James Cameron

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Terminator (1984) Un camion viene irradiato di una misteriosa energia, il conducente fugge e al suo posto si materializza Un gigante nudo. Aggredito da un trio di teppisti, il gigante li sgomina in pochi secondi. Intanto altrove nella citta` un altro uomo compare dal nulla, un giovane che viene inseguito dalla polizia e che, quando ne ha l'occasione, blocca uno dei poliziotti e gli chiede che anno e`. Poi prende una guida telefonica e cerca freneticamente un nome. Il gigante entra in un negozio d'armi, prende un fucile e uccide il negoziante. Poi qualcuno uccide freddamente due donne che hanno lo stesso nome che quell' altro giovane aveva cercato. A sua volta quello e` anche il nome di una cameriera, Sarah, che apprende degli omicidi per televisione. Il giovane si risveglia da un incubo in cui un'astronava inseguiva e mitragliava un'auto in un paesaggio apocalittico di rovine tecnologiche. La polizia inizia le indagini sugli omicidi e tenta invano di avvertire Sarah. Lei e` uscita per andare al cinema e ha lasciato soli la sua roommate e il suo ragazzo. Mentre sta cenando, Sarah sente alla televisione la notizia che un'altra Sarah e` stata uccisa e controlla sull'elenco telefonico: lei e` la terza di tre persone con quel nome. Capisce di essere un bersaglio. Infatti il killer ha gia` fatto irruzione a casa sua e ha freddato la sua roommate e il suo ragazzo. La ragazza si e` intanto accorta che il giovane la pedina e sospetta che sia lui l'assassino. Si rifugia in una discoteca, ma il killer e` sulle sue tracce e fa irruzione. Sta per freddarla davanti a tutti quando il giovane gli spara. Il killer sembra immortale: nonostante sia stato ripetutamente colpito, si rialza e continua a inseguirli mentre scappano. Il giovane la trascina in auto e fugge a tutta velocita`. Il killer si aggrappa all'auto, ma il giovane riesce a buttarlo giu`. Un poliziotto da` l'allarme ma il killer si impossessa della sua auto e si lancia all'inseguimento. Anche la polizia e` sulle loro tracce perche' il poliziotto aveva diramato il loro numero di targa. Mentre fuggono il giovane spiega a Sarah che il killer e` un "terminator", meta` uomo e meta` macchina, costruito e programmato per uccidere. Il giovane sostiene di provenire dal futuro, da uno dei futuri possibili. Sarah non gli crede e tenta di fuggire. Dopo rocambolesche peripezie in auto, il killer si schianta e i due giovani vengono accerchiati dalla polizia. Nell'auto distrutta non v'e` traccia del killer. Alla polizia il giovane racconta che una catastrofe atomica ha distrutto il mondo e ora il potere ce l'ha un essere perfido, mentre a difendere gli umani e` rimasto soltanto un eroe. Il perfido dittatore ha programmato questo terminator per uccidere la madre dell'eroe: e` stato spedito nel passato per cambiare il futuro. Lui e` uno degli uomini dell'eroe ed e` stato inviato appunto per sventare il piano del dittatore e tenere in vita Sarah finche' dara` alla luce l'eroe. Il problema e` che nessun'arma puo` distruggere il terminator. Naturalmente la polizia non gli crede. Il terminator irrompe nella stazione di polizia e stermina i poliziotti. Il barbone fa pero` in tempo a portarsi via la donna, che comincia a credere al suo racconto. Lui si porta dietro l'incubo di un'umanita` ridotta in condizioni miserabili, che vive in sotterranei umidi e bui, continuamente braccata dalle macchine di morte. Ricorda quando i terminator fecero irruzione nel rifugio e massacrarono tutta le gente che si nascondeva con lui. Lei non ha altra scelta che affidarsi all'unico che sia riuscita a proteggerla. Si rifugiano in un albergo. Il terminator ha pero` scovato sua madre, l'ha uccisa e sta aspettando che lei chiami. Quando chiama, simula la voce della madre e si fa dire dove si trovano. Mentre loro fanno l'amore, il terminator sta viaggiando verso il motel. Di rifugio in rifugio il terminator prosegue la caccia, anche sfigurato. Li sta per investire alla guida di un autocarro ma il giovane riesce a farlo saltare in aria. I due si abbracciano felici mentre il terminator brucia vivo, ma lo scheletro d'acciaio del terminator e` ancora "vivo". Si infilano in una fabbrica automatica, e il giovane riesce a infilare un candelotto di dinamite dentro lo scheletro. Ma, anche in frantumi, il terminator continua a braccare la donna. Si trascinano fra i macchinari finche' lei riesce a schiacciarlo sotto una pressa. Il giovane e` morto ma lei e` rimasta incinta di lui. Piu` che fantascienza, e` horror. Ridondante come tipico del genere, il film spreca un po' la possibilita` di speculare sul paradosso passato-futuro come invece aveva fatto Chris Marker. E` un duello fra un essere indistruttibile, una forza della natura che non concede tregua, e un uomo coraggioso.

