While it has strongly marked the genre, with Terminator , Alien, the return , Abyss or Avatar, here he is getting involved in telling its story. James Cameron has at least this consistency of great creators. He says it himself in the preamble to this documentary series in six episodes, produced in 2018 for the American channel AMC (and which Paris Première conveniently broadcasts at 11:10 p.m.): "I have always loved science fiction in all its forms, for the strength of her ideas, and for the big questions she raises. What is there in the universe? How will the world end? Will our technologies destroy us? ”
From the outset, we recognize the inimitable leg of the director of Titanic in History of science fiction . His power of conviction, his gargantuan desire to embrace the genre. And above all his dedication to taking care of the smallest details. What is also significant is that the filmmaker has no personal questions.
No egotism, no misplaced jealousy and false quarrels. Cameron rises above all of this. It is generous and does not fear to load the boat to the maximum from the first images. From ET to Mad Max Fury Road , via Alien , Terminator , Blade Runner , Robocop , Star Trek , Star Wars , Matrix, War of the Worlds, Minority Report or Back to the Future , this true “Uncle Paul of science- fiction ”selects the most dazzling moments possible to tell his stories. But by choosing an extract from Rencontre of the third type to open the ball, it marked the spirits.
A little boy in short pants walks cautiously through the family room. The walls are shaking. Through the window, behind the open curtains, you can hear the din of a strange storm. The guy cannot be dismantled. He opens this door to a terrifying and seductive golden apocalypse ... Among the great witnesses interviewed by Cameron, of course is prominently Steven Spielberg. There are many unpublished anecdotes . "It was my father who introduced me to the cosmos," says the director of ET While I was 6-7 years old. He would wake me up in the middle of the night to take me to see meteor showers in New Jersey. That's when I figured if I had the chance to make a sci-fi movie, my aliens would come in peace. ” Cameron is in his business. When he questions Ridley Scott, he doesn't hesitate to say, "I really think you have created the best alien film in history." Leaves to disconcert the director of Alien. But this exercise in admiration does not turn empty, quite the contrary.
We get carried away by the wave of scholarship in this series. And we will meditate in particular this reflection of Will Smith at the bend of an extract from Independance Day: "The beauty of science fiction is that even in a huge blockbuster, one can seriously tackle religious, political questions or social. " We can not say it better.