Home Cinema Choice – September 2019

HOME CINEMA CHOICE SEPTEMBER 2019

The commercial and critical success of Aliens
(it was nominated for seven Academy Awards and
walked away with two – Best Sound Editing and
Best Visual Eff ects) gave Cameron the clout he
needed to be able to pick and choose his next
project. Hitting cinemas in 1989 and dealing with
somewhat more benevolent aliens, The Abyss told
the story of a group of rig workers encountering
something otherworldly under water while assisting
with a military rescue operation.
An extremely entertaining slice of sci-fi with a side
order of disaster movie, The Abyss secured its place
in fi lm history when the director approached
Industrial Light & Magic about using CG technology
to create a tentacle made out of water, and capable
of mimicking human faces. The 75-second sequence
required the brain power of six FX houses and took
six months to complete. The result was another
Oscar, astonished audiences, and Cameron
cementing his rep as a technological innovator.
His next project continued the trend. With
Schwarzenegger’s robot now cast as the goodie,
Terminator 2: Judgment Day’s villain is a more
advanced robotic killer, one made of a ‘mimetic
poly-alloy’ that allows it to change its shape
into anything it touches (including people and
tiled fl oors). The required digital eff ects were
once again groundbreaking, and remain one
of the most memorable aspects of the
movie, despite only accounting for around
fi ve minutes of the fi lm’s two-hour-plus
running time.
True Lies (another Schwarzenegger
teamup) followed in 1994, fi nding Cameron
moving away from sci-fi into action/comedy
territory, but still not dialling down on the
spectacle. By now he was the master of
big-budget cinema, turning a $115m
production into around $380m at the
global box offi ce. Two years later he
returned to the Terminator-verse to
make T2-3D: Battle Across Time for
the Universal Studios theme park.

A mini-sequel to his 1991 blockbuster, this 12-minute

attraction featured live-action performers interacting

with a 3D fi lm. It may not have been a ‘real’ movie,

but it clearly planted a seed in Cameron’s mind.

That sinking feeling

A lengthy and unsuccessful attempt to get a

Spider-Man movie into development in the mid-'90s

(which fell apart due to a tangled web of rights

issues between producer Menahem Golam, Carolco

Pictures, Viacom, Columbia and Twentieth Century

Fox) did at least clear the decks for Cameron to

realise a passion project – a portrayal of the 1912

sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic.

Released in 1997, Titanic became the highest-

grossing fi lm of all time. But before it hit multiplexes

it made waves for very diff erent reasons. Spiralling

costs (eventually hitting a record-breaking $200m)

and stories about production problems, plus

Cameron’s fi ery temper ('There were times I was

really frightened of him,' star Kate Winslet would

later admit to The Times), had critics sharpening

their knives and studio bosses nervous. Yet the

imagined fl op never happened. Titanic swam

rather than sunk.

Over three hours long, combining CG and

practical eff ects with gallons of water,

painstaking set design and thousands of

extras, the fi lm is a towering achievement.

And it's easy to think that Cameron

felt he couldn't top it. Outside of

producing the short-lived sci-fi TV

series Dark Angel and Steven

Soderbergh’s 2002 bigscreen remake

of Solaris, he stepped away from

fi ction fi lmmaking, parlaying his

interest in the Titanic into deep sea

exploration, making submersible

dives to the wreck and other sites.

And he continued developing

a fascination with stereoscopic

fi lmmaking, producing and directing

the 3D IMAX documentaries

Terminator

2: Judgment

Day

While T2 has

enjoyed several

releases, none of

them are truly

defi nitive. Worst of the bunch is

the most recent, with the 2017

Blu-ray and 4K platters both

making use of the same waxy-

looking, DNR’d master deployed

for the 3D version.

Titanic

Take your pick

from the regular

two-disc Blu-ray

or the four-disc

3D Collector’s

Edition. Either

way you get a stunning

presentation of the fi lm backed

up by an exhaustive selection

of bonus features.

Avatar

For the full

experience you’ll

want to pick

up both the

three-disc

Extended

Collector’s Edition (housing the

original theatrical cut, the longer

Special Edition re-release and the

even longer Collector’s Extended

Cut) and the standalone

3D Blu-ray outing.

Cameron

on Blu-ray

More robots, icebergs and

a 3D showcase

1994's True Lies mixes comedy, action

and a nuclear explosion

Fox TV's 2000-2002 series Dark Angel

cast Jessica Alba as a genetically

enhanced soldier. It was set in 2019...

28 JAMES CAMERON