Saw this debate being had elsewhere on the interwebs and thought it would make for a great topic for this board.

Now these are two of my favorite directors, and Fincher has been amazing for the last 10 years or so. Cameron has obviously not done anything since Avatar, but he might have the best filmography of the 80s/90s of anyone not named Spielberg or Lucas.

So, question is, who do your prefer? And optional portion: list your top 5 movies for each director.

My pick is James Cameron, for the simple fact that Titanic and Terminator 2 are some of my favorite movies ever. Add in the fact that he made True Lies and that puts him a hair over Fincher fo me.

Fincher top 5:
1. Fight Club
2. The Social Network
3. Gone Girl
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. Seven

Cameron top 5:
1. Titanic
2. Terminator 2
3. Avatar
4. True Lies
5. The Terminator

I suck at associating directors with films, had no idea what Fincher's resume looked like.

Fincher
1. The Social Network
2. Fight Club
3. Seven
4. Zodiac
5. Gone Girl
999999. Benjamin Button


Cameron
1, Terminator 2: Judgement Day
2. The Terminator
3. Aliens
4. True Lies
5. Aliens

I love Fincher's visual style, but as a storyteller Cameron gets my vote.

Fincher:

1. The Game
2. Se7en
3. Fight Club
4. Zodiac
5. The Social Network

Cameron
1. T2
2. Aliens
3. True Lies
4. The Abyss
5. Avatar

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Related:

Aliens >>>>>>>>> Alien 3

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/ thread

Was really shocked to see the social network above fight club and seven on people's list. Pulled up a ranking of Fincher's movies and see they (well at least some random website with a high google listing) has it as number one as well.

Amen.

It's several things.

1. It was THE "event movie" of my childhood, like Star Wars was for the 70s kids.
2. My first pair of movie boobs.
3. The entire second half of the movie is what kept me coming back. Just superb filmmaking that gets overlooked due to the love story.
4. Loved James Horner's score and it was the first movie soundtrack I remember buying on CD. (Both the original and the "Back to Titanic" that was made after the first one sold so well.)
5. The guy hitting the propeller on the way down.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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It's several things.

1. It was THE "event movie" of my childhood, like Star Wars was for the 70s kids.
2. My first pair of movie boobs.
3. The entire second half of the movie is what kept me coming back. Just superb filmmaking that gets overlooked due to the love story.
4. Loved James Horner's score and it was the first movie soundtrack I remember buying on CD. (Both the original and the "Back to Titanic" that was made after the first one sold so well.)
5. The guy hitting the propeller on the way down.

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Probably need to give it a rewatch. I haven't actually seen it since it came out.

Outside of Alien 3 and Seven, I don't recall seeing any of Fincher's movies.

I've seen everything Cameron has made, so clearly Cameron would win this matchup.

Fincher:
1. Seven
2. Alien 3

Cameron:
1. Aliens
2. True Lies
3. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
4. The Terminator
5. The Abyss

Alien 3 was one of most disappointing movies I've ever seen. The first trailer I ever saw for it was, interestingly enough, attached to Terminator 2 in the summer of '91, and featured the alien egg from the first movie's ad campaign in orbit over Earth. Yet we ended up with a movie that never showed Earth, but rather was set on a prison planet infested with lice. As a stand-alone film, it was a good enough movie, but when viewed in the larger context as a follow-up to Aliens, it fails. It was visually well done, but then again, no Alien movie has ever wanted for anything in that department. But what really aggravated me was a quote from Fincher himself, in response to criticisms of his movie, that he made the movie for himself, not fans of the previous installments, which I translated as a **** you, I don't care what you think, this is what I want kind of attitude. Which is fine, but off-putting.

edit - on Cameron, I've loved his early work, but once he started injecting his politics into his movies, I've soured on him. Politics such as the "not the better half" line from Titanic, or essentially claiming all of humanity is awful in Avatar.

I'll say this about Fincher: while I don't connect with every movie he makes, no director in modern Hollywood is better at creating a cinematic atmosphere.

The hero of Avatar was a human though, so...

