James Cameron lashes out at people who criticize the dialogue in his films

James Cameron is, by any measure, the most successful director in Hollywood history. That’s no exaggeration, as Cameron’s Titanic was the highest-grossing film of all time for over a decade before being surpassed by his next film, Avatar. Even Cameron’s follow-up, Avatar: The Way of Water, peaked at No. 3 on the list of highest-grossing films, behind Avengers: Endgame. With that resume in mind, it’s easy to see why Cameron gets annoyed by critics who dislike the dialogue in his films.

“I don’t cringe at any of the dialogue, but I have a lower cringe factor than, apparently, a lot of people do at the dialogue I write,” Cameron told Empire Magazine. “You know what? Show me your three-of-the-four-highest-grossing movies–and we’ll talk about dialogue effectiveness.”

Cameron is undoubtedly a gifted visual storyteller, but there are certainly some shaky bits of dialogue in his films, particularly during the most dramatic scenes in Titanic. It is not unfair to say that Cameron is better at some aspects of filmmaking than others. But he is not wrong about his track record. Audiences have clearly responded to his films in ways they have not previously thought possible.

The one thing Cameron did admit to Empire is that he’s a little embarrassed by the production quality of The Terminator, which he considers his directorial debut.

“I certainly don’t see it as a Holy Grail,” Cameron said. “I look at it now and there are parts that are pretty cringe-worthy, and parts that are like, ‘Yeah, we did pretty well for the resources we had… Just the production value, you know?'”

Cameron’s next film, Avatar: Fire and Ash, is set to hit theaters on December 19, 2025.