However, the filmmaker says he's glad he wasn't stuck in his vision enough to not "see how it could work with" the actor.

The filmmaker stands by his dialogue, though: "Let me see your three-out-of-the-four-highest-grossing films — then we’ll talk about dialogue effectiveness."

James Cameron reflected on being “just a punk” when he directed The Terminator and how, looking back now, he knows it wasn’t perfect. The Oscar-winning director spoke to Empire magazine ahead of the classic sci-fi film’s 40th anniversary next month and noted he considers the project his first,

James Cameron has reflected on his 1984 blockbuster film, The Terminator, calling it partly cringeworthy due to its poor production value.

James Cameron has a brilliant solution which could be the key to reviving Arnold Schwarzenegger's fading Terminator franchise.

Filmmaker James Cameron has reflected on making The Terminator 40 years on, admitting that some parts of the cult film now seem “pretty cringeworthy”. The cult science fiction, which stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as a cyborg assassin, was originally released in 1984 and marked the legendary filmmaker’s directorial debut.

Taking it all the way back to where it began, James didn’t mince his words as he marked the 40th anniversary of his breakout feature – The Terminator – starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a cyborg assassin.

Last year we learned that James Cameron was developing a new Terminator movie. At the time he said that the project is heavily inspired by AI, and before he made it, he wanted to see how things play out with AI in the real world.

It’s been 40 years since The Terminator, and by extension, Arnold Schwarzenegger, were introduced to the world. It was James Cameron’s first movie (he apparently doesn't count Piranha II) and it's arguably still Cameron's best movie.

"I don't cringe on any of the dialogue, but I have a lower cringe factor than, apparently, a lot of people do around the dialogue that I write," Cameron told Empire Magazine. "You know what? Let me see your three-out-of-the-four-highest-grossing films--then we'll talk about dialogue effectiveness."

Although many consider it a masterpiece, James Cameron has enough distance from The Terminator to give it his honest review. Marking the 40th anniversary of his directorial debut, the 3x Oscar-winning director looked back on parts of the 1984 film as “pretty cringeworthy” as he admitted the “production value” didn’t age well.