His films are definitely block busters. And Visually they are incredibly innovative and groundbreaking. But you disagree about his performances? Look at Dicaprio in Titanic. Did you think he delivered a good performance in that movie? He does much better work with Scorsese. Even other actors who always hold their own Ed Harris is always great and wasn't bad in the Cameron pic, but it always felt like he could have been even better. It's not like he gets crappy performances from all his actors, but he doesn't get the best ones possible from them. It's ok that we disagree, I just wanted to let you know that there was some reasoning behind my claim even if you disagree.
Linda Hamilton, Eddie Furlong, Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn ...don't find anything wrong with their performances in the Terminator films. Same for Aliens with Sigourney, Biehn again, the little girl, Bill Paxton Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth blow me away every time I watch The Abyss...I think their performances, especially at the end, is a huge reason why I love the film. (the political/war message that is hammered over your head, especially in the Director's Cut is definitely not) Tom Arnold and Jamie Lee Curtis played their roles perfectly in True Lies. I thought Kate Winslet and Leo delivered solid performances in Titanic. But I'll concede there were a few moments where their delivery was awkward...and as a whole they were maybe somewhat rigid. So they've done better work, but it was still good. I'm not sure how much you can blame Sam Worthington's performance in Avatar on Cameron. It wasn't bad, but yes it was a little wooden at times. But then has he delivered stellar work in his other films? And Zoe Saldana, I've said it before and I stand firmly in that she was incredible in her role as Neytiri. Stephen Lang was a total bad ass Quaritch, though the character itself was cartoonish. His leads aren't gonna win any awards for their work in his films, but I think Cameron gets what he needs to get out of them. He certainly doesn't neglect that aspect of the film in favor of the effects (like Lucas in the prequels). ---- Also think it's hard to compare a lot of these actors/actresses work in Cameron's films to other work. Titanic is a whole other animal than Shutter Island or Aviator or Gilbert Grape. The Abyss is quite different than a character-driven story like Pollack. Same with Titanic and something like Eternal Sunshine.
One problem with Cameron movies and acting isn't always his directing but that a lot of his dialogue is so hammy.
I liked this movie better when it had Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. Don't ever post film trailers again.
