Book Review: James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction

Over the last 30 years, writer/director James Cameron has made a number of memorable, and successful films.

Filmmaker James Cameron.

While he has delved into themes of espionage (True Lies) and period romance (Titanic), the bulk of his work takes place within the genre known as science fiction. Some of these films include The Terminator, The Abyss, and Avatar.

Recently, Cameron partnered with the television channel AMC, to create the six-part original series, AMC Visionaries: James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction. For the show, Cameron’s goal was to sit down with six of the biggest names in science fiction, and get their perspectives on the importance, and the impact of the genre.

These guests include directors Steven Spielberg (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T.), George Lucas (THX-1138, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope), Christopher Nolan (Inception, Interstellar), Guillermo Del Toro (Pacific Rim, The Shape of Water), Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner), and actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger (who portrayed the Terminator in Cameron’s film series).

Insight Editions’ book reproduces Cameron’s interviews in full, and offers several topical summaries by a number of people familiar with science fiction. These topics include dark futures, artificial intelligence, time-travel, and much more.

When I saw the interview lineup, I did question the inclusion of Schwarzenegger (given that Arnold has never directed a science fiction film). However, Cameron seems to have also included himself, as an unofficial interviewee within the book.

James Cameron’s painted concept of the Terminator, once Schwarzenegger was cast for the role.

One of his cohorts named Randall Frakes (who has worked with him on a number of projects), acts as the interviewer for Jim’s views on science fiction. Over the years, I’ve often heard the story of how Cameron was inspired by Star Wars, quit his job as a truck driver, and got into film profuction. With the Frakes/Cameron interview, it was definitely an eye-opening look into what makes Cameron tick regarding science fiction, as well as some of the decisions he makes regarding his films.

It should be noted that when Cameron gets around to interviewing his guests, he chooses to mainly discuss the science fiction topics their work tends to focus on. For example, you won’t find Guillermo Del Toro expounding on time-travel, but you will get his views on monsters in science fiction (plus, he talks about the time he and a friend encountered a UFO!).

If you’ve studied any of the directors that Cameron interviews, you’re probably going to find some overlap with the information they provide. I was already well-versed in Spielberg’s handling of the late Stanley Kubrick’s unfinished film A.I. (Artificial Intelligence), and most of what he talks about during his interview, I was well aware of.

Director George Lucas (left), explains his thought processes to James Cameron (right).

Of all the interviews, I felt that George Lucas’ discussion with Cameron came across as a bit ‘detached’ at times. One can sense Cameron wanting to possibly steer the conversation a little deeper towards Star Wars, but George doesn’t seem that interested in dissecting something he’s probably already discussed dozens of times before. Of interest to me, was his expounding a bit deeper into his feelings about inter-connectivity and micro-bacteria, which seemed to tie into that most loathed of prequel subjects: midichlorians. George also comes across as more of a realist, than his more optimistic friend, Steven.

While Spielberg and Lucas were two of the guys I was very familiar with, it was the likes of Nolan, Scott, and Del Toro whom I had little knowledge of.

Filmmaker Ridley Scott.

Of the three, it is Ridley Scott who is the ‘old master’ of science fiction here, and one can almost feel Cameron acting like an excited fan, getting to interview a man after his own heart.

In recent years, Scott has made a comeback into science fiction with films like Prometheus and The Martian, which Cameron seems to have been heavily enamored with (he mentions it’s ‘science-fact’ premise to a number of his interviewees). Of course, the pendulum swings both ways, as Scott tells Cameron that Avatar inspired him to consider returning to the realms of science fiction.

The book also gets a teensy bit ‘political’ as it delves into some topics, such as how people perceive science in this day-and-age. I was surprised during one interview where Cameron seemed to ‘hijack’ the conversation, and expound a bit on his own views and research about artificial intelligence. While he didn’t feel that his Terminator films were some form of self-fulfilling prophecy, he does tell about an experience regarding how some people may be looking to misuse A.I., the way people ended up making a mess of things with atomic energy.

