At this point, nearly everyJames Cameronmovie has received a 4K home media release. This includesAliens,The Abyss,Terminator 2: Judgment Day,True Lies,Titanic,Avatar, andAvatar: The Way of Water. And, of those, the only one that wasn’t overseen by the man himself wasT2(excludingPiranha II: The Spawning, of course). That only leavesThe Terminator, which is estimated to hit shelves in December of this year.
It should have been a terrific thing for cinephiles, especially given thatThe Abyssskipped a Blu-ray release altogether. And, yet, the most nitpicky of those cinephiles took issue with some of the transfers, especiallyTrue LiesandAliens. The biggest complaint? The supposed use of AI to complete the transfers, removing the grain structure and replacing that with something just a bit too…digital.
In anticipation ofThe Terminator’s 4K release, Cameron’s longtime producing partner (and, for a while, life partner),Gale Anne Hurd, has chimed in. Speaking withJoBlo, she was a little more forgiving in tone than Cameron was when speaking withThe Hollywood Reporter, but her position was still one of defending the transfers. We’ll get to Cameron in a bit, but for now, here’s what Hurd said:
“Let all those critics make their own movies, and they can restore them as they see fit. That’s my opinion. Jim, in every possible meaning of the word auteur, is an auteur. And whatever version he wants to release, everyone should be fine with. You know, it’s his film!”
Hurd’s Elaboration & What Cameron Himself Has Said About the Transfers
JoBlo brought up that, while Cameron is the ship’s captain, those who grew up watching his films also feel a sort of ownership over them. After all, a great manypeople grew up watchingAliensandTitanic. Hurd’s response?
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Absolutely. We made the movie[s] for the fans, not for the critics, even though we did get some lovely reviews. And so, they’re absolutely entitled to their opinion. But, you know, Jim’s entitled, creatively, to do it absolutely how he sees fit. You know, it’s his creation.”
As mentioned, when he spoke toThe Hollywood Reporter, Cameron was even more emphatic. And, like Hurd, he has a point.They’re his babies, and he can do what he wants with them.
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A desperate miner (Cailee Spaeny) and her synthetic brother (David Jonsson) embark on a risky salvage operation above a distant colony.
“When people start reviewing your grain structure, they need to move out of mom’s basement and meet somebody. Right? I’m serious. I mean, are you f***ing kidding me? I’ve got a great team that does the transfers. I do all the color and density work. I look at every shot, every frame, and then the final transfer is done by a guy who has been with me [for years]. All the Avatar films are done that way. Everything is done that way. Get a life, people, seriously.”
