RIMC's Directorial Retrospective Series: James Cameron - Part 1 (Pre-Titanic)

 

(This retrospective is dedicated to the memory of James Cameron’s longtime producer Jon Landau (1960-2024))

In the film industry, there aren’t a lot of filmmakers who have a legacy as considerably vast as James Cameron’s. Case in point, at the time of this post’s publication, Cameron is responsible for three of the top 5 highest-grossing films of all time, and apart from a brief period where Avengers: Endgame overtook the top spot in 2019, a James Cameron film has been known for being the highest-grossing film of all-time for nearly the past three decades. Since 2009, that honor has gone to his ambitious sci-fi epic Avatar, and in 2022, 13 years after the original’s release, Cameron finally brought audiences back into the world of Pandora with Avatar: The Way of Water, a film that defied the odds to become just as critically and commercially successful as its predecessor. However, this was only the beginning of Cameron’s plans to continue the story of the Na’vi as he also has three more Avatar films in the works; the third, recently confirmed to be titled Avatar: Fire and Ash, was filmed in conjunction with The Way of Water and is being primed for a December 2025 release while production is currently underway on the fourth film, set for a December 2029 release. But as we begin the process of waiting for our third trip to the world of Pandora, it’s time to reflect upon the career of one of the most well-known directors in the industry. Yes, folks, it’s time for another edition of what has, admittedly, been a long-dormant series here on Rhode Island Movie Corner, the Directorial Retrospectives, where I take as complete a look as I can at any given director’s filmography. However, just like the Michael Bay retrospective that I did several years ago, this one will ultimately be much more than just a single post. Given the cultural impact of his last three directorial efforts, which have each grossed over $2 billion at the box office, I decided that it’d only be fitting to give both Titanic and the first two Avatar films their own full-length reviews. And so, without further ado, it’s time to see why today’s director can quite arguably call himself ‘the king of the world’ as we look back upon the pre-1997 filmography of the one and only James Cameron.

PIRANHA II: THE SPAWNING (1982)

James Cameron primarily got his start in the industry working in the visual effects department on films produced by Roger Corman, the legendary B-movie producer who also helped launch the careers of other filmmakers such as Ron Howard, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorsese. And in 1982, Cameron made his official feature-length directorial debut with the sequel to Corman’s studio New World Pictures’ 1978 release Piranha, which was one of the early works of another Corman protégé, Joe Dante. However, Corman was not involved with the sequel which, by all accounts, was an incredibly rough production for a first-time director like Cameron. For starters, due in large part to the production’s limited budget, the bulk of the film’s crew consisted of non-English speaking Italians; however, at the very least, they had enough experience in the horror genre to deliver what Cameron was looking for. Ultimately, Cameron’s biggest hurdle on the project was his frequent arguments with executive producer Ovidio G. Assonitis over the direction he was taking the film in. As a result, it’s been widely reported that Assonitis ended up firing Cameron after just two weeks and filmed the rest of it himself, though, admittedly, this has been debated over the years. Nevertheless, it’s also been reported that Cameron was forbidden from partaking in the film’s post-production process (to the point where he even broke into where the film was being edited in Rome to work on it before he got caught), thus resulting in a unique situation where there are technically two publicly available cuts of this film. Given everything that I just noted about its hectic post-production process, the widely released cut of the film that can currently be found on Blu-Ray is, by all accounts, the one that Assonitis was directly in charge of. However, Cameron did end up getting the opportunity to release his own cut of the film thanks to a distribution deal that he made with Embassy Home Entertainment. This version of the film is about ten minutes shorter but, at the time of this post’s publication, is only commercially available on the outdated video formats of VHS and Laserdisc.

(FULL DISCLOSURE: Now, despite what I just said about Cameron’s cut not having been released in years and, thus, only being available on older video formats, both versions of this film can currently be found on YouTube. For today’s retrospective (and since I’m sure James Cameron wouldn’t mind it all that much since he doesn’t bring this film up in conversation all that often (and really, can you blame him?)), I watched Ovidio G. Assonitis’ cut due to its better video quality. For those who are curious, some of the biggest differences between the two cuts include Cameron’s cut lacking scenes of nudity (which, by most accounts, was something that Cameron wasn’t involved with) and including a unique visual style that, like what Steven Spielberg did with the shark in Jaws, represents POV shots from the perspective of the piranhas.)

Really, though, all the crazy things that happened during this film’s production are ultimately more interesting to talk about than the film itself. Yes, at the end of the day, Piranha II: The Spawning is nothing more than your standard schlocky horror film that, like many other of its peers at the time, was mainly created to capitalize on the success of Jaws. The acting is hokey (not even future Cameron regular Lance Henriksen can save this one), all the characters are one-note, and much of the early parts of this film feel incredibly disjointed as it jumps from scene to scene and minor side character to minor side character. Thus, the only major thing that this film has going for it is its sequences involving flying piranhas (yes, you read that right, flying piranhas) that, given the film’s low budget, look incredibly cheap as hell. For what it’s worth, though, James Cameron was able to use some of the visual effect techniques used to create these airborne aquatic beasts to much better effect when designing the face-hugger animatronics in Aliens. Plus, if I were to give this film any sort of credit, the flying piranhas do give this sequel at least one major advantage over its predecessor since it allows for some actual on-screen piranha attacks (which, to be clear, is not a dig against the original Piranha, which is obviously still the better film by comparison). That said, though, this is also very much a ‘sequel in name only’ as none of the main characters from the original Piranha return for this film, which only references the events of its predecessor once in its entirety. And so, with all that in mind, it’s easy to see why James Cameron spent many years distancing himself from this project even though it technically counts as his directorial debut. To be fair, you can’t fault him for how it turned out given everything he had to deal with when he made it… but at the same time, it goes without saying that his subsequent directorial outings ended up being a lot better than this one.

Rating: 1/5

THE TERMINATOR (1984)

Luckily for James Cameron, there was ultimately one silver lining from the hellish production that was Piranha II as one fateful night in Rome during its post-production ended up becoming the catalyst for the project that truly launched his directorial career. After experiencing a fever-induced nightmare in which a humanoid-looking robot emerged from a fiery explosion, Cameron used this image to create a story about a young woman named Sarah Connor who finds herself hunted by a seemingly unstoppable cyborg known as a Terminator who was sent back in time from the year 2029 by Skynet, an advanced A.I. system that would gain sentience and wipe out most of humanity in an all-out nuclear war. All the while, Sarah is protected by a lone human soldier named Kyle Reese who was also sent back in time, albeit in his case by Sarah’s future son John, the leader of the resistance movement fighting against Skynet in the post-apocalyptic future and, naturally, the reason why she’s being hunted now. Upon its release, the film became an unexpected smash hit, grossing over $78 million on its modest $6.4 million budget and eventually spawning one of the most iconic science fiction film franchises of all time. Sure, many have argued that the franchise would ultimately peak with the two films that were directed by Cameron himself, with every other installment since then (only one of which saw any direct involvement from Cameron) failing to live up to the widespread acclaim of Cameron’s films, but nevertheless, there’s no denying Terminator’s ever-enduring influence on the sci-fi genre.  