Terminator 2 Judgment Day (1991) continues the story but also inverts the moral value of the "terminator". A computer-tyrant sent two terminators back in time to kill John, the leader of the human resistance: first to kill him before he was even conceived (i.e., to kill his mother Sarah) and then to kill him as a child. The first attempt failed. The resistance now sends a terminator to protect John as a child (i.e., John as an adult sent a terminator to protect himself as a child). This good terminator (Sch) is first shown walking naked into a saloon and robbing a motorcyclist of his clothes and bike. Another naked terminator does the same to a police officer. Now the movie becomes a duel between a good punk and a bad cop, both equipped with superhuman powers. John is a trouble child who hates his foster parents. His mother Sarah is in a mental hospital, where she is abused and nobody believes her story. Both the good terminator and the bad cop visit his foster parents and start their hunt. In the meantime, in a high-security lab a black scientist examines the chip he has invented and the artificial hand of an android. Both terminators find John. Virtually invulnerable, they fight each other without even causing a little wound. John understands that one of the two is there to protect him, and suddenly understands that his mother is not mad: she has always been telling the truth. He also understands that he, John, is, in another world, the leader of a revolution. Sarah is told that John is missing, that his foster parents have been found dead and that the suspect looks like the murdered that police never captured years earlier. But she refuses to cooperate and instead manages to escape (after killing the nurse who raped her). John has figured out that the bad cop will try to kill her, because she's the obvious link to him, so he orders the good terminator to help save her. They arrive just in time. The trio runs away and Sarah sets on finding the scientist who will invent the chip that will evolve into the race of criminal machines that will cause the nuclear holocaust and that John (as an adult) is fighting in the future. If they kill Dyson, they prevent the nuclear holocaust and therefore all the trouble that has caused the war between machines and humans. Some friend of Sarah (who looks like a seasoned guerrilla) helps them get sophisticated weapons to attack the lab. Dyson (the black scientist of a previous scene) knows nothing of this. He runs a simple life and is a good husband and father to his wife and daughter. So it is easy for Sarah to break into his house. But then she can't pull the trigger on an innocent, no matter what the consequence of letting him live is. The terminator and the child arrive, and the trio explains to Dyson what this is all about. Dyson himself then decides to cooperate and destroy the chip that he has invented. The trio enters the lab and grabs the chip, but they trigger the alarm and the police surround the building. The trio escapes, but Dyson is trapped. He heroically blows up the building anyway (and presumably dies in the explosion). The trio is now chased by the bad cop, still determined to kill John. The chase ends with a duel between the good terminator and the bad one, with the bad one who keeps reforming after being destroyed. The good terminator loses one artificial arm in the fight (how did it show up in the black scientist's lab before the duel even happened?) Finally the good terminator kills the bad cop in a sea of fire. But now there is one more entity to destroy: the good terminator himself, because a replica of the chip is in his head. John cries, but Sarah accepts to execute the death sentence of the "man" who saved them.

(Translation by/ Tradotto da Mattia Comandini) Terminator 2 Judgment Day (1991) continua la storia ma inverte anche il valore morale del “terminator”. Un tiranno informatico ha inviato due terminator indietro nel tempo per uccidere John, il capo della resistenza umana: il primo per ucciderlo prima che fosse concepito (cioe` di uccidere sua madre Sarah) e poi di ucciderlo da bambino. Il primo tentativo falli`. La resistenza ora invia un terminator a proteggere John da bambino (cioe` John da adulto ha inviato un terminator per proteggersi da bambino). Questo buon terminator viene mostrato per la prima volta camminando nudo in un saloon e derubando un motociclista dei suoi vestiti e della sua moto. Un altro terminator nudo fa lo stesso con un agente di polizia. Ora il film diventa un duello tra un buon teppista e un cattivo poliziotto, entrambi dotati di poteri sovrumani. John e` un bambino problematico che odia i suoi genitori adottivi. Sua madre Sarah e` in un ospedale psichiatrico, dove viene abusata e nessuno crede alla sua storia. Entrambi i terminator visitano i suoi genitori adottivi e iniziano la loro caccia. Nel frattempo, in un laboratorio di alta sicurezza, uno scienziato nero esamina il chip che ha inventato e la mano artificiale di un androide. John capisce che uno dei due e` li` per proteggerlo, e improvvisamente capisce che sua madre non e` pazza: ha sempre detto la verita`. Capisce anche che lui, John, e`, in un altro mondo, il capo di una rivoluzione. A Sarah viene detto che John e` scomparso, che i suoi genitori adottivi sono stati trovati morti e che il sospettato sembra l’assassino che la polizia non ha mai catturato anni prima. Ma lei si rifiuta di collaborare e riesce a fuggire (dopo aver ucciso l’infermiera che l’ha violentata). John ha capito che il cattivo poliziotto tentera` di ucciderla, perche' e` l’evidente collegamento a lui, cosi` ordina al buon terminator ti aiutarlo a salvarla. Arrivano appena in tempo. Il trio fugge e Sarah inizia a cercare lo scienziato che inventera` il chip che si evolvera` nella corsa delle macchine criminali, che causeranno l’olocausto nucleare e che John (da adulto) sta combattendo nel futuro. Se uccidono Dyson, impediscono l’olocausto nucleare e quindi tutti i problemi che ha causato la guerra tra macchine e umani. Alcuni amici di Sarah (che sembrano dei guerriglieri esperti) li aiutano a prendere armi sofisticate per attaccare il laboratorio. Dyson (lo scienziato nero di una scena precedente) non ne sa nulla di tutto cio`. Dirige una vita semplice ed e` un buon marito e padre per la sua moglie e figlia. Quindi e` facile per Sarah irrompere nella sua casa. Ma poi non puo` premere il grilletto su un innocente, non importa quale sia la conseguenza di lasciarlo vivere. Il terminator e il bambino arrivano, e il trio spiega a Dyson di che cosa si tratta. Dyson stesso decide di collaborare e di distruggere il chip che ha inventato. Il trio entra nel laboratorio e prende il chip, ma innescano l’allarme e la polizia circonda l’edificio. Il trio fugge, ma Dyson e` intrappolato. In ogni caso fa esplodere l’edificio eroicamente (e presumibilmente muore nell’esplosione). Il trio ora e` inseguito dal cattivo poliziotto, ancora determinato a uccidere John. L’inseguimento si conclude con un duello tra il buon terminator e il cattivo, con quest’ultimo che continua a riformarsi dopo essere distrutto. Il buon terminator perde un braccio artificiale nel combattimento (come e` apparso nel laboratorio dello scienziato nero prima che il duello fosse accaduto?). Finalmente il buon terminator uccide il cattivo poliziotto in un mare di fuoco. Ma ora c’e` un’altra entita` da distruggere: il buon terminator stesso, perche' una replica del chip e` nella sua testa. John piange, ma Sarah accetta di eseguire la condanna a morte dell’”uomo” che li ha salvati.

