Blockbuster Kings: Steven Spielberg Movies vs James Cameron Movies-Ranked Best to Worst.
78Steven Spielberg's E.T. and James Cameron's Avatar are two of the biggest box office hits of all-time.
Steven Spielberg and James Cameron are two of the most successful directors of all-time. So I figured it would be fun to compare these two legendary directors. Combined they have made 35 movies. Those movies have grossed over 11 billion in adjusted box office in North America alone. Their movies have earned 151 Oscar® nominations and 50 Oscar® wins. Those wins would include a Best Picture Oscar® for Schlinder's List and Titanic. Spielberg has two Best Director Oscars® for Schlinder's List and Saving Private Ryan while Cameron won the Best Director Oscar® for Titanic.
This hub has a combined Spielberg/Cameron Top Eleven box office table, a combined Spielberg/Cameron Top Ten critics and audience table, and a table that ranks all of their movies from Best(Saving Private Ryan) to Worst(Piranaha II: The Spawning) . The last table will compare the totals of their very successful movie careers.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in 1997's Titanic....the James Cameron movie is the 6th biggest box office hit of all-time.
Steven Spielberg/James Cameron's Top Eleven Box Office Movies in 2012 Inflated Dollars.....including three that have crossed the one billion mark.
Rank Movie Year
| 2012 Infalted North America Box Office
| All-Time Adjusted Box Office Rank
| Director
|
|---|---|---|---|
#1 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
| 1110.00 million
| 4th of all-time
| Steven Spielberg
|
#2 Titanic (1997)
| 1047.00 million
| 6th of all-time
| James Cameron
|
#3 Jaws (1975)
| 1014.00 million
| 7th of all-time
| Steven Spielberg
|
#4 Avatar (2009)
| 804.00 million
| 14th of all-time
| James Cameron
|
#5 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
| 690.15 million
| 19th of all-time
| Steven Spielberg
|
#6 Jurassic Park (1993)
| 674.99 million
| 20th of all-time
| Steven Spielberg
|
#7 Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
| 435.15 million
| 69th of all-time
| Steven Spielberg
|
#8 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
| 419.16 million
| 84th of all-time
| Steven Spielberg
|
#9 The Lost World: Jurassic Park
| 390.79 million
| 94th of all-time
| Steven Spielberg
|
#10 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
| 386.93 million
| 95th of all-time
| Steven Spielberg
|
#11 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
| 380.97 million
| 97th of all-time
| James Cameron
|
Roy Scheider in 1975's Jaws....the Spielberg blockbuster is the 3rd highest rated Spielberg/Cameron movie according to critics and audiences.
Steven Spielberg/James Cameron's Top Ten Movies based on critics and audience voting.
Rank Movie Year
| Critics Audience Rating
| Director
|
|---|---|---|
#1 Aliens (1986)
| 93%
| James Cameron
|
#2 Schindler's List (1993)
| 93%
| Steven Spielberg
|
#3 Jaws (1975)
| 92%
| Steven Spielberg
|
#4 The Terminator (1984)
| 91%
| James Cameron
|
#5 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
| 91%
| Steven Spielberg
|
#6 Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
| 90%
| James Cameron
|
#7 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
| 89%
| Steven Spielberg
|
#8 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
| 88%
| Steven Spielberg
|
#9 Saving Private Ryan (1998)
| 88%
| Steven Spielberg
|
#10 Catch Me if You Can (2002)
| 87%
| Steven Spielberg
|
Michael Biehn in 1986's Aliens....ranked as the 10th best Spielberg/Cameron movie according to Movie Score.
