 Starring: Jessica Alba, Michael Weatherly, Richard Gunn, Valerie Rae Miller, John Savage
Director: Various
Year Of Release: 2000-2002
Plot: In 2009 a group of genetically enhanced children, who’ve been trained to be soldiers by having genes from animals spliced into their DNA, escape from a secret military lab. 11 years later the world has suffered economic collapse and one of these prototypes, Max, is living anonymously in Seattle, trying to avoid detection. She reluctantly gets involved with Logan Cale, better known as Eyes Only, who’s dedicated to tackling the corruption of society. |
In the giant gap between directing Titanic and Avatar, many wondered what had happened to James Cameron. Along with making IMAX underwater documentaries about the bottom of the ocean (Ghosts Of The Abyss and Aliens Of The Deep), one of the other things he did was co-create the sci-fi TV series, Dark Angel. It only lasted two seasons, largely because while it had a dedicated fanbase, like most things associated with Cameron, it was very expensive to make and so it got canned 42 episodes in, with an episode that sort of acted as a finale, but also left a lot of things hanging.
It was also where Jessica Alba got her big break, so while it’s a good sci-fi show, it does have a lot to be blamed for.
However what I wanted to do today was point you towards a book I reckon it’s well worth reading if you’re interested in Cameron and what makes him tick. It’s called The Futurist – The Life And Films Of James Cameron by Rebecca Keegan, which was published at the same time as Avatar was released last December. While it’s a scant 288 pages long, it squeezes in a lot of interesting info. It covers not only the movies Cameron has made, but also those he almost did, such as his fabled attempt to make Spider-man in the mid-90s.
It turns out that while he was putting together his Spider-man with Terminator 2 studio Carolco, he later discovered (after the studio went bankrupt) that Carolco’s claim on the character rights had been tenuous all along, and so even if the company hadn’t gone bust, they’d probably never have been allowed to make the movie anyway. Carolco thought they owned the rights, but in reality they didn’t as a lien had been put against them, due to competing claims to the Spidey movie rights. After the bankruptcy, Cameron tried to take the project to other studios, but partly because of the ever escalating budget and partly because of the rights issues, he couldn’t get it made elsewhere.
It’s also interesting reading about his early career, and the hideous time he had making his first movie, Piranha II: The Spawning. The book doesn’t paint a very good picture of Britain either, describing Cameron’s massive arguments with the UK crew on Aliens, who The Futurist says thought they knew better than the young director, and didn’t share his work ethic because they wanted Union-sanctioned breaks. It turned into a massive stand-off, with everyone having a hideous time and at the end of film Cameron stormed off and vowed never to shoot in Britain again (a promise he’s so far kept).
The Futurist does tend to side with Cameron a lot. Most accounts of the making of his films generally concentrate on what a nightmare he is to work with. The tales of the hideous time the crew had on The Abyss are legendary, and the majority of write-ups tend to make Cameron look like a frothing, volatile taskmaster, who cares more about getting the shot he wants than the safety and happiness of his crew. However while The Futurist may be a bit too gentle on him at times, it is an interesting counterpoint to most looks at the Titanic director, as by taking the his side it gives a good insight into his absolute passion and drive, which has made him one of the most successful directors in history, but also given him a reputation as a difficult man to work for.
While at some point during the Movie-A-Day series I may try my own take on the life and time of James Francis Cameron, for the time being I’d more than recommend getting hold of a copy of The Futurist, which covers everything up to and including the making of his most recent mega-hit, Avatar.
CLICK HERE for more info on the book at Amazon.co.uk.
TIM ISAAC
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