I agree. Michael Biehn is this kind of great actor that I tend to forget about. Definitely a legend in Cameron films. I saw Ghosts of the Abyss. I believe I read somewhere, once, that JC had the luck to have connections and finances to do all this great stuff, have all this expensive (diving) equipment (made). It's always a mix of being at the right place at the right time. It's so much easier if you grow up under the right circumstances. Which doesn't mean that he isn't a great filmmaker too. Although films are never the work of one (wo)man, even when we're talking about so called 'auteurs' ;>)

Talking about Avatar, I tend to believe that many filmmakers - especially when they grow older and 3D and CGI take over - kind of lose their vision. This happened to James Cameron but - in my opinion - also to Ridley Scott. I found it hard to sit through Prometheus. I tend to forgive these guys easily though, as they made so many classics that I can revisit again and again.

P.S. Yeah, The New World is a good movie, although I didn't find it as spectacular as many seem to find it.