James Cameron is the kind of director who doesn’t put out a movie until he knows it’s ready. He’ll often wait years before starting on a project just to give technology time to catch up to his vision. He did so with The Abyss, which served as a microcosm for visual effects when it was released in 1989, and Avatar 2: The Way of Water. For the latter, his patience is paying off tenfold after a long decade of production as the film reached the billion-dollar mark in just ten days. That being said, there’s no telling when the third Avatar installment will release. Digital effects are only one facet of his genius. Any movie can have stunning visuals, but it’s the story that makes a movie special, and there is no story without characters that can carry the magnitude of a director’s vision.
Many of Cameron’s movie characters have reached legendary status alongside their iconic films. There’s no talking about the greatest sci-fi films without talking about Aliens and Terminator, and these movies wouldn’t be as memorable without Sigourney Weaver or Arnold Schwarzenegger. Cameron knows how to write strong original characters and his stand above all others in cinema. Here are the top 10 James Cameron movie characters in terms of strength.
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10 Helen Tasker
Lightstorm Entertainment
Cameron excels at making unique characters to go with his films, and one of his most entertaining to watch is Helen Tasker from his 1994 action-comedy True Lies. Helen is the wife of Harry Tasker, a presumed computer salesman. Helen is left bored with everyday life and craving adventure in the absence of her husband on his frequent business trips. She wants excitement, and she gets just that when she learns what her husband really does for a living. Her need for adventure becomes a reality in this action-filled adventure that sees a husband and wife reconnect under the most unlikely of circumstances.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Jamie Lee Curtis could have acted as a simple foil for Schwarzenegger’s action hero, but she instead finds herself leading the charge. Curtis more than holds her own in this thriller with a performance that suggests she could have had a promising career as an action hero. Her performance was so great that it earned her a Golden Globe. True Lies is a silly movie, but to be able to go from doting legal assistant to a spy takes real fortitude. Perhaps she learned it from her husband without realizing it?
9 Harry Tasker
20th Century Studios
On the opposite side of the coin in True Lies memorable characters is super-spy Harry Tasker. On the surface, Harry is a busy traveling computer salesman, but in reality, he works for the counter-terrorist agency The Omega Sector. When Harry suspects that Helen may be having an affair, he stages a mock kidnapping to scare the truth out of her, only to learn of her loneliness in the wake of his constant work absences. So, to give her the excitement she craves, Harry sets up a fake espionage mission, only for it to end with his true profession colliding with his personal life.
The concept of Harry Tasker in itself is a ridiculous idea, but points go to Cameron for trying something outside of his wheelhouse. Schwarzenegger could have easily played Harry as a basic action hero of the 90s, but he made this role into something else entirely by embracing both the comedic aspects and the dramatic layering of a man leading a double life. True Lies may not go down as one of Cameron’s best movies, but it’s definitely one of the more fun projects he’s put out.
8 Ellen Ripley
20th Century Fox
When Ellen Ripley first encountered a Xenomorph, it was on board the commercial space tug Nostromo in 1979’s Alien. She was the only survivor of her seven-man team. Ripley hoped to leave the harrowing experience behind. That option goes out the door when she agrees to accompany a crew of space marines to investigate a terraforming community after contact when the colony is lost. It’s the first encounter with the alien creature that alerts her of the dangers of its species. It’s this second encounter that makes her into an alien killing machine.
While Cameron didn’t create the character, he elevated Ellen Ripley beyond the status of final girl to a bonafide sci-fi action hero. Alienssees Weaver in an Oscar-nominated performance as a survivor journeying into the mouth of hell for what is right, going head-to-head with the Xenomorph queen and winning back a little girl in the process. It’s Weaver’s strong performance in both films that certified her place in the sci-fi hall of fame and guaranteed her return in future sequels, even after the character is killed.
7 Colonel Quaritch
The RDA (Resource Development Administration) struck gold when it discovered Pandora. The home world of the Na’vi is rich in valuable resources. The only thing in the way of the organization claiming them are the planet’s native species. The Na’vi are of a rich culture perfectly in tune with nature. However, to a man like Miles Quaritch, they are only an obstacle.
Quaritch represents both the RDA and oppressive authority. He begins the Avatar series as an ally, but he soon becomes a ruthless adversary after leading a full-scale attack on the Na’vi, destroying their sacred tree in the process. He’s last seen in Avatarlosing his life in a fight against Jake, but his true resilience sees Quaritch make a surprising return in a Na’vi avatar in search of revenge. Stephen Lang plays Quaritch to perfection in both installments. He may have been a bit more stereotypical in his first outing, but his return has seen him become much more of a dynamic character, one that will be explored further in future films.
6 Jake Sully
Jake Sully is the twin of his scientist pioneer brother, who passed away sometime before the events of 2009’s Avatar. In search of purpose, Jake assists the RDA in their efforts to mine the planet’s resources and inhabits a genetically engineered avatar body to fit in with the Na’Vi tribe. However, Jake finds new life in his avatar and soon leads the indigenous people of Pandora in a vicious resistance against the humans before eventually becoming a member of the Na’vi permanently. In Avatar: The Way of Water, he has become the tribe’s leader as well as a father.