Along with a number of visuals from science fiction films (via still-frames and posters), the book is filled with a number of original art pieces created by Cameron. Most people are not aware that he is also an artist, and has been doing science fiction art for many years, whether for his own pleasure, or as concept pieces for films he has done.

Concept art made by James Cameron, for his unmade science fiction short, Xenogenesis.

Most notable are a number of concept drawings and paintings done for an unmade short called Xenogenesis. It is fascinating to look at these, and see how Cameron utilized them in other films he’s done.

A prime example is this piece on the left. The giant robotic vehicle has elements that would be utilized for the tank-like Hunter-Killers in 1984’s The Terminator, while the female character doing battle with it in her own mechanical vehicle, seems eerily reminiscent of Ripley’s battle with the Alien Queen in his 1986 film sequel, Aliens.

For those expecting Cameron to mostly sit aside and let his guests speak, you may find yourselves disappointed. This isn’t someone from the entertainment section of a news program asking throwaway questions, but someone who is here to ask some very deep questions.

Readers may also grow a little tired, as Cameron tends to monopolize some conversations. This is most notable in his own interview with Frakes. It seems that Jim could go on-and-on with all the information he’s accumulated over the years.

Even so, James Cameron’s The Story of Science Fiction is a book I would highly recommend to those who are fans of Cameron, or any of the guests he speaks with. Even if you may know a lot about a few of those being interviewed, what you glean from reading about the additional guests and the science fiction genre in general, will surely be an eye-opener to many.

Movie Musings: Observations about “Titanic,” and it’s deleted scenes

When Titanic was released in December of 1997, I quickly got swept up in the tidal wave of fandom, that soon overwhelmed the world during those next few months.

After perusing through everything from the official movie tie-in book to Cinefex magazine’s coverage of the film’s visual effects, I still hungered for more.

While surfing on the internet at the Public Library after the film came out, I was surprised to find a copy of the original script. It was one of the first film scripts I read, and I was surprised at what was contained within it. While it retained certain elements of the finished film, it revealed a number of unused or cut scenes to me, making my mind imagine what might have been.

It wasn’t until the release of Titanic: The Illustrated Screenplay in 1998, that I got a more behind-the-scenes look at what had gone into the film.

The original shooting script in the book contained almost everything I had already read, but included notations regarding some of the scenes and script changes.

I doubted I’d ever see the scenes that the script mentioned, but when Titanic was ported over to a 2-disc DVD in 2005, James Cameron made sure that a number of special features were included…including over an hour’s worth of deleted/cut material!

In going over them, I thought I’d make note of ‘a few’ scenes that were cut, including the alternate ending to the film.

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Taking in the grandeur and history

With so much information about the Titanic at his disposal, one could almost forgive James Cameron for originally trying to cram so much stuff into his film.

Cameron’s camera sometimes lingered in some of the less-considered places, such as the ship’s gymnasium. In one scene, Rose and her family’s tour of the ship would have included a stopover here. There would be a tinge of irony, as the gym’s instructor Thomas McCauley, asked Rose’s mother if she would like to try out the rowing machine.

“I can’t imagine a skill I should likely need less,” says the woman, little realizing what she would be doing in less than 24 hours.

Another notable scene would have taken us off the ship, as Titanic’s wireless operators get upset at the ice warnings coming from The Californian, and tell the operator to shut up. This would have led to a scene of the Californian’s operator shutting down for the evening, and giving us a view of the ice field near that ship.

There was also word that when the Titanic sent her distress signals, she also used the newly designated SOS signal, that soon afterwards became a standard among sailing vessels. A deleted scene shows the wireless operators using the signal (instead of just the standard CQD signal, as seen in the final film).

Cameron also filmed (and cut) scenes where Captain Smith and several officers attempted to call back some of the half-filled lifeboats, so they could be filled to capacity (which the actual Smith and his officers attempted to do). However, none of the boats returned (most of the sailors captaining them, fearful that the ship’s suction would drag them down into the icy waters).

