The greatest director in cinema history, according to Arnold Schwarzenegger: “The best there’s ever been”
One of the biggest differences between Arnold Schwarzenegger and the rest of his era’s action stars, and potentially the most important, was the calibre of director that he worked with.
You’d never catch Steven Seagal, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, or Dolph Lundgren working with a bona fide auteur, partly because those bona fide auteurs wouldn’t lower themselves to that level, but the ‘Austrian Oak’ was such a powerful influence that he could convince them otherwise.
His main rival, Sylvester Stallone, hasn’t worked with any filmmaker more frequently in his career than Sylvester Stallone, but apart from the occasional exception, like a James Mangold, a Ryan Coogler, or a James Gunn, Sly hasn’t exactly been known for collaborating with top-tier behind-the-camera talent.
You could state a case for Bruce Willis, though, who counts Quentin Tarantino, M Night Shyamalan, Wes Anderson, Terry Gilliam, and Luc Besson among his former cohorts, which makes him about the only gun-toting icon of 1980s and 1990s action cinema who can hold a candle to Schwarzenegger.
Of course, he wasn’t popping up in low-budget independent films, but with multiple James Cameron pictures, not to mention his films with peak-era John McTiernan, Ivan Reitman, Paul Verhoeven, Walter Hill, and John Milius, the former California governor’s track record holds up against his closest rivals and betters almost all of them.
As a self-confessed and massive fan of ET the Extra-Terrestrial and Unforgiven, both of which were helmed by legendary directors, in Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood, respectively, Schwarzenegger knows a well-made feature from a filmmaker at the top of their game when he sees one.
However, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he considers the mastermind behind his single favourite movie of all time as the single greatest director of all time. That, and the fact they’ve been friends for over 40 years and counting, with Cameron the only person worthy of taking Arnie’s top spot.
“He’s an extraordinary writer and director,” he declared. “Probably the best there’s ever been in the world.” Is Cameron an extraordinary writer and director? As a writer, no, he’s nowhere near it. As a director, you can’t leave him out of the conversation, based entirely on what he’s achieved.
He may not be remembered as a seminal auteur on the same level as the Alfred Hitchcocks, David Leans, Akira Kurosawas, and Stanley Kubricks of the world, but thanks to his constant, boundary-pushing, and game-changing technological advancements, the Terminator and Avatar creator is unquestionably one of the most important, impactful, and influential directors in history, even if he’s not the best.