Steven Spielberg/James Cameron's 35 Movies ranked by Movie Score. Movie Score is box office results + critical reception + award recognition. Perfect score woul
Rank
| Movie Year
| 2012 Inflated Box Office (Millions)
| Cogerson Movie Score
| Critics Audience Rating
| Oscar®Noms / Wins
| Director
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st
| Saving Private Ryan (1998)
| 369.60
| 95.13
| 88%
| 11 / 05
| Steven Spielberg
|
2nd
| Titanic (1997)
| 1047.00
| 92.90
| 79%
| 14 / 11
| James Cameron
|
3rd
| Schindler's List (1993)
| 185.60
| 91.81
| 93%
| 12 / 07
| Steven Spielberg
|
4th
| E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
| 1110.00
| 88.91
| 89%
| 09 / 04
| Steven Spielberg
|
5th
| Avatar (2009)
| 804.00
| 88.81
| 83%
| 09 / 03
| James Cameron
|
6th
| Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
| 690.15
| 88.60
| 91%
| 08 / 04
| Steven Spielberg
|
7th
| Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
| 435.15
| 85.53
| 87%
| 08 / 01
| Steven Spielberg
|
8th
| Jaws (1975)
| 1014.40
| 82.20
| 92%
| 04 / 03
| Steven Spielberg
|
9th
| Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
| 380.97
| 78.80
| 90%
| 06 / 04
| James Cameron
|
10th
| Aliens (1986)
| 184.00
| 76.88
| 93%
| 07 / 02
| James Cameron
|
Rank
| Movie Year
| 2012 Inflated Box Office (Millions)
| Cogerson Movie Score
| Critics Audience Rating
| Oscar®Noms / Wins
| Director
|
11th
| The Color Purple (1985)
| 212.00
| 75.82
| 83%
| 11 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
12th
| Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
| 397.60
| 75.72
| 88%
| 03 / 01
| Steven Spielberg
|
13th
| Jurassic Park (1993)
| 674.99
| 75.36
| 84%
| 03 / 03
| Steven Spielberg
|
14th
| Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
| 386.93
| 72.09
| 80%
| 02 / 01
| Steven Spielberg
|
15th
| Catch Me if You Can (2002)
| 227.20
| 69.47
| 87%
| 02 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
16th
| True Lies (1994)
| 287.20
| 67.52
| 71%
| 01 / 00
| James Cameron
|
17th
| Minority Report (2002)
| 182.40
| 66.92
| 87%
| 01 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
18th
| War of the Worlds (2005)
| 292.80
| 66.08
| 71%
| 03 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
19th
| Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
| 353.60
| 64.12
| 67%
| 00 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
20th
| The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
| 390.79
| 62.30
| 55%
| 01 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
Rank
| Movie Year
| 2012 Inflated Box Office (Millions)
| Cogerson Movie Score
| Critics Audience Rating
| Oscar®Noms / Wins
| Director
|
21st
| Hook (1991)
| 227.20
| 61.52
| 44%
| 05 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
22nd
| The Terminator (1984)
| 126.40
| 61.27
| 91%
| 00 / 00
| James Cameron
|
23rd
| The Abyss (1989)
| 109.60
| 56.15
| 82%
| 04 / 01
| James Cameron
|
24th
| A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
| 111.20
| 51.22
| 72%
| 02 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
25th
| War Horse (2011)
| 79.78
| 50.54
| 71%
| 06 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
26th
| Munich (2005)
| 59.20
| 50.30
| 78%
| 05 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
27th
| Amistad (1997)
| 76.80
| 45.33
| 75%
| 04 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
28th
| The Terminal (2004)
| 100.00
| 43.20
| 66%
| 00 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
29th
| The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
| 77.59
| 41.17
| 77%
| 01 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
30th
| Always (1989)
| 88.00
| 39.88
| 62%
| 00 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
Rank
| Movie Year
| 2012 Inflated Box Office (Millions)
| Cogerson Movie Score
| Critics Audience Rating
| Oscar®Noms / Wins
| Director
|
31st
| Empire of the Sun (1987)
| 45.60
| 39.08
| 79%
| 06 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
32nd
| 1941 (1979)
| 101.60
| 37.98
| 45%
| 03 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
33rd
| Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
| 74.40
| 37.45
| 65%
| 00 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
34th
| The Sugarland Express (1974)
| 32.00
| 35.25
| 80%
| 00 / 00
| Steven Spielberg
|
35th
| Piranaha II: The Spawning (1981)
| 0.80
| 7.50
| 21%
| 00 / 00
| James Cameron
|
Steven Spielberg and James Cameron have 11 of the Top 100 inflated box office hits of all-time.
A Head to Head comparsion of Steven Spielberg and James Cameron.
Category
| Steven Spielberg
| James Cameron
|
|---|---|---|
Movies Directed
| 27
| 8
|
Average Box Office Per Movie
| 289.80 million
| 368.60 million
|
Average Critic/Audience Rating
| 76.40%
| 76.90%
|
Oscar® Nominations For Movies Directed
| 110
| 41
|
Oscar® Wins For Movies Directed
| 29
| 21
|
Movies Nominated For Best Picture Oscar®
| 8
| 2
|
Oscar® Nominations For Best Director
| 6
| 2
|
Oscar® Wins For Best Director
| 2
| 1
|
Average Cogerson Movie Score per movie
| 62.39
| 65.39
|
Academy Award® and Oscar® are the registered trademarks of the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences.
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CommentsLoading...
Cameron makes good movies if he can hold his own against 25 movies....I'm going with Cameron.
I agree especially when Piranaha II: The Spawning represents 12% of his movies
You have to go with Steven....he does not take 10 years to make each movie. This list is loaded with great films.
Speilberg has the best movies so far.
