As a minor example, take an excerpt from an interview Cameron recently gave to Empire, timed to the 40th anniversary of his breakout hit, The Terminator. When asked about whether he still likes the original movie four decades later,

The filmmaker stands by his dialogue, though: "Let me see your three-out-of-the-four-highest-grossing films — then we’ll talk about dialogue effectiveness."

James Cameron reflected on being “just a punk” when he directed The Terminator and how, looking back now, he knows it wasn’t perfect. The Oscar-winning director spoke to Empire magazine ahead of the classic sci-fi film’s 40th anniversary next month and noted he considers the project his first,

Although many consider it a masterpiece, James Cameron has enough distance from The Terminator to give it his honest review. Marking the 40th anniversary of his directorial debut, the 3x Oscar-winning director looked back on parts of the 1984 film as “pretty cringeworthy” as he admitted the “production value” didn’t age well.

Let me see your three-out-of-the-four-highest-grossing films — then we’ll talk about dialogue effectiveness.” Cameron also explained that Schwarzenegger did not initially match the vision he had for the character at the outset.

James Cameron doesn’t want to hear your complaints about his dialogue. Cameron has directed a number of the highest-grossing movies of all time, including 1997’s Titanic, 2009’s Avatar, and 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water.