James Cameron Criticizes Early Dystopian Sci-Fi Films For Looking Nihilistic: “The whole thing was depressing”
James Cameron is one of the prominent filmmakers present in the post-New-Hollywood era who uses novel technologies with classical filmmaking style for his movies. He is known for movies including The Terminator series, Titanic, Avatar, and many more.
Cameron in addition to being an ace filmmaker is also a National Geographic sea tourist and has contributed to various documentaries on the subject. His successful movies have made him one of the highest-grossing film directors of all time. The filmmaker was recently in the spotlight for his comments on early dystopian movies. Let’s find out what he had to say.
James Cameron calls early dystopian sci-fi movies ‘de-saturated’
Filmmaker James Cameron in his recent interview with GQ dwelled upon how his Avatar movies are different from his other work. Referencing The Terminator, Cameron said,
“The Terminator films were warnings, which is what science fiction is good at. But I feel like with the Avatar films, we want to emphasize on what’s great about us. The Na’vi are that which we used to be, or that which we can maybe still be. The colors pop in the Avatar films. They feel rich.”
Upon comparing the movies, Cameron continued,
“There’s a period of time where movies, especially dystopian science fiction films, were desaturated. They were dark. They were like all blue or all cyan, and the whole thing was depressing. And we went exactly the opposite with Avatar, and obviously the second movie as well, to remind people that there is beauty in the world and there can be beauty in cinema no matter how dark the story gets.”
What caught the public’s eye is how Cameron decided to call out the filmmakers of early science fiction movies without naming either of them. Fans were quick to name a couple of movies including 2009’s Watchmen, 1995’s 12 Monkeys or 2017’s Blade Runner 2049, 2006’s Children of Men, 1995’s Strange Days, etc., that they thought was on the radar of Cameron when he made the comment.
Fans pointed out that perhaps James Cameron forgot to understand that when someone hears dystopia, they instantly think about darkness and depressing realities. The attempt to depict this reality is what the filmmaker described as being ‘de-saturated.’ However, it’s very difficult to say which era of dystopian movies Cameron was talking about.
Also read: Kate Winslet’s Titanic Role Was Ripped to Shreds by One French Director Who Called Her ‘Unwatchable’
James Cameron talks about Avatar 3
In his interview with People, the filmmaker revealed that the upcoming third part of Avatar is going to focus on character development, rather than just the visual effects. He explained,
“The big creative advance in the movie is just going to be a greater character depth. We’re seeing new cultures, new creatures, all the same stuff you’d expect from an Avatar but the whole idea of this cycle of films is to live with these people and go on this epic journey with them.”
Cameron continued,
“We’re going to show you the best water VFX ever done, but you get more into the heart and soul of the characters. And there are some very interesting new characters that come in as well. This is a journey over time. It will play out through movie three, into four and five. There’s an epic cycle to the whole thing.”
The filmmaker confirmed that actress Kate Winslet will be back as Ronal and revealed that she went to school with a real-life shaman to improve her portrayal of the role. He added that actual practice had gone behind the actress performing the purification ritual in the movie, as well as some of the other things she will end up doing in the upcoming movie.
Avatar 3 is scheduled for Christmas 2025 release.
