Customer Reviews

The Futurist: The Life and Films of James Cameron

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My only real complaint is that I wish it were twice as long.
An interesting story about a born genius/perfectionist/workaholic that will make you enjoy and appreciate his work that much more.

The book was not poorly written, simply...written. It was the equivalent of a high school paper doing a feature article on James Cameron and he is a subject matter that is much more deserving than this.

The book covers his career relatively well, but could have delved deeper. I did enjoy the anecdotes of his early efforts and his fearless attitude on whatever new movie he was working on. Would have liked to hear more about his opinion on the content of his earlier movies rather than his insight of actually making the movies.

Also, the post Titanic content was pretty weak. It focused more on his non-film work, but it would have been interesting to really dig and ask some probing questions on his new found celebrity and the implications of having the biggest box office film in history.

Occasionally we would hear Cameron's opinion's on particular subjects and some movies, but would have enjoyed reading a lot more like this. It was briefly noted that Speilberg and Peter Jackson visited his Avatar set - what a great meeting of the cinematic minds. What about some questions on what that conversation was like? Or asking Cameron's opinions on various films? I've read some recent interviews with him and Cameron is so brutally honest on subjects it quite refreshing. Cameron is a major cinema buff - why not more questions on what films he liked/disliked and why?

Mediocre book...cameron is deserving of much better.

Just finished reading this book and while it is somewhat informative regarding Cameron, in many ways it left me wanting more, and not because it was so great. It left me wanting more because much of it feels like a rough superficial look at Cameron's career that was rushed to the printer in order to ship to book stores before Avatar was in theaters.

On the plus side, author Keegan does reveal some of the behind-the-scene studio battles waged by Cameron and the various Fox minions and explains some of the editorial decisions that went into the various cuts of Abyss and Aliens. I also enjoyed learning what led to some of the casting decisions i.e. Leo DiCaprio for Titanic.

That said, the relative dryness of the writing and poor attempts at humor by the author (did she really make an early-90's SNL reference to Mike Myers character on Sprockets?) are distracting and clumsy.

And there are glaring holes in the research -- While Keegan gives us plenty of recollections from Tom Arnold regarding the True Lies shoot, there is hardly any mention of Ed Harris in the Abyss.

And to me probably the biggest omission in the entire book is that there is no photo gallery whatsoever. When you're putting together a book about one of the most successful and visually-oriented directors of our time -- who works in a visual medium, no less -- and neglect to reproduce even one photo or sketch, you are doing the subject of the book and the entire medium a disservice, in my opinion.

The book was worth the read and is a nice appetizer -- especially considering the lack of existing material available about the man -- but this is by no means a definitive tome concerning Cameron and his filmmaking. Consider it Cameron-lite.

This book was very disappointing. Not very in-depth and consisting mainly of previously written articles, books, and DVD commentaries and interviews as its source material. In fact, in many instances, author Keegan uses words and phrases as her own that I've already heard uttered from the filmmakers on behind the scene documentaries. Next time, she might want to try a thesaurus. Obviously written pretty quickly.

James Cameron is my favorite film director. He's directed some of my choice films like: Terminator 1 & 2, True Lies, Titanic and Avatar. It was interesting to read how he used to drive a school lunch truck and quit when he decided films were for him after watching Star Wars. His underwater exploration of the Titanic wreck really interested me. Also, in the book there was a good bit about the MIR 1 submersible running out of power and possibly being stuck on the bottom. Another interesting part in the biography dealt with the discussion of big deal making in Hollywood. When Cameron was going over budget on Titanic he offered back his directing salary and back-end points but the studio said keep it as there won't be any profit anyways. The movie grossed over $1.5 billion and he kept his points making him pretty rich. haha. The book felt like a long magazine article. That's probably because that's the author's area of expertise.

Rebecca Keegan is a Hollywood based contributor to Time magazine, as the dust jacket of the book explains. And from the first page that's very apparent.

This book is not badly written. Well paced with simplistic language it makes for a fast and easy read. It reads, in fact, like an overlong magazine article.

What I disliked was the content, specifically the lack thereof. It has the same amount of information of an exploded Wikipedia entry on the man. After reading all 274 pages of the book, back to front, there is nothing beyond a very short biography, surface deep overviews of each of his movies and snippets detailing James Cameron's undersea explorations.

Every one of James Cameron's movies has enough behind the scenes drama and technical difficulties to fill a books worth of material on each film, so it's extremely disappointing to see only one or two problems from each movie - well known situations that are listed first after a quick Google search. And none of these situations are explored in any depth - Keegan simply explains the problem and how Cameron's innate genius solved them all, usually in the space of a 100 words.

This book is lacking any depth and utterly fails to really get behind any of the difficulties Cameron regularly experiences with his films and the people that work on and fund them. This is a bare bones book which even worse almost comes off as a pure propaganda piece about James Cameron. The opportunities to call him a genius, revolutionary character are never missed and shoehorned in wherever Keegan can find. The whole read you can't help but feel the presence of Cameron over Keegan's shoulder. Cameron is an infamous man when it comes to control and domination of the people around him. Instead of fighting against that and writing an interesting piece detailing the setbacks and failures of Cameron and his measures to cope with or make successes out of them Keegan writes a cowardly, superficial work that goes above and beyond to avoid any controversy. These are the words of a fearful fan girl.

