Ship Happens (Titanic)
Seemingly against all odds, 1997′s Titanic wasn’t the unmitigated disaster that many movie buffs had predicted. It was certainly a box office smash; the $200 million film (which was costlier to make than the ship itself) has grossed close to $2 billion, making it the top draw of all time (adjusted for inflation). Cameron shows a surprisingly deft touch throughout, choosing to focus on the characters’ relationships instead of just conjuring massive set pieces. Still, the epic scenes depicting the ship’s sinking are probably the most memorable ones. While the actors may not have relished Cameron’s exacting demands for realism — Kate Winslet developed pneumonia while filming the water scenes — the viewer is gripped throughout, and the movie’s record-tying 11 Oscars justified Cameron’s triumphant call of, “I’m king of the world!”
Next: The Queen is Dead (Aliens)
The Queen is Dead (Aliens)
Many critics and fans argue Aliens is actually superior to Ridley Scott’s original. The use of strong leading ladies is a recurring theme in Cameron’s career (in Linda Hamilton, he even married one of them), and Sigourney Weaver epitomizes the trend, somehow making Ellen Ripley more fearsome than she was the first time around. In the movie’s terrific final part, when Ripley fights the alien queen to the bitter end, it’s difficult to figure out who’s scarier.
Next: T2 3-D: Battle Against Time