Cameron then wasted his talent on two sequels, Rambo - First Blood Part II (1985) and, more notably, Aliens (1986), the sequel to Ridley Scott's Alien (1979). The connection between the two movies can be seen in the ending of the latter, where Ripley suddenly transforms into a fearless Rambo in one of the most ridiculous, tedious, endings in Hollywood history. Alies is overlong and fundamentally devoid of suspense because every single catastrophic scene is so easily predictable. Ripley's shuttle reaches the mothership and is rescued. When she wakes up, she is informed by a firm representative that she has been hybernated for 57 years. In fact, her daughter died three years earlier at the age of 66. When she recovers, she finds herself under investigation: she blew up an expensive spaceship and the corporation does not believe her story. She warns them in vain that thousands of eggs are laying dormant and could hatch at any time. Nobody believes her for the simple fact that the rocky moon LV426 has been colonized for twenty years by more than 100 people, with no reports of monsters. She is fired and sentenced to psychiatric treatment. The colonists on that planet are enjoying a normal life. A family (the two parents and two children) tour the planet, despites the icy gusts, and accidentally stumble into the nest of eggs. Sure enough, one of the eggs hatches a polip that sticks to dad's face. Mothership loses contact with the station. Now the firm representative, Burke, comes to ask for her help. The firm now wants her to travel back to the moon with a group of soldiers. Assured that this time the mission is to destroy the monsters, she accepts. The crew consists of Ripley, Burke, the android Bishop and a bunch of soldiers. When they wake up from hybernation in proximity of the moon, the soldiers, armed to their teeth, display super-confidence arrogance but also military discipline. After an elaborate landing, a few soldiers venture inside the moon base and find nobody. They do find polips in containers, and the android sets out to analyze them. Eventually, they find a traumatized child, Rebecca, nicknamed Newt, the only survivor, and the rest of the colonists dead inside the nuclear furnace of the station. The captain orders not to shoot because it could ignire a thermonuclear reaction. When the monsters attack, the soldiers can only use their flamethrowers. The soldiers are massacred. Ripley assumes command of their armored tank and rescues the three survivors. Ripley, the android Bishop and the soldiers realize that there must be a "queen" laying the eggs that then incubate inside the captured humans. Ripley is all for blowing up the whole place, but Burke, the sneaky firm representative, is opposed. While the group barricades around the lab, the android volunteers to fix their spaceship so they can fly back home. When the monsters attack, the group has to use almost all ammunitions to stop their attack. Burke confesses to Ripley that bringing back a monster would be a lucrative business because it could be used as a biological weapon. Ripley and the child are trapped in the lab when a polips attack them. They frantically try to attract the attention of the others but Burke deliberately switches off the monitor showing what is going on inside the lab. Ripley has to activate the fire alarm in order to get help. She then exposes Burke's treacherous plans to the others. Before they can decide what to do with Burke, they have to face the monsters that are advancing in the air shafts above them. Burke escapes and locks up the group with the monsters, but ends up eaten by one of the monsters. The monsters kill everybody except Ripley and the captain, and capture the child. The android has fixed the spaceship, and Ripley helps the wounded captain reach safety in it, but Ripley refuses to leave without the child. She grabs a gun and walks inside alone to face all the monsters. Ripley finds Newt that is being coccooned to be impregnated by monsters, and they run away. Ripley shoots everything that moves. On their way out they cross the field of eggs and stumble into the queen that is laying more eggs. Ripley incinerates as many eggs as possible while they run out, chased by the furious queen amid endless explosions. The android Bishop saves them just in time and they take off in their spaceship. A thermonuclear explosion destroys the moon behind them. Somehow the queen boarded the spaceship and attacks Ripley. This is now a due between the two. With a final superhuman effort, Ripley manages to expel the queen from the spaceship while a maimed android grabs the child in time before she's ejected too. Ripley, Newt and the captain hybernate for the trip back to base. The Abyss (1989) aims at being an essay on claustrophobia, modelend after Das Boot. A nuclear submarine spots an unidentified object that is traveling underwater at an impossible speed. The object hits the submarine, but the only effect is a few minutes of turbulence. Then the object disappears, but the submarine has lost control and crashes against some rocks. The submarine explodes. For the rescue operation, the navy focuses on an oil rig capable of working underwater, that is commanded by Bud, and dispatches a team led by Bud's bitchy ex-wife Lindsey, who happens to be the one who designed the rig. During the mission, the underwater rig is isolated from the rest of the world and the strong personalities on board fight a war of attrition, continuously arguing about how to proceed. Bud and Lindsey start by hating each other. At the same time they have to fight the war outside, against the mysterious aliens. Outside another war is being fought, because the case quickly becomes an international case, with the US blaming the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union sending troops in the area. Soon, the world is on the verge of a nuclear confrontation. Bud and his subs enter the submarine but find only