The Avatar director, 70, joins Francis Ford Coppola and Ridley Scott in using choice words and robust comparisons to criticise unwelcome commentary

James Cameron has hit back against reviewers – and filmgoers – who criticise the dialogue in his films. Speaking to Empire for the 40th anniversary of The Terminator, Cameron said he now regards parts of the film as “pretty cringeworthy” but by and large an admirable effort, given the available resources.

“I don’t cringe on any of the dialogue,” he clarified, “but I have a lower cringe factor than, apparently, a lot of people do around the dialogue that I write. You know what? Let me see your three-out-of-the-four-highest-grossing films — then we’ll talk about dialogue effectiveness.”