However, even with all that said, it is interesting to look back at the first Terminator when compared to all the films that would come after it. Whereas everything starting with 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a big-budget sci-fi action spectacle, the first Terminator… is decidedly not that. Instead, it’s more of a small-scale horror film that thoroughly maintains the horror genre’s well-established premise of a young woman hunted by an imposing killer. And thanks in large part to Cameron’s reliance on nighttime-set action sequences and the overall look and feel of a noir film with its seedy exterior locales and claustrophobic interior locales, the original Terminator has a surprisingly effective (and, when compared to its sequels, arguably quite refreshing) grounded atmosphere in which the sci-fi elements of its story are almost second fiddle to everything else that’s going on. Case in point, Cameron even manages to apply this low-key style to the sequences that showcase the post-apocalyptic future that Reese came from, which are naturally expanded upon in terms of scale in subsequent films. In other words, while there are undoubtedly some parts of this film that have become dated (e.g. the stop-motion animation movement of the titular antagonist when he’s nothing more than a robotic frame), Cameron utilized his minimal budget to its fullest effect in the same way that he works nowadays with the big budgets of the blockbusters that he’s very well known for. The result is a highly engaging action-thriller that’s fully bolstered by the strong performances from its three main leads: Arnold Schwarzenegger as the hulking Terminator, Linda Hamilton as the sympathetic heroine Sarah Connor, and Michael Biehn as the heroic warrior from the future, Kyle Reese. And while it’s probably safe to say that most Terminator fans tend to list its follow-up as their favorite installment of the series, this first film still holds up quite well on its own accord.

Rating: 5/5!

ALIENS (1986)

(DISCLAIMER: For today’s retrospective, I watched this film’s extended cut, which was first released on LaserDisc in 1991 (though, for the record, this is not in reference to what could technically be described as the film’s ‘first’ extended cut, which aired on CBS in 1989). I previously reviewed this film back in 2017 as part of a retrospective on the Alien franchise and did so by watching the original theatrical cut, with both versions of the film being available on its home media releases. In this instance, I decided to check out the Extended Edition for the first time since Cameron has gone on record stating that he prefers this version of the film.)

It's safe to say that things were going quite great for James Cameron after the success that he and his producing partner Gale Anne Hurd had achieved with The Terminator, which led to him netting other notable projects such as, most interestingly in hindsight, the screenplay for 1985’s Rambo: First Blood Part II. Yes, Cameron had a hand in developing the Sylvester Stallone-led action-packed follow-up to 1982’s First Blood; granted, Stallone would then go on to rewrite the script himself, but Cameron still got credited in the end and later went on record stating that his action sequences were the parts of his script that remained in the final film. Ultimately, though, Cameron’s first big endeavor after The Terminator would come when he was brought on to write and direct the highly anticipated sequel to Ridley Scott’s genre-defining 1979 sci-fi horror classic Alien. Unfortunately for Cameron, production didn’t exactly go smoothly for him as he had to deal with the standard filmmaking practices of the production’s U.K.-based crew, such as the daily tea breaks that resulted in lost production time. Cameron’s infamously aggressive nature and tendency to oversee aspects of the production himself also irked many crewmembers (to the point where the film’s original cinematographer Dick Bush was replaced because of creative differences over lighting), who felt that he wasn’t qualified enough to direct a film of this nature. It didn’t help that The Terminator hadn’t been released in the U.K. at that time and any attempts by Cameron to have his crew watch it were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Hurd, in what was only her second film as a lead producer after Terminator, was viewed as being there simply because she was Cameron’s wife (at the time) rather than the stalwart producer that she’d become known for thanks to films like this and the long-running Walking Dead TV series.

But thankfully for all involved, Aliens proved to be just as much of a hit as its immediate predecessor upon its release. It earned over $130 million at the worldwide box office and was regarded by many as being just as good as the original Alien if not arguably better. As he would later go on to do with Terminator 2, Cameron injects a more action-oriented tone into Aliens’ plot, in which Lt. Ellen Ripley, the sole survivor of the Nostromo massacre, is brought in with a crew of Colonial Marines to deal with an alien outbreak on LV-426, the planet that she and her old crew had visited that set the plot of the previous film into motion which is now the site of a terraforming colony. However, unlike Terminator 2, which almost entirely abandoned the original’s horror beats in favor of its sci-fi action, Aliens does manage to maintain its franchise’s prolific status in the horror genre in all the right places. Even with the change in location from a lone spaceship to a derelict space colony, Cameron still gets to work with the Alien franchise’s trademark penchant for dark, foreboding, and horrifyingly cramped locales albeit with the added benefit of having its protagonists being forced to deal with more aliens this time around rather than just one. But, of course, as we’ve well established by now, Aliens is ultimately one of the first major showcases of Cameron’s talents as an action director, which is then bolstered by some strong visual effects work to bring its alien creatures to life. Sure, Aliens may not have had the benefit of the involvement of H.R. Giger, AKA the creator of the titular Alien, but with Cameron’s Terminator effects guru Stan Winston onboard to take his place… well, let’s just say that it’s easy to see why this resulted in Winston winning his first Oscar for Best Visual Effects at that year’s Oscars just like Giger and his team did for the original Alien back in 1979.

But amidst all the exciting sci-fi horror action, Aliens also boasts a strong emotional core thanks to, of course, Sigourney Weaver in the lead role of Ripley. This is, after all, the film where Weaver made history by being the first-ever lead star of a science-fiction film to earn a Best Actress nomination at that year’s Oscars. Not only does Weaver naturally evolve the character from being the first film’s final girl to the franchise’s badass action heroine, but she also imbues Ripley with a wonderfully powerful motherly persona thanks to the touching bond that she forms with Newt (Carrie Henn), the sole survivor of the LV-426 colony. This development is even more relevant when watching the extended cut, which includes a scene where Ripley tragically learns that her daughter Amanda died in-between the events of the first two films; a scene that Weaver was particularly incensed about being removed from the theatrical cut. They’re then joined by a terrific supporting cast that includes, among others, plenty of Cameron regulars such as Michael Biehn as Hicks, the most level-headed of the Colonial Marines with a good onscreen rapport with Weaver, Lance Henriksen as Bishop, a far more good-natured android than Ian Holm’s Ash was in the first film, and Bill Paxton as Hudson, a cocky Colonial Marine who’s the primary source of comic relief, especially once he realizes how out of his depth he is once the situation on LV-426 goes awry. With all this in mind, it’s easy to see why Aliens is not only regarded as one of the best sequels of all time but also one of the best films to come out of both the science fiction and horror film genres. Under James Cameron’s deft direction, the film effectively balances its franchise’s superb horror aesthetic with Cameron’s masterfully crafted action set-pieces, all while being bolstered by a top-notch cast of well-written characters who bring life to a world full of terrifying acid-blooded aliens. And as a result, the film more than holds its own alongside the Ridley Scott-directed masterpiece that came before it as one of the best installments of one of cinema’s most well-known and long-running horror franchises.

Rating: 5/5!

THE ABYSS (1989)

While science fiction may be the genre that James Cameron is best known for as a director, he has also been well known for his deep connection to the ocean, particularly by way of his extensive experience in the art of deep-sea diving. Not only has he participated in several significant (and sometimes record-breaking) dives over the years, but the vast and untamed world of the ocean depths has played a huge role in some of his films, including Titanic and Avatar: The Way of Water. But when it comes to the first real ocean-set film of his career (that is, if you don’t count Pirahna II, which I’m sure Cameron would prefer), that honor goes to his 1989 film The Abyss. Based on a story concept that Cameron had come up with when he was in high school after attending a seminar on deep-sea breathing techniques, the film follows the crew of a submersible oil drilling platform as they’re recruited by the U.S. Navy to assist a team of SEALs in the process of salvaging a nuclear submarine that has sunk in the Caribbean. Finding themselves in a race against time to recover the sub before Russian forces can get to it and instigate an international incident that could potentially kickstart World War III, they soon discover a mysterious yet fascinating sight of extraterrestrial origin. Production, to be perfectly blunt, was not a smooth one when it came to this film. Given the extensively complicated nature of creating the film’s underwater sequences, it goes without saying that the cast and crew found themselves pushed to the limit during a shoot that lasted around half a year. Lead actor Ed Harris reportedly punched Cameron after one scene nearly resulted in him drowning and lead actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio stormed off set while filming the sequence where her character drowns and is brought back to life after numerous takes wasted the production’s film stock.