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A Fight to the Finish

As the Titanic’s lights flickered off in the darkness, the grand ship began to tear itself in two.

Notable about this scene, is that we see Cal Hockley’s manservant, Spicer Lovejoy. As his eyes go wide, I’m sure some were surprised to see his face had been bloodied!

Some could probably assume that he may have suffered some trauma trying to just get to where he was on the ship, but the head-wound is actually from a major deleted scene.

Originally, after Jack and Rose escaped from Cal trying to shoot them, they rushed into the first-class dining hall. Out of bullets, and realizing how much water the ship was taking on, Cal gave up the chase.

However, handing the gun he had taken back to Lovejoy, he told his man-servant that the Heart of the Ocean necklace was in Rose’s coat, and that if Lovejoy was able to retrieve it, he’d let him keep it.

What followed was a several minutes long game of cat-and-mouse, as Lovejoy reloaded his gun, and attempted to find the couple. The fight largely took place between Jack and Lovejoy, with the bloody injury coming from Jack shoving the bodyguard’s head through a glass window!

Jack also ended up getting some payback, from when Lovejoy had punched him in the gut in the master-at-arms’ quarter. “Compliments of the Chippewa Falls Dawson’s,” proclaimed Jack, throwing a punch, and Lovejoy’s taunt back at him.

The scene was one that Cameron liked, but test audiences were lukewarm to it, as it slowed down the film’s overall momentum.

In the final film, Jack and Rose simply rush through the dining hall, and we are left to assume Cal and Lovejoy give up the chase, and return to the upper-decks.

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Cameron’s fictional steerage characters

As Jack and Rose cling to the railing on the stern of the ship, Rose’s eyes alight on a blonde woman next to them. Some time later, as the ship’s stern tilts up to 90 degrees, the frightened woman ends up plummeting to her death (off-camera).

What most may not realize, is we’ve actually seen this woman previously. She is Helga Dahl, one of several fictional steerage passengers Cameron created for the film.

Almost as a counter-point to the real-life First Class Passengers and crew Rose interacts with, Cameron gave us a number of fictional Third-Class passengers, to interact with Jack and his friend, Fabrizio. The one that got the most characterization was Tommy Ryan, but many of the others were excised or cut-down as the film production went on.

Helga appears throughout the film (along with her parents), and was originally to have been a love-interest for Fabrizio (the two can be seen dancing together in the steerage party scene). However, during editing, Cameron decided to leave almost all traces of the couple’s growing relationship, on the cutting-room floor.

Another minor group of characters was the Cartmell family, who were most notable for having a little girl named Cora, whom Jack interacted with several times.

After the Grand Staircase was submerged, Cameron planned to have a scene of the Cartmell’s trying to escape from third class, but stuck behind locked steerage gates, panicking as the waters rose around them.

One can’t help but feel some might have taken offense at the scene which shows the waters rising around Cora, much like some felt Cameron went a bit too far putting Newt in danger, in parts of his film, Aliens.

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The Epiphany of Brock Lovett

One scene I’ve heard people question over the years, is the final one, in which it is revealed that for much of her life, Rose had the Heart of the Ocean necklace in her possession!

This revelation was originally to have tied into the sub-story involving Bill Paxton’s treasure-hunter character, Brock Lovett.

Originally, when Rose told her story to Brock and his crew, the tale would have been told over several days, not what seems a matter of hours in the final cut.

Following the scene of Cal Hockley first giving the necklace to Rose, we would have faded back to the present day. Old Rose mentioned how the necklace felt like a ‘dog collar’ around her neck.

We would also see Lovett’s crew be a bit more ‘detached’ from the tragedy, with Brock’s friend Bodine making a crass joke about Rose’s suicide attempt (“all you had to do was wait two days,” he laughs).

After Rose is taken away to rest, a ‘ticking clock’ is introduced, where we find that the people funding Brock’s expedition intend to ‘pull-the-plug,’ leading to his desperation to get Rose to tell him as much as she knows.