If you're looking for a basic, grade school level explanation of who James Cameron is and what films he has, as of 2011, done then this book may satisfy. However if you're actually looking for anything beyond the simple concepts and few anecdotes offered up then I would suggest looking elsewhere. Only snatch up this book if you can find it for a fifth of the price.

Although doom often looms over the characters in his movies, Cameron's ultimate message seems to be one of hope and love. He's rational enough to see that we're messing it all up, but he's a dreamer that believes anything is possible, that mankind can overcome. This book included an anecdote of Cameron offering his submersible to BP during their oil spill and also inviting scientists to propose a solution, actions that show how much Cameron cares about the world, about people, how he thinks outside the box and isn't afraid to push the limits of human innovation and potential, that doesn't sit on the sidelines but gets involved when he sees something that needs to be done.

Filled with descriptions of the intensity he brings to each groundbreaking movie, the bio shows a man passionate about making new discoveries. An idealistic visionary fascinated with the apocalypse and new worlds, Cameron brings his artistic skills (he did the drawing of Rose in Titanic) and his love of science and technology to his famously overbudget movies. But he actually has the commitment and ability to deliver on his ambitions, taking huge risks (even risking his life to get the shots he wants), fearlessly pushing the bounds of CGI, and using inventive techniques to pursue his vision. Whether it's a new planet, an alien queen puppet, or a science fiction / fantasy story, Cameron's ability to design and create amazes and inspires.

"'There are two components to any filmmaker,' Cameron says. 'How you picture the movie in advance and how you make it happen in the real world.' Cameron is exceptional both at dreaming up the vision and rallying people around it, assuaging their fears, ndn convincing them they're capable of seemingly impossible tasks." A person who dares to strive for the impossible has a strong personality: Cameron pushes everyone around him as hard as he pushes himself, occasionally causing his crew to freak out or break down.

More of a short hegiography with emphasis on movie production, the book doesn't dive deeply into Cameron's personal life, only briefly mentioning each of his 5 marriages and mentioning his children in 1 line, which I don't have a problem with. Although the book contains more information than a wikipedia article, more quotes from Cameron and others, more excerpts from documents, more analysis, would've improved the book.

I read this book over three days and now I'm buying one for a friend. I found myself repeatedly muttering under my breath "No way," as I came across story after story that left me with the impression that Cameron must have a giant, brass, pair. The dude will say anything to anyone if he feels he's right, the way an idiot savant is honest and leaves a room with jaws agape after hearing something uncomfortably revealing. Encounters with death, his inventing items used in the film industry, deep sea exploration to record depths, conflicts with actors, studio heads, ex-wives, agents and a list of others. The guy balled out the Governator for being late to the set, that was a riot. There's literally a who's who of Hollywood giving their opinions on him. The stories are brilliantly woven together. The Avatar chapter is fascinating in how the author discusses how Cameron accomplished making the film when much of the technology didn't even exist. An audacious and inspiring feat by a complicated man. The only thing I wish was in the book was an interview with Ed Harris on the Abyss, but I'm nitpicking. I enjoyed this book so much that I will read it again.

I suspect that ten different people reading this book will come away with ten different opinions of who Cameron is, and that's exactly what makes this book so intriguing. The writer is top notch and really gets into who this man is and what makes him tick in a most interesting way. For me, I found Cameron to be completely inspirational. He doesn't let any obstacle stand in his way of becoming who he wants to be or block what he wants to create. He was a school lunch truck driver with a waitress wife, but manages to access the USC library to research how to film a movie. He had no money and yet fired his agent who didn't share his vision when most unemployed writers would be thrilled to just have an agent. It was impossible to film Avatar because the technology didn't exist, so he helps invent it. It doesn't phase him that it takes ten years to get Avatar right even though most directors would have been exploiting their Titanic success immediately. During his leave of absence Cameron disappears into several areas of interest beyond film, but all bring him back to make his work even better. Nothing seems to stop him, only slow him down until he figures out the equation to unlock the answer. He took one dollar for a script he wrote because that's what it took to let him direct it. I walked away from this book thinking, if you really want something bad enough you'll figure out a way to make it happen. I know some will see him as arrogant, and he is, but he's a lot of other things as well, and one of those things is interesting. I enjoyed everything about this book. I can't see how someone doesn't like this book and in particular, his story.

I read this book in one sitting! I literally couldn't put the dang thing down. The stories are fantastic, interesting and never ending. I liked that Cameron's film history is laid out in chronological order, starting from the beginning and working to the present with Avatar. The inside look at the making of that film makes me want to see the movie. One aspect of the book I appreciate is that the biographer is fair in her assessments of Cameron, both in praise and in pointing out some less than attractive qualities. You never get the feeling the author is out to embarrass him or turn him into a golden idol. His family life is covered extensively, but without a gossipy tone, which I liked, if I want gossip I'll turn on TMZ. The author relates the thoughts of crew members, stars of Cameron's films, ex-wives, agents, lawyers, producers, studio heads, siblings, and on and on it goes with really in depth, first hand reporting. The great details are really interesting. I highly rate this book and I will be giving it out to a couple of friends as Christmas presents. Well written, humorous, and a truly wonderful look at Cameron's world and films.