dead bodies. One of the subs sees something that scares him, panicks, damages his equipment, and is found in a coma. Lindsey is in a vehicle above the submarine and sees a mysterious light flash by. Bud and Lindsey get trapped in the huge underwater rig (resembling a space station) when it is dragged by a collapsing debris into a hole. Lindsey goes outside to repair the damage and has a close encounter with an alien, that looks like a transparent elf, and with the alien spaceship that resembles a luminescent giant amoeba. But, back at the rig, nobody believes her. Two men of the navy, led by the psychotic Coffee, lock themselves in one chamber with the nuclear weapon they have salvaged from the submarine. Lindsey tries to take the weapon from them but they make it clear that their secret mission is not to save men. Nighttime, an alien enters the rig (we see the action through the warped eyes of the alien) and looks for Lindsey. This time the whole crew sees it. Lindsey realizes it does not mean harm and even plays with it, but the thing wants to grab the nuclear bomb and Coffee shuts the door, thereby cutting the alien in two. Coffee wants to kill the alien with the bomb and locks up everybody else. Bud manages to escape and attack Coffee, but Coffee releases the bomb and flees on an underwater vehicle. Bud dives, catches the bomb and ties it to a pipe. Attacked by Coffee, Bud is about to die when Lindsey saves him on another vehicle. Chased by Coffee, the two drive through the bottom of the sea. After a mini underwater Star Wars, Coffee crashes and dies, but the bomb has been untied and it is falling. But Bud and Lindsey are also in trouble, because their vehicle is dead and taking water in. Bud swims back to the rig dragging the body of Lindsey, but Lindsey doesn't make it. Bud tries everything to revive her and eventually succeeds. Bud embarks alone on the mission to save the aliens, but it is the aliens who save him and take him into their underwater spaceship. They communicate with him by projecting images on a giant screen. They are causing giant tsunamis that will cover all the countries in the world to annihilate mankind because mankind has committed too many sins. Bud sees people panicking and the waves about to swallow them. But the waves stop in mid air and retreat. The aliens have taught mankind a lesson and tell Bud to love his wife too. The aliens bring back the rig to the surface of the sea and reunite Bud and Lindsey, while the navy watches over. The action is terribly slow, the plot is terribly predictable. An unbelievable quantity of embarassing Hollywood stereotypes. The only appeal comes from the sophisticated underwater sequences and the complex machinery employed. True Lies (1994) is a James Bond spoof (or, better, a Die Hard spoof), and certainly one of the most elaborate action movies ever made, with plenty of suspenseful acrobatic scenes. It is also a comedy, sort of a screwball comedy within a spy thriller. The amount and scale of destruction is impressive. Harry is a secret service agent who is so "secret" that even his wife, Helen, believes he is only a salesman and that they are living the simplest of middle-class lives with their teenage daughter Dana. Harry, instead, is involved in extremely dangerous and bloody missions. Harry and his partner Gib stage a spectacular raid on a Swiss chalet, and then Harry simply returns home late at night with an excuse for his wife. Harry and Gib are after an organization of Arab terrorists, which they believe centers around an attractive oriental woman, Juno, and which may have acquired nuclear bombs. Juno pretends to be an art dealer specializing in Near East antiquities, and Harry visits her pretending to work for a collector. In reality, we see that Juno is only an employee of the organization because her Arab boss Aziz slaps her after discovering that Harry is an agent and that agents are watching the place. Whenever Helen calls Harry at work, the phone call is routed through an operator who pretends to be the secretary of a computer shop. One day Helen and Dana prepare a birthday dinner for Harry. Alas, Aziz' Arab hitmen ambush Harry. Harry kills them all and then chases Aziz inside a five-star hotel, Aziz riding a motorcycle through the halls of the hotel (and even on the elevator) and Harry riding a horse through the same halls (and even on another elevator). The chase ends on the rooftop of the hotel. Aziz accelerates and the motorcycle successfully lands him in the pool of another hotel, while Harry's horse refuses to jump. At the end of this acrobatic duel and chase, Harry simply returns home and finds Helen still waiting for him in front of a birthday cake. He apologizes and she forgives him, thinking that he's late because he had to work extra hours. Helen works as a secretary in an office. The following day Harry shows up at Helen's office to surprise her with a lunch invitation but he overhears her talking on the phone with a man called Simon, who gives her a secret rendezvous. Harry leaves the building devastated, convinced that she's having an affair. It doesn't help that Gib has been dumped by his wife and tells Harry that wives cheat all the time. Gib reminds Harry that he has neglected Helen too many times, and it is not surprising that she is falling in love with someone else. Harry decides to use his team of secret agents to spy on his wife, so the operation turns from surveilling terrorists to surveilling Helen. Gib thinks it's a crazy idea that could get them in serious trouble, but Harry is determined. And so Harry finds out that Simon works as a used car salesman. Simon has been pretending to be a secret agent whose life is in danger and who needs Helen's help. Harry shows up at Simon's business and pretends to be interested in a sports car. Simon gives him a ride in one such car and chats about seducing frustrated housewives with stories that get their attention, stories that