"Every time I make a movie, everybody says it's the most expensive film in the film industry."- James Cameron

From Aliens to Titanic, James Cameron's films have spanned genres, broken box-office records, cleaned up at the Oscars, and turned body-builders into movie stars. Despite Cameron's undeniable influence on the high-concept postmodern blockbuster that dominated the 1980s and 90s, there has until recently been little academic attention to his work.

Alexandra Keller provides the first critical study of James Cameron as an auteur. Considering in particular his treatment of gender and preoccupation with capital, both in his films and his filmmaking practice, Keller offers an overview of Cameron's work and significance within cinematic history. The book features excerpts from interviews and frame-by-frame analysis of important scenes from films such as Terminator, Aliens, True Lies, and Titanic..