Agreed. I don't even know if he uses the same cinematographer, but I can instantly tell when it's a Fincher movie.

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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The hero of Avatar was a human though, so...

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... who wanted to be a blue thing

Alien 3 was a big step down from the first two, but I still enjoyed it. I'd place it third in the franchise.

I've very recently rewatched. It is definitely not third

Totally respect that opinion.

I could even argue that Fincher is the better director, Cameron just has several of my favorites and I lean more towards sci-fi/action than the genres that Fincher tends to work in. They're really just very different directors.

Boyd Crowder said:

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If you haven't seen Zodiac, do yourself a favor and watch it soon. One of my all-time favorites.

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I've never even heard of it. Was it under the radar?

I think it was RDJ's last role before he blew up in Ironman, and ironically starts two other Marvel actors - Ruffalo and Gylenhall.

It had a pretty ****ty release date in terms of what you'd expect from a big cool movie (March 2, 2007).I know 300 came out right around then, but not sure what else.

The title didn't really tell you anything if you didn't already know what it was, and the star power was pretty meh - RDJ was a has-been, Glyenhall was that guy from Brokeback Mountain, and not to sound pitiful, but the only thing I had seen Ruffalo in was "13 Going on 30". I saw it on cable a few years later late one night and couldn't believe I had missed in at the movie theater.

James Cameron is the only director where I can say I've enjoyed every film he's made (I don't count Piranha 2).

Quote:

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Not even Spielberg or Scorcese make that list for me.

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This is true for me as well. There's a good number for both that I haven't seen. (Lincoln, Hugo, etc.)

Pretty sure only the following directors get automatic watches from me:
Cameron
Nolan
Tarantino
Fincher (Though to a lesser extent than the above)

Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Quote:

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Not even Spielberg or Scorcese make that list for me.

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This is true for me as well. There's a good number for both that I haven't seen. (Lincoln, Hugo, etc.)

Pretty sure only the following directors get automatic watches from me:
Cameron
Nolan
Tarantino
Fincher (Though to a lesser extent than the above)

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I'm schizo on Tarantino. I either seem to love his movies or hate them.

YouBet said:

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Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Quote:

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Not even Spielberg or Scorcese make that list for me.

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This is true for me as well. There's a good number for both that I haven't seen. (Lincoln, Hugo, etc.)

Pretty sure only the following directors get automatic watches from me:
Cameron
Nolan
Tarantino
Fincher (Though to a lesser extent than the above)

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I'm schizo on Tarantino. I either seem to love his movies or hate them.

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Man, I'm the same way with Tarantino. I loved Pulp Fiction and Inglorious Basterds, everything else feels like a few great scenes and a bunch of stuff thrown at the wall.

MuckRaker96 said:

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YouBet said:

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Brian Earl Spilner said:

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Quote:

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Not even Spielberg or Scorcese make that list for me.

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This is true for me as well. There's a good number for both that I haven't seen. (Lincoln, Hugo, etc.)

Pretty sure only the following directors get automatic watches from me:
Cameron
Nolan
Tarantino
Fincher (Though to a lesser extent than the above)

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I'm schizo on Tarantino. I either seem to love his movies or hate them.

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Man, I'm the same way with Tarantino. I loved Pulp Fiction and Inglorious Basterds, everything else feels like a few great scenes and a bunch of stuff thrown at the wall.

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Yep.

SJEAg said:

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"The Game" getting no love, and it's one of my favorite Fincher movies. And I know "Panic Room" is not his most well regarded, but I find it thoroughly entertaining.

These are probably the only two directors that I'll see the movie on their name alone (although Avatar 2+ might test this). Not even Spielberg or Scorcese make that list for me.

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Check my list

But you're right, it's a holy crap what's happening here kinda movie that keeps you guessing all the way through and a lot of people have forgotten about it.

Not really under the radar but not a blockbuster by any means. Made $85 million at the box office and the cast is outstanding (RDJ, Gyllenhaal, Ruffalo, Mulroney, Edwards, Logue, Sevigny, Cox).