Will James Cameron go down as the greatest filmmaker of all time?

[jmt225]

We all belong to a wrestling forum. Not naming any names, but there is a well-known poster here, also an Admin, who claims that Hulk Hogan is the greatest professional wrestler in the history of the sport simply because of the numbers he drew. A lot of people tend to agree with said assessment.

So, the question is... is James Cameron the greatest filmmaker of all time, now that he has the TWO highest grossing films in the history of filmmaking, a feat that will most likely never be touched by anyone ever again? If he's not, then I'd like to throw this question out there as well... what would make someone the greatest filmmaker of all time then, that doesn't hold Cameron's accomplishments? Because to go along with the gross numbers, are countless prestigious awards Cameron has won over the years. So, again, if he's not the greatest, then who is?

While Terminator 2 is definitely in my top 5 favorite films of all time, I do not want to believe this statement, so I'm creating this thread simply for somebody to convince me Cameron is not the greatest of all time; to give me good, logical reasons to believe that thinking this man is anywhere near the GOAT when it comes to filmmaking is completely asinine. So who is up for that challenge, or do you actually think when it's all said and done, this man should and will go down as the greatest filmmaker that ever lived?

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

No, Cameron WILL NOT go down as the greatest filmmaker of all time. I think he will go down as the greatest Hollywood director of all time, but screenplays and messages have never been Cameron's forte. Without a doubt, Cameron is the one of the most technologically innovative directors of all time, but there have been plenty before him that have been just as creative and groundbreaking. However, unlike Cameron, these filmmakers had great screenplays and a firm grasp on what they exactly wanted to convey to their audiences (of course, these filmmakers had, at best, an eighth of Avatar's budget, but that's neither here nor there).

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Hypothetically, if people were going to try and work out who's legitimately the greatest filmaker of all time, wouldn't they factor in inflation, the overall gross of a careers worth of ilms, a legitimate awards tally and the overall quality of their work?

Cameron could be considered the greatest modern filmmaker, if people actually admitted they liked Titanic, if True Lies was something more than just an enjoyable action film and if people remembered The Abyss for anything other than a strange looking CGI tentacle. Even in hindsight, Aliens seems like the obvious way to go after the minimalistic original Alien.

Cameron doesn't have the visual flourishes that Spielberg does, he probably hasn't made as much money overall if you were to take the last 7 Cameron films and the last 7 Spielberg films and wouldn't other films have been more successful if people had to pay more to watch them in 3D?

 

[Loveless]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha no, never in a million years. Mainly because the guy can't write a script for shit without relying on the visuals to draw people in. You might as well be asking if Michael Bay will go down as the greatest filmmaker. All style, no substance and they're both arrogant pricks to top it off.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I don't think that James Cameron is necessarily going to become known as the greatest filmmaker of all time because that honor depends on more than just how much money a movie makes. I don't know many people who consider a movie great JUST because it does well in theaters. Most people, including myself, think of movies that they themselves liked a lot when they are asked what the best movies are. I have defended Avatar in another thread and claimed it does deserve its spot as the highest grossing film of all time, but that doesn't mean I consider it the greatest. (Good film though!) Cameron has done a great job with his films to be able to have the two highest grossing films of all time with his name next to them.... however, when asking if he will go down as the greatest filmmaker should also deal with how much people liked the movies themselves. There are a lot of movies I like more than Avatar and A TON that I liked better than Titanic. So I think that Cameron will go down as a great filmmaker, but not THE greatest. It's difficult to narrow it down to who exactly WOULD be the greatest filmmaker ever because it should depend more on how much people enjoy that person's films and less on how much money the films made.

 

[Kayoh]

I loved Avatar, but this is a bit of a jump. All he really did was make a super epic high-budget version of Pocahontas with stunning visual effects and 3D. I say "all he really did" as if it's no big feat, but let's be honest, being the greatest filmmaker of all time has to go to somebody who does more than just recreate older movies with different nouns and better visuals.

Also, something to think about, if we're trying to award the greatest filmmaker of all time to someone, there are some incredible filmmakers whose movies don't get exposure/shown in the US.

 

[Frozentrash75]

He is a good film maker but i mean he's not the greatest of all time i personally have to say that the greatest film maker of all time has to be quentin tarantino his movie are amazing and they are all so much different then the previous one and some how all of them are good i personally think kill bill vol.1 is the greatest movie ever but thats just me and in a close second it's Martin Scorscee

 

[Via Armbar]

In my mind Cameron will go down somewhere in the top 5, and the reason being is he's a good mix of the different varieties of directors we have. He can make a movie thats equally as artistically satisfying as it is financially succesful. Of all the movies he has directed that i have seen i have enjoyed all of them, and the Terminator movies will go down as some of my favorites of all time.

As much flack as Titanic gets, its a very aesthetically pleasing movie and required tremendous time and patience. Same with The Abyss, which i feel is extremly underated.

There's a couple guys i would put in the same vein as Cameron, guys like Peter Jackson. They display great pride in their movies and are excellent filmmakers who don't have to be overly pretentious and artsy. They can make movies that will appeal to the masses and yet are true to the directors themselves.

I think generally Spielberg will be regarded as the greatest filmmaker of all time for all of the above reasons.

 

[RKO18]

The Terminator, Aliens, and T2 are 3 of the greatest Sci-Fi movies of all time. Camerons creativity was amazing back then. But these last 2 love stories that he put out only draw because they are huge advancements visually at that time. I saw Titanic 3 times in the theater and each time I tried to ignore that bullshit formulatic love story and try to convince myself that it was a good movie because I loved its visuals so much. In the end though it is not a good movie.

Neither is Avatar. It is just a somewhat decent original world created by Cameron with a Titanic-like love story and an Aliens-type action movie rolled into one. Those walker robots are just one example of their many similarities.

Cameron has done some great stuff but hasnt really impressed me since True Lies. If Battle Angel and Avatar 2 are hit next projects I will continue to be unimpressed.

I would think that if he was going to go down as the greatest of all time I would be hyped about his next project as I am about a lot of other directors like Scorcese, Nolan, etc. With Cameron though I will just expect more of the same and for that alone he cant go down as the greatest in my opinion.