miller Drake was fired from the project. The director's first foray behind the camera was a disastrous one. With a budget of less than $150,000 (a far cry from what he now gets to play with), financial constraints saw the crew filled primarily of Italians that couldn't speak English which caused countless communication problems, and Cameron was constantly at loggerheads with the producers about the tone of the final product, with rumors abounding that the director even broke into the editing room to assemble his own cut of the movie before he was caught. Unsurprisingly, the end result is pretty awful. The special effects are laughably bad and the behind-the-scenes battles make for a poorly-edited finished product. Initially disowning the movie, Cameron has softened his stance over time and now jokingly refers to Piranha II: The Spawning as 'the best flying piranha film ever made'. After watching his debut feature, it's hard to imagine that this was one of the most promising young directors of the decade.