In some ways, you could say that the negative publicity of the film’s production troubles (which were even referenced in its original theatrical trailer) might have ended up affecting its commercial performance as well; while it did make its $43 million+ budget back, it only made about $90 million worldwide, resulting in it being seen as the rare commercial dud of Cameron’s career. Critically, though, the film proved to be yet another success for him and became his second straight film to win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. However, upon its release, it was soon made clear that the theatrical cut was, technically, an incomplete version of what Cameron set out to make. Due to a combination of a lack of time to finish specific visual effects and pressure from the studio to not have a runtime of nearly three hours (which is an incredibly ironic notion nowadays (especially given the length of future James Cameron films)), Cameron cut out a pivotal sequence from the film’s finale in which a bunch of giant waves are unleashed upon the world. But then, a few years later after Cameron scored his biggest hit yet with Terminator 2, his studio, Lightstorm Entertainment, secured a lucrative deal with The Abyss’ distributor, 20^th Century Fox, which, along with the funds for any future films of Cameron’s, included enough money to complete the climactic wave sequence. And so, in 1993, The Abyss’ ‘Special Edition’ was officially released which, along with the wave sequence, also included some other sequences that were taken out of the theatrical cut such as a few notable bits of character development and sequences that emphasized the part of the plot where the events of the film are tied around the threat of nuclear war, which was downplayed in the theatrical cut.

But whatever version of the film you end up watching, you’ll ultimately find yourself with a highly engrossing sci-fi thriller. Even with the Special Edition’s near three-hour runtime, there’s never a dull moment in this film as it does an excellent job of creating a suspenseful mystery plot, especially when it comes to how it expertly builds up the slow but gradual reveal of the alien creatures that the characters come across. Add in a great use of the narrowly confined setting of the oil crew’s underwater rig, which spends much of the film stuck thousands of feet underwater due to extensive hurricane damage, and you have a film that successfully crafts a real harrowing atmosphere amidst all its moments of pure spectacle. And on that note, as you undoubtedly guessed from earlier when I mentioned that this film won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, it goes without saying that the biggest selling point of this film is its visual effects thanks in large part to the one and only ILM. Whether it’s the well-crafted underwater sequences or the various CGI effects that, for the most part, have aged relatively well, this film’s visual game still holds up immensely well even after three and a half decades. Casting-wise, Cameron doesn’t rely on a cast of big-name stars, but this allows for this film’s ensemble to have some phenomenal on-screen camaraderie. Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio headline the film excellently as team leader Virgil ‘Bud’ Brigman and his estranged wife Lindsay while Michael Biehn gets to play against type for his third major role in a James Cameron film as Lt. Coffey, the leader of the SEAL team who starts to go insane as his ulterior motives begin to threaten the whole operation.

The Abyss is the only film of James Cameron’s post-1984 career that I’d never seen at the time that I started to write this, namely due to a reason that will be blatantly obvious to anyone familiar with this film and its post-theatrical release life. For the longest time, this and another James Cameron film, True Lies, went several years without any sort of home media release after they were released on DVD. Thus, when those DVDs of theirs eventually went out of print, the only legally viable way to watch either of these films was whenever they randomly popped up on premium cable networks. In the case of The Abyss, I did attempt to watch it a few times over the years, but I’ll fully admit that I never ended up getting too far into it whenever I recorded it; by comparison, True Lies tended to pop up a lot more often and, thus, was the one that I got around to watching first. Thankfully, though, this year finally saw both films get their first proper home media release in decades, which is fitting seeing how this happens to be an anniversary year for them both (The Abyss’ 35^th and True Lies’ 30^th). And in the case of the former, this will hopefully result in newer audiences finally getting a chance to experience what is easily shaping up to be James Cameron’s most underrated film to date as this highly engrossing and visually spectacular deep ocean adventure is yet another showcase of his unparalleled technical mastery.

Rating: 5/5!

TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991)

As successful as the original Terminator was, the idea of a potential follow-up wasn’t an immediate guarantee at the time due to Cameron’s commitment to other projects and, perhaps more importantly, the significant creative conflicts that he had with the studio that largely financed the film, Hemdale. Said conflict ultimately came to a head when studio chairman John Daly attempted to cut out the final section of the film where Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese are being chased by the Terminator’s robotic endoskeleton and he and Cameron nearly got into a physical fight over it as a result. To make matters worse for Cameron, he had been forced to relinquish half of his rights on the project to Hemdale just to get it made and had then sold half of what he had left to Gale Anne Hurd when the two divorced in 1989. But, by the following year, she and Cameron, along with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Stan Winston, sued Hemdale over unpaid profits, which was just one of the many lawsuits that the studio was tied up in at the time that would eventually lead to them filing for bankruptcy and officially shutting down in 1995. During this time, Schwarzenegger came up with a solution to his and Cameron’s problem by suggesting that the rights be picked up by another studio, Carolco Pictures, who he had just worked with on the 1990 Paul Verhoeven feature Total Recall. Carolco promptly did just that with an expensive $17 million deal… which then meant that Cameron had to be fully locked in for a sequel that he only had a few months to develop. He ultimately did so along with his longtime friend and collaborator William Wisher, his credited co-writer, and the result is a film that is not only considered to be just as great as its highly acclaimed predecessor but, in the eyes of many, was arguably even better by comparison: Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Set 11 years after the events of the previous film, Judgment Day sees the Connor family once again targeted by the sentient A.I. program of the post-apocalyptic future, Skynet. But instead of having a Terminator sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor before she can give birth to her son John, this time Skynet sends a more advanced model, the shape-shifting liquid metal-based T-1000, to kill the now 10-year-old John. Fortunately for him, his future self once again sends a lone warrior back in time to protect him; it’s just that, this time, it just so happens to be a reprogrammed T-800 AKA the same kind of Terminator that went after his mom a decade prior. As I’ve repeatedly alluded to throughout today’s post, Terminator 2 took a much different kind of narrative approach compared to the original. Whereas the first Terminator was a low-budget sci-fi flick that crafted a noir-style atmosphere to go along with its horror-inspired premise… Terminator 2 boasted the largest budget of any film ever made at the time (which, by the way, was a record that James Cameron would then proceed to break twice more over the decade) and, thus, is a grand-scaled action extravaganza. Simply put, this film’s action sequences are second-to-none and they’re bolstered by, as to be expected from a James Cameron film, top-notch visual effects work. This time around, Cameron combined the two powerhouse forces that won his last two films the Best Visual Effects Oscars; Stan Winston with the robot prosthetics and animatronics and Dennis Muren and company over at ILM for the CGI effects such as the groundbreaking visual effects work to bring the T-1000’s shape-shifting abilities to life. With an all-star team like that, it’s not surprising to see that Terminator 2 became the third straight film of James Cameron’s career to nab the Best Visual Effects Oscar at that year’s ceremony.

But as great as both the film’s visual effects and action sequences are, this is then matched by a top-notch script as Cameron and Wisher do a fantastic job at crafting a natural follow-up to the first film full of phenomenal character beats that define the main protagonists’ character arcs. Linda Hamilton returns once again as Sarah Connor who, while far more battle-ready than she was in the previous film, is also now heavily traumatized by what she went through and for being cursed with the haunting knowledge of the dark future ahead; one can only imagine how this is then all complicated even further when she learns that she’s working alongside the same kind of unstoppable killing machine that once tried to kill her. But as for the Terminator, the first film’s main antagonist becomes this film’s greatest hero as an emotionless cyborg gradually gains a greater appreciation for humanity through his interactions with John Connor, for whom he becomes a surrogate father figure to. John makes his first appearance in the franchise here, played by Edward Furlong, who starts out as a cynical troublemaker but is soon forced to grow up faster than anticipated once he’s put through the same harrowing scenario his mother went through by being pursued by an even scarier antagonist in Robert Patrick’s cold and ruthless T-1000. Heck, even supporting players get some solid character moments like Joe Morton as Miles Dyson, an engineer at Cyberdyne who’s revealed to be the one who will be the primary catalyst behind the creation of Skynet but, once he learns what will happen, nobly steps up to the point of sacrificing himself to ensure that the group’s efforts to stop Judgment Day are successful.