It doesn’t help that Lizzy overhears Brock’s frustration towards her grandmother, and tells him that even if he is desperate, she isn’t going to put pressure on her elderly relation.

“This is three years of my life going down the drain here,” Brock tells Lizzy (sounding eerily similar to what Cameron must have been feeling!). “I bet everything to find The Heart of the Ocean.”

Lizzy reminds Brock that Rose contacted him with the information, and in a way, he has to ‘play by her rules.’

After Rose finished her story near the end of the film, there was a subtle hint that Brock had somehow understood just what the shipwreck stood for.

“Three years,” he tells Lizzy. “I thought of nothing but Titanic…but I never got it. I never let it in.”

This was where Brock’s story ended on-screen, but in the original ending, Cameron decided to push further with this revelation.

Brock and Lizzy would have seen Rose heading towards the rear of the ship, and sprinted after her, fearful that she was going to throw herself overboard!

However, upon confronting her, Rose would have revealed the necklace in her hand!

“The hardest part about being so poor, was being so rich,” she tells tells the two. “But everytime I thought about selling it, I thought about Cal, and somehow, I made it without his help.”

Brock attempts to talk Rose out of what she is doing, but she claims her mind is made up. However, she does give into his request to hold it, placing the jeweled portion in his hand.

“You look for treasure in the wrong places, Mr Lovett,” says Rose, sounding as if Jack Dawson is speaking through her, “Only life is priceless…and, ‘making each day count.'”

Brock’s hand closes around the stone, but lets it go (three years and funding be damned!), as Rose pulls it away and tosses it into the Atlantic, causing Brock’s friend Bodine to rush to the ship’s railing, watching the necklace sink into the abyss!

“That really sucks, lady!” he cries out, as Brock just looks at his empty hand…and starts laughing!

As Bodine storms off, Brock asks Lizzy to dance, and Rose smiles at the two of them.

Looking over the additional bits of subplot and ending, it does get a bit heavy-handed with Rose expounding life-lessons on Brock. While it seems the mission may be a bust, there is also the possibility that the subs could be sent back down to retrieve the necklace once Rose is asleep.

Bill Paxton also had a little fun with the ending, when he reprised his role of Lovett in a 1999 skit on Saturday Night Live. In it, Brock and the crew get upset with Rose, and even her granddaughter lands a few punches, when she finds out her grandmother had a multi-million dollar necklace in her possession, that could have had them set for life!

Paxton also got Cameron to do a fun little cameo at the end of the skit:

“I’m James Cameron, saying: ‘you’re the King of the World.'”

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It’s hard to believe that at over 3 hours in length, the final cut of Titanic feels pretty ‘tight,’ when one sees all that could have been included.

The acting isn’t perfect in all of Cameron’s films, and some of the deleted scenes reflect this. There’s also a feeling that the story would have started to bore the audience if all of these scenes (and others) were kept in.

Overall, the deleted scenes are interesting to analyze, but none of them really feel like we’re missing out on anything too important.

Movie Musings: Do The Terminator and Titanic share similar story DNA?

James Cameron is a good example of how a filmmaker can come from anywhere. Originally working as a truck driver, his viewing of a film called Star Wars, inspired him to pursue a new career path.

Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, and James Cameron, on the set of The Terminator.

After quitting his job and working on several films for Roger Corman, James eventually crafted his first original film, as a writer/director. The Terminator debuted in 1984, and quickly garnered praise for it’s effects-work, and gritty science-fiction scenario.

In the 30 years since the film’s debut, Cameron’s name not only became elevated in science fiction circles, but at the global box-office, where his last two films took off like gangbusters in 1997, and 2009.

In 1997, Titanic was released, and took off in a way that hadn’t been seen since the days of the early 80’s box-office hits!

Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, and James Cameron, on the set of Titanic.

The film was truly a phenomenon that could not be quantified: a $200 million film whose release was pushed back 5 months to the Winter of 1997 due to editing and effects issues. The numerous delays, made many feel that Cameron’s “Romeo and Juliet on the Titanic” story, would surely sink his career.

