Happy birthday, Bernard Hill

Today is the 66th birthday of Bernard Hill, an actor I always enjoy watching and whose Hollywood career has been noticeably punctuated by a recurring role: A person of authority who reacts stubbornly to news about his grim chances of survival, only to be killed a short time after.

The Ghost and the Darkness

Hill's Dr. Hawthorne, the sole medic for a turn-of-the-century construction crew building a bridge over Africa’s Tsavo River, is told by game hunter Remington that the man-eating lions that have been terrorizing the camp will most likely target his hospital. When Hawthorne questions Remington’s demand that a new hospital be built immediately, Remington insists that a deadly attack will follow otherwise. Despite following Remington's orders, Hawthorne is killed by the lions the following night.

Titanic

As the captain of the world's largest passenger ship, Hill remains undaunted when warned of dangerous icebergs along his travel route. Instead of using caution, he orders the ship to move faster. Moving too quickly to avoid a deceptively massive block of ice, the ship is torn apart, and the captain perishes in the pilot house as Titanic goes under.

Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Hill plays King Theoden, the aging ruler of a land besieged by evil forces in The Two Towers. Warned by allies Aragorn and Gimli of his likely defeat by the approaching hoard of Uruk-hai warriors, an indignant Theoden insists his fortress is well-defended. His stronghold is soon overrun, however, and while he narrowly escapes thanks to the last-minute intervention of the wizard Gandalf, Theoden is killed while battling under similar odds in the following film, The Return of the King.

Valkyrie

Playing a German general in North Africa during World War II, Hill gets word from Tom Cruise's Colonel von Stauffenberg of impending defeat by Allied forces. Hill's general stubbornly agrees to withdraw, only to be gunned down moments later in a raid by American fighter planes.

Four hallmarks of James Cameron movies

Alongside the action and record-setting box office numbers that typically accompany a James Cameron movie can be found some consistent themes and motifs. Here are just a few.


Relentless Soldiers
Colonel Miles Quaritch (Avatar), Lt. Coffey (The Abyss), T-800 (The Terminator), and Spicer Lovejoy (Titanic): These guys just don't quit. No matter what happens, they stay focused on the mission, only stopping when they are finally killed or destroyed. While they often fill the role of "the bad guy," they can also be seen as very capable and dedicated. They are all professional and unemotional, unswayed by factors that influence the films' protagonists, but not essentially evil. If they didn't fall on the opposite side of the movie's sympathies, these guys would be heroes.

Evil Corporations
Corporations are the ultimate evil entity in several of Cameron's movies, pursuing higher profit at the expense of human lives. Take, for example:

• the RDA from Avatar, which destroys a people's homeland in order to mine a valuable mineral,
• Weyland-Yutani from Aliens, which sacrifices the crew of the starship Sulaco in order to capture the ultimate bio-weapon,
• Cyberdyne Systems from Terminator 2, caught in the blind pursuit of a dangerous technology that ultimately spells doom for humanity,
• and the White Star Line from Titanic, which forgoes safety equipment and protocol in favor of luxury and prestige.

Female Heroes
Ellen Ripley (Aliens) and Sarah Connor (Terminator 2) top this list, though Lindsey Brigman (The Abyss), Grace Augustine (Avatar), and Neytiri (Avatar) can also be counted among female characters who are often tactically smarter, cooler under pressure, and more effective at saving lives than their male counterparts.

Advanced Technology
Certainly Cameron's movies are made with groundbreaking technology, but they are also about technology. The plots of The Abyss, Avatar, Titanic, and Terminator 2 are all driven by a breakthrough piece of technology — the underwater drilling rig, the avatars, the world's biggest passenger ship, and time-travelling cybernetic assassins. Each time we are shown a fantastic vision of technology's power — but we are also shown that in the wrong hands, it all goes south.

James Cameron photo used with the permission described here.