In short, while I’m usually not one to be overly critical of blockbuster-type films for not being the most well-written or ‘smartest’ films ever made, I will concede that Terminator 2: Judgment Day is easily one of the best examples of a blockbuster that, above all else, ensures that its story and character beats are just as well-developed as its visuals and action sequences. Thus, just like what Cameron managed to accomplish with Aliens, Terminator 2 more than holds its own when compared to the first film… and is why many have argued that this is where the series ultimately peaked in terms of quality. Terminator 2 was the last film in the series to be directed by Cameron himself (not counting the 1996 Universal theme parks spin-off Terminator 2 3-D: Battle Across Time), and while the series would continue without him, it’s never managed to achieve the same level of success that it had with Judgment Day. The reasons why have largely varied from film to film, whether it was 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines’ efforts to undo the optimistic ending of the previous film so that it could continue the story, 2009’s Terminator Salvation toning its action down to achieve a more marketable PG-13 rating, or… basically any major creative decision made on 2015’s Terminator: Genisys. Cameron did finally return to the series in 2019 by writing/producing Terminator: Dark Fate, but even that film couldn’t revitalize the franchise regardless of its efforts to return to its narrative roots. But regardless of where you stand on the Terminator franchise (case in point, yours truly has gone on record in the past admitting that he has liked some of the later Terminator films), it’s practically impossible to deny that Terminator 2: Judgment Day still stands as being nothing short of a masterpiece.

Rating: 5/5!

TRUE LIES (1994)

With a second masterpiece from the Terminator franchise under their belts, James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger would team up once more (literally, in fact, because this is the most recent film that they’ve made together) on a project that would end up being considerably different than the films that made them both household names. Sure, it’s still the kind of big-budget action extravaganza (the first to have a budget of at least $100 million (though it should be noted that Terminator 2’s budget has sometimes been reported as having been over that threshold as well)) that we’ve come to expect from this dynamic filmmaking duo… but I bet that no one would’ve expected them to do, of all things, a remake of a French action comedy. Yes, 1994’s True Lies is one of the rare instances of a Cameron film that wasn’t based on an original story of his; instead, it’s a remake of a 1991 French film named La Totale!. Like that film’s plot, True Lies follows a man named Harry Tasker (Schwarzenegger) who’s an elite secret agent for a highly classified counterterrorist agency known as Omega Sector. It’s a profession that he’s kept secret for many years from his wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) and their daughter Dana (Eliza Dushku), who believe him to be nothing more than a boring computer salesman. However, in his efforts to track down a terrorist group known as the Crimson Jihad, Harry soon finds himself having to balance his work life with his personal life when Helen [somewhat inadvertently] gets caught up in his daily proceedings. Upon its release, the film was both a solid critical and commercial success, ultimately earning over $378 million worldwide. And while, as I noted earlier when talking about The Abyss, both that film and True Lies spent several years without a proper home media release, True Lies did tend to be the more widely seen of the two because it popped up far more often on premium movie channels like HBO, Showtime, and Starz.

As a result, while it may be one of the lower-rated films of James Cameron’s career amongst critics, True Lies does seem to be well-regarded by many as another great addition to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s extensive resume of classic action flicks. Sure enough, True Lies delivers on being just that and then some when it comes to its action sequences. Cameron’s mastery of the visual medium is arguably the finest that it’s ever been up to that point with plenty of great action set-pieces that effectively mix practical stunt work with some solid visual effects work by his then-newly established visual effects studio Digital Domain, which didn’t keep Cameron’s Visual Effects Oscar win streak going that year (they lost to Forrest Gump) but still got nominated, nevertheless. But as we’ve noted, True Lies is also a comedic action thriller and Cameron handles the comedic aspects of the script quite well, undoubtedly helped by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s well-established action star persona as an unparalleled gold mine for great comedic quips. This also extends nicely to how Cameron unabashedly ups the ante when it comes to how utterly over the top this film’s action sequences can get. In other words, this all starts out relatively tame enough with an espionage sequence that feels like it was ripped straight out of a James Bond film… and then concludes with a scene where Harry Tasker pilots a Harrier Jet and kills the main antagonist by getting him caught on a missile that he then proceeds to fire at an enemy helicopter, all while delivering a classic Arnold one-liner, “You’re fired!”. On paper, that all sounds like one of the most insane things that I’ve ever typed… but thanks to Cameron’s strong direction, you’re fully hooked by this film’s gleefully chaotic nature.

But while True Lies more than succeeds with its action sequences and its sense of humor, there are, admittedly, a few parts of it that have aged considerably. For starters, being that this is a 90’s film, it goes without saying that its portrayal of its Middle Eastern villains now comes off as incredibly stereotypical to the point of being quite arguably culturally offensive. It may also help to explain why the 9/11 attacks have largely been cited as the reason why Cameron and Schwarzenegger never got around to making a sequel. But perhaps the most talked about ‘dated’ aspect of this film is that many have argued that it sports something that you wouldn’t normally see in a James Cameron film; a noticeable misogynistic streak. This mainly comes into play by way of the film’s primary subplot in which Harry starts to suspect that Helen is having an affair with a sleazy car salesman named Simon (Bill Paxton). His subsequent efforts to investigate this to the point of using his agency’s own resources to ‘capture’ her and forcefully coerce her into partaking in a staged ‘secret mission’ have been criticized by many as being excessively cruel. And to be fair, it doesn’t help that this whole sequence ends up overtaking the plot for nearly an hour to the point where main antagonist Aziz (Art Malik) and the Crimson Jihad are absent from the film for the entirety of that stretch of runtime. But if there’s any sort of silver lining to this, it’s that Jamie Lee Curtis, despite everything that Helen is put through in the film, does own her role. And as much as the film’s humor with Helen revolves around how utterly out of her element she is in the world of espionage, it is nice that, by the end, she becomes a spy just like her husband. In other words, while it may be Arnold’s name at the top of the marquee, this film quite arguably belongs to Jamie Lee Curtis, who deservedly won a Golden Globe that year.

In general, the film sports the usual strong ensemble for a James Cameron film. Arnold is, of course, the same great Arnold that he always was at the time, Bill Paxton is, as usual, a prime source of comic relief as the scummy con-man Simon; heck, even Tom Arnold, the notoriously polarizing comedian that he is, is an excellent foil to Schwarzenegger as Harry’s field partner Gib. And because of all this, True Lies still stands as a highly entertaining piece of cinematic bombast. Does that mean that it’s as much of a masterpiece as James Cameron’s other films? No, not really since its outdated global and gender politics does make it one of the prime examples of a film that you just can’t make today in the current landscape of the film industry. But without ignoring the more problematic aspects of its plot, there’s still a lot to love about this film, such as how it unapologetically presents some of the most delightfully ludicrous action sequences that have ever come out of a film from this era. Case in point, I’ve often seen a bunch of people refer to True Lies as the film that served as the peak for the kind of over-the-top action films that thoroughly defined the careers of stars like Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, and, of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger. And simply put, it’s easy to see where they’re coming from when it comes to how one could potentially describe this film. You take arguably the most popular action star of the '80s and 90’s and pair him up with one of the best action directors in the industry to make the kind of film that the former is best known for (rather than the latter’s usual sci-fi-oriented fare) and you have a film that can best be described as ‘peak Schwarzenegger’.

Rating: 5/5!