Spielberg
So far the score is 3 to 2 for Spielberg
Look for Ben Stiller in that trailer of Empire of the Sun...
Spielberg...he has been doing it much later
How do you think James Cameron's new movie will do at the box office. It looks like lots of action.
Spielberg. All day
Well both are awesome, however you have to go with Spielberg. Yes he has more movies than Cameron, but everything Spielberg touches is Gold, if he can do it, don't ya think cameron should be able to hold his ground.
Give me some Cameron
By the time Cameron makes 26 films will be in the year 2104
Another fascinating hub Cogerson, cheers.
In worldwide grosses, Cameron trounces Spielberg, Avatar alone grossed $2.8 billion, than add Titanic's $1.8 billion and thats a lot of moolah!
But counting worldwide ticket sales instead of dollars Spielberg could still be no.1. But he has been around longer and made more films.
Favourite Spielberg film, a tie - Jaws and Close Encounters.
Favourite Cameron film, Aliens.
I agree Steve....international dollars James Cameron is a monster.... we agree....Aliens and Jaws would be my top movies as well....
---AS franchise slum, tech-worshipping, 'EUGENICS friendly' Hollywood eases into its 4th decade of
systematic burial of ALLLLLL consciousness of the
ever unfolding RED Chinese Halocaust...
Really nice idea for a match up between these two. I love Terminator and I like some of Cameron's other work, but for me it has to be Spielberg at the top. So many of Spielberg's movies have wit, clever little cameos, memorable set-pieces and great entertainment value. I'm currently compiling my own top 100 favourite movies list and provisionally Spielberg has 7 entries - no other director has more than 3. Enough said.
Good work Cogerson. I will refer back regularly to this page.
Hey Greensleeves Hubs....I agree Spielberg would be my winner as well....just the quantity of movies....gives him the edge over Cameron....either way this list is a great list of great movies...they have and will be referenced for a very long time.....I look forward to your Top 100 list....it should be a good one...thanks for stopping by...
close call but spielberg for jurassic park
Thanks for checking out my hub gh, I agree that it is Spielberg in a close call....the only thing holding Cameron back is his lack of productivity...
The best movies of Cameron is Avatar and Terminator 2 , the best movies of Spielberg is War of the Worlds .
James Cameron is Best , Avatar is beautiful but Steven Spielberg is very good , I love the movie War of the Worlds ...
Hey Steven Cameron...nice name...lol. Thanks for the votes....I was somewhat disappointed in War of the Worlds...the first half of the movie was awesome...the final quarter was very disappointing....thanks for stopping by and for the comments.
STEVAN AND CAMAROON, both of them were mirracle mens
Hey Arya vyas....I agree with you 100%.....and I see I need to add War Horse to this hub....thanks for the comment.
Wow great these are my fav directors:)i like Christhopher Nolan as well:)
Hey gurkha-soldier...thanks for the visit....glad you like my hub...but I see I have to update it, as Spielberg has two new movies for the hub....I enjoy Christopher Nolan myself.
James camron is better and will have more oscars soon so camron is better
Hey The Dude....the only thing going against Cameron is the fact that it takes so long for him to make a movie...I hear he is moving to New Zealand to work on Avatar 2 and Avatar 3....which will be in theaters by 2020. Thanks for the comment.
Well, I suppose since your latest hub dealt with Steven's potential successors - none of whom measured up - I suppose I should stop by here.
Well. I am not sure how to break this to you. I have never seen a single James Cameron film. I looked over the list. Not one. Really.
And looking over the titles to see which ones I could see me renting, and well. None of them interest me. Titanic I boycotted because everyone in school loved the film while my friends wanted to be unique. Plus, we hated the song.
Yet that is the only theme/genre that might have interested me. Aliens? No. Science Fiction? No. Avatar? I don't even know the point of that. Arnold action movies? No. (I have seen some of his- Arnold's - comedies, though.) Weird titles I hadn't heard of? No.
Yes, I know he is Canadian. There are lots of others originally from Canada. Cameron is *not* my cup of tea.
Steven S.:
I am not a fan of blockbusters, and S.S. has made a career out of them. As such, it is pointless going over top ten, or percentage of all his films, or favourites. But unlike Cameron, I've seen some of his films and am interested in some I've not seen. So.....
I am most familiar with his TV movie Duel starring Bruce Dern and for which no one warned me about the huge spiders that would appear. Despite the spiders, it is one of Dad's favourite films of all times. And S.S. directed the priemiere episode of Columbo starring Jack Cassidy (David's father) as the killer. Cassidy played the killer three times. Yeah, Columbo.
Oh, yes. This is Steven's movie hub, not television's hub....
