James Cameron is perhaps the most innovative blockbuster filmmaker of all-time, and not just because his 2009 classic Avatar is the highest grossing film ever made. Cameron found a way to direct action that was unlike anything the industry had ever seen before, and was frequently willing to use emerging technology to his advantage. While some summer blockbusters fade from the collective memory soon after they are released, Cameron’s films like Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Titanic, True Lies, The Abyss, and Avatar: The Way of Water are still remembered as modern classics.
A filmmaker of Cameron’s ambition is less likely to emerge in today’s cinematic ecosystem, as many of the most talented storytellers are working on prestige television shows, which have become the standard format for mature entertainment. Here are ten great shows to watch if you love James Cameron movies.
10 ‘Battlestar Galactica’ (2004-2009)
Created by Glen A. Larson and Ronald D. Moore
Battlestar Galactica was heralded as one of the most impressive television reboots of all-time, as it took what was initially a cheesy ripoff of the Star Wars franchise and transformed it into a nakedly political drama series that evoked direct parallels to current events involving the war on terror. Cameron is known for bringing this type of political depth to his projects; Aliens can be seen as an allusion to the Vietnam War, and Avatar has many parallels to the genocide of Native Americans in the frontier era.
Battlestar Galactica also delivered some incredible space battles and fight scenes that were quite impressive for their time; while it would be hard for a network television series to deliver the type of action that Cameron did with Avatar, Battlestar Galactica was a step forward for the development of “blockbuster event TV.”
Watch on Prime Video
9 ‘Firefly’ (2002)
Created by Joss Whedon
Firefly is a classical space opera that pays homage to many aspects of Cameron’s filmography. Included within the show is the fast-paced military action of Aliens, the complex plot mechanics of The Terminator franchise, the sweeping romance of Titanic, and even the existentialist ruminations about the future that made The Abyss such a standout entry in the genre back in its initial window of release.
Despite not being an initial success and getting canceled by Fox at the end of its first season, Firefly has amassed a strong cult fanbase and expanded into different forms of media, including various books, comics, fan fiction, and the excellent spinoff feature film Serenity. Like Cameron’s work on The Terminator and Avatar franchises, it is impressive that showrunner Joss Whedon was able to pool his influences in order to make a work of complete originality that did not feel derivative.
8 ‘Westworld’ (2016-2022)
Created by Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan
Westworld is the type of bold, risk-taking science fiction spectacle that Cameron would likely approve of, as the reboot of the 1973 film of the same name included all the interesting plot twists and nuanced character arcs that fans had come to expect from Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. There are many similarities to some of Cameron’s films, most notably The Terminator franchise; Westworld tackled the debate about the role that artificial intelligence played in society, and questioned whether it would be possible for mankind to reach a peaceful solution to the conflict.
Although the show was ultimately harmed by its weekly release pattern, Westworld had faith in its audience to become invested in the story and follow the various plot threads that were set up. One of the most defining attributes that has been true for all of Cameron’s work is that he has a strong sense of respect for his audience.
7 ‘Chuck’ (2007-2012)
Created by Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz
Chuck was a more comedic spin on the espionage adventure story that has a lot of parallels with Cameron’s classic action film True Lies. In both Chuck and True Lies, an untraditional hero is forced to team up with a far more experienced superspy in order to stop a malevolent group of villains from wreaking havoc. Like True Lies, Chuck is able to produce a good deal of comedy without ever undercutting the more dramatic stakes of the narrative.
Chuck was very innovative with its action, and frequently paid homage to the classic work in Cameron’s career. Considering that the titular character played by Zachary Levi is a self-professed science fiction geek with a stated admiration for the Alien and Terminator movies, there are more than a few clever references to Cameron’s greatest films that his fans are sure to appreciate when they pop up.
6 ‘Lost’ (2004-2010)
Created by J.J. Abrams, Jeffrey Lieber, and Damon Lindelof
Lost was a groundbreaking work of television that kickstarted an era of “blockbuster shows,” which had the same type of “water cooler effect” that Cameron classics like Avatar and Titanic had when they first premiered. Although the show was known for constantly subverting audience expectations with shocking plot twists, it was always a “must see” show that generated high levels of engagement in order for viewers to feel like they were keeping up with the new information.
