Highly revered and critically renowned filmmaker James Cameron is one of the most recognized and successful directors of all time, with his visionary approach heralded in cinema. His directing roots span back to 1982, and he has been a dominant and undeniable force on the silver screen ever since. Cameron is famous for his innovative movie-making, and though notoriously known for being difficult to work with, he delivers tenfold on each and every project.

Cameron’s movies have grossed $8 billion worldwide, with three of his films each earning more than $2 billion worldwide; Avatar and Titanic are the highest and fourth highest-grossing movies of all time, with his latest project Avatar: The Way of Water already claiming the coveted third slot. He has received numerous accolades and achievements, including Academy, Golden Globe, and Saturn Awards. SlashFilm perfectly summed up the mastermind director, stating, “Known for his larger-than-life creations and unique filmmaking style, director James Cameron is in a league all of his own.”

With such a decorated resume, it’s impossible to deny the genius that is James Cameron. After a 13-year absence from filmmaking, the director returned with a vengeance with the latest Avatar installment, with three more sequels on the way. These are James Cameron's films, ranked from worst to best.

Update October 2, 2023: This article has been updated following the release of Avatar: The Way of Water to feature all of James Cameron's films.

11 Piranha II: The Spawning (1982)

A film even director James Cameron would prefer to forget, 1982’s independent horror flick Piranha II: The Spawning didn’t make much of a splash upon its release. The film follows a scuba diving instructor who teams up with her biochemist boyfriend and police chief ex to solve a series of freakish deaths that they fear are the doing of mutant piranhas. Over the years there have been conflicting accounts as to how much creative input Cameron actually had over the picture; he co-directed it with Ovidio G. Assonitis, who exerted an unusual amount of control.

Despite initially claiming 1984’s The Terminator as his first movie, the director finally acknowledged Piranha II: The Spawning as his debut, proclaiming it as “the best flying piranha film ever made.” It’s hard to blame his lack of keenness to do so, seeing as it was a box office bomb and holds just a 6% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

10 Aliens of the Deep (2005)

The 2005 documentary film Aliens of the Deep follows James Cameron as he teams up with NASA scientists to explore the Mid-Ocean Ridge, a submerged chain of mountains in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans that house some of the planet’s most unique forms of life. Cameron partnered up with friend and fellow cameraman Steven Quale for the self-referentially titled project, and the pair shot the stunning film in the IMAX 3-D format.

The filmmakers traveled with the crew of a Russian research vessel, showcasing the wondrous and strange sea creatures lurking in the fissures of the Earth’s surface. The breathtaking images they were able to capture along with a fascinating commentary from scientists make Aliens of the Deep a visually remarkable voyage for viewers to go on.

9 Ghosts of the Abyss (2003)

James Cameron returned to his Titanic roots with the 2003 documentary Ghosts of the Abyss, which chronicles the Oscar-winning filmmaker as he and a group of scientists all travel to the final resting place of the infamous ship. Along for the ride is Titanic star Bill Paxton, who portrayed Brock Lovett in the 1997 blockbuster hit. The actor beautifully narrates the documentary, which uses extraordinary technology to take audiences on a tour of the famous wreckage.

Viewers are transported through time with never-before-photographed images and, with the aid of CGI, can witness the ship’s original appearance superimposed on the photos. The awe-inspiring footage serves as a moving memorial to the lost souls of the ship, and is a good expression of Cameron's passionate interest in science and oceanography.

8 The Abyss (1989)

Cameron’s 1989 science fiction film The Abyss follows a civilian diving team who are enlisted to work with an oil platform crew to search for a lost nuclear submarine. The recovery team are in a race against time as Soviet vessels are also attempting to locate the boat, and they encounter something truly dangerous and unexpected in the process. Starring Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, The Abyss was released to positive reviews and was a relative success, earning $90 million.

The movie was nominated for four Academy Awards and won the award for Best Visual Effects, which has become a theme with Cameron's cinema-- five of his technology-obsessed films have won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. On Cameron’s visually stunning picture, critic Jame Berardinelli wrote, “James Cameron’s The Abyss may be the most extreme example of an available movie that demonstrates how the vision of a director, once fully realized on screen, can transform a good motion picture into a great one.”

7 True Lies (1994)

James Cameron’s 1994 action-comedy True Lies finds the director once again joining forces with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who plays U.S. government agent Harry Tasker as he struggles to balance his double life as a spy and family man. Co-starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Tom Arnold, the movie was (fittingly for Cameron) the first to cost over $100 million to make but proved to be a worthy gamble, earning $378 million worldwide.

True Lies garnered praise for its production, directing, and performances, with Curtis winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, while Cameron earned the Saturn Award for Best Director. It was, like more Cameron films, also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. The witty action flick featured a much lighter tone than the director’s past projects, and helped shine a light on Schwarzenegger’s comedic chops while showcasing Cameron’s directorial range.

