Every James Cameron Movie Ranked Worst To Best

Even when he was making relatively conventional action movies, Cameron was pushing boundaries. With True Lies, a monumentally silly and satirical spy thriller, he made the first film produced with a budget of $100 million, and in the process re-teamed with Arnold Schwarzenegger for one of his most iconic roles.

Following a hotshot spy whose latest mission throws his personal life into disarray, True Lies has brilliantly over-the-top action sequences, clichéd but self-aware plot twists, and a breezy, self-mocking tone that allows Schwarzenegger opportunity to lean into his hardened screen image with decent laughs.

It's not particularly inventive with its spy versus the world story, and the troubled depiction of its Middle Eastern villains is difficult to forgive, but come on: Arnie, puns, Jamie Lee Curtis, a jet plane finale, cartoonish action -- it works because it works, even with its flaws, and even though Cameron isn't really straining any muscles.