This concludes today’s installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Directorial Retrospective series on the films directed by James Cameron. As I noted in the intro, I decided to split this retrospective up into multiple parts simply because I figured that it’d be more appropriate to give his last three films their own full-length reviews given how significant they are within the pop cultural zeitgeist. With that in mind, the next time we return to talk about James Cameron films, we’ll be looking at the film that made him ‘the king of the world’, 1997’s Titanic. So, until then… well, I’ll let Arnold say it for me 😉…

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) review

The Terminator franchise has gone through quite a fascinating run over the years that has mainly been defined by its repeated yet ultimately unsuccessful attempts at kick-starting a full-fledged franchise. It all began, of course, with the original Terminator from 1984. This low-budget, noir-inspired sci-fi thriller went on to become a landmark entry in the sci-fi genre and effectively launched the legendary career of its director, James Cameron. Cameron would then return to the world of Terminator 7 years later with Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Judgment Day was a far bigger sequel in every sense of the word, and upon its release, it too became a critical and commercial success to the point where it’s often regarded as not only one of the finest films of its genre but also quite arguably a superior sequel to what was already a sci-fi masterpiece. However, this is where things start to get… complicated, since the ending of Terminator 2 was very much a conclusion to the story of the Connor family and their efforts to stop a self-aware artificial intelligence system from starting a nuclear war. And yet, a third Terminator film, Rise of the Machines, ended up getting made in 2003 without any involvement from James Cameron that straight-up retconned its predecessor’s ending. Despite this, however, the film managed to be a decent enough hit with both critics and audiences and ended up spawning its own sequel, Terminator Salvation, in 2009. However, in contrast to its immediate predecessor, Salvation was both a critical and commercial disappointment, most likely due in large part to the controversial decision to opt for a lighter PG-13 rating. To make matters worse, the film’s main production company, The Halcyon Company, ended up filing for bankruptcy two years later, effectively nixing any plans for a follow-up within the context of this current continuity.

Thus, the series ended up getting a major reboot in 2015 with Terminator Genisys. While the film would ignore the events of Terminator 3 and Salvation so that it’d be more in line with Cameron’s films, it would also make the bold move of setting up its own continuity by establishing an alternate timeline a la the 2009 reboot of Star Trek. But just like Salvation’s decision to be a PG-13 rated film, this alternate timeline plot did not go over well with fans of the franchise. This, along with other highly criticized aspects of the production that range from the second trailer’s reveal of its biggest plot twist to the widespread mockery of the ‘unique’ spelling of the Genisys subtitle, ultimately led to the film being yet another disappointment for both critics and audiences. And while the film wasn’t necessarily a commercial underperformer like Salvation (at least in terms of worldwide box-office since it didn’t do so well here in the U.S.), it was once again decided to cancel any follow-ups that would maintain its continuity. Thus, this brings us to what is now the third major attempt at continuing the franchise after Terminator 2, Terminator: Dark Fate. Like Genisys attempted to do before it, Dark Fate, directed by Tim Miller as his first directorial effort after the first Deadpool back in 2016, ignores the events of the most recent films in the franchise to be a clear-cut sequel to Terminator 2. And yet, perhaps this film’s biggest coup was securing the involvement of not only James Cameron as a writer/producer but also Linda Hamilton as the series’ iconic female lead, Sarah Connor. As a result, this does help the film succeed in several ways that the previous films didn’t despite being one of the most egregious examples in recent memory of ‘been there, done that’.

It was in 1995 that Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and her son John managed to destroy all evidence of the artificial intelligence system known as Skynet to prevent it from wiping out over 3 billion lives via a nuclear holocaust on August 29th, 1997, a date that would’ve become known as ‘Judgment Day’. And yet, even after all these years, that hasn’t stopped Sarah from continuing her efforts to hunt down any of the machines known as Terminators that arrive from the future to eliminate those who stand in their way. Sure enough, in 2020, a young factory worker from Mexico City named Daniella ‘Dani’ Ramos (Natalia Reyes) finds herself being hunted by Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna), an advanced Terminator model who can separate itself into two autonomous units. At the same time, Grace (Mackenzie Davis), a cybernetically-enhanced soldier, is sent back in time from the year 2042 to protect her, with Sarah soon joining the fight as well. It is through Grace that Sarah and Dani learn that, despite the former’s successful destruction of Skynet, a new A.I. system known as Legion ended up taking its place as the catalyst for nuclear Armageddon. And just like how Skynet sent numerous Terminators back in time to kill their greatest enemy, John Connor, Dani is now Legion’s primary target due to her playing a pivotal role in the rise of the future human resistance. Thus, Sarah, Grace, Dani, and eventually an aging T-800 unit that goes by the name ‘Carl’ (Arnold Schwarzenegger) band together to combat what is easily the most dangerous adversary that any of them have ever faced before.

A lot has been said about why the last three Terminator films haven’t been as well-received as the first two, and it could be argued that this was primarily due to some of their ‘questionable’ ways of trying to continue the story. This includes everything from Terminator 3’s implication that the events of Terminator 2 only delayed the inevitable incident that was Judgment Day to Genisys’ decision to flat-out ignore the events of the first two Terminator films in favor of its new alternate timeline that turned John Connor into an antagonist. Dark Fate manages to avoid this, for the most part (aside from maybe one key moment at the very beginning that radically changes the franchise’s dynamic), by maintaining a ‘back to basics’ approach with its narrative. However, there is one notable downside to this since Dark Fate ends up having quite a lot in common with its predecessors when it comes to the plot. Granted, I’m usually not one to ding a film for being ‘derivative’ since I know that it’s hard to be ‘truly original’ nowadays, but Dark Fate literally has the exact same plot as most of the other films in this series save for Salvation and Genisys. A Terminator is sent back in time to kill a target who becomes a major threat to them in the future while another being (usually someone who’s either partially or fully cybernetic) is sent back as well to protect the target. At the very least, director Tim Miller always keeps things moving thanks to the film’s rapid pace even if that doesn’t allow for a lot of moments to take a breather… that and the finale ends up feeling a bit too overlong.  

Right from the moment that the film’s first promo image was released, it was made perfectly clear that Terminator: Dark Fate was primarily going to revolve around its trio of female leads, and sure enough, they’re arguably the best part of the film. Obviously, it all begins with Linda Hamilton’s heralded return to the franchise as Sarah Connor for the first time since Terminator 2 (or Terminator 2 3-D: Battle Across Time if you want to be specific). Prior to this, the character was unceremoniously killed off-screen in Terminator 3, reduced to a voice cameo in Salvation, and was recast twice, with Emilia Clarke taking on the role in Genisys and Lena Headey playing the character in the short-lived TV series The Sarah Connor Chronicles. But now the original Sarah Connor is back in triumphant fashion as Hamilton seamlessly slips back into the role with ease, once again finding that perfect mix of sardonic snark and devastating emotional pathos that defined her iconic turn in the role in Judgment Day. Meanwhile, Mackenzie Davis and Natalia Reyes are both excellent as well in what could best be described as this film’s ‘Kyle Reese’ and ‘Terminator 1 era Sarah Connor’, respectively. Davis’ Grace immediately establishes herself as a formidable action heroine while Reyes shines in what will surely be her breakout role thanks to her wonderful handling of Dani’s character arc where she transitions from an unassuming ‘nobody’ to a far more confident leader. But, of course, you can’t have a Terminator film without Arnold Schwarzenegger, and while he technically doesn’t show up until the second half of the film, Dark Fate does give him one of the most interesting characters he’s ever played in this series as we learn that this T-800 unit has a ‘very specific’ bit of history with Sarah. Finally, to close out the main cast, Agents of SHIELD breakout star Gabriel Luna also does an excellent job as the new main antagonist Rev-9. Like Grace and Dani before him, Rev-9 is admittedly best described as ‘this film’s T-1000’ given the many similarities that he shares with Robert Patrick’s iconic antagonist from Judgment Day. Still, Luna’s take on the character perfectly syncs up with the characterization that Patrick went with as the completely unassuming cybernetic being who could impeccably transition into his real identity as a stone-cold killer in the blink of an eye.

