“Titanic” (1997)

Summary: A survivor of the Titanic returns to her memories of class struggle and star-crossed romance in that fateful wreck, while a modern-day treasure-hunter tries to find a precious diamond the woman wore the night the ship went down.

Screenplay: James Cameron

Director: James Cameron

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Gloria Stuart, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Bernard Hill, David Warner, Bill Paxton

“True Lies” (1994)

Summary: Career spook Harry Tasker has successfully hide his life as a spy from his family for 15 years. But when Harry suspects his wife of an affair and nuclear weapons go missing, the lies start to pile up and he finds his once-separate lives on a collision course.

Screenplay: James Cameron; based on a screenplay by Claude Zidi, Simon Michael, and Didier Kaminka

Director: James Cameron

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton, Charlton Heston

“Terminator 2: Judgement Day” (1991)

Summary: A second Terminator is sent back to assassinate John Conner, future savior of mankind, when he is still a child. Again, a lone protector is also sent back to do battle with the assassin. But as the machines try to re-shape the past, Sarah, John, and his protector will consider re-shaping the future.

Screenplay: James Cameron & William Wisher

Director: James Cameron

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, Edward Furlong, and Joe Morton

“The Abyss” (1989) beatsheet

Summary: As a hurricane approaches, the crew of a deep-sea oil-drilling rig is tasked to help a Navy SEAL team recover a sunken nuclear submarine. Cold War tensions run high, but the roughnecks slowly realize there may be something unearthly involved.

Screenplay: James Cameron

Director: James Cameron

Cast: Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn

“Aliens” (1986)

Summary: This time it’s war.

Screenplay: James Cameron; James Cameron (story), David Giler (story), Walter Hill (story); Dan O’Bannon (characters), Ronald Schusett (characters)

Director: James Cameron

Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henriksen, Paul Reiser, Bill Paxton