The movie that “pissed off” James Cameron
Like many successful directors, James Cameron came from humble beginnings. Once upon a time, the Canadian-born Hollywood giant was simply a truck driver working in California. He was always interested in cinema, though. For example, he was particularly taken with Jason and the Argonauts when he went to see it as a child and began sketching his own version of the film in class. But it wasn’t until he witnessed the original Star Wars in 1977 that he really had a fire lit under him.
The movie world was never the same after that film. As well as being an all-time blockbuster masterpiece, Star Wars was an absolute game-changer that truly showed what the medium could really do with its innovative special effects. The film, unsurprisingly, inspired many across the industry, and Cameron was very much one of them. Although he adored the movie, he was also rather “pissed off” by it because he wanted to make something like that. “I wanted to make that movie. That’s when I got busy,” Cameron later remarked.
This gave him the push he needed. He quit his job as a truck driver, buried himself in filmmaking and worked on a number of projects, including John Carpenter’s Escape from New York. While Cameron was involved as an art director on another project, the movie’s director was fired, and Cameron was hired to replace him. That film was none other than Piranha II: The Spawning, an infamously bad horror sequel which Cameron (unsurprisingly) did not enjoy working on.
His next film, in stark contrast, was an absolute classic. The Terminator, which Cameron wrote and directed. Even though the movie was only made for around $6million, it’s a visually stunning ride filled with amazing action sequences, so this was an early hint as to what Cameron could actually do.
In the years since, Cameron has become one of the most prosperous directors of all time, and Star Wars‘ influence on him has always been evident. As a result of his success, Cameron primarily stayed within the sci-fi genre, creating two iconic sci-fi franchises of his own in the form of The Terminator and Avatar. Just like Star Wars creator George Lucas, he has been a real innovator in blockbuster filmmaking.
In the case of Avatar, Cameron’s aim was to create a franchise with the same cultural impact as Star Wars. Has he succeeded in this? It’s not really fair to say right now, given the series is only two films in, but those two works have been astonishingly successful at the box office. Although both movies have their detractors, their cultural impact is undeniable. In fact, the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida has an entire area themed to the movies, which definitely speaks to how much they’ve entered the public consciousness.
Lucas himself has made no secret of how big a fan of Avatar he is; some have theorised he might actually be a bit envious of Cameron’s success with those films. Well, if that’s true, that’d be an interesting way in which things have come full circle for the two Hollywood titans, given that Cameron once felt strong envy towards him.
