10 Directors Who Changed Cinema: James Cameron

Some directors know how to make a good movie, some raise the bar on movie-making as a whole. Premiere looks at ten of the innovators, mavericks, and auteurs who made their mark on cinema.

James Cameron's career has been dedicated to the future, both in the subject matter he's gravitated toward and in the big, brash special effects he's pioneered. His epic films appeal to a wide range of movie fans and keep 'em coming back for more, but in 2009, he will further revolutionize the way audiences experience movies with the release of the sci-fi epic Avatar, the largest 3D film release ever (and possibly one of the most expensive movies of all time). Cameron's previous works — especially The Terminator (1984), Aliens (1986), and Titanic (1997) — are known for their over-the-top costumes, effects, and yes, budgets, but he's also influenced the industry with his more recent works, deep-sea documentaries that are immersive theatrical experiences. By the end of the decade, Cameron will have literally changed cinema merely by getting theater owners to change the way they show films.

T-1000 (Robert Patrick) in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

If George Lucas is the godfather of modern special effects, Cameron is the cool uncle. Beginning his career at kingmaker Roger Corman's New World Pictures, James Cameron made his directorial debut on Piranha II: The Spawning, a film where he refined his skills as a special effects technician. Cameron then went on to craft one franchise in The Terminator and reinvent another with Aliens, both of which were a thrilling new take on the action genre. The success of each of the films also laid the foundation for Cameron to score bigger budgets for his films, which led to greater special effects.

Cameron's 1989 film The Abyss, a deep sea drama full of creepy CGI creatures, earned him and his team a 1990 Oscar for Visual Effects. But soon Cameron outdid that visual feat with the iconic liquid metal villain T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. His next film, True Lies, was digitally deprived by comparison, but proved once again that Cameron's ability to engage modern audiences with his storytelling skills was equal to his special effects prowess. But even when Cameron didn't use the film to try out a new special effect, the director's third feature with star Arnold Schwarzenegger was the kind of twisty popcorn film that directors like Michael Bay would later take their cues from.

Then, of course, Cameron conquered the world with Titanic, a film where audiences weren't expected to notice the special effects, since the recreation of the tragic fate of the sinking ship was so seamless. Its $200 million budget is the stuff of legend, but as the top-grossing film of all time, in addition to landing 11 Oscars, including Best Picture, the film has broken rules and records across the board. The same could be said of Cameron himself, who uses each one of his films as an experiment to push the art of motion pictures further than they have ever gone before.

More from Premiere's "10 Directors Who Changed Cinema" Series:
Alfred Hitchcock
Thomas Edison
Billy Wilder
John Ford
D.W. Griffith
Steven Spielberg
Martin Scorsese
Quentin Tarantino