Titanic director James Cameron has sharply criticised OceanGate Expeditions' designers of the submersible that crashed while trying to reach its wreck. According to Cameron and other deep submergence engineers in his community, OceanGate Expeditions needed to be certified before using such experimental vessels in deep submergence operations.
Cameron alleges Stockton Rush refused to listen. Furthermore, Cameron objects to the use of carbon-fiber composites not certified for underwater pressures.
Xenogenesis (1978)
Before James Cameron began creating films with multimillion-dollar budgets, his early filmmaking efforts consisted of a low-budget sci-fi flick called "Xenogenesis." Starring William Wisher as an astronaut searching for new worlds before being stopped by hostile aliens, this flick included narration and illustrations to convey how passengers must have felt when their ship collided with an iceberg and became lost at sea.
Of all of the Titanic films ever made, this mid-20th century British production stands out as perhaps the most truthful. Following survivors' accounts of what actually happened and avoiding cinematic cliches is key here; its minimalist black and white filming technique further adds immediacy; as does successfully conveying how this disaster affected an entire community--from wealthy dignitaries to workers and children alike.
A Night to Remember captures several powerful scenes: an insistent wealthy woman insisting upon taking her lucky china pig aboard a lifeboat; band members playing to their last notes before disbanding; Benjamin Guggenheim refusing to wear a life jacket so he may die honorably and so many more resonating scenes that make A Night to Remember an honest tear-jerker; it is these powerful scenes rather than Jack Dawson and Rose Leslie romance that make this film memorable and move audiences deeply.
A Night to Remember stands out for its complete lack of sensationalism; no romantic subplot, needless conflict between protagonists and antagonists, false hope offered by Titanic officers (as depicted in 1997's Titanic), nor false hopes from false heroes (such as 1997's Titanic ). Indeed, A Night to Remember illustrates just how hard it is to balance epic scope with human drama - something few American movies achieve successfully.
Note that at the time of A Night to Remember's release, no one knew that the Titanic would break apart so easily. With this knowledge in hand, Cameron's subsequent film may get certain aspects wrong, though no comparison should be drawn between the two; each had their own purpose for being created and each achieved success.
Point Break (1991)
Point Break was released as a summer blockbuster film in 1991 and made up a strong summer blockbuster contender, even if it did not reach number one at the box office. Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze proved popular leads; today it has become something of a cult classic.
Reeves plays rookie FBI agent Johnny Utah as he infiltrates a group of surfers believed to be bank robbers. Together they engage in dangerous stunts such as leaping off an airplane, leaping from a helicopter and diving through the hull of a submarine to rescue hostages from capture.
As such, Point Break boasts some of the finest acting you'll find in any action film, led by Reeves and Swayze who offer outstanding performances - though their performances don't stand out quite as much from others in this remarkable cast. Unfortunately, however, Point Break also contains flaws such as its long running time and underwhelming action sequences that could have made for more exciting viewing experience.
James Cameron has extensive experience exploring deep waters. He has made dives to the Titanic hulk and submersible dives he himself designed into Mariana Trench, while witnessing several deaths aboard OceanGate Titan submersible from OceanGate that is "unthinkable to anyone involved in private ocean exploration". It's "unbelievable for these people to be lost".
Cameron finds it particularly upsetting that warnings about Titan's hull were apparently ignored, saying if he were building such a submersible for passenger travel he would follow stringent testing and certification protocols with organizations like American Bureau of Shipping to certify its safety; yet this did not occur, leading him to conclude this may have contributed to its demise.
Cameron also criticizes the use of carbon fiber for the Titan's hull, noting its use in aerospace because of its lightweight and strong qualities compared to steel or aluminum; using carbon fiber in such an adventurous venture was likely a mistake, in his view.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Cameron may no longer be widely recognized for directing, though he had significant creative input into Terminator: Dark Fate directed by Tim Miller. Unfortunately, the film was an enormous box office bomb with generally negative reviews; Cameron expressed regret that he did not take over the franchise himself and also had creative differences with Miller regarding Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger's casting in it.
A Night to Remember provides an excellent documentary-style account of the Titanic's sinking. The film closely follows Walter Lord's book as well as survivors' accounts; further, its absence of many Hollywood cliches found in later Titanic films makes for an unflinching and very engaging film experience.
The movie is exquisitely shot in black-and-white, featuring only the sounds of ship's whistle as she passes through fog. It is highly atmospheric, with excellent disaster scenes depicting gradual shifts from apathy to panic to fear as its central theme. Kenneth Moore and Laurence Naismith shine as Captain Lightoller and First Officer Smith respectively, creating some amazing performances on-screen.
It is striking that Cameron didn't include any of the melodramatic behavior seen in his own adaptation, such as passengers attempting to shoot each other during panic. Instead, this film portrays heroism of some people giving up themselves to help other passengers onto lifeboats; making this account of this event one not to be missed by any fan of Titanic history.
James Cameron himself has made several dives to the Titanic's wreck in his own submersible. An expert in deep sea exploration, he has explored Mariana Trench which was deeper than when Titanic sunk. It took seven years for James Cameron to create his submersible used on that expedition and claims that its accident mirrors that which occurred aboard Titanic submarine.
Avatar (2013)
Cameron won an Oscar with Titanic and went on to create another massively budgeted science fiction fantasy called Avatar featuring ocean-blue aliens prancing around in tropical paradises. At first glance, Avatar may seem overreachingly absurd but Cameron had all of the resources at his disposal to pull it off successfully as a blockbuster success.
Visual effects were, by and large, one of the film's many technical triumphs. Cameron earned particular praise for his use of computer-generated characters which were more nuanced and realistic than any previous movies' CGI characters - work that paid off with Avatar becoming one of the highest grossing films ever released.
But in certain ways, Avatar was an epic failure. Avatar combined parts from other films directed by Cameron (including Alien, Terminator series and The Abyss ) with archetypical elements from classic sci-fi titles, to produce an unpredictable story arc that felt more like an eclectic collage than an enjoyable narrative experience.
One such scene was when the main Na'vi family escape their forest home and tribe for a coastal village, only to be met with hostility from Metkayina people due to their hybrid lineage - this could be read as colonialism; Cameron himself has made clear his film has political and anti-imperialistic themes.
At issue was also the submarine's hull and porthole design, constructed of carbon-fiber composite materials used in aerospace engineering that are both lighter and stronger than steel or aluminum pound for pound. After the accident, Cameron criticised this sub's design as recklessly experimental and likely to fail; noting that its OceanGate vessel hull and viewport only extended down 1,300 meters--a mere fraction of Titanic wreck's depth--thus rendering any failure catastrophic.
What happened with Cameron's Titan submersible is still unclear, but its sinking suggests some of his assumptions were wrong. A disaster of such magnitude occurring at the site where Titanic went down despite multiple warnings goes without notice is truly incredible.
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