James Cameron - All His Films Ranked

Short Biography:

James Cameron is a Canadian filmmaker and environmentalist. He is known for making science fiction and epic films, and first gained recognition for writing and directing The Terminator (1984). Cameron found further success with Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and the action comedy True Lies (1994). He also wrote and directed Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009), with Titanic earning him Academy Awards in Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing. Avatar, filmed in 3D technology, earned him nominations in the same categories.

Here is a rundown of his movies, with the score based on the average from IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes (public votes only) and Letterboxd, from lowest ranked to highest:

Number of Qualifying Films:

Career Average Rating:

7.62

Total Career Box Office:

$ 6.248 B

Total Combined Budgets:

$ 748 M

Total Career Profit or [Loss]:

$ 5.5 B

Average Career Return on Every $1 Spent:

$ 6.10

8 – Piranha Part Two: The Spawning (1981)

IMDb:

3.7

RT Users:

1.1

Letterboxd:

4.08

2.96

Horror

Top Billed Cast:

Tricia O’Neil, Steve Marachuk, Lance Henriksen, Ricky Paull Goldin

SYNOPSIS:

A scuba diving instructor, her biochemist boyfriend, and her police chief ex-husband try to link a series of bizarre deaths to a mutant strain of piranha fish whose lair is a sunken freighter ship off a Caribbean island resort.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 600,000

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 145,786

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ 454,214

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ 4.12

7 – True Lies (1994)

IMDb:

7.3

RT Users:

7.6

Letterboxd:

7.04

7.31

Action, Crime, Thriller

Top Billed Cast:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton

SYNOPSIS:

A fearless, globe-trotting, terrorist-battling secret agent has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife might be having an affair with a used car salesman while terrorists smuggle nuclear war heads into the United States.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 378,882,411

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 115,000,000

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ 263,882,411

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ 3.29

6 – Titanic (1997)

IMDb:

7.9

RT Users:

6.9

Letterboxd:

7.56

7.45

Drama, Romance

Top Billed Cast:

Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Bill Paxton

SYNOPSIS:

101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic’s departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 2,201,647,264

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 200,000,000

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ 2,001,647,264

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ 11.01

5 – Avatar (2009)

IMDb:

7.8

RT Users:

8.2

Letterboxd:

6.76

7.59

Action, Adventure, Science Fiction

Top Billed Cast:

Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez

SYNOPSIS:

In the 22nd century, a paraplegic Marine is dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission, but becomes torn between following orders and protecting an alien civilization.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 2,847,397,339

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 237,000,000

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ 2,610,397,339

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ 12.01

4 – The Abyss (1989)

IMDb:

7.5

RT Users:

8.3

Letterboxd:

7.18

7.66

Action, Adventure, Thriller, Science Fiction

Top Billed Cast:

Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn, Leo Burmester, Todd Graff

SYNOPSIS:

A civilian oil rig crew is recruited to conduct a search and rescue effort when a nuclear submarine mysteriously sinks. One diver soon finds himself on a spectacular odyssey 25,000 feet below the ocean’s surface where he confronts a mysterious force that has the power to change the world or destroy it.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 90,000,098

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 69,500,000

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ 20,500,098

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ 1.29

3 – The Terminator (1984)

IMDb:

8.1

RT Users:

8.9

Letterboxd:

7.74

8.25

Action, Thriller, Science Fiction

Top Billed Cast:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton, Lance Henriksen

SYNOPSIS:

In the post-apocalyptic future, reigning tyrannical supercomputers teleport a cyborg assassin known as the “Terminator” back to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, whose unborn son is destined to lead insurgents against 21st century mechanical hegemony. Meanwhile, the human-resistance movement dispatches a lone warrior to safeguard Sarah. Can he stop the virtually indestructible killing machine?

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 78,371,200

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 6,400,000

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ 71,971,200

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ 12.25

2 – Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

IMDb:

8.6

RT Users:

9.5

Letterboxd:

7.50

8.53

Action, Thriller, Science Fiction

Top Billed Cast:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick

SYNOPSIS:

Nearly 10 years have passed since Sarah Connor was targeted for termination by a cyborg from the future. Now her son, John, the future leader of the resistance, is the target for a newer, more deadly terminator. Once again, the resistance has managed to send a protector back to attempt to save John and his mother Sarah.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 520,881,154

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 102,000,000

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ 418,881,154

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ 5.11

1 – Aliens (1986)

IMDb:

8.4

RT Users:

9.4

Letterboxd:

8.26

8.69

Action, Thriller, Science Fiction

Top Billed Cast:

Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, Paul Reiser

SYNOPSIS:

When Ripley’s lifepod is found by a salvage crew over 50 years later, she finds that terra-formers are on the very planet they found the alien species. When the company sends a family of colonists out to investigate her story—all contact is lost with the planet and colonists. They enlist Ripley and the colonial marines to return and search for answers.

WORLDWIDE BOX OFFICE GROSS:

$ 131,060,248

PRODUCTION BUDGET:

$ 18,500,000

PROFIT OR (LOSS):

$ 112,560,248

RETURN ON EVERY $1 SPENT:

$ 7.08