MovieChat Forums > James Cameron Discussion > What is his appeal???

What is his appeal???

posted 5 months ago by MyPhoneAccount (238)
23 replies | jump to latest

He is really good at shooting and choreographing action scenes but otherwise I don’t get why moviegoers, especially the more nerdy nostalgia ones, hail him as possibly one of the greatest directors of all time and why his films have made billions of dollars? He’s really bad at screenwriting and every one of his scripts is laden with one-note characters and awful dialogue that feels penned by a 13-year old boy. Like he tries so hard to shoehorn in classic lines, like the awful “hasta la vista, baby” which literally grinds the film to a halt, and it’s so forced that you can practically see the “trademarked” logo at the end of the sentence…but audiences end up loving it! How??? True Lies is his best movie because it’s the only film JC made that feels intentionally stupid and campy, while the rest are accidentally so. But most seem to think True Lies is amongst his worst movies??? I don’t get it. Nearly all of his movies have fatal flaws that nobody else would get away with. Like fans adore T2, an insanely stupid movie, while T3, also insanely stupid, has the same fans pretending it doesn’t exist. Tell me the difference in stupidity between the “talk to da hand” scene and the smiling scene?

[–] AmeriGirl26 (14411) 5 months ago

It's not about him personally. He made some really good, epic films in the 80s and 90s, and he's a very good story-teller, or was until "Avatar." Sadly, he's not so great in person, based on what people have said about working with him. Half the time he was professional, half the time he was a dickhead. He's been married three times, if that tells you anything. He's a perfectionist, and wanted things done right, which translates well to a good film, but more than once it drove his actors crazy. Some refuse to ever work with him again, others are just fine with him.

It sounds like you're a Gen Z person, and don't appreciate these movies for what they were when they were made. People loved epic action flicks with fun heroes and sometimes humorous scenes and memorable lines thrown in. Plus, seeing them in theaters is very different than seeing them in your living room from a streaming service. Remember that it was a different time when these came out, and people had better taste in story-telling than the shit that's produced today.

[–] Callahan7 (1158) 5 months ago

"Sadly, he's not so great in person, based on what people have said about working with him. Half the time he was professional, half the time he was a dickhead. He's been married three times, if that tells you anything. He's a perfectionist, and wanted things done right, which translates well to a good film, but more than once it drove his actors crazy. Some refuse to ever work with him again, others are just fine with him."

I think some people don't like him personally. There is also a lot of people who hate Titanic.

Both The Terminator and T2 were magnificent films. I don't care what anybody on this thread says.

To say he is a bad writer is an opinion likely based on personal bias. He multitasks. He is a genius. He has made some great films.

Some posters may be jealous. moviechat is filled to the brim with posters that attack successful celebrities.

[–] pjl69 (2647) 5 months ago

"Some posters may be jealous."

Just stick to the facts you can prove.

[–] Callahan7 (1158) 5 months ago

"Just stick to the facts you can prove."

Who died and made you the czar of rules on this thread? I don't need to "prove" anything to you.

"T2 has aged terribly."

How is that a "fact"? Can you "prove" that?

T2 was (and is) an epic film. Jealous much?

[–] pjl69 (2647) 5 months ago

"T2 has aged terribly."

How is that a "fact"? Can you "prove" that?

No, it's an opinion, and I don't have to prove my opinion. You on the other hand made a claim that people don't like Cameron because they're jealous. The burden of proof is on you.

"T2 was (and is) an epic film."

Another opinion. What should we do now?

[–] MyPhoneAccount (238) 5 months ago

What are we jealous of? You think we sit and stare at pics of James Cameron and envy him? You sound like the middle school girls who would call Justin Bieber’s haters “jealous”…of what? Not sure.

[–] mergaqui (112) 5 months ago

I don't quite understand it either but he must be doing something right if he has a number of the highest grossing movies of all time.