I’ll openly admit that I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Dark Fate going into it and that had a lot to do with my overall experience with the Terminator franchise. Obviously, I love the first two films just as much as everyone else, but at the same time, I’m not afraid to admit that I do like some of the sequels. I think that Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines isn’t as bad as it’s often put out to be, and as long-time visitors of this site may recall, I was one of the rare people who gave a genuinely positive review of Terminator Genisys back in 2015. Heck, it even managed to make my Top 10 that year. As such, there was legitimately a part of me that hoped that they would try to do a follow-up to Genisys but perhaps manage to secure the involvement of James Cameron (since he did go on record stating that he did like the film) so that it could be a lot better. Obviously, though, that didn’t end up being the case, and instead, Cameron and Tim Miller decided to truly take the series back to its roots, for better or worse. In other words, Terminator: Dark Fate does indeed feel like the legitimate follow-up to Terminator 2: Judgment Day in terms of both its story and action beats. However, with that said, the film is somewhat hindered by the fact that it arguably tries a bit too hard to be like Cameron’s Terminator films to the point where it straight-up rehashes their plots practically beat-for-beat. And yet, despite how much it stringently adheres to the franchise’s long-running formula, the triumphant return of Linda Hamilton in the role of Sarah Connor is ultimately enough to make Dark Fate one of the better entries of this series. Let’s just hope that if any of these supposed sequels that Cameron has been teasing end up getting made, they try to do something a little different next time.

Rating: 4/5

Terminator: Genisys (2015) Review

What started out as a $6.4 million sci-fi film directed by a then unknown James Cameron has gone on to become one of the most iconic film franchises in pop culture history; the ‘Terminator’ franchise. With 1984’s ‘The Terminator’ and its even greater follow-up, 1991’s ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’, James Cameron gave us two of the most beloved sci-fi films of all-time. The second film in particular ended on a perfect note, tying up all loose ends so that there wouldn’t be any need to continue the franchise… but of course, as we all know, that wasn’t the end of the ‘Terminator’ franchise. Hollywood decided that they could continue the franchise despite the fact that ‘Terminator 2’ made it pretty hard for there to be any way to move on from its ending. But Hollywood found a way, resulting in 2003’s ‘Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines’ and 2009’s ‘Terminator Salvation’, neither of which achieved the same critical/commercial acclaim as the first two films. And now the franchise is back again with ‘Terminator: Genisys’… and yes, the subtitle is intentionally spelled that way. Like its immediate two predecessors, this film has been getting slammed by critics… but as for me, this is one of those cases where I seriously disagree with the general critical reception. Now let me be clear; this is by no means the best film in the series. But that doesn’t mean that it’s the ‘disaster’ that most of the internet believed it was going to be. Instead, ‘Terminator: Genisys’ ends up being a pretty darn entertaining summer popcorn flick that respects the lineage of Cameron’s films while going down a bold new route which will shape the franchise for years to come.

In the year 2029, the human resistance, led by John Connor (Jason Clarke), is at war with the self-aware A.I system known as Skynet, which wiped out most of humanity on what become known as Judgment Day; August 29, 1997 (note: the ‘original’ Judgment Day date and not the pushed-back July 25, 2004 date as was portrayed in ‘Terminator 3’ and ‘Salvation’). During an all-out ‘final offensive’ on Skynet, Connor and his soldiers learn of a plot by Skynet to send one of their humanoid robots, known as ‘Terminators’, back in time to the year 1984 to kill John’s mother Sarah, thereby erasing John from existence. John’s right-hand man, Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney), volunteers to go back in time to protect Sarah. But once he arrives in the year 1984, he is surprised to find that things are much more different than he expected. Most notably, Sarah (Emilia Clarke) is not the scared and vulnerable woman that he thought she was going to be based on what he was told about her by John in the future. Instead, Sarah is a trained warrior who, ever since she was a child, has been looked after by a reprogrammed T-800 Model 101 Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who was sent back in time to protect her. Now in a new timeline, Sarah, Kyle, and the Terminator travel into the future, 2017, in which Judgment Day has not yet happened, in an attempt to prevent Skynet (which in this timeline is under the guise of an advanced global operating system called ‘Genisys’ (hence the title of the film)), from taking over.

‘Terminator: Genisys’ basically pulls a ‘2009 Star Trek’ by resetting the original franchise timeline resulting in a brand new alternate timeline. And just like with ‘Star Trek’, I’m perfectly fine with this new idea as I think that it’ll be interesting to see where the franchise goes now without being tied down by the original timeline canon, like whether or not Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese will get together as they did in the original timeline, which of course resulted in the birth of John Connor. As for the film itself, ‘Genisys’ is, to put it quite simply, a very entertaining sci-fi action flick with a solid balance of humor and action. The action sequences, especially the fight between the old T-800 and the young T-800 in a sequence mirroring the original opening of ‘The Terminator’, and the visuals are both superb and just like what Colin Trevorrow did with ‘Jurassic World’, director Alan Taylor does an excellent job when it comes to respecting the two ‘Terminator’ films by James Cameron (in other words, this film basically ignores the events of ‘Rise of the Machines’ and ‘Salvation’ which, given the general reception of those two films, is for the best) through the film’s various callbacks. Now in terms of plot, yes it does get quite a bit overcomplicated at times, especially when it comes to the development of the new alternate universe that the characters now find themselves in. But as we all know, that’s something that just happens whenever you do a story based around time-travel.

For the first time since ‘Terminator 3’, Arnold Schwarzenegger returns to the role that basically made him the action icon that he is known as today; the T-800. And quite frankly, his return couldn’t be more welcome as even at the age of 67, he still manages to kick major ass. Equally kicking major ass in this film is Emilia Clarke, who confidently steps into the role of Sarah Connor, who once again stands out as one of the best female action heroines of all-time. As for Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese, while I can’t say that he’s the absolute best to have ever been in the role, he does a pretty good job here, mainly due to his strong camaraderie with both Clarke and Schwarzenegger once the three of them get together. Now normally I try to keep my main reviews spoiler-free but as many of you know, the second trailer for this film already revealed one of the main plot-points of the film so I guess it’s not that big of a deal in this scenario. And this particular plot-line is the reveal that John Connor has been turned into a Terminator by Skynet. And as controversial and a bit of a stretch as it may be, I’m totally fine with it, which may primarily be because I’m glad to see that Jason Clarke, who is easily one of the most underrated actors currently working today, in a much more substantial role than I thought he was going to have based solely on the first trailer. And to top it all off, there’s also a few noteworthy supporting turns, primarily J.K. Simmons as a police detective who ends up crossing paths with the main group in both 1984 and 2017 (note: the character is not played by Simmons in 1984) and Matt Smith as a character that, unlike the previously noted John Connor reveal, I won’t spoil the identity of here but suffice it to say will definitely be playing a major role in future installments.

Contrary to the 27% and 39% ratings that the film currently has on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, respectively, I surprisingly really enjoyed ‘Terminator: Genisys’. It may be because I went into the film not knowing what to expect, especially given the polarizing reaction that the film had been getting from the internet in the months leading up to its release. But ultimately ‘Terminator: Genisys’ is by no means as bad as the internet is putting it out to be. Sure, the plot gets a little messy sometimes in regards to the establishing of the franchise’s new ‘alternate universe’. But it more than makes up for it with its great balance of action and humor, a solid group of leads, and for respectfully paying tribute to the first two films in the series while also managing to be different from those two films. Is it the best installment of the ‘Terminator’ franchise? Definitely not, but what do you expect when the first two films were such hard acts to follow? Ultimately though, ‘Genisys’ is easily the best ‘Terminator’ film since ‘Terminator 2’ and as controversial as it may be, I’m definitely interested to see where this franchise goes next now that it has gone the route of the ‘Star Trek’ franchise and can now go in new story directions without having to adhere to the original canon. But given the general reaction to ‘Genisys’ at the moment, hopefully the filmmakers do get that chance.