6 Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

Cameron made a triumphant and highly-anticipated return to the big screen when he directed the record-shattering 2022 epic sci-fi blockbuster Avatar: The Way of Water, the buzzed-about sequel to the 2009 smash hit that is set 16 years after the events in the original and centers on Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) as they attempt to raise a family and keep their children safe amid an emerging new human threat, while fighting to protect their beloved home of Pandora.

The director and his innovative team had to once again create a new technology in order to produce The Way of Water, developing a way to film performance capturing scenes underwater and becoming the first to do so. Despite experiencing major setbacks and delays, the visually stunning picture finally made its spectacular premiere and went on to become the highest-grossing film of the year and third of all time, winning the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects after receiving a whopping ten nominations. Three more entries in the groundbreaking franchise are currently in production, with the third film set to hit theaters in 2025.

5 The Terminator (1984)

The film which helped to solidify his status as a leading man, The Terminator featured Arnold Schwarzenegger in the1984 sci-fi action classic which introduced the world to the iconic cyborg assassin. The blockbuster follows a cyborg disguised as a human soldier (Schwarzenegger), sent from the year 2029 to kill Sarah Connor. Her unborn son will one day be the key to saving mankind from extinction and will lead the fight against a powerful future artificial intelligence system which understands the threat and utilizes time travel to mitigate it.

Cameron co-wrote and directed the film, which includes the talent of Cameron's future wife, Linda Hamilton, as the famous Sarah Connor. The Terminator is credited with launching Cameron’s film career and was the recipient of numerous accolades upon its release. The action flick currently holds a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating and in 2008 was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry. The success of The Terminator led to hit sequels, a television show, video games, and countless literature.

4 Avatar (2009)

2009’s epic sci-fi phenomenon Avatar was a groundbreaking hit that introduced revolutionary visual effects, including new motion capture filming techniques. The James Cameron masterpiece first began development back in 1994, but due to the necessary technology not yet available the project was shelved. Avatar tells the tale of a paraplegic marine who is sent to the moon Pandora on a colonizing mission, but later finds himself questioning his loyalties when he becomes captivated by the new world and its inhabitants.

Upon its release, the visual spectacle became the highest-grossing film of all time and was nominated for nine Academy Awards. Avatar won three, including Best Visual Effects. Cameron’s uncanny gift of storytelling and world-building is one of the many reasons the movie was such a sensation, culminating in four sequels currently in the works. The release and success of the film remains a landmark moment in cinematic history, and the next decade of long-in-the-works sequels will surely make the 2020s the 'Avatar Decade', as The Way of Water has already grossed over $2.3 billion.

3 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Heavily regarded by film critics as one of the best sequels ever made, 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day is set 11 years after the first movie and centers on the sinister artificial intelligence Skynet, which sends the shape-shifting T-1000 back in time to kill John Connor. Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as the reprogrammed Terminator to protect Connor and the future of humanity. Like most of James Cameron’s impressive work, the film was a visual spectacle and was the first to use natural human motion for a computer-generated character.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day was a critical and commercial hit, earning a whopping $520 million worldwide and winning four Academy Awards. Cameron’s direction was hailed, with The Washington Post proclaiming, “No one in the movies today can match Cameron’s talent for this kind of hyperbolic, big-screen action.” Many critics declared the sequel better than the original.

2 Titanic (1997)

Arguably James Cameron’s most moving and epically stunning film to date, 1997’s romantic disaster film Titanic follows a seventeen-year-old aristocrat as she falls in love with a lower class artist during the ship’s ill-fated maiden voyage. Kate Winslet stars as Rose DeWitt Bukater, who is forced into a marriage of convenience with an older man by her mother in order to maintain their high-class status. She meets the kind and intriguing Jack Dawson, portrayed by the magnetic Leonardo DiCaprio, and despite their differing social statuses and impending but unknown fate, fall head-over-heels in love.

The film skyrocketed the duo to superstardom and achieved significant critical and commercial success; it was the highest-grossing film of all time until Cameron’s own Avatar surpassed it in 2010. It won 11 Academy Awards, the most by a single film, including Best Director and Best Picture. James Cameron masterfully tells an emotionally rich story full of suspense, wonder, and hope which truly endears the couple to audiences, even while breaking their hearts.

1 Aliens (1986)

The 1986 James Cameron sci-fi action flick Aliens is the sequel to Ridley’s Scott’s original and stars Sigourney Weaver as Lieutenant Ellen Ripley. Set in the far away future, Ripley is the sole survivor of an alien attack on her ship and must try to warn as many as she can about the malevolent predators. Despite being relatively inexperienced at the time, Cameron was awarded directing duties based on the success of The Terminator.

He brought in frequent collaborators Bill Paxton and Michael Biehn to co-star, portraying soldiers who must help aid and protect Ripley as they investigate the alien attack. Aliens was a hit with critics and moviegoers, with praise going towards Weaver’s performance, the special effects, some clever humor, and its well-executed action sequences. The sci-fi movie is considered to be one of the greatest films of the 1980s and helped expand the franchise’s overall scope. Its success led to James Cameron’s status as a certified blockbuster director, and launched him toward his record-breaking fate.