give them a taste of adventure. At home Harry asks Helen how her day went and Helen lies to him. Gib tries to hide it from Harry, because he doesn't want more trouble, but Harry finds out anyway that Simon gave Helen a night appointment pretending to need her help for a special mission. Over dinner she lies to him about where she's going. Harry mobilizes his team to follow them. Simon meets Helen and drives her to his secluded trailer, where he tells her that she has to fly with him to Paris and play the role of his wife. In order to train her to behave like his wife, he begins to caress her legs and kiss her. Just then Harry launches an attack on the trailer. Simon and Helen are suddenly arrested/ kidnapped by a team of armed masked men. Helen is taken to a secret location where she is interrogated by Harry, who is using a device to alter his voice and from behind a glass screen. Harry clearly wants to know whether she slept with Simon and Helen vehemently denies it. She confesses she is a frustrated housewife who, for a second, dreamed of an adventurous life. Harry then invents a mission for her: since she wants adventure, Harry decides to give her a fake mission that will be more realistic than Simon's fake one. Harry decides to give her the thrill of her life. Helen has to accept in order to regain her freedom. Later, Harry and Gib punish Simon by taking him to the rooftop of a building and accusing him of being a wanted terrorist. Simon pleads to be just a womanizer and pees on himself. Harry and Gib humiliate him and then let him go. Harry's assignment for Helen is that, when activated by a man called Boris, and using the undercover codename of Doris, she must strip for a perverted terrorist in a hotel room, impersonating a call girl. Doris/Helen is given directions to the hotel room, where she sees a man in the dark, unable to see his face. The man is Harry, who plays a tape with the instructions for her to strip. Her mission is to plant a transmitter in the room. She rebels when he starts touching her. She in fact punches him and kicks him before leaving. But she doesn't go very far because the Arab terrorists break into the room and arrest both. Now she suddenly sees that the pervert was her husband Harry, whom she still believes is only a humble salesman. As the terrorists drag them into their van, Helen thinks they are there for her and keeps telling Harry to let her handle the situation. They are taken into an airplane, where they are welcome by Juno, and transported to the bunker where Helen finally realizes that her husband is a spy. They witness the terrorists bury one nuclear weapon in the ground and load the others on trucks destined for other cities. The nuclear warheads were smuggled into the country hidden inside Juno's antiquities. Juno and Aziz want to know which agency Harry works for and are ready to torture him, but Harry manages to free himself and Helen. The couple then has to fight against dozens of Arab terrorists. Luckily for Harry, Helen drops a gun on the stairs, the gun keeps jumping down step by step and shooting every time it hits a step, which kills scores of terrorists. Helen (still dressed like a hooker) is taken hostage by Aziz and Juno while Harry manages to escape but has to swim underwater while fire spreads over him. He is rescued by Gib. They immediately mobilize the air force: the place must be evacuated because a nuclear bomb is about to explode, and the terrorists must be stopped before they reach other cities with the other nuclear bombs. Helen travels in Juno's limo. Harry and Gib take a helicopter and chase the limo. While jets attack and destroy Aziz's trucks on a bridge, Harry flies over Juno's limo. Helen attacks Juno and knocks her out, but during the fight they accidentally killed the limo driver, whose foot remains stuck on the accelerator. The car is now moving at high speed towards a section of the bridge that has been bombed. Harry on the jet has to rescue Helen. It becomes an acrobatic rescue during which Helen is hanging from the plane just when the car plunges into the sea. Harry lands safely with Helen and they kiss while the nuclear bomb explodes, but now everybody is far enough to be safe from it. It's not over yet. Aziz and some of his men manage to escape again and reach the city where Harry and Helen live. Harry is informed that Aziz has taken an hostage: his daughter Dana. Harry jumps on a fighter jet and (after a few mistakes that almost kill Gib and the others) manages to fly it towards the high-rise building where Aziz is. Dana is smart and steals the key that would activate Aziz's nuclear warhead while agents infiltrate the building pretending to be TV reporters. Harry, flying his fighter jet, reaches the building and wreaks havoc flying inside the floor occupied by the terrorists. Aziz chases Dana who climbs a very tall crane hanging outside the building. When Dana is about to fall, Harry pilots his fighter plane below her so she can jump on the cockpit cover. Aziz does not hesitate to jump too and hangs on to the tail of the plane (despite painfully hitting his testicles), while other terrorists chase the plane with a helicopter. Harry manouvers the plane trying to get rid of the terrorist while the girl swings wildly in the sky. Eventually Aziz gets stuck on a missile of the plane, and Harry simply shoots the missile. The missile flies through the building and hits the helicopter of the terrorists, killing all of them. One year later Harry and Helen are having dinner with Dana when the phone rings. The caller asks for Boris and Doris. Harry and Helen are now both secret agents. They are dispatched to a party in a fancy hotel where they meet Simon, who is working as a waiter for the hotel and is trying to seduce a woman pretending to be an undercover agent. They confront him and he pees again in his pants. Waiting for the action to begin, they dance a tango with Helen holding a rose in her mouth.

