Although James Cameron's plans for Avatar and its numerous sequels have made him a figure of fun more recently, it's key to remember that his back catalogue is hugely impressive.

From the likes of The Abyss or Aliens to Titanic or True Lies, his work has been marked with high production values and huge box-office returns. Starting off as a special effects director for Roger Corman, his work on the first Terminator film became his calling card.

Here's our ranking of his work to date.

8. PIRANHA II: THE SPAWNING (1981)

Rarely seen or mentioned outside of articles like these, Piranha II: The Spawning was a low-budget rip-off of Jaws that gave Cameron his first role as director. Even at this early stage in his career, Cameron's brutish persona came to bare. Shut out of the editing suite, it's rumoured that Cameron actually broke into the editing room and cut together his own version of the film, which he then worked up a deal to distribute in certain home video markets. Almost no copies of the film exist and it's become the butt of a joke for many people, Cameron included.

7. AVATAR

As a technical exercise, sure, Avatar is brilliant. 3D, at that time, hadn't been used in such a unique and impressive way. The visual storytelling on show was immense and there was a lot take in when you first saw Avatar. But let's be clear about this. It didn't stick in your mind. Other than the spectacle of it all, of course. It's almost a cliche to say it, but Avatar really didn't have any kind of cultural impact for a film that made as much money as it did. The performances across the entire cast were flat, the story was a smushing together of Ferngully and Dances With Wolves and it didn't translate without 3D or outside of a cinema environment.

6. TRUE LIES

James Cameron attempting to make an action comedy shouldn't have been as good as this. What makes True Lies work so well is how everyone gives themselves over completely to how ridiculous it all is. Arnold Schwarzenegger is fully aware of how ridiculous he looks as a computer salesman and Bill Paxton, likewise, is playing the wormy homewrecker to a tee. Jamie Lee-Curtis, meanwhile, goes from dowdy housewife to expert stripper in one scene and you've even got Tia Carrere in there as the femme fatale. It's even got Charlton Heston with an eye-patch. His character's name? Spencer Trilby. Honestly, like.

5. THE ABYSS

The Abyss is more known for its hugely problematic shoot than the resultant film. Ed Harris broke down in tears after filming a scene that resulted in him almost drowning for real. Harris then punched Cameron square in the jaw and walked off the set. Since then, Harris has said he will never speak about or discuss The Abyss in interviews. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, meanwhile, left the set during the resuscitation scene after Cameron demanded take after take. When you look at the film with that knowledge, it's all there. You can see the stress and the strain on each of the actor's faces because it was genuine.

4. THE TERMINATOR

Made on a shoestring budget with numerous shortcuts made throughout the film to hide that fact, The Terminator is a down and dirty horror-thriller. In fact, it was so down and dirty that Cameron was regularly evading the police during its production. Many of the locations used in the film weren't officially licensed or permitted. Cameron would call up Schwarzenegger at three in the morning with a location, who would then arrive fully in costume and quickly shoot a scene and disappear before the police arrived. That sense of frenetic energy pulses through the film and gives a real crackle of authenticity to it.

3. ALIENS

It's an age-old debate; which is better? Alien or Aliens? For our money, Aliens had more spectacle and pop to it than Alien. Acting as a counterbalance to Alien's slow sense of dread, Aliens is a full-on action blockbuster. Sigourney Weaver's central performance as Ripley was incredible and rightfully led to her receiving an Oscar nomination. Its sense of pacing and timing, its attention to production design and James Horner's soundtrack all add to the huge tension on screen. Cameron wrote the screenplay to Aliens whilst he was working on The Terminator and had to convince Ridley Scott's crew to work with him. Reportedly, Cameron tried to win them over by screening The Terminator for them, with the entire crew blowing off the invite.

2. TITANIC

It's so odd to look at Avatar, Titanic, Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgement Day and realise that they're made by the same director. The shift in tones amongst them is so jagged, it's hard to believe they're the same one. Titanic is, of course, the quintessential romance tale. It's Cameron's insane attention to detail that made the film. He spoke to each and every extra on set and gave them a backstory for their character. The exact length of time the iceberg collision took is the same in the film. He created an exact replica of the first-class cabins and even took a total of five dives to the wreckage of the Titanic to get the look and feel of the ship. His brutal tactics on set, of course, were still evident here. One crewmember became so disgruntled that he drugged the craft food table with PCP. 50 cast and crew members were hospitalised afterwards.

1. TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY

While it's true, Titanic was the more successful film, Terminator 2: Judgement Day is the better film. Here's why. Titanic, in our mind, was so clearly contrived and designed to methodically pull at your heart strings. It worked spectacularly and there wasn't a dry eye in the house when Leonardo DiCaprio sank to the bottom of the ocean. However, Judgement Day was working within the construct of an action blockbuster and, in just one scene, floored you with an emotional punch. The T-800, who's spent the entire film beating the crap out of people and blowing stuff up, turns into a gigantic teddy-bear who's dropped into molten lava. If you didn't cry at that scene, then you're a Terminator. Simple as that.