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At the 1998 Oscars , James Cameron infamously declared that he was “ king of the Earth ” while picking up the awards for Best Director and Best Picture forTitanic . As much as that dividing line did n’t go over well at the time , it ’s kind of hard to argue against Cameron . In the last 42 age , Cameron has manoeuvre nine feature picture show , three of which are among the highest - gross movies of all metre . He ’s not just one of the top director in Hollywood — Cameron is the most successful director ever .
Later this year , Cameron ’s breakout picture , The Terminator , will celebrate its fortieth anniversary . In honor of that milepost , we ’re contain a looking back at all of James Cameron ’s movies and ranking them from worst to first . Note that we ’re limiting this list to the feature article films that Cameron directed , and not counting the two documentaries he helmed as well .
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9. Piranha II: The Spawning (1982)
Cameron has argued thatPiranha 2 : The Spawningisn’t actually his first motion-picture show , since he was replaced early in the shoot . But some accounts have contend that Cameron remained with the film throughout its full production . Cameron had get his starting time in the manufacture as a extra effects artist for type B - pic queen Roger Corman , which is why Cameron got a chance to helm this movie .
The assumption ofPiranha 2 : The Spawningis really uproarious . Thanks to some extremely ill-conceived genic experiments , a raw breed of marauder can pull through outdoors of water and even fly . Despite Cameron ’s misgivings about the film , this motion picture has gone on to become a cult classic . Cameron even castPiranha 2‘s leading actors , Tricia O’Neil and Lance Henriksen , in hold theatrical role in his tardy films .
economic rent or buyPiranha 2 : The SpawningonPrime Video .
8. True Lies (1994)
True Liesmay be Cameron ’s most conventional film . It ’s neither sci - fi nor fancy ; instead , it ’s an action comedy that reteamed Cameron with Arnold Schwarzenegger while adding Jamie Lee Curtis to the mix . Schwarzenegger and Curtis have corking on - screen alchemy as Harry and Helen Tasker , especially after Helen discovers the truth about Harry ’s double living as a spy . Eliza Dushku played their daughter , Dana Tasker , before achieving TV stardom years later withBuffy the Vampire Slayer .
As much fun as this movie can be at prison term , it ’s also very elusive from a modern standpoint because of its limning of one - dimensional Arab terrorists , and the uncomfortably gleeful way that the movie apply Harry to send off them . There ’s no nuance , but this flick is a product of its time , so take it for what it is .
WatchTrue LiesonFubo .
7. Titanic (1997)
Titanicwas the film that earned Cameron his Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture , but it ’s far from his best body of work . From a proficient standpoint , the destruction of the Titanic itself is visually cop and one of the best sequence in cinematic history . The dear story at the spunk of the movie is less so , but that did n’t break off audiences from making it the top - grossing movie of all time during the late ’ XC .
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet dally the genius - crossed lovers , Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater . Their suit plays out prior to the ship hitting an iceberg , provoking the anger and jealousy of Rose ’s fiancé , Caledon Hockley ( Billy Zane ) . Those problems seem very small when the Titanic ’s last moment finally arrive , as Jack and Rose urgently assay to find a way to stay together and survive the sinking of the ship .
WatchTitaniconParamount+ .
6. The Abyss (1989)
The Abyssis an often overlooked cinema in Cameron ’s credit , although he demonstrated an almost obsessive level of allegiance to even the smallest second . By some accounts , the mold was very unhappy with Cameron during this postulate shoot , but the result was a very good sci - fi action film that did n’t toy like a ceremonious blockbuster .
An estranged couple , Virgil “ Bud ” Brigman ( Ed Harris ) and Dr. Lindsey Brigman ( Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio ) , are reunite on a missionary post to recover a U.S. atomic wedge from the bottom of the sea . What they discover down below is an stranger unlike anything they ’ve ever imagined , and that drives U.S. Navy SEAL Lieutenant Hiram Coffey ( Michael Biehn ) to madness . Coffey ’s efforts to destroy the alien threatens to kill everyone on the mission , which forces Bud and Lindsey to put their own life on the line of work to turn back him .
WatchThe AbyssonHulu .
5. Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
From a strictly visual viewpoint , Avatar : The Way of Wateris the best - looking movie that James Cameron has ever made . Cameron meet the projection screen with stunning shots of the alien humankind , Pandora , and it ’s an amazing feat . On the other hand , the write up is n’t quite as exciting . Several years after the first movie , Jake Sully ( Sam Worthington ) and Neytiri ( Zoe Saldaña ) have get their own family together . Unfortunately , their peace is shatter when humanity reinvades Pandora in greater numbers than before .
fear for the safety of his phratry , Jake precede his married woman and children away from their first home and joins a water supply kindred of Na’vi . The transition proves to be very hard for their kidskin , but they eventually find their way of life before the Avatar clone of Colonel Miles Quaritch ( Stephen Lang ) tag them down and threatens to destroy everything they bed .
WatchAvatar : The Way of WateronDisney+ .
4. The Terminator (1984)
It ’s comfortable to see why Cameron want to callThe Terminatorhis first film . This was a fantastic flick on every level , and Arnold Schwarzenegger was the perfect choice to play the T-800 Terminator . At this point in his career , Schwarzenegger had n’t fully mastered his screen image or his bidding of the English words , but that nuisance value made him seem even more like a machine . Physically , Schwarzenegger hulk over the other actor and he genuinely seemed like an unstoppable villain .
Sarah Connor ( Linda Hamilton ) is the unwitting mark of the Terminator , and not even the cops can protect her . Sarah ’s only hope lies with Kyle Reese ( Michael Biehn ) , a man who was sent back in time to ensure that she will inhabit to give parturition to human race ’s Jesus of Nazareth in the warfare against the machines : John Connor .
WatchThe TerminatoronAMC+ .
3. Aliens (1986)
come intoAliens , Cameron had the unenviable task of following inAliendirector Ridley Scott ’s footsteps . Afterwards , not even Scott has been able-bodied to mate the action and intensity of Cameron ’s second great - budget film . Cameron and his collaborator ( and wife at the meter ) , Gale Anne Hurd , threaten to quit unless the studio apartment match to get back Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley to link up the 2nd film to the first one . Weaver delivered on her end with a performance that made her an action icon .
The film shoot place require after the original movie , as a distraught Ripley is awakened from suspended aliveness , only to find out that she escape her daughter ’s entire lifespan . During a mission to the dependency world LV-426 , Ripley finds a foster daughter in Rebecca “ Newt ” Jorden ( Carrie Henn ) , the only human subsister of a xenomorph infestation . And not even the xenomorph queen can deter Ripley from doing everything she can to get Newt out alive .
WatchAliensonMax .
2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1992)
Terminator 2 : Judgment Day , aka thelast keen Terminator movie , turned Arnold Schwarzenegger ’s T-800 into the champion of the movie . Actually , he plays a transcript of the same Terminator model . This time , the T-800 is sent back to protect John Connor ( Edward Furlong ) from an even more advanced Terminator , Robert Patrick ’s T-1000 . The liquid metal morph outcome of the T-1000 were radical for the time , and he was a foe who could assume any face or bod while chasing John and his defender .
At John ’s insisting , the T-800 also rescue his mother , Sarah ( Hamilton ) , from an insane asylum . Although Sarah is reluctant to entrust the Terminator , she also recognizes that he make up the honorable opportunity they have t0 prevent Judgment Day from ever happening … if they can discover and neutralise a scientist named Miles Bennett Dyson ( Joe Morton ) .
WatchTerminator 2 : Judgment DayonParamount+ .
1. Avatar (2009)
In the years lead up toAvatar , rumors were rearing about Cameron ’s first film sinceTitanic . No one really knew what to expect , which may be why audiences were so blown away by the flick ’s masterful use of 3D and the stunningly beautiful world of Pandora . Avatardoesn’t have Cameron ’s strong story , but it was an experience like no other picture before or since . EvenThe Way of Watercouldn’t in full repair the shock of seeingAvatar‘s alien world for the first time .
During the first film , Jake Sully ( Worthington ) was a disabled Marine who consort to make the slip to Pandora because the Avatar Program allowed him to ensure a Na’vi - like consistence that was fully ambulatory . Jake and others like him had been institutionalize to win the trust of the Na’vi mass so as to get them to allow human race to work their world . Jake quickly fall down for Neytiri ( Zoe Saldaña ) , who designate him the way of the Na’vi . Jake is so won over by Neytiri that he understand that he ’s on the incorrect side of the conflict . That ’s why Jake drum up the Na’vi tribes to push back against his own hoi polloi even in the facial expression of an overwhelming effect .
WatchAvataronDisney+ .