(Translation by/ Tradotto da=20 Gaia Giorgi) The Abyss (1989) aspira ad essere un saggio sulla claustrofobia, forgiato sul modello di Das Boot (1981) Un sottomarino nucleare individua un oggetto non identificato che viaggia ad una incredibile velocita'. L'oggetto urta il sottomarino ma causa solo pochi minuti di turbolenza. Il sottomarino, scomparso l'oggetto, e` ormai privo di controllo, si schianta su delle rocce ed e` danneggiato da esplosioni. Per le operazioni di salvataggio, la Marina militare conta su piattaforma petrolifera in grado di lavorare a grandi profondita'. E' gestita da Bud che invia una spedizione condotta dalla scontrosa Lindsey, progettatrice della piattaforma stessa. Mentre la piattaforma e' isolata dal mondo esterno, a bordo si combatte una guerra tra forti personalita' perennemente discordanti. Bud e Lindsey incominciano ad odiarsi proprio mentre devono fronteggiare il misterioso alieno. In superficie e' in corso un'altra guerra: la scoperta, diventata ben presto internazionale, costringe gli USA ad ammonire l'Unione Sovietica colpevole di aver inviato militari in quell'area. In breve il mondo si trova sull'orlo di un conflitto nucleare. Bud ed i suoi sommozzatori entrano nel sottomarino ma trovano solo corpi privi di vita. Uno dei sommozzatori scorge qualche cosa, terrorizzato e colto dal panico danneggia il proprio equipaggiamento: viene trovato in coma. Lindsey, da una navetta vicino al sottomarino, scorge un lampo dall'origine misteriosa. Bud e Lindsey rimangono intrappolati nella piattaforma sottomarina (stavano riparando una stazione spaziale?) a causa di uno smottamento che la trascina in un baratro. Lindsey esce per riparare il danno e ha un incontro ravvicinato co l'alieno, simile ad un elfo trasparente, e con la sua nave spaziale assomigliante ad una gigantesca ameba. Una volta tornata nella piattaforma pero' nessuno le crede. Due uomini della Marina, sotto il comando dello psicotico Coffee, si chiudono in una camera con due armi nucleari recuperati dal sottomarino. Lindsey cerca di sottrarle al loro controllo ma e' chiaro che la missione segreta non e' per salvare degli uomini. Durante la notte un alieno entra nella piattaforma (tutto viene mostrato con la visione deformante dell'alieno) per cercare Lindsey. Questa volta lo vede l'intero equipaggio. Lindsey comprende che non ha intenzioni di fare del male e addirittura ci gioca; la cosa intende prendere le bombe nucleari e Coffee chiudendo il portello taglia in due l'alieno. Coffee intende uccidere l'alieno con la bomba e, per questo, rinchiude tutti gli altri. Bud riesce a fuggire e attaccare Coffee che, lasciata la bomba, fugge a bordo di un veicolo sottomarino. Bud recupera la bomba e la lega ad un tubo metallico. Attaccato da Coffee, Bud sta per essere ucciso quando Lindsey, a bordo di un altro veicolo, lo salva. Inseguiti da Coffee i due fuggono nelle profondita' del mare. Dopo una mini Star Wars sottomarina, Coffee si schianta e muore ma le bombe, slegatesi, precipitano. Anche Bud e Lindsey si trovano nei guai: il loro veicolo e' danneggiato ed imbarcano acqua. Bud torna a nuoto sulla piattaforma trascinando il corpo di Lindsey, ma Lindsey non ce la fa. Bud tenta di rianimarla e, alla fine, ci riesce. Bud parte in missione solitaria per aiutare gli alieni ma sono gli stessi alieni a salvarlo e a portarlo nella navetta spaziale. Comunicano con Bud grazie ad immagini proiettate su uno schermo gigante dove giganteschi tsuna mi, scatenati da loro, distruggono tutti i paesi del mondo perche' l'umanita', colpevole di troppi peccati, venga punita. Bud vede persone in preda al panico sul punto di essere inghiottite da onde che, invece, si fermano a mezz'aria e retrocedono. Gli alieni hanno dato una lezione all'umanita' e chiedono a Bud che egli ami sua moglie. Gli alieni riportano la piattaforma in superficie e, mentre Bud e Lindsey si riconciliano, la Marina sorveglia. Gli eventi si svolgono in maniera terribilmente lenta e la trama e' assurdamente prevedibile; senza contare poi la presenza di una quantita' incredibile di stereotipi hollywoodiani. Gli unici elementi gradevoli sono le sequenze subacquee ed i congegni. True Lies (1994) e' una parodia di James Bond (o meglio, una parodia di Die Hard) Harry e' un agente segreto, molto segreto. Persino sua moglie, Helen, crede che sia un semplice venditore e che insieme conducano una delle piu' classiche vite da ceto medio. Invece Harry e' coinvolto in missioni sanguinose e pericolosissime. Harry e Gib, suo collega ed amico (appostato come copertura per una spettacolare incursione in uno chalet svizzero) sono sulle tracce di un'organizzazione terroristica araba, - manovrata da un'attraente donna orientale, Juno - forse intenzionata all'acquisto di bombe nucleari. Juno in realta' e' solo una pedina della organizzazione. Dei sicari tentano di uccidere Harry: ne deriva un ridicolo inseguimento a cavallo e motocicletta nei corridoi di un hotel. Harry attraversa fontane e sale sull'ascensore, tutto cio' a cavallo, per prendere il terrorista con un ostaggio. Una variazione divertente incomincia quando Harry scopre per caso che sua moglie, una segretaria dimessa, ha accettato di andare a pranzo con un uomo