Of course, as we know now, the rest is history. Titanic managed to ‘stay afloat’ in theaters almost 8 months after it’s debut, and broke attendance and ticket records in almost every country it was released in!

While it isn’t my favorite Cameron film (that distinction still belongs to Terminator 2: Judgment Day), I still can’t help but admire the man’s big-budget attempts to bring his fascination with the ship to life. Willing to build a 90% scale recreation to film on, as well as the mixture of practical and visual effects, to put us aboard the doomed luxury liner, and make us feel for the plight of it’s 2,200 souls.

Watching films over the years, I would sometimes look through most filmmakers’ works, looking for similarities, or reasons why certain subjects would fascinate them. As I was looking through Cameron’s films, I was surprised to note that when thinking through the story of Titanic, I found several story elements, that seemed to borrow from the structure Cameron used on The Terminator.

And so, I thought I’d share some of my findings with the internet.

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A Stranger in a Strange Land

When it comes to the male leads for both Terminator and Titanic, one can see that both Kyle Reese and Jack Dawson, are ‘anomalies’ in the worlds they find themselves in (Kyle in the year 1984, and Jack aboard the Titanic).

The future world Kyle has come from, is one devoid of the luxuries that the average person living in 1984 takes for granted. As a soldier, Reese got by on his wits, struggling to just survive each day, in a world ravaged by the machines. When he gets to 1984 Los Angeles, Michael Biehn portrays him as a man out-of-time, determined to save Sarah Connor, while also dealing with post-traumatic stress, from his time as a soldier.

Jack on the other hand, has lived his life going from place-to-place, with a very bohemian lifestyle. An artist by trade, he does what he can to get by, but still is willing to keep to a basic set of principles.

Both men are also unique, in that they encounter their leading ladies in the midst of life-or-death situations (Sarah about to be killed by a Terminator, and Rose threatening to commit suicide).

Throughout the course of the films, both Kyle and Jack act as cheerleaders to Sarah and Rose, claiming they are more than what they seem. We see both women at one point claim that these men are mistaken, but as the story goes on, we see them breaking out, and even saving their men in several instances.

It is also notable, that both of these men sacrifice themselves so the leading lady can live, and are ‘lost to time’ as the films go on.

In Terminator, Kyle Reese did not exist until after Judgment Day. When the LAPD catch him, there is no record of him on file. During the final battle, Kyle sacrifices his life to try and destroy the T-800. After his body is recovered after the event, he is sealed up in a body bag, and is never heard of again.

In Jack’s case, he came aboard the Titanic along with his friend Fabrizio, with tickets not to their names (both were won in a poker game). After the ship sinks, Jack has Rose get aboard a piece of the ship, so she’ll be out of the freezing waters. However, in his attempt to save her, Jack succumbs to hypothermia.

When Rose let go of his hands, and he sank into the abyss, that was the last anyone saw of Jack Dawson. The only thing that physically exists that proves his existence, is the drawing he did of Rose (that was found in Cal’s safe). Rose even mentions that she has no picture of Jack, whose face only now exists in her memories (of course, the irony is that there actually was a person on the Titanic named Jack Dawson, just not the one that Cameron had Leo portraying).

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Technology will be Your Doom (if you let it)

Most of Cameron’s films have an underlying theme regarding technology, and whether Man can control it, or if that technology may end up destroying it’s creator.

Though there is a definite technological difference between Skynet’s T-800 Terminator, and The White Star Line’s Titanic, they both represent the hubris of man.

Skynet was a fully-automated system integrated into the US Military, as a deterrent to human error, and to safeguard against enemy attacks. However, the artificial intelligence soon deemed all humans to be a threat. The system triggered an attack that lead to a nuclear war, that became known as Judgment Day.

Though the Titanic was not a living entity, her creation could almost be seen in a similar light.