Jake’s first outing in the 2009 film wasn’t anything special, as many compared him to other resistance leaders from films like Dances With Wolves. In the sequel, Jake has become a much more interesting character. His role as a father provides a new challenge for him as he struggles to keep his family safe while also fending off the return of the RDA, as well as a revived Quaritch. With this new depth, Jake has become a stronger character, with Sam Worthington giving one of the best performances of his career.
5 John Connor
Tri-Star Pictures
The weight of the future is a heavy burden for anyone to bear, and it’s certainly not something meant to be shouldered by a child. After his mother was institutionalized for “delusions” of an apocalyptic future, John spent most of his life in foster care. Things were never easy, but he knew things would only get worse. Much worse. His mother had prepared him for the war to come since birth, but they both knew he would always be looking over his shoulder long before then. Destiny finally arrived when he was 10 years old, a deadly challenge he had no choice but to accept.
Edward Furlong was the perfect casting choice for the young general to be. He brought a boyish innocence to the role as well as a believable fearlessness that is more often attributed to grown men in this era. Viewers can recognize the loss of innocence in watching Furlong’s performance, but there is also a comfort in knowing that John is the right person to carry humanity on his shoulders.
4 Sarah Connor
Orion Pictures
Sarah Connor was just a waitress in Los Angeles, California, when her fate is forever changed. In the not-so-distant future, war wages against the machines to determine the future survival of humanity. The only chance mankind has to defeat the mechanical scourge is the leader of the human resistance, John Connor. As the war rages on, the machines use an alternative method to wipe out their enemy by sending their best killing tool to the past to eliminate John before he even comes to exist.
Sarah becomes the unwitting victim of a future she didn’t choose, but she comes to accept her destiny as the mother of the resistance in time, going from a defenseless woman in The Terminatorto a force of nature in Terminator 2: Judgement Day. For a decade, Sarah builds herself into a weapon capable of facing down any machine. The weight of the future has hardened her into a warrior beyond compare. Linda Hamilton plays the helplessness and resilience of the characters well in both outings for which she is featured. Cameron is always five steps ahead in his vision, and he certainly knew what he had in this amazing actress.
3 Neytiri
Neytiri, played by Saturn award-winning actress Zoe Saldana, is a reluctant guide to Jake Sully when they first meet in Avatar. She didn’t want anything to do with the human outsider, but the warrior princess did not anticipate that she would eventually fall in love with him. Ten years later, and they have a family. Her heart has grown thanks to her children, both biological and adopted. But that doesn’t erase the pain the humans caused her, a wound she is reminded of every time she looks at Spider.
Neytiri is brave, loyal, and a fierce warrior and has a deep love for her people. Despite raising her children with equal sensitivity and intensity, she can’t help but feel anxious around Spider. The complexity of this relationship is on full display in the sequel’s climax when she appears ready to sacrifice him. The nature of this dynamic adds further depth, but also displays her hard determination to protect her family. Neytiri has only become stronger in this second film, and her character will likely become more complicated as time goes on.
2 T-800
Hasta La Vista, Baby
The T-800 was first encountered in The Terminator when the cybernetic beast arrived in 1984 in Los Angeles to kill Sarah Connor. It took all manner of damage that would have been enough to kill hundreds of men, but it just kept coming. The only time a machine of its kind ever stops is when it’s either destroyed or if it has completed its mission.
This stoically programmed character is the very one that launched Cameron’s career into the stratosphere. Schwarzenegger was an unstoppable one-man army with each outing. Despite the cyborg’s emotionless disposition, it was made a little more human in the iconic sequel T2, where it was sent back in time to protect John rather than kill him. John made it a defender of humanity with more heart than he was built with, one that viewers wanted to win and were devastated to see parish. Unfortunately, despite its destructive and unstoppable nature, Skynet was always self-improving and eventually built something even stronger. However, this T-800 was made to fight to the very end, and it did just that.
1 T-1000
After the T-800s defeat in The Terminator, Skynet failed to stop John Connor from being born. They instead went with a new tactic. In their second attempt at stopping the war before it could begin, they sent a prototype T-1000 back, this time to kill the future leader of humanity himself. It was made entirely of liquid metal, being able to transform into any person as well as mold its body as needed to get the job done.
The T-1000 was far more menacing than T-800 ever. It’s a walking blade that wears the outfit of a protector but did anything but. The T-1000 was so dangerous that it nearly eliminated the formally unstoppable T-800 with a brutality that could make any viewer shed a tear for the machine, all while showing no signs of damage itself. Of all enemies in the Terminator franchise, let alone in all of Cameron’s films, this specimen came closer than any to ending the film for the protagonists. There was only one way to beat it, and lucky for the Connor’s they just so happened to find it before it was too late.
