James Cameron vs Steven Spielberg: Face Off

As Steven Spielberg is currently enjoying a huge success with the excellent WEST SIDE STORY, critically if not so much commercially, we thought what better time to reassess the merits of one of cinema’s greatest living directors. Despite a minor bump here or there in the road for Spielberg, he has remained a massive box-office draw for almost fifty years and has thrilled audiences by bringing iconic characters and franchises to the silver screen. His filmography has inspired some of the most talented directors working today and despite being in his mid- seventies now, he does not show any signs of slowing down. Since the 1970s, the auteur has been making masterpiece after masterpiece across a wide range of genres. There’s no denying that Spielberg is one of the best directors to ever step behind the camera, so if you’re looking for another filmmaker to round out an epic showdown between two box office titans, look no further than James Cameron.

At 67, a whole eight years younger than Spielberg, with a lasting legacy of amazing films and franchises under his belt, Cameron is currently still knee-deep in the world of Pandora for not one, not two, but FOUR AVATAR sequels, with numbers two and three in post-production as well as the fourth and fifth installments shooting. His innovative and game-changing visual effects and boundary-pushing advancements in movie-making technology have made him a pioneer in the film industry for over forty years. Despite being mainly involved with producing documentary work, TV projects, and promoting the faltering TERMINATOR franchise since AVATAR was released back in 2009, he has been busy developing the technology to realize his vision for the AVATAR sequels. There has been very little information regarding what the sequels will bring audiences when part two hits cinemas in December 2022, but one thing Cameron does very well is changing the way we experience a film on the big screen. Spielberg and Cameron share enough of a stylistic vibe, output, and origin that they seemingly cannot help but be compared. So, paint yourself blue all over and slip into that old Fedora because you know what it’s time for… FACE OFF!

This episode of Face Off is written by Adam Walton, narrated by Shawn Knippelberg, edited by John Nguyen, produced by Matthew Hacunda and executive producer by Berge Garabedian. Watch previous episodes below and let us know in the comments who you think should come out on top, Cameron or Spielberg?