Movies I have seen, in movie score order:
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Catch Me if You Can ...hmmm. a spy film with co-starring roles to Martin Sheen and Christopher Walken...hmmm.
Hook
Amistad..oh, Oscar history lesson
1941
The Twilight Zone: The movie...well, it is the twilight zone
Hmmm....regarding some of the famous S.S. titles I haven't seen:
I've explained how I've managed to not see E.T. yet.
There are several films that I haven't seen that I have no interest in seeing...
war films...dinosaur attack films...Cruise films post-Mission Impossible...remakes of classic films which should have been left alone...and disturbing films with much too admire but difficult to watch (Schindler's list) which I'll not see ever.
I would like to see for sure, alphabetically:
Always
Empire of the sun
I may eventually see on TV, alphabetically, since they are admirable films though not my genre:
Close encounters on the Third Kind
The Color Purple - I read this in grade 12 and likely would avoid otherwise as it is also very difficult material.
Hey Flora...better late than never...lol. I am amazed that you have been able to avoid all of James Cameron's movies. Some of his movies have been game changing events...for The Abyss he created a technology that allowed people to be heard under water...Avatar changed how 3-D effects done the proper way....Terminator 2 ushered in many computer special effects that had never been seen....I think it would ok to support a fellow Canuck and watch Titanic....just mute the screen when that song comes on...lol.
As for Steven Spielberg...of the ones you have not seen....I would recommend Empire of the Sun(Christian Bale is awesome in the lead role), Close Encounters(Dreyfuss is outstanding), and E.T.(I am sure your friend has seen it by now....lol). I have not seen The Color Purple or Amistad but other than those two movies I think I have seen all the rest of his movies. I would say you are not missing much by not seeing A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Always or War of the Worlds. Thanks for stopping by and checking out this hub...which I noticed is missing S.S. last two movies...War Horse and Tin Tin...I am such a slacker.
So you don't recommend me trying to find Audrey Hepburn's last movie then? That was my primary reason for being interested in Always.
Hey Flora...the movie is alright....but I expected more out of Dreyfuss, Spielberg, Holly Hunter and John Goodman. It is a remake that should have never been remade. As for Hepburn...her role is very small and she seems so frail and old, that I wish I did not have that image of her in my head. I would save it for when you have seen all of her movies and you need Always to complete your Audrey Hepburn movie checklist.
Sure thing, Bruce. thanks.
Very impressive hub you put together again. There's no question both these men are still great film makers, as I think this seems more like a fair comparison than the one with Tarantino, Nolan and Shymalan.
Hey Stevennix2001....thanks for checking out this hub....I have always been impressed with this list of movies. Talk about movies that have made a dent in Hollywood history. And the good news is...they have more movies coming. Tarantino, Nolan and Shymalan have to have somebody to look up to....lol.
Hey Bruce, Spielberg has the number one film in North America in adjusted dollars, ET the Extraterrestrial but worldwide it has to be Cameron's Avatar which has neared 3 billion dollars, am I right?
Fascinating charts as usual, Private Ryan number one on the moviescore I'd never have predicted that. Spielberg's last great film.
Of the 35 films you've listed from the two directors I've only missed one, War Horse. I saw Tintin last week, I liked it but I've seen better animated movies.
Will Spielberg ever top the world charts again? The last time was in 1993 and Jurassic Park which was the highest grossing film ever until Titanic appeared a few years later.
Voted Up and fascinating.
Hey Steve....well I did a little research on the worldwide box office leaders....I would say of the recent movies...with inflation Titanic looks like the number one movie with 3.2 billion and Avatar being 2nd with 3.0 in inflated dollars. I imagine with better numbers Gone With The Wind would top both of the Cameron movies....as it has 1.6 billion in North America alone...and I would think Ben-Hur would be up there as well.
Saving Private Ryan is number one because of the Oscar win for Spielberg....Schlinder's List also won him an Oscar but does not score as well across the board like Private Ryan does.
I am missing three of these movies....the two Christmas 2011 movies and Cameron's first movie the classic Piranaha II: The Spawning.
As for Spielberg topping the charts again...I think he will....granted he has only made two movies since the disaster we call Indy 4....but I think he will bounce back. Thanks for the revisit and votes up.
Les deux sont très bon mais spielberg reste quand mémé le meilleur
Merci pour la visite bellicault, je conviens que Spielberg est mieux des deux.
cameron
Thanks for the vote ggg....I think it is still too close to call.
BryRog57 Level 1 Commenter 15 months ago
Could go either way, Spielberg more oscars, more money...but he has the help of 17 more movies so I don't know, both are Great but I am leaning more towards Cameron, almost equal success with less movies.