misterioso, Simon, un venditore di auto usate. Dopo averla trascurata per tanto, troppo, tempo (Gib ) n. mia non e' sorpreso che desideri romantiche avventure. L'obiettivo delle investigazioni cambia: dai terroristi alla moglie di Harry. Simon fa la corte ad Helen e le si dichiara. Proprio quando e' sul punto di fare l'amore con lei i compagni di Harry scagliano un massiccio attacco entrando nella sua casa e rapiscono Helen. Helen, condotta in una stanza, e' interrogata da Harry e Gib nascosti dietro uno specchio. L'interrogatorio riguarda esclusivamente la sua vita personale. Confessa di essere una donna frustrata che, almeno per un momento, ha sognato una vita piena di avventure. Harry decide di darle una vita entusiasmante; le dice che deve lavorare per loro se non vuole andare in prigione. Helen accetta e le viene dato un compito: impersonare una ragazza squillo. L'incontro avviene in una stanza d'albergo. Helen non riconosce che il cliente che ha richiesto lo strip e' suo marito. Solo quando incomincia a toccarla si ribella e, finalmente, se ne accorge. Ma, proprio in quel momento, gli arabi irrompono nella stanza e li rapiscono (H. pensa che siano li' per lei). Fatti salire su di un aereo, dove e' Juno ad accoglierli, sono portati nel covo dove intendono ricattare Harry perche' collabori con loro se rivuole sua moglie. Il capo dei terroristi come dimostrazione distrugge un'isola al largo della Florida e minaccia di fare altrettanto con una citta' americana alla settimana. Harry progetta di scappare ma i terroristi hanno sua moglie (vestita ancora come una squillo). Per salvarla da' vita ad imprese spettacolari. Sfortunatamente alcuni dei terroristi riusciti a fuggire hanno rapito sua figlia. La ragazza presa una chiave di controllo delle testate nucleare viene inseguita dal capo dei terroristi sulle impalcature di un grattacielo. Harry prende in prestito un aereo da combattimento per salvarla e la spinge a saltare sulla plancia. Anche il terrorista si lancia e si aggrappa alla coda dell'aeroplano. Harry manovra l'aeroplano per sbarazzarsi del terrorista mentre la ragazza viene sballottata pericolosamente.

Cameron co-scripted Kathryn Bigelow's Strange Days (1995). Titanic (1998) is in many ways the continuation of Abyss, If English is your first language and you could translate this text, please contact me. Scroll down for recent reviews in english.

Titanic (1998) e` in un certo senso la continuazione di Abyss, ma a un livello molto piu` commerciale. La storia e` terribilmente banale e allungata in maniera estenuante. Una spedizione e` alla ricerca del diamante preziosissimo che si trovava sul Titanic. Con macchinari sofisticati, ripesca la cassaforte dove dovrebbe trovarsi, ma dentro c'e` soltanto il disegno di una donna nuda con al collo quel diamante. Una centenaria sente la notizia per radio e telefona per identificarsi come la donna del disegno. Dai libri di bordo risulta che fosse fra i periti, ma invece racconta come si salvo`. Rose faceva parte dell'alta societa`, ma era insofferente a quello stile di vita artificiale. Disperata, stava per gettarsi in mare quando un giovane, Jack, che aveva vinto il biglietto del Titanic a poker, la convinse a non farlo. Rose viveva nel lusso, controllata dalla madre, un ghiacciolo interessata soltanto a salvare le fortune della famiglia tramite un buon matrimonio, e dal fidanzato, un essere vile e sprezzante. Con la vita dei saloni e della prima classe contrasta la folla dei miserabili che vive nella stiva e la folla dei macchinisti che opera le caldaie. Il fidanzato regalo` a Rose il diamante rarissimo. Ma Rose era sempre piu` affascinata dalla vita del popolino e dalla personalita` di Jack, e, nonostante la guardia stretta di madre, fidanzato e servitore, chiese a Jack di ritrarla nuda e poi, sfuggendo alla caccia del servitore, fece l'amore con lui. Il fidanzato, per vendicarsi, fece credere che Jack avesse rubato il diamante e lo fece arrestare. Proprio in quel momento il Titanic urto` l'iceberg e comincio` ad affondare. Mentre gli ufficiali favorivano i passeggeri di prima classe, tenendo chiuse le porte della terza classe, Rose si precipito` a salvare Jack, ammanettato nel cuore della nave. Rose rifiuto` di salire su una delle scialuppe di salvataggio per rimanere con Jack, facendo infuriare il fidanzato al punto che questi tento` di ucciderli. Ironia della sorte, il diamante rimase nella tasca della sua giacca. La nave cola a picco in una scena lunga e insopportabile, il kitsch del catastrofico. Alla fine rimangono centinaia di disgraziati a sguazzare nell'acqua gelida dell'oceano e fra questi anche Jack e Rose. Jack mette in salvo Rose su un pezzo di legno ma muore assiderato. Una delle scialuppe torna indietro e trova Rose ancora viva. Il fidanzato intanto si e` salvato facendo finta di essere il padre di un bambino. La va a cercare fra i superstiti, ma lei si nasconde, preferisce farsi credere morta. Ora, vecchia, guarda l'oceano: in tasca ha ancora il diamante, e lo getta in mare. Oltre che incredibile la storia e` anche veramente stupida: il diamante era il regalo del fidanzato e non di Jack, e non si capisce perche' mai lei dovrebbe identificare Jack con il regalo del suo fidanzato.

