Brian's James Cameron Page

For those of you who don't know, if you've been living in a cave since Titanic came out, James Cameron is the over achieving, perfectionist writer-director of some of the biggest hits in history.over achieving, perfectionist writer-director of some of the biggest hits in history. Even though the media has labeled him as a blowhard who everyone hates to work with his record of collaborations speaks for it's self. Actors like Bill Paxton and Michael Biehn have been in several Cameron films. Not to mention Gale Anne Hurd, Stan Winston, Stephanie Austin, Russell Carpenter, John Bruno and others who have worked on multiple Cameron films. People frequently tell him that he is not what they expect. He says that is because what they expected was this complete "autocratic dickhead" that the media made him out to be.

He wants to stay far away from this Hollywood lifestyle that so many people fall into. He drives a HUMMER, dresses simply and comfortably (no fancy Araini here), believes in talking straight to people and expects the same in return. His personal life does have a very Hollywood feel to it though. His first wife was a waitress named Sharon. That marriage broke up because of all of the time he spent on his attempts to break into film- making. His second wife was producer Gale Anne Hurd. That marriage broke up because of his involvement with director Kathryn Bigelow, who became Mrs. Cameron #3. On the set of Terminator 2 he got involved with Linda Hamilton, while still married to Kathryn Bigelow. His marriage to Hamilton (who he has a daughter, Josephine Archer Cameron, with) broke up because of there respective affairs with a stunt woman (Hamilton) and actress Suzy Amis (Cameron).

He was born August 16, 1954 in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada. At an early age he had a love of films like Lawrence of Arabia and 2001: A Space Odyssey. In 1971 his family movie to California. They lived so far out in the country that he said it might as well have been Montana with as far as it was from Hollywood.

He got his start after dropping out of college, where he abandoned the ideas of majoring in marine biology (abandoned because he had the idea of exploring the deep but knew he would probably end up counting fish chromosomes in a lab) and physics (not strong enough math skills, I can relate). He never had any film training so he read every book he could find on the subject. His first job was for B-movie king Roger Corman. He started as a special effects camera man on Battle Beyond the Stars, he quickly distinguished himself and was given more responsibility on 'Battle'. Afterwards he did special effects work for Galaxy of Terror, Android, and Escape From New York before making his own independent film The Terminator. The rest as they say is history.

Frequently casts

Michael Biehn

  • The Terminator
  • Aliens
  • The Abyss
  • Terminator 2: Judgement Day (special edition only)

    • Bill Paxton

  • The Terminator
  • Aliens
  • True Lies
  • Titanic

    • Jenette Goldstein

  • Aliens
  • Terminator 2: Judgement Day
  • Titanic

    • Lance Henriksen

  • Paharana II: The Spawning
  • The Terminator
  • Aliens

    • Arnold Schwarzenegger

  • The Terminator
  • Terminator 2 Judgement day
  • True Lies

    • Trademarks

  • Strong Female characters.

  • Close up shots of feet or wheels usually running over things.

  • Films frequently involve nuclear weapons.

  • Tight close-ups in chase or fight scenes.

  • Films frequently have a character who everyone thinks is crazy but is in fact the only one in possession of the truth. (Kyle in Terminator, Ripley at the beginning of Aliens, Sarah in T2)

  • Shows a TV displaying a what is happening. (the Marine's camera shots in Aliens, Little Geek shots in The Abyss, Video of Sarah in the hospital in T2, cigarette pack camera/sunglasses display in True Lies)

  • First person shots. (Terminator POV in The Terminator and T2, squid playback shots in Strange Days)

  • Often films scenes in deep blues. (nearly every shot Aliens and The Abyss)

  • During fight scenes has light fixtures half falling out of the ceiling. (The Abyss, Cyberdine building in T2, bathroom fight in True Lies)

  • Silhouette of someone running away from an explosion. (used heavely in T2 and True Lies)

    • The Terminator (1984)

    Aliens (1986)

    The Abyss (1989)

    Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

    True Lies (1994)

    Strange Days (1995)

    T2 3-D: Battle Across Time (1996)

    Titanic (1997)

    "Dark Angel" (2000) TV Series

    Untitled Mars Project (200?)

    True Lies 2 (2002)

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