Bad question framing and bad answer. The issue is the AI distortions, not the grain. Cameron surely knows this, so he’s responding with a straw man.

Get a life? It’s your industry, man. And maybe don’t denigrate the people buying your movies. Lots of other studios get this right.

That said, I think the online criticism of True Lies (haven’t watched the Aliens disc yet) is overblown except for maybe 3-4 scenes where it’s super obvious, awful, and distracting.

At least The Abyss looked great.

I HATE DENOISING I HATE DENOISING.

I jest. I’ve watched some 35mm transfers and the noise is distracting

Topaz Video AI has a great grain removal feature. I already do this to other upscaled Hollywood junk.

Transcription:

So you’ve also had recently the 4K transfers of Aliens and True Lies that came out. It did get blowback in the fan community, some feeling that the image quality wasn’t as high as they wanted it to be. You obviously have a very high standard. So l’m wondering what you thought?

When people start reviewing your grain structure, they need to move out of mom’s basement and meet somebody. Right? Im serious. I mean, are you fucking kidding me? I’ve got a great team that does the transfers. I do all the color and density work. I look at every shot, every frame, and then the final transfer is done by a guy who has been with me [for years]. All the Avatar films are done that way. Everything is done that way. Get a life, people, seriously.

I mean, Cameron is a douche, but he’s right in this case. There’s a lot to complain about with his body of work, but grain levels just aren’t on the list.