Cameron also created the cyberpunk TV series Dark Angel (2000�2002). Avatar (2009) is a random collection of stereotypes and dejavus, the ultimate implausible plot with implausible characters in an implausible world, with frequent plagiarizing of old sci-fi and adventure movies. Inside a "Space Odyssey"-like spaceship humans are preparing for a mission. There are three entities at work. The scientists want to explore and better understand the planet Pandora. A corporation has the mission to obtain control of the largest reserves ever discovered of a precious mineral (which is no longer oil in that future, but you get the point). And the army is there to "protect" the mission with its high-tech helicopters and cyborgs. The problem is a savage tribe that inhabits that region and needs to be infiltrated and convinced to cooperate. The scientists, led by the tough-talking and chain-smoking Grace, can create "avatars" of people who look like the natives. Jake has been selected for this mission because he is the brother, and therefore shares the same genes, of a renown scientist who died. Jake is actually a former soldier who is now paralyzed below the belly and therefore on a wheelchair. However, his avatar will have all the strength and agility of a warrior. The avatars can be recalled at any time by pressing a button that reactivates the real human and temporarily kills the avatar. Jake immediately masters the new body and enjoys being able to run and jump again. However, he is reckless and irresponsible and gets immediately lost in the jungle of Pandora, inhabited by all sorts of ferocious monsters a` la "Jurassic Park". A native mostly-naked girl saves him from a pack of wolf-like creatures by showing her dexterity with the bow. (and she conveniently speaks fluent English). She tells him that he is stupid, ignorant and childish but she likes that he is fearless. He first experiences the magic of the forest when he gets surrounded by tiny medusa-like spirits. The horse-riding and spear-branding savages capture him and take him to their chief (in a scene modeled after a million Indian movies). The chief conveniently entrusts him to the girl, Neytiri, who is his daughter, to get the training necessary to become a member of their tribe. Grace pushes the button and brings him back to camp where he relates his adventures with the tribe: his job is to spy on them, infiltrate them and then betray them. He keeps going back and forth between human (in the laboratory) and avatar (in the forest), filing report after report while getting better and better at living like them. The tribe lives just like the old "Indian" tribes of the USA, except that on Pandora they also have flying horses. He passes all the tests and is accepted by the tribe. The girl takes him to the most sacred place and they make love. Just then the giant machine of the corporation begins mowing the jungle on its way towards the mineral deposits. The colonel in charge of the military terminates the avatars of Jake and Grace, who are trying to stop the aggression. Jake is given one hour to convince the tribe to evacuate or they will all be killed by the army. Jake's avatar returns, accompanied by Grace's avatar, to the forest and confesses to the tribe that he came as a spy to help destroy them (and did a very good job). Now the girl obviously hates him. Jake and Grace are tied up and about to be executed when the troops attack and the massacre begins: the forest is on fire and the chief is killed. Jake and Grace are detained by the evil colonel. A female officer leads a mutiny and frees Jake and Grace. However, Grace is wounded by the troops as they escape. Jake risks his life by returning to the forest as an avatar and looking for ways to save the tribe. The tribe is assembled in prayer around the sacred place, where Jake talks them into trusting him. They bury Grace there (the tribe prays for her too). After another ridicule speech to the tribe, Jake talks alone to the sacred place, invoking the mother goddess. Then the tribe attacks the army. Obviously their bows and arrows can achieve little against the killing machines of the army. But the mother goddess apparently heard Jake's prayer because she unleashes all sorts of monsters against the invading army and the evil humans are defeated. The most vicious of all monsters even let the girl ride him. This monster gets killed by the colonel's personal cyborg and then Jake having survived an epic fall from the sky has to save the girl from the colonel and finally the colonel is killed the old-fashioned way by one of the girl's arrows. The colonel has already pressed the button to deactivate Jake's avatar who is slowly dying under the girl's eyes. The girl enters the lab and figures out that the crippled man lying on the floor is her Jake and gives him oxygen. Jake on wheelchair logs his last report and then bids farewell to the space station joining the girl for a great celebration in the sacred place.

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