I've just finished reading Rebecca Keegan's updated biography of James Cameron called The Futurist. It's a easy-to-read breezy sweep of his impressive career, following his rise from janitor and driver to 'king of the world' after writing and directing the top two grossing movies of all time. At the same time, he's been responsible for developing and implementing some of the most innovative changes in the industry just as CG and 3D.Pros: Well-written, short (the book is just 265 pages), so can be read in a day or two. It's up-to-date as of the final box office of Avatar in late 2010. It doesn't dwell too much on Cameron's personal life and five marriages. Readers get a good sense of James Cameron, the multi-faceted alpha-male director that can command gargantuan productions.
Cons: There are no pictures of any kind. Some behind-the-scenes production photographs would have been nice (as in Paula Parisi's Titanic and the Making of James Cameron). Despite assurances in the acknowledgements that Keegan had access to many of the main players, including Cameron himself, it seems half the information is gleaned off DVD commentaries and production featurettes. Unfortunately James Cameron has not fully embraced DVD & Blu-Ray extras the way that Peter Jackson, Ridley Scott or David Fincher have, so the level of detail available in the accompanying documentaries on the making of Terminator 2 or Titanic is sparse. To this day, Titanic, True Lies and The Abyss still aren't available on Blu-Ray. It seems Cameron just likes to move on, rather than revisiting old material (think of Lucas' continual Star Wars tweaks).Some of James Cameron's achievements:
- Some humble beginnings working on model building and set design on Roger Corman's B-movies to three of the most expensive and successful movies of all time
- Titanic won a record number of Academy Awards (11) and had rare cross-demographic appeal, earning almost twice it's nearest competitor. This is even more impressive considering nearly all of the top grossing movies are franchises.
- After taking a decade off to pursue interests in deep sea diving, Cameron returned to Hollywood with another original non-franchise concept, Avatar, which earned a billion more than even Titanic did.
- Unlike other über-directors (Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, David Fincher), James Cameron is also the main writer of his movies. Think of the many memorable catch-phrases: Come with me if you want to live, I'll be back, Game over man, I'm king of the world, Get away from her you bitch, I see you.
- Cameron also regularly edits, produces, and is not afraid to touch the camera. In fact, in any behind-the-scenes footage, you'll see him handling the camera more than the DP.
- Cameron gave 3D mainstream appeal, showed what is possible with CG (think of T2's liquid metal man), was the first to farm out effects to various effects houses, and developed a new production pipeline in adding a VR camera to a pre-viz landscapes. The Queen Alien puppet in Aliens was also the most elaborate of its kind. Titanic was the first movie to feature CG people.
- Despite being an effects maestro, Cameron doesn't ignore character development. Titanic famously had two hours of Jack & Rose on the ship before the ship struck the iceberg and the action begun. Sigourney Weaver got a nomination for Aliens, a rarity for the genre. The revival scene in The Abyss is one of the brilliant intensity. Other directors (famously Michael Bay and George Lucas) can get carried away with the effects at the expense of character and story.
- Science is not ignored nor ill-treated. Cameron took great pains to consult scientists in the creation of Pandora, and the portrayal of scientists in Avatar is sympathetic. Also, contrast Ian Holm's science officer in Alien to Lance Henrikson's equivalent in Aliens. Even the scientist in T2 is humanised and redeemed. In 2005 Cameron even made a documentary called Aliens of the Deep, about the exotic life that clusters around deep ocean volcanic vents. Despite this sympathy towards science, Cameron was not confident enough in the commercial appeal of a scientist-protagonist, so in The Abyss, Ed Harris and his team were cast as blue-collar oil-rig workers, and in Avatar, a marine grunt had to work with the science team.
What's you favourite Cameron movie? Mine would have to be Aliens, for its superb balancing of action, humour, suspense, shocks, horror, character development and effects. While not as cinematographically arresting as Ridley Scott's opener or even David Fincher's sequel, Cameron's instalment is a thrillingly paced roller-coaster, that builds to three successive heart-pounding climaxes. In a genre that is often riddled with forgettable summer schlockbusters, Aliens has achieved classic status, affirmed by its rare 100% Rotten Tomato score. Above all, it's a lot of fun.
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| James Cameron at BAFTA in 2009 |
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