At the time of her creation in the early 20th century, the Titanic was touted by her creators as one of the largest, most luxurious ships of all time, and…she was considered to be unsinkable, at least, according to the press and media (word was the White Star Line never claimed such hubris).

Her double-bottom hull and multiple water-tight compartments were seen as a deterrent to death, their advanced technological breakthroughs deemed a way to keep her passengers safe.

Of course, the claims of how this early 20th century technological marvel was going to revolutionize travel and pretty much plow through whatever Mother Nature threw at her, were rendered moot after she struck an iceberg, and sank on April 14th, 1912.

Both Skynet and the Titanic, were creations meant to show how far mankind had come…and in ways that most could not comprehend, they ended up defying their creators.

Skynet was touted as a program that would not suffer from the errors of humanity, like fatigue or emotions. However, once those in charge soon realized what they had done, it was too late to change course.

The Titanic was touted in a number of publications of the time, as being ‘unsinkable,’ a vessel to stand against God and nature. The push for luxury over safety, also overruled the added safety deterrent, of giving the ship enough lifeboats to handle her massive human capacity, leading to the tragic loss of over 2/3’s of her passengers.

It is also notable that in both films, Skynet and Titanic, are shown within alien-like worlds, ravaged by time.

In Terminator, the world of 2029 is shown torn asunder by nuclear annihilation, and the neverending threat of Skynet’s many war machines, to wipe out the last of mankind.

In Titanic, we see what became of the great ship’s own Judgement Day, some 85 years after she sank to the bottom of the Atlantic. Just like the future world of Terminator, we see once normal imagery made ‘alien’ before our eyes, bathed in a faint blue glow. The ocean, the sinking, and a number of other factors, have twisted the remains of the once-great ship, into something other-worldly, far away from the normalcy of her heyday, in 1912.

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You are more, than what you think you are

Though many decades separate their life-changing stories, Sarah Connor and Rose Dawson have story arcs that are very similar.

When we first meet them, both seem to be stuck in a certain place, seemingly trapped.

Sarah is working as a waitress, and looks to be heading towards a normal suburban lifestyle, that will eventually lead to marriage, and children.

Rose’s family name and fortune have allowed her to become the fiance to a young businessman, in a society and world where her choices seem limited.

Both women find themselves in a precarious situation, when strange men from another world (Jack from the world of Bohemia, Kyle from a war-torn future), end up ‘saving’ their lives, and attempt to make them believe that they can be more than what they think they are.

Kyle tells Sarah of what he was told by John, regarding how she trained him to be a warrior, and was a source of great strength.

Jack’s pep talk is moreso based on what he’s observed regarding Rose. Jack has noticed that Rose seems to have a fire within her, much more than those around her. The upper-class world she is in won’t allow for such ‘outbursts,’ and she’s in danger of that fire burning out.

By the end of their films, both Kyle and Jack have died, and in the wake of their deaths, it is up to the women they championed, to decide if they want to die, or live.

In Terminator, the T-800 is still alive after Kyle is killed. It is up to Sarah to finish the job (and decide if she wants to live or die). Sarah manages to lead the Terminator into a metal press, where it is crushed.

In Titanic, a lifeboat returns to the ship’s debris field, looking for survivors. Upon realizing Jack has died due to hypothermia, Rose almost gives up, but then remembers her promise to Jack. She manages to get the attention of the lifeboat’s crew, and is saved.

In the final minutes of each film, we get a small glimpse of how these encounters changed both of their lives.

Sarah is last seen driving off into an uncertain future, though more confident, and starting a new life, to prepare her unborn son for what is to come.

In the final moments of Titanic, we see Rose asleep(?), with a number of pictures by her bedside. Each of them in a matter of minutes, shows that she seems to have tried to live life to it’s fullest…a life she probably would never have had, if she hadn’t encountered Jack Dawson.

While I have mentioned Terminator as sharing some DNA with Titanic, there is a little of Terminator 2 in the film as well…albeit in a deleted ending.

