James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction

**

I am your father.

I've always loved science fiction in every form...

...out of the shadow

like a gray snake. And now it's another one,

and there's another one and another one.

...for the power of its ideas...

It works!

...and for the big questions it asks.

"What's out there in the universe?

How will the world end?

Will our technology destroy us?"

Dead or alive, you are coming with me.

...and above all...

It's alive!

..."What can we learn from these fantastic stories?"

So, who wants to say, "Action," you or me?

You, go on. Okay. Action!

I think I always have been a sci-fi fan.

What's possible? What's gonna happen?

That's kind of like seeing in the future.

It's just boom! Right at you. Wshoom.

Science fiction shows you all the possibilities.

At that point, it's beyond science fiction.

It's a statement about humanity.

We'll do things that we cannot even imagine today.

But it's great entertainment.

Exactly!

This is a whole genre that's just exploding

because it's so much more fun than a lot of the other genres.

So badass and cool and empowering.

You're constantly saying, "What if?"

And if you're not saying, "What if?" you're a fool.

Anything is possible.

Ray Bradbury and Arthur Clarke

and Robert Heinlein.

That was it. I was hooked.

The concept of the universe is so mind-boggling.

And then there's also that line of science fiction fantasy.

I think monsters tell us everything about ourselves.

Science fiction is just that special to me.

And we love it, and we can't get enough of it.

And so we can't stop.

**

You've done, I think, over your entire oeuvre,

between directing and producing,

you've done many films about first contact

or invasion. Mm-hmm.

Was that what was inflaming your -- your young imagination?

My father was the one that introduced me

to the cosmos. Right.

He's the one that built, from a big cardboard roll,

that you roll rugs on... Mm-hmm.

...he built a two-inch reflecting telescope.

Oh, cool.

And then I saw the moons of Jupiter.

It was the first thing that he pointed out to me.

And I saw the rings of Saturn -- around Saturn.

And I'm six, seven years old when this all happened.

And so, for me, the cosmos --

You -- You spent a lot of time staring at the sky.

A lot of time looking at the sky.

Woke me up in the middle of the night.

It's scary when your dad walks into your bedroom,

and it's still dark, and he says, "Come with me."

Your dad took you out to watch a meteor shower?

It was the Leonid shower. Yeah, right, right.

And he took me to a knoll somewhere in New Jersey,

and there were hundreds of people lying on picnic benches.

Yeah, well, that scene is right in "Close Encounters."

Absolutely. It's the same scene.

I put the scene in "Close Encounters." Yeah.

And I got out there and we laid down on a knapsack --

his Army knapsack.

And we looked up at the sky...

Oh, how awesome.

...and every 30 seconds or so,

there was a brilliant flash of light

that streaked across the sky. Wow.

And I just remember, you know, looking at the sky,

because of the influence of my father, and saying,

"If I ever get a chance to make a science fiction movie,

I want those guys to come in peace."

I got a call from my agent, saying, "There's a job.

Steven Spielberg is directing a movie.

It's called 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind.'"

I said, "Excuse me?"

So, I have this audition coming up,

so I practice a little bit

of what I think will help me get the job.

And Steven says, "Well, we'd love you to do this movie.

You'd be François Truffaut's interpreter.

The only thing is,

we just need to hear what your French is like.

Is your French good"?

I said......

None of them spoke French and they said,

"Great, you've got the job. Your French is terrific."

Have you recently had a close encounter?

Close encounter with something very unusual?

Who are you people?

"Close Encounters of the Third Kind"

had an original title called "Watch the Skies."

And if you're a real science fiction buff,

you know where that comes from.

Every one of you listening to my voice, tell the world.

Tell this to everybody, wherever they are.

"Watch the skies."

So, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind,"

its original title built a bridge back

to that 1950s classic science fiction film,

"The Thing from Another World."

Happy B-b-b-birthday,

you, uh, thing from another world, you.

Oh! Thank you!

The character of Richard Dreyfuss in "Close Encounters"

is really interesting because he is not a hero.

He's not a good dad. He's not a good husband.

He gives up everything to seek out this idea

that there is life on other planets.

He's just an absolute, everyday guy

working for the power company.

And he has an inexplicable experience

that he cannot deal with.

And when that thing flies over his truck,

his life is changed.

Characters are kind of ripped apart.

It's definitely suggested that his obsession with aliens

is really harming his kid and his wife.

Well, I guess you've noticed

that something is a little strange with Dad.

I can't describe it.

This means something.

But it raises the question

of how far would we be willing to go

to communicate with aliens.

I understand why we're always criticized for it,

but I'm also greatly relieved

that there are people in this world

that will listen to that voice inside them and pursue it.

You felt compelled to be here?

Yeah, you might say that.

But what did you expect to find?

An answer!

That's not crazy, is it?

"Close Encounters of the Third Kind"

did something different with aliens.

Instead of having aliens just as mostly fearsome monsters

who only wanted to drink our blood or rule us,

it said there's a lot of amazing stuff out there in the universe,

and you're gonna walk away awestruck.

And Steven knew just how to create

a reaction of wonderment, happiness, and awe

at the same time.

There is a scene in "Close Encounters"

when something has landed.

Cary has to open this door

and look and see these amazing things.

Steven had a number of people from the movie

dress up in giant costumes --

a rabbit costume, a mouse costume.

And he said, "Okay, Cary, now open the door."

And Cary opened the door.

And you could see the wonder in his eyes --

the excitement, the happiness.

Toys!

Toys!

I think science fiction as a genre

has definitely always had a kind of social,

political, cultural message

that's generally contained in the stories that are written.

You know? It's not the normal world,

but it's dealing with the things that we deal with in our world.

And that's the playground that science fiction plays in.

- I have seen it twice. - Have you?

And cried both times. Mm-hmm.

I think it's a very emotional experience,

a very beautiful one.

I think it's probably the most important film

of the last 20 years.

It is a movie written by a director and writer

who is searching for meaning in his life.

He's a very introspective person.

And I think he needed to make a movie

that provided some kind of answer

to, "What's the meaning of life?"

In a way, this isn't a movie

so much about the aliens themselves.

What it's really about is us.

You know, how are we going to feel

when we become aware of a life bigger than ours?

What would we do?

Are we willing to do what Richard Dreyfuss did?

**

Are we better people than Roy?

Or maybe Roy is a better version of us.

**

You really created a kind of almost

alternate spirituality or alternate religion.

Yes, and an infinite superior civilization