With films like The Shining and 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick’s legacy will live on for centuries to come. During his life and even after his death in 1999, he’s widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers to have ever graced the film industry with his talent. But even a man of his caliber had to have been a fan of someone, and that “someone” for Stanley Kubrick was none other than James Cameron.
James Cameron has been responsible for helming some of the most unforgettable and successful films in Hollywood. Therefore, it makes sense that Stanley Kubrick would be in awe of some of his work, and the feeling was mutual between the directors. When James Cameron decided to give himself a birthday present by meeting Stanley Kubrick, he was shocked to learn just how much of a True Lies fan he was.
When Stanley Kubrick Met James Cameron
On his fortieth birthday, James Cameron decided to think out of the box (shocker!) when it came to selecting his own birthday present. There is nothing wrong with spoiling yourself on your big day, is it? For his birthday, the filmmaker decided that he was going to meet Stanley Kubrick, the man whose 2001: A Space Odyssey blew him away. However, little did Cameron know that this gift was going to be much better than he expected.
When he showed up at Kubrick’s house in England, nothing could’ve prepared Cameron for what was about to happen. Instead of him gushing over the host’s work, Kubrick couldn’t stop talking about True Lies.
Recalling his surprising meeting with Kubrick, the Avatar director stated,
“It was my 40th birthday present to myself. I was on vacation in Europe, and I called him up and said, ‘I’m coming over,’ and went to his house in England. My wife at the time was freaked out that I wasn’t going to be back home for my birthday. But I said, ‘I’m going to meet Stanley Kubrick. There’s no present, no surprise party, no nothing you could give me that would supersede that.’
So I went to see this reclusive guy knocking around this big house and he just totally wanted to know how True Lies was made. He had a print of it on his KEM down in his basement, and made me sit there and tell him how I had done all the effects shots. So I spent the whole time talking about my movie with Stanley Kubrick, which was not where I thought the day was going to go. But I want to be like Stanley, I want to be that guy. When I’m 80, I want to still be the guy trying to figure it all out.”
The 1994 action-comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis revolves around the story of Harry Tasker, a government agent struggling to balance his double life. The film was welcomed by positive reviews from critics and made $365 million worldwide. Three decades later, True Lies is considered one of the finest works of Hollywood. No wonder Kubrick was a fan!
James Cameron was Blown Away by Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey
Cameron is known to have taken the sci-fi genre to the next level with the perfect use of technology and unbelievable visual effects. However, even he found his inspiration in someone else – Kubrick. He recalls watching 2001: A Space Odyssey when he was fourteen and being blown away by it.
Cameron stated (via Variety),
“The word used to describe it was ‘mindblowing.’ It was like no cinematic journey like I’d ever seen before… It made science fiction a first class genre. ‘2001’ burst through that. It took it to the level of world class, important, profound, philosophical, artistic filmmaking. It also asked big, profound questions, about human origins and the nature of man and the universe, and where we’re going.”
2001: A Space Odyssey was the film that got Kubrick his first and only Academy Award. To this day, it is considered one of the biggest cinematic masterpieces to have been made.
You can stream True Lies on Hulu and 2001: A Space Odyssey on Max.
