First Films by Famous Directors: James Cameron

Before the mega-budgets and A-list talent, some of the biggest directors in Hollywood started out making little films with friends and family. Others made student films. But however the filmmaker started, these are the movies that launched their careers.

When it comes to big-budget blockbusters, James Cameron knows how to spend money. His movies seem to know how to make money. Titanic still ranks as the top grossing film of all time (without accounting for inflation) with a worldwide gross of nearly two billion dollars. Of course, the "king of the world's" start was a bit more humble.

James Cameron
Born on August 16, 1954 in Kapuskasing, Ontario, Canada, his family moved to Brea, California in 1971. Oddly enough in the same year, Quentin Tarantino's family also moved to the Los Angeles area. His father was an engineer. His mother was an artist. Both are reflected in James Cameron - an artist with a passion for machines.

Cameron went to Cal State-Fullerton to study physics, but after seeing Star Wars, he decided to pursue a career in filmmaking. With no film school background or experience, practically the only way into the film industry was through the offices of Roger Corman. Cameron found himself working as an art director for Corman on such films as Battle Beyond the Stars as well as art directing Escape from New York. It would be Corman again who would give Cameron his first assignment as director. Pirhana II: The Spawning is usually credited as James Cameron's first movie as director. Made in 1981 this low-budget sequel to Joe Dante's Piranha was a mess of a film. Cameron, who was originally tapped to be special effects supervisor, moved into the director's chair after the original director left. He was not allowed to be in on the editing or view dailies.

Despite many film historians view that this was Cameron's first directorial effort, Pirhana II was only his first feature film as director. In 1978, Cameron co-directed a short film called Xenogenesis, a science-fiction short featuring a man and woman who were part robot, part human (sound familiar?).

Xenogenesis is a strange pastiche of a film. Decidedly low budget, this low-budget film features robots battling, with one sequence reminiscent of Cameron's later work in Aliens. One scene in Xenogenesis features a woman riding inside a robot, operating its arms and legs by moving her own. This scene is a direct precursor to Ripley operating the robotic loader and fighting the alien queen in Aliens. In another interesting side note, the star of Xenogenesis is William Wisher Jr., who co-wrote Terminator 2 with Cameron.

To watch Xenogenesis, James Cameron's first film as director, click HERE.

Watching Xenogenesis is an interesting look at the themes that Cameron would pursue in other films with much larger budgets. Although to suggest that Xenogenesis has a theme is a bit of a stretch.

Cameron would go on to direct the following films:

The Terminator (1984)

Aliens (1986)

The Abyss (1989)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

True Lies (1994)

Titanic (1997)