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Few filmmakers have helped shape the Hollywood blockbuster more than James Cameron. Beginning as a production designer on low-budget Roger Corman flicks like Galaxy of Terror, Cameron was kickstarted to superstar director status with his 1984 classic The Terminator. Since then, his films have only increased in budget and acclaim. He’s now known as action movie royalty, with his epic film Avatar pushing the boundaries of special effects technology and becoming the second highest-grossing movie of all time.
Cameron’s movies, whether sci-fi action or romantic historical epic, are grand in scope and full of iconic moments. With the Avatar saga picking up steam once again, let’s take a look back at some of the best moments in the filmmaker’s career.
11/11 The Band Plays On – Titanic
One of the best films of the ‘90s, Titanic is a sweeping historical epic and a heartfelt romance. While it’s full of incredible moments, one of the most moving and impactful is the scene in which the ship’s band continues to play music as the ship sinks into the ocean. Based on true accounts of the eight-member band playing as they sank to calm the nerves of the escaping passengers, their rendition of “Nearer, My God, To Thee” is emotionally stirring and a gallant act of heroism.
The Abyss is one of the great science fiction classics of the ‘80s. One of the best moments from this visually stunning movie is when foreman Bud makes the first face-to-face contact with the underwater aliens, or non-terrestrial intelligences. Accepting death after making a one-way trip miles below sea-level, Bud is miraculously helped by the benevolent aliens, who create an atmospheric pocket that allows him to breathe normally. When they aliens play back a recording of Bud’s farewell message to his wife, it becomes clear that the aliens understand Bud’s situation and want to help him. It’s a powerful moment, beautifully rendered with gorgeous cinematography and state-of-the-art special effects that still hold up today.
9/11 “Nice night for a walk” – The Terminator
One of the best science fiction movies of the ‘80s, The Terminator is not just an iconic movie, but the one that put both star Arnold Schwarzenegger and director Cameron in the limelight. It’s loaded with memorable moments, but this one is one of the best. Shortly after arriving in 1984 Los Angeles from the future, the titular villain confronts a trio of punks, lead by the great Bill Paxton, responding to their wisecracks with “Nice night for a walk.” When they poke fun at his lack of clothing, the Terminator throws their joke back at them, agreeing that he’s got “nothing clean, right.” This prompts Paxton to utter one of the greatest lines in Cameron’s body of work: “I think this guy’s a couple cans short of a six-pack!” The Terminator doesn’t mince words, and demands that the punks give him their clothes. What follows is a classic bare-handed Arnie beatdown, making this one of the best moments in The Terminator.
8/11 “You’re fired” – True Lies
True Lies is an underrated spy thriller and action extravaganza that reunites Cameron and Schwarzenegger. Being an Arnie movie, there are tons of great moments, but this is the essential one: Arnie is piloting a fighter jet over Miami. With his daughter hanging out of the cockpit, a terrorist strapped to one of his missiles, and a helicopter full of bad guys coming his way, Arnie fires the missile, bringing the attached terrorist with it, and blowing up the enemy helicopter. The moment was described by critic Roger Ebert as being the kind of stuff that “we go to Arnold Schwarzenegger movies for.”
7/11 “I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle” – Terminator 2
One of the director’s greatest films, Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a sci-fi action masterpiece that expands upon and, in many fans’ opinions, improves upon the themes and motifs of the first Terminator. In this update of the original “Your clothes, give them to me” scene, the Terminator walks nonchalantly into a biker bar, fully nude, and says “I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle.” An already great moment is made better by the subsequent barroom brawl. The scene is rocketed to classic status when the Terminator swoops the gun and sunglasses off the final biker, and zips away on a motorcycle to George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone.”
6/11 The Battle with Colonel Quaritch – Avatar
Cameron’s revolutionary 2009 film Avatar is an over-the-top sensory spectacle and the ultimate 3-D movie. Love it or hate it, it’s one of the most important (and most expensive) films of the 21st century, and it’s got more than its fair share of iconic moments. One such moment is the climactic battle between Jake Sully and the villainous Colonel Quaritch at the end of the film. The scene pits Jake, in Na’vi form, against the Colonel’s giant mech suit. It’s an epic duel between modern, superior weaponry and the more primitive and environment-focused fighting techniques of the Na’vi people. This unforgettable moment finishes with Jake defeating the Colonel, reflecting the triumph of the Na’vi over the reckless humans in the greater conflict.
5/11 The Ultimate Badass – Aliens
One of the best sequels ever made, Aliens replaces the slow-moving terror in outer space from the first Alien with fast-paced and visceral space marine action. It’s a truly great action movie, but it’s also a fantastic display of Bill Paxton’s eloquently inelegant acting abilities. He steals nearly every scene he’s in, and is the special ingredient to most of the movie’s best moments. One classic moment that Paxton absolutely owns is his character’s “Ultimate Badass” speech. As the marines make their first drop into the alien-infested colony, Paxton delivers a hilariously arrogant spiel about the many high-tech weapons at his disposal, including “knives, sharp sticks” and the confounding “sonic-electronic ball-breakers.”
4/11 Helicopter Chase – Terminator 2
Considered by many to be the best entry in the Terminator franchise, Terminator 2 features many of the most exciting and explosive action sequences ever filmed. One such sequence is the thrilling helicopter chase, which sees the T-1000 commandeering a helicopter mid-flight, and then using it to chase down our heroes. The scene features one of the riskiest stunts in movie history, when the helicopter flies underneath a real-life freeway overpass.
3/11 Ripley to the rescue – Aliens
In way over their heads in the alien-infested colony, the colonial marines appear doomed. That is, until Ripley gets word of it and forcibly takes charge of the mobile command center, smashing it into the colony and rescuing the marines in this great moment from Aliens. It’s the perfect example of what The Hollywood Reporter speaks of when they describe how “Cameron isn’t as concerned with scares or atmosphere, the staples of traditional horror films, as he is with setting up difficult situations for his characters to get out of, leaving audiences deliciously on edge.”
2/11 “Game over, man!” – Aliens
One of the most quoted and memorable moments from Aliens is the “Game over, man!” speech. Delivered by Paxton, and acting as an ironic pay-off to his earlier set-up with the “Ultimate Badass” speech, this moment reeks of palpable hopelessness with an undercurrent of humor due to the character’s hubris. It’s one of the greatest scenes of the ‘80s, and an essential Cameron moment.
1/11 “You’re terminated!” – The Terminator
This is it, the ultimate Cameron moment: The Terminator’s demise, caused by a fatal blow delivered by the wonderful Linda Hamilton at the controls of a hydraulic press. After the iconic chrome-plated endoskeleton chases Sarah Connor through a factory, she finally comes into her tough-as-nails self when she terminates the Terminator, which explodes in a dazzling display of blue lightning. It’s a gratifying and heroic moment, and easily the all-time best in Cameron’s legendary filmography.
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