When it comes to film directing, only a few names stand out like James Cameron. Since he made his directorial debut in 1978 with the short film Xenogenesis, Cameron has achieved record-breaking success. With over 45 years as a director, Cameron shows no signs of slowing down, with projects like the upcoming sequels, Avatar 3, 4, & 5 keeping him occupied for the next five years.
With only nine released feature films to his credit, Cameron has churned out Box Office hits back to back. However, regardless of box office earnings, the movies have received varying ratings from critics and audiences. Judging by the ratings on the Tomatometer, here is how every James Cameron movie is ranked by Rotten Tomatoes.
9. Piranha II: The Spawning – 5%
Piranha II: The Spawning (1982) was James Cameron’s feature film directorial debut and is rated 5% on the Tomatometer. The 92 minutes horror film centers around genetically engineered piranhas, with mind-blowing flying capabilities, attacking a group of resort islanders. It is the sequel to the 1978 Piranha movie. It starred Tricia O’Neil, Lance Henriksen, and Steve Marachuk.
After firing the previous director, Miller Drake, executive producer Ovidio G. Assonitis hired James Cameron to work on the project. The movie received numerous negative reviews from critics. Little wonder Cameron refused to acknowledge it as his feature film directorial debut. However, after almost three decades, Cameron admitted to Morley Safer in a 2010 interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes show that the 1982 movie was “the best flying piranha film ever made.”
8. True Lies – 70%
True Lies (1994) is James Cameron’s seventh feature film, ranking 70% on the Tomatometer. Cameron wrote, co-produced, and directed the movie. True Lies became the first Hollywood movie to have its production budget cross the #100 million mark. The movie starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, and Bill Paxto.
The movie follows the life of a US government agent, Harry Tasker, who keeps his identity hidden from his family, pretending to be a business software salesman. Tasker inadvertently gets his family involved in a secret government operation and fights to protect his family and the United States from a nuclear attack. True Lies received nominations and wins from several major awards and grossed $378.9 million at the Box Office.
7. Avatar: The Way of Water – 76%
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) is James Cameron’s most recently released movie, ranking 76% on the Tomatometer. The Way of Water is the direct sequel to Cameron’s 2009 Avatar. Cameron broke his record for budgets with the movie’s production budget put between $350–460 million. As with most of Cameron’s movies, The Way of Water was a commercial success, earning over $2.3 billion at the Box Office. The movie continues with the life of Jake Sully and his wife, Neytiri. With two biological and two adopted kids, Sully must protect his family from the vengeful recombinant Colonel Miles Quaritch in Avatar form, even if it means abandoning their clan.
6. Avatar – 82%
Weeks after its release, James Cameron broke his record, as well as the world record, for the highest-grossing movie with Avatar (2009). It also became the first movie to cross the $2 billion gross mark, with total earnings of $2.923 billion. The movie is ranked higher than its sequel on the Tomatometer, with a score of 82%.
Along with its sequel, Cameron is also credited as Avatar‘s writer, co-producer, and editor. The movie stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, and Sigourney Weaver. It follows the human attempted colonization of Planet Pandora for its unobtanium, with its indigenous people, the Na’vi fighting for survival.
5. Titanic – 88%
Titanic (1997), one of Hollywood’s all-time greatest movies, helped solidify James Cameron’s director status as one of the greatest. Titanic is ranked 88% on the Tomatometer and has Cameron credited as its director, writer, producer, and editor. After its production, Titanic was the most expensive movie ever made, with a budget of $200 million.
It also became the first movie to cross the $1 billion mark and the highest-grossing movie until Cameron’s 2009 Avatar. The movie’s story incorporates both fictionalized and historical events surrounding the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The movie starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as its lead actors.
4. The Abyss – 88%
James Cameron wrote and directed the 1989 science fiction movie The Abyss. The movie was Cameron’s fifth feature film as a director. The movie’s plot begins after the sinking of an American submarine. Racing against salvaging Russians and a hurricane, a SEAL team is sent to recover what’s left of the submarines. The team encounters “Non-terrestrial Intelligence” and an alien city deep in the abyss. With a $43–47 million budget, the film did moderately at the Box Office, grossing $90 million.
3. Terminator 2: Judgment Day – 92%
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) was directed, written, and produced by James Cameron. Judgment Day is the second installment in the Terminator franchise and a direct sequel to The Terminator (1984). With the first film’s events ensuring the birth of Sarah Connor’s child, the future Resistance sends back a reprogrammed, less-advanced Terminator to protect her son, John Connor. With Connor being the future leader of the Resistance, the future Skynet sends a Terminator to 1995 to Kill him. Unlike with the first film, the production budget for Judgment Day was raised exponentially to $94–102 million. The movie was a commercial success grossing $519–520.9 million.
2. Aliens – 98%
The 1986 Aliens is another James Cameron’s science fiction movie and ranked 98% on the Tomatometer. The movie is a sequel to the 1979 Alien movie. With Cameron’s success with the low-budget The Terminator two years earlier in 1984, he became the number choice to write and direct this sequel. Cameron’s $18.5 million budget for the movie grossed $131.1–183.3 million at the Box Office.
1. The Terminator – 100%
Earning 100% on Rotten Tomatoes is no easy feat. Yet, one of James Cameron’s earliest movies, The Terminator, is ranked 100% on the Tomatometer. As far as Cameron was concerned, 1984 The Terminator was his chance to redeem himself from the “failure” that was the 1982 Piranha II: The Spawning. Undoubtedly, The Terminator was a huge success, grossing $78.3 million on a production budget of $6.4 million. It was the first of several movies James Cameron would work with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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