With Cameron’s 10th movie, ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’, a month away, we put previous work like ‘Aliens’ and ‘Titanic’ to the test.
James Cameron has only directed 10 narrative films. That feels kind of wild. He’s produced many more, made some documentaries, and been involved with several others. But in terms of directing a typical, narrative movie, his latest film, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is only his 10th.
But what a lineup it has been. Though he did a tiny horror film before it, Cameron truly burst onto the scene with 1984’s The Terminator, a game-changing sci-fi action film that announced his talents to Hollywood. He went on to direct two of the greatest sequels ever after that, Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, while also working on another landmark influential sci-fi film, The Abyss.
After a quick trip to a more traditional action story with True Lies, Cameron changed the game again with Titanic, a three-plus-hour romantic epic that became the highest-grossing film of all time. How did he follow that up? Well, it took over a decade, but he made Avatar, one of the biggest gambles in Hollywood history, which then beat his own film Titanic to become the new highest-grossing film of all time.
Since then, he followed that up with Avatar: The Way of Water and, now finally, Avatar: Fire and Ash. It’s a beyond incredible list of relatively few films. Where do they each rank when you put them against each other? Let’s get to it.TBD: Avatar Fire and Ash (2025)
We have yet to see Avatar: Fire and Ash, which opens December 19, so we can’t rank it on here. But, if we’re being real, there’s very little chance it breaks into, let’s say, the top five here, right? Maybe it’s the best Avatar of the bunch. Maybe. But Cameron’s films are generally all so good, it would have to be The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to jump into that top five.
We’ll see, though. As we’re about to illustrate, James Cameron doesn’t miss.9. Piranha II: The Spawning (1982)
James Cameron’s first film is barely what you’d call a “James Cameron film.” Rumors have persisted for years about exactly how much control he had over it compared to his subsequent films, and the end result is a part campy, part bad horror film. It’s not terrible, mostly because you watch it knowing James Cameron directed it, but clearly it’s not only his “worst” movie, it might be his only bad movie.8. Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Let’s get this out of the way right here. With the exception of Piranha II, every James Cameron movie is amazing.