In his original ending for T2, once the T-800 had been destroyed, the film would cut to 30 years in the future, to a park in Washington D.C. Sarah, now a Grandmother, explains how Judgment Day didn’t happen. The disaster was averted, and John Connor is now a Senator.

In the audio commentary for T2, Cameron claimed that he became fascinated with the idea of seeing a person, at two different stages of their life. However, he felt that the sudden appearance of Hamilton playing Sarah at age 64, was too much of a shock to the system.

In re-evaluating what went wrong, he felt that if he were to sell the illusion of a character at different stages of her life, the character would need to be introduced at their older age, to help ease the viewer into their younger ‘identity.’

Left: Linda Hamilton, from the alternate ending to Terminator 2; Right: Gloria Stuart as “old Rose,” from Titanic.

Cameron was determined to use this storytelling device post-T2, and made it work 5 years later on Titanic.  While Kate Winslet portrays the younger Rose character and is the film’s ‘lead,’ it is Gloria Stuart who bookends the film, as ‘old Rose’ leads us into her past, and back to the present day.

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While both films do not line up exactly in comparison, it is notable at what I’ve seen in regards to both films, and I have been surprised noone else has really written such a comparison piece. But then, I’m one of those people that is weird enough to do so.

I came back to finish this post, after seeing Titanic’s 20th anniversary release last weekend. The audience was rather small, but seeing it in an HDR setting with an incredible sound system, took me back to those halcyon days of my senior year in high school, sitting in my hometown theater for the first matinee of the film (minus it breaking 15 minutes before the end!).

That re-visit of the film on the big-screen got my mind going, and soon made me think of a few other comparisons one could make regarding Terminator, and Titanic:

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Picture Perfect

I was surprised to realize how in each of the films, an image of Sarah and Rose, are vital to the journey several people undertake in these films.

In The Terminator, it was a picture of Sarah Connor, that pushed Kyle to accept the mission, to go back and protect her.

In Titanic, it is Jack’s drawing of Rose, that brings ‘old Rose’ to the attention of Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton), as the image shows her wearing The Heart of the Ocean necklace, the treasure he is seeking within the remains of the ship.

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Search and Destroy

One scene that is most memorable to those who saw The Terminator, is when Arnold’s T-800 massacres a whole police station, in his search for Sarah Connor.

Surprisingly, a similar cat-and-mouse situation (minus the multiple guns and dead bodies) was shot for Titanic, but ended up on the cutting room floor.

After Cal (Billy Zane) chases Jack and Rose down to the flooded First Class Dining Hall, he gives up the chase, due to the rising waters and a lack of bullets in his gun…only to realize that Rose’s coat still has the necklace in it’s pocket!

In the deleted scene, Cal tells Lovejoy (David Warner) that he can have the necklace if he can get it, and the bodyguard reloads his gun, and skulks into the dining hall.

While the cat-and-mouse game in The Terminator helped with the suspense, the same scenario happening amidst the sinking dining hall just didn’t work.

Cameron had hoped the scene would excite the audience, as Jack gets some comeuppance upon Lovejoy. However, while the sight of the familiar setting being eerily submerged charmed Cameron, the added tension just seemed to be too much for the audience, who were already full ensconced by the more pressing matters of the ship sinking.

After a few test-screenings, Cameron removed the dining hall fight altogether, and with it, went any negative comments about the moment!

In the final film, Jack and Rose merely rush through the dining hall, and the audience is left to assume that Cal and Lovejoy returned to the upper-decks, to try and get on a lifeboat.

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I will admit the two films aren’t perfectly similar in their narratives, but as one can glean from the article, it seems that James Cameron likes to reuse some things, if he can find a place for them.

Of course, I do wonder if any other story scenarios will show up in the upcoming Avatar sequels. Cameron’s fascination with deep-sea diving, is said to be a part of the upcoming sequel. I doubt we’ll get any interstellar submersibles, but I’m sure he’ll work on trying to give us some fascinating underwater creations, beneath the waves on Pandora.