Lost was successful at merging prestige with spectacle, and the divisive season finale holds up far better than many of its harsher critics were ever willing to give it credit for. As with many of Cameron’s greatest films, Lost succeeded because the showrunners recognized that none of the inventive plot twists that they came up with would be of any value if the audience was not deeply invested in the characters.
5 ‘The Last of Us’ (2023-Present)
Created by Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin
The Last of Us has already proven to be one of the most exciting shows on television, and has certainly proved that the “video game” curse does not apply to a show that has writing and acting that is this good. While The Last of Us includes the type of horror-centric spectacle that Cameron fans would appreciate (including a harrowing sequence in the first season that is directly inspired by Aliens), it’s also a show that has a strong environmentalist message in the same way that the Avatar movies do.
The Last of Us became a juggernaut because of the strong characters, as Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsay gave emotionally depthful performances that elevated the material. Cameron may be best known as being the “action movie guy,” but the romance in films like Titanic and The Terminator prove that he is just as strong as a writer of character relationships.
Watch on Max
4 ‘The Venture Brothers’ (2003-2018)
Created by Christopher McCulloch
The Venture Brothers is a purely joyful experience for anyone that loves popular culture at large, as the highly influential Adult Swim shows aired seven seasons of surprisingly intelligent, emotional, and action-packed science fiction comedy that proved to be far more than the parody of Johnny Quest that it was originally intended to be.
The Venture Brothers is jam-packed with references to different Cameron films, including the time travel of The Terminator, the military action of Aliens, the top secret espionage of True Lies, the exploratory scientific experiments of The Abyss, the science fiction spectacle of Avatar, and even the sweeping romance of Titanic. The Venture Brothers isn’t just a fun cartoon show; it’s a deeply compassionate work of science fiction brilliance that was never given enough credit for just how groundbreaking it was compared to other Adult Swim shows.
3 ‘Legion’ (2017-2019)
Created by Noah Hawley
Legion is unlike any other comic book show ever made, and may serve as a satisfying viewing for those that have felt burdened by superhero fatigue. Instead of trying to tell an elaborate tie-in story that attempts to bridge connections with the larger X-Men universe, Legion told a very specific story about the mutant David Haller (Dan Stevens), whose ability to have multiple personalities has made him assume that he is mentally ill.
Legion has the type of visual inventiveness and complex multiversal storytelling that fans of Cameron may appreciate, as it does not require any previous knowledge of any other Marvel shows or films in order to be enjoyed. Considering how disappointing many of the recent Marvel television shows on Disney+ have been, the bold steps that Legion took forward feel like they were even more ahead of their time.
2 ‘Primal’ (2019-Present)
Created by Genndy Tartakovsky
Primal is a work of ambitious narrative storytelling unlike anything else in television history, and may have generated the same amount of confusion and doubt upon its announcement that Cameron experienced when he was pitching Avatar for the first time. Set in a vague period in prehistory, Primal focuses on the relationship between a human hunter and a lonely dinosaur as they try to survive amidst the perilous wilderness.
Like many of Cameron’s greatest films, Primal was able to use groundbreaking technology in order to make narrative leaps forward, as it would have been impossible to create the show only a few years earlier, when animation technology was not as advanced. While at times it is uncompromisingly bleak, Primal is such a creative spin on a unique genre that those that love Aliens and The Terminator series may find themselves drawn to it on a purely aesthetic level.
1 ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ (2024-Present)
Created by Donald Glover and Francesca Sloane
Mr. & Mrs. Smith is perhaps the closest that the industry will ever get to a sequel to True Lies, as it finds the same exact mix of romance and action that made Cameron’s 1994 classic one of the most successful action films of its decade. The notion of two spies having to pretend to be a married couple is compelling enough in its own right, but Mr. & Mrs. Smith coasts off of the charisma of Donald Glover and Maya Erskine, who have the same excellent chemistry that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis had in True Lies.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith features better action scenes than most movies, and leaves viewers with a compelling hook for a second season. Although it is still surprising that Cameron never ended up reuniting with Schwarzenegger and Curtis to make a True Lies sequel, Mr. & Mrs. Smith may have ended up creating a new media empire of its own.
