Ranking the Films of James Cameron

James Cameron is a one of a kind filmmaker. Whether it’s becoming King of the World with Titanic or creating Pandora with the Avatar franchise, no one does it like Cameron. A visual showman, he makes blockbuster cinema that actually pushes the medium forward. A Cameron movie is a literal event these days, and rightly so, given his career to date. With his latest Avatar flick hitting theaters, a ranking of his films feels very much in order.

In my review of Avatar: The Way of Water (here), I praised him like so:

Co-writer/director James Cameron is a visual showman, staging all manner of impressive set-pieces. Now, the script remains a bit of a weak link, but it’s definitely an improvement over Avatar. The story is thin, but Cameron, along with co-writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno also get Story By credits), do more to invest you in all of the characters. It’s not overly complex, but it’s more effective than last time. They don’t give you enough to justify the over three hour running time, but you’re never bored waiting for the next battle. Of course, you’re here for Cameron’s direction and visuals, and they’re incredible. Writing about the look of Avatar: The Way of Water just doesn’t do it justice. It has to be seen in order to be properly digested.

Just yesterday, on the other hand, I wrote about Avatar: Fire and Ash (here) in the following manner:

Co-writer/director James Cameron is certainly at home playing around on Pandora. This time, the screenplay is credited again to Cameron, alongside Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno also get Story By credits), very much continuing the prior installment’s narrative. The thing is, Cameron the director is going off, while Cameron the writer is spinning his wheels. Anytime there’s new technology to show off or a creature of some kind (the whales with ear piercings and the squids are the highlights for me), he’s at his best, taking your breath away. Along with cinematographer Russell Carpenter, there’s no one doing visual blockbuster cinema like Cameron. At the same time, the narrative barely moves forward, several sequences feel like they already happened last time, and by the time the credits role, it’s baffling to think that over three hours produced this little momentum towards advancing the story. It’s part of what makes the running time such an issue this time around.

Below, you can see how I rank the fiction work of Cameron (I’m excluding his documentaries, since I haven’t seen all of them). For me, the top tier is Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, either of which would take the number one spot on a different day. The next level of movie holds Avatar: The Way of Water, The Terminator, Titanic, and True Lies. After that, it’s a matter of taste, but my lower level of Cameron flick has The Abyss, Avatar, and Avatar: Fire and Ash, with Piranha II: The Spawning obviously bringing up the rear. It’s quite the career, isn’t it?

Here now is my ranking of the films of James Cameron. Behold:

10. Piranha II: The Spawning

9. Avatar: Fire and Ash

8. The Abyss

7. Avatar

6. The Terminator

5. Avatar: The Way of Water

4. True Lies

3. Titanic

2. Aliens

1. Terminator 2: Judgement Day

What are your favorite films from James Cameron? Let us know!