Rating: 4.5/5

2015 Preview: July

We’re now halfway through both the Summer Movie Season and 2015 as a whole, which has already given us some incredibly entertaining films, including ‘Jurassic World’, which now holds the record for the biggest opening weekend of all-time both domestically and worldwide and is the third film of the year to join the billion dollar club. While we probably won’t get another film this summer that will match those numbers, there’s still quite a lot to look forward to, especially when it comes to this July. Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s year-long preview of the films that are set to come out in 2015. This is Part 7 of 12 and today we’ll be looking at the lineup of films that are hitting theaters in July. Quite a lot to talk about this month so let’s get started…

JULY 1- The month actually starts out early on Wednesday the 1^st with the return of a classic 80’s film franchise and the sequel to one of 2012’s big summer hits.

*Director Alan Taylor (‘Thor: The Dark World’) continues the ‘Terminator’ franchise with ‘Terminator: Genisys’ (And yes that spelling is intentional). Basically the film re-tells the original story of the first ‘Terminator’ film but from a new perspective. In a future where humanity is at war with machines, the human resistance, led by John Connor (Jason Clarke), uncover a plot by Skynet to send a Terminator back in time to kill John’s mother Sarah (Emilia Clarke). One of Connor’s soldiers, Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney), volunteers to go back in time to save her but when he travels back in time to the year 1984, he finds that things are now different and that Sarah is now trained in combat by another Terminator (played by series star Arnold Schwarzenegger), who has been protecting her since she was a child. The film also stars J.K. Simmons and Matt Smith.

*The sequel to Steven Soderbergh’s hit Summer 2012 film ‘Magic Mike’, which was based around the experiences of star Channing Tatum’s time as a stripper when he was younger, ‘Magic Mike XXL’, directed by the first film’s first assistant director Gregory Jacobs, once again sees Tatum in the role of veteran stripper “Magic” Mike Lane. In this film, Mike and his fellow strippers travel to Myrtle Beach for ‘one last show’. Also reprising their roles alongside Tatum are Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Adam Rodriguez, among others. Newcomers to the cast include Elizabeth Banks, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Donald Glover.

JULY 10- While this week will no doubt be dominated by an animated spin-off, there will also be a horror film and a sci-fi film hitting theaters this weekend as well.

*A spin-off of the hit animated films ‘Despicable Me’ and ‘Despicable Me 2’, ‘Minions’ is a prequel centering on the group of yellow henchmen known as ‘Minions’ before they met their ‘leader’ Gru. Primarily focusing on a trio of Minions named Bob, Kevin, and Stuart, the film follows the three Minions as they try and find a new master. The film’s voice cast includes Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, and Michael Keaton.

*The latest Blumhouse production, ‘The Gallows’ follows a group of students who attempt to resurrect an old play that hadn’t been done in 20 years ever since the last run-through ended up in the death of a student. But this then results in some other students attempting to stop the production.

*Ben Kingsley and Ryan Reynolds star in director Tarsem Singh’s latest film, ‘Self/less’. Kingsley plays a wealthy aristocrat who, on the verge of dying, undergoes an operation that transfers his soul into the body of a younger man (Reynolds). But while promised that the body is an ‘empty’ vessel, he soon learns that his new body did have a life before, which leads him into uncovering a conspiracy.  

JULY 17- On one side we have the latest from Marvel Studios while on the other we have a Judd Apatow comedy.

*Despite some early production issues stemming from the departure of original director Edgar Wright, Marvel Studios brings us the next installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ‘Ant Man’, now under the direction of Peyton Reed. Paul Rudd stars as Scott Lang, a criminal who gets a ‘second chance’ when he is approached by his mentor Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to help steal back valuable technology from his company with the help of special technology of his own that allows the user to shrink in size but also gain strength. The film’s cast also includes Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, and Michael Pena.

*Comedian Amy Schumer teams up with director Judd Apatow for ‘Trainwreck’. Schumer, who also wrote the film, stars as a career-driven woman who finds herself unable to commit to a relationship having been ‘taught’ that ‘monogamy isn’t realistic’ by her father. However, that all changes when she meets a doctor (Bill Hader) while on an assignment for her job. The film also stars, among others, Tilda Swinton, Brie Larson, Vanessa Bayer, and LeBron James.

JULY 24­­- Probably the biggest week of the month, this week will see the release of a film from the writer of ‘Fault in Our Stars’, a video-game inspired action comedy, and a Jake Gyllenhaal starring boxing drama.

*Based on the 2008 novel of the same name by John Green (‘The Fault in Our Stars’), ‘Paper Towns’ centers on a high-school student named Quentin (Nat Wolff) who heads out on a journey with his friends when his ‘girl next door’ Margo (Cara Delevingne) goes missing.

*Directed by Chris Columbus (first two ‘Home Alone’ and ‘Harry Potter’ films), ‘Pixels’, based off of a 2010 short film of the same name, revolves around an alien invasion of Earth in which the aliens use famous video-game characters (e.g. Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, etc.) to attack Earth. Adam Sandler, Josh Gad, and Peter Dinklage star as a group of former video game champions who are enlisted by the President (Kevin James) to defeat the aliens. The film also stars Michelle Monaghan, Jane Krakowski, and Brian Cox.

*Jake Gyllenhaal stars in director Antoine Fuqua’s latest film, ‘Southpaw’, written by ‘Sons of Anarchy’ creator Kurt Sutter. Gyllenhaal plays boxer Billy Hope, whose life goes downhill when his wife (Rachael McAdams) is accidentally killed during an altercation with another boxer. When his daughter ends up getting taken away from him, Billy starts a comeback with his new trainer (Forest Whitaker) in an attempt to reunite with his daughter. The film also stars Naomie Harris, 50 Cent, and Tyrese Gibson.

JULY 31- The follow-up to a comedy classic hits theaters early on Wednesday while the fifth film in a highly successful action franchise closes out the month.

*Opening early on Wednesday July 29^th is ‘Vacation’, the fifth installment of the ‘National Lampoon’s Vacation’ series. This time around, the film centers on the now grown-up son of Clark and Ellen Griswold (both Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo reprise their roles in cameo appearances), Rusty (Ed Helms), as he takes his family; his wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and their sons James and Kevin (Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins, respectively), on a trip to Walley World, the same place he went to on vacation with his parents and sister 30 years earlier. The film also stars Leslie Mann as Rusty’s sister Audrey and Chris Hemsworth as her husband.

*Regular Tom Cruise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie (writer on films like ‘Valkyrie’ and ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ and director of ‘Jack Reacher’) takes on the fifth installment of the highly successful ‘Mission Impossible’ franchise with ‘Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation’. Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner, and Simon Pegg all reprise their roles from previous installments as Ethan Hunt, Luther Stickell, William Brandt, and Benji Dunn, respectively, as they take on one last mission; to take down the mysterious organization known as ‘the Syndicate’ while also dealing with the impending disbandment of the IMF. The film also stars Alec Baldwin, Rebecca Ferguson, and Sean Harris.

And those are the films that will be hitting theaters this July. Check back next month for Part 8 as we’ll be closing out summer with the films of August.

Terminator Franchise Retrospective

A new ‘Terminator’ film is on the horizon in the form of ‘Terminator: Genisys’… and yes, that spelling of the subtitle is intentional. And the fact that I had to highlight that should give you an idea of the general apprehension of most film fans in regards to this upcoming film and some of the creative choices that have been made for it. Personally I’m looking forward to the film as I am a fan of the franchise and contrary to public opinion, I don’t think it looks bad at all. I even like the idea of the film going back to the story of the first film but doing a new take on it through the creation of an alternate universe a la the new ‘Star Trek’ films. But at the same time, I do recognize that this definitely is one of those films that could go either way. But there was recently a video released where the series’ original creator James Cameron stated that he enjoyed the film, stating that it is “extremely respectful of the first two movies”. So if James Cameron, the same guy who hasn’t been involved with the franchise for years and was critical of both of the previous two ‘Terminator’ sequels, says that this new film is good, then I think it’ll at least be solid and not the ‘disaster’ that most film fans on the internet are predicting it to be. Perhaps one of the reasons for this unease towards the film is the fact that the ‘Terminator’ franchise is one of those film franchises that has arguably gone on for longer than it needed to be.

