‘Battleship’: The movie James Cameron said “degrades” the cinema industry
In this day and age, the biggest Hollywood filmmakers aren’t just people with creative ideas. To thrive in the cutthroat and capitalistic market, filmmakers need to develop ideas that will make lots of money. Epic historical movies, biopics, sci-fi worlds, and superhero tales are guaranteed profit, typically generating millions – if not billions – of dollars. James Cameron realised this early on in his career, quickly making movies that helped to establish him as one of the most successful filmmakers of all time.
The director’s first effort was Piranha II: The Spawning—not exactly a film he’s most proud of. However, just two years later, he proved himself to be far more capable than critics had anticipated with the creation of The Terminator. The film was a huge success, grossing $78 million and blending action with sci-fi in a way that captivated audiences. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s performance as the titular character delivered some of cinema’s most iconic lines. Decades after its release, The Terminator remains deeply ingrained in popular culture, with its themes of artificial intelligence and androids still feeling as relevant as ever.
In 1991, he then turned The Terminator into a franchise with Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Cameron seemed to know exactly how to create movies that would attract a large audience while also ensuring that he wasn’t just creating run-of-the-mill, forgettable flicks. His use of special effects and innovative narrative ideas helped to further establish his dominance over the industry, and when 1997 rolled around, Cameron went from impressive filmmaker to the King of Hollywood.
Of course, as we know now, Titanic was a cinematic phenomenon that has only been mirrored a few times since. Everyone was talking about the movie, which required Cameron to take several journeys to the bottom of the ocean to film and study the wreckage of the ship. With the mighty success of Titanic under his belt, Cameron surely saw cinema as a medium of endless possibility.
This journey eventually led him to Avatar, where he created an entirely new world and language for his characters. The film’s special effects were revolutionary for its time, and Cameron has since dedicated much of his career to expanding the franchise, with new instalments set to be released over the coming years. He has firmly established Avatar as a globally recognisable brand, ensuring that each sequel generates substantial buzz and ticket sales. Yet, despite this, Cameron has openly criticised the idea of films becoming brands before they are stories, stating that this approach “degrades the cinema”.
It’s a tricky conversation because many franchise movies based on preexisting material remain beloved pieces of cinema, and many are genuinely good. Then there are the movies that feel like nothing more than cheap cash grabs, like Marvel films, because the filmmakers behind them know that people will flock to them, no matter what.
“Everyone in Hollywood knows how important it is that a film is a brand before it hits theaters. If a brand has been around, Harry Potter for example, or Spider-Man, you are light years ahead. And there lies the problem. Because unfortunately these franchises are becoming more ridiculous. Battleship. This degrades the cinema,” Cameron explained to Spiegel Online. “Now they want to make the Battleship game into a film. This is pure desperation.”
It’s a rather ironic statement for someone like Cameron to make because Avatar certainly fits into this phenomenon, whether he likes it or not. Still, he’s right in claiming that certain pieces of media don’t need to have cinematic treatment, like Battleship. The board game was turned into a movie in 2012, and the results were dire, both critically and commercially. Producers need to know when to stop because some things just don’t need to be made into movies.
