10 Most Insanely Perfectionist Film Directors

Even if his schedule for the next half a century seems to consist entirely of sequels to Avatar, one mustn’t forget that James Cameron is a mater of cinematic spectacle. Cameron made the adrenaline injections of Aliens and Terminator 2 and he accomplished these thrill rides through a kind of dedication that edged close to psychopathy. 

Cameron’s fascination with the depths of the ocean has been obvious since Titanic, where he actually recreated a scale model of the historic ship including period-accurate interior. However the point where Cameron’s search for submarine authenticity caused a clash with his crew members came in 1989's The Abyss. 

The underwater thriller was filmed with crew members regularly spending hours 30 feet underwater, many of them catching sinus infections and losing their hair because of chlorine levels. Due to long periods spent underwater the crew often had to regularly refill their cumbersome diving helmets with oxygen. The pitfalls of filming for up to 19 hours a day in an abandoned nuclear plant filled with 10 million gallons of water quickly took their toll and led to two almost-drownings.

 In the end Cameron’s quest for underwater authenticity led to critical and commercial apathy although the underwater effects explored in the Abyss would let Cameron explore a lot of the technicalities that would prove useful in the blockbuster hit Titanic