It all started back in the early 80’s before James Cameron was known as the director of the two highest-grossing films of all time, ‘Titanic’ and ‘Avatar’. Back then, his only major directing credit was for the 1981 B-movie ‘Piranha II: The Spawning’. Heck, he wasn’t even the original director of the film… and he was even fired by the producer just a few weeks into the shoot. But if there was anything good that came out of working on that film for Cameron, it is that during the film’s release, he had a nightmare about being chased by a metallic endoskeleton. This led him to develop the story of ‘The Terminator’, which was released in 1984. Produced for just $6.4 million, the film went on to become one of the most iconic sci-fi films of all time, followed by an equally successful and beloved sequel in 1991. The sequel ended up tying up all loose ends, resulting in what would’ve been a proper ending to the series… that is, until Hollywood decided to bring the franchise back, which it did in 2003 by retconning the ending of the second film so that the franchise could continue, hence why we are here today with the newest film set to come out in a few days. So today, in honor of the upcoming release, it’s time to look back upon the last four ‘Terminator’ films, the two from Cameron and the two that were produced without his input.

THE TERMINATOR (1984)

While all three of its sequels are firmly rooted in the sci-fi action genre, the first ‘Terminator’ actually goes down a different route. After all, as noted earlier, part of Cameron’s inspiration for the film basically came from a nightmare he had so as a result, the original ‘Terminator’ film is sort of a sci-fi horror film with its premise of a young woman named Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) being chased by an unstoppable human-looking cyborg known as the Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) with only Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), a soldier from the future, to protect her so that she can give birth to the future leader of the resistance, John Connor. This terrifying premise is executed perfectly not only in the writing but also through the film’s noir-like style with its darker-lit environments. All in all, this is one low-budget sci-fi film that uses its low-budget status to great effect. Arnold Schwarzenegger is perfectly cast in what would become the most iconic role of his career and both Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn do excellent jobs as well. All in all, what James Cameron has since referred to as his ‘first film’ (not ‘Piranha II’) still stands as one of the absolute best films of the sci-fi genre, and it did it all with a minimal budget.

Rating: 5/5!

TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY (1991)

It’s rare when you have a sequel that’s not only as good as the original film, but is arguably the better film. Don’t get me wrong… the first ‘Terminator’ is still a fantastic film, no doubt about that. But at the end of the day, I do prefer the second film, which is much more action-based compared to the horror-like premise of the first film. ‘Judgement Day’ is basically the first film but with a budget that allows Cameron to go all out with the action sequences and effects. As such, the film’s action sequences are excellent and the visuals are quite impressive for the time as the film ended up being one of the pioneers of the use of CGI alongside films like ‘Jurassic Park’. But what really makes ‘Terminator 2’ stand out more so than its action and visuals is Cameron’s exceptional writing which adds plenty of layers to both the story and the characters. Cameron perfectly captures the paranoia of the impending doomsday, Judgement Day, through the eyes of the main characters; Sarah in how much she has changed since her first encounter with a Terminator and her drive to stop Judgement Day from happening, John in coming to terms with his destiny while facing the same situation his mother endured before (except in this case Robert Patrick’s T-1000 is arguably an even more intimidating antagonist than Arnold’s T-800 due to his more ‘unsuspecting’ nature), and so on. But amidst all of that, the film still manages to find moments of levity, namely through the father-son relationship between John and the T-800 that was programmed to protect him. And that is ultimately why ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’ is not only one of the best sequels of all time, but quite frankly also one of the best films of all time as it perfectly balances its action with its storytelling to produce a true cinematic masterpiece.

Rating: 5/5!

TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES (2003)

‘Terminator 2’ ended on a pretty conclusive note. The Connors, with the help of the T-800, destroyed all traces of Skynet so that Judgement Day could be prevented. There was absolutely no way that the series could continue on after that, right? Well, Hollywood found a way, hence why in 2003, without any involvement whatsoever from James Cameron, ‘Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines’ was released. It pulled a major retcon by establishing that the Connors’ efforts in ‘Terminator 2’ only postponed the inevitable doomsday. So with that in mind, you can probably tell that this film is obviously not as well-liked by fans as much as the first two films. But you know what? I actually think this film isn’t that bad; in fact, I’d say it’s quite underrated. Now again, let me be clear. This is easily one of the most unnecessary sequels of all-time. There was no need to continue this franchise after ‘Terminator 2’ because that film tied up pretty much every major loose end and this film instead goes against that by saying that no, that didn’t stop Judgement Day from happening… that and the film does not feature Sarah Connor, killing her off instead prior to the events of the film. This film also re-hashes the same plotline of the previous film (and technically speaking the first as well minus the fact that Kyle Reese was not a Terminator) of a Terminator being sent back in time to kill John Connor and a Guardian Terminator sent back as well to protect him.

But despite all of that, the film itself is still a pretty darn solid sci-fi action flick. The action sequences are still really solid, especially the highway chase where the Terminator crashes through buildings hanging onto a big hook. The humor is emphasized a bit more in this entry than the previous film but I didn’t mind that too much. Yes, I thought the scenes where the Terminator puts on silly glasses and tells a convenience store clerk to ‘talk to the hand’ were actually pretty funny moments. Of course, the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger to his iconic role of the Terminator is very much welcome. I’d also argue that Nick Stahl has been the best John Connor out of all of the actors who have been in the role so far. Sure he spends most of the film looking/acting depressed as hell but I think that actually works well with the character at this point in his life, forced to stay off the grid and haunted by the destiny that awaits him after Judgement Day. So at the end of the day, I actually really liked ‘Terminator 3’. Did it need to be made? No. In being made, did it go against the excellent ending of ‘Terminator 2’ with a shameless retcon that was the only way the series could even continue? Yes. But is it a ‘bad’ film? No, not at all. It is by no means the best entry of the series but it is still pretty darn entertaining and by no means as ‘terrible’ as some on the internet may put it out to be.

Rating: 4/5

TERMINATOR SALVATION (2009)

On a positive note, ‘Terminator Salvation’ is the first entry in the series that actually takes place during the future and does not rehash the same ‘Terminator hunting the Connors’ plotline of the first three films. But the downside? It’s easily the weakest of the first four ‘Terminator’ films. Ultimately this is one of those cases of ‘style over substance’. Director McG, to his credit, does a solid job with the action sequences even under that pesky PG-13 rating that drew red flags amongst hardcore fans even though it’s really not that big of a deal. But the writing on the other hand… is pretty darn weak. The overall story is fairly dull and despite being a ‘Terminator’ film, John Connor actually isn’t even the main character of the film. And while Christian Bale may be one of the best actors working today, the most memorable thing about his turn here in ‘Terminator’ was his infamous rant at cinematographer Shane Hurlbut and that’s about it. Instead, the main character of the film is Marcus Wright, a death row inmate who discovers that he has been turned into a ‘Terminator’. It may just be because Christian Bale’s turn as John Connor didn’t turn out so good, but Sam Worthington is actually one of the bright spots of the film as what is ultimately the more interesting character. Another major standout of the cast is Anton Yelchin as young Kyle Reese, as Yelchin does a great job in capturing the mannerisms of the character as portrayed by Michael Biehn in the original film. ‘Terminator Salvation’ is by no means a ‘terrible’ film but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily ‘great’ either. McG tried his best but lacked the good writing of the first two films. Ultimately though, ‘Terminator Salvation’ is a decent popcorn flick.

Rating: 2.5/5