Summary of James Cameron's works: He continues to sound the alarm for humanity by using science fiction and action

Do you know the top 5 highest grossing movies of all time? As of April 2024, the rankings are as follows:

1. "Avatar" (2009) $2.92 billion

2. "Avengers: The Game" (2019) - $2.79 billion

3. "Avatar: The Way of Water" (22) - $2.32 billion

4. Titanic(1997) $2.26 billion

5. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" (2015) - $2.7 billion

Three of these top five films were directed by the same director. His name is James Cameron. He directed "Avatar," "Avatar: The Way of Water," and "Titanic." Moreover, "Titanic" won 11 awards at the 70th Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, tying for the most awards won. The director is truly at the top of the world. That is James Cameron.

Born in Canada in 1954. As a boy, he was passionate about making things and conducting experiments, and was also fascinated by science fiction novels and marine documentary TV series. He was also an excellent painter and was a regular at local art competitions. At the age of 14, he saw 2001: A Space Odyssey(1968), which awakened his interest in film, and inspired him to want to make films himself. In 1971, he moved to California with his family and majored in physics at university. During his student days, he worked while immersing himself in creative activities such as painting and writing science fiction novels, and at the same time taught himself film production and visual effects.

Later, inspired by the huge success of "Star Wars" (1977), he and his friends produced the independent sci-fi short film "Xenogenesis" (1978). Cameron had been working as a truck driver and other physical laborers while continuing his creative endeavors, but "Xenogenesis" prompted him to join Roger Corman's film production company, New World Pictures, as an art staff member, and thus began his career. He then made his directorial debut with "The Flying Fish" (1981), but was forced to step down at the producer's request. Although the results were unsatisfactory, he was inspired to make "The The Terminator" (1984), which became a huge hit. This marked his first step towards becoming a great hitmaker.

This time, we focus on 10 of Cameron's directorial works, including his independent film "Xenogenesis" and his disappointing debut "The Flying Killer." Excluding documentaries and theme park films, these 10 films are all of his directorial works. We've taken a fresh look at their appeal.

Index

• 1. "Xenogenesis" (78) 12 min.
• 2. "Flying Killer" (81) 94 min
• 3. The Terminator(1984) 108 min.
• 4. Aliens(86) 137 min/154 min (complete version)
• 5. "The Abyss" (89) 140 min./171 min. (Complete version)
• 6. Terminator 2: Judgment Day(1991) 137 min.
• 7. True Lies(1994) 141 min.
• 8. Titanic(1997) 194 minutes
• 9. "Avatar" (2009) 162 minutes
• 10. Avatar: The Way of Water(22) 192 minutes

1. "Xenogenesis" (78) 12 min.

"Xenogenesis"

A sci-fi short film co-directed with his friend from his school days, Randall Frakes. It depicts a man and woman fighting giant robots on a spaceship. There are many scenes that recall later films such as "The The Terminator" and "Aliens," such as a robot that shoots laser beams, a man with a mechanical hand, and a robot (powered suit) that a woman rides to fight. The attacking robot is the very Hunter Killer Tank that appears in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day."

Not only this film, but when watching Cameron's previous works, it is easy to see that there are many elements that will become motifs for his later works. In other words, he was clear about what he wanted to do from the time of this independent production. Cameron has probably been creating the world view he wanted to create in "Xenogenesis" all this time, expanding the story, setting, and budget.

2. "Flying Killer" (81) 94 min

"Flying Killer Fish" (c)Photofest / Getty Images

I hesitated to include this film in the "Cameron Films Summary," but since Cameron's name is in the film credits, I'd like to introduce it. Piranha (1978, directed by Joe Dante), which aimed to repeat the success of Jaws(1975), was also a big hit. Piranha II: Flying Killers is a sequel to that film, a panic-inducing horror film. As the title suggests, it depicts the terror of killer fish that fly through the sky and attack people.

This was James Cameron's commercial directorial debut, but he was removed from the project by the producer during filming and was not present during the editing process. However, scenes shot by Cameron were actually used in the film. Cameron himself was unhappy that it was considered his debut, but due to contractual reasons at the time, he was unable to remove his name from the credits.

3. The Terminator(1984) 108 min.