| Action Film |
Article Index for Action |
Website Links For Action |
Information AboutAction Film |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ACTION FILM | |
| action films | |
| action films by genre | |
| film genres | |
|
Action films are a Film Genre where action sequences, such as Fighting , Stunt s, Car Chase s or explosions, take precedence over elements like Characterization or complex plotting. The action typically involves individual efforts on the part of the Hero , in contrast with most War Film s. The genre is closely linked with the Thriller and Adventure Film genres. RISE OF THE ACTION FILM In the West, during the 1920s and 1930s, adventure films were popularised by actors such as Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn , but the settings were often period ones. The phenomenal success of the James Bond series in the 1960s and 1970s, helped to popularise the concept of the modern day action film in more recent years. The early Bond films were characterised by quick Cutting , car chases, fist fights and ever more elaborate action sequences. The series also established the concept of the resourceful hero, who is able to dispatch the villains with a ready one-liner. Early American action films usually focused on maverick police officers, as in '' Bullitt '' (1968), '' The French Connection '' (1971) and '' Dirty Harry '' (1971). These were among the earliest films to present a car chase as an action set-piece. However, the action film did not become a dominant form in Hollywood until the 1980s and 1990s, when it was popularized by actors such as Arnold Schwarzenegger , Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone ,who's film First Blood in 1982 is considered to be the beggining of the modern day action film.The 1988 film '' Die Hard '' was particularly influential on the development of the genre in the following decade. In the film, Bruce Willis plays a New York police detective who inadvertently becomes embroiled in a terrorist take-over of a Los Angeles office block. The film set a pattern for a host of imitators, like '' Under Siege '' (1992) or '' Air Force One '' (1997), which used the same formula in a different setting. Action films tend to be expensive, requiring big budget Special Effect s and Stunt Work . As such, they are regarded as mostly a Hollywood genre, although there have been a significant number of Action Films From Hong Kong which are primarily modern variations of the Martial Arts Film . Because of these roots, Hong Kong action films typically center on acrobatics by the protagonist while American action films typically feature big explosions and modern technology. CURRENT TRENDS Current trends in action film include a development toward more elaborate fight scenes in Western film. This trend is influenced by the massive success of Hong Kong Action Cinema , both in Asia and in the west. Asian Martial Arts elements, such as Kung-fu can now be found in numerous non-Asian action films. Now, a distinction can be made between films that lean toward physical, agile fighting, such as '' The Matrix '', and those that lean toward other common action film conventions, like explosions and plenty of gunfire, such as '' Lethal Weapon '', although most action movies employ elements of both. FEMINIST THEORY Feminist Film Theory has been used to analyze action movies, owing to their rare variance from a core archetype. The separation between the physical male, who controls the scene and the Gaze , and the female, who is almost always the object of the gaze, is very clear in most such films. Although female characters in most action films are nothing more than objects, a prize for the winner, hostages, loving wives and the like, there has been a move towards stronger female characters such as those in works by James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow , as well Quentin Tarantino , and a move towards " Girl Power "-style feminine empowerment (e.g. '' Charlie's Angels ''), in place of the traditional " Damsel In Distress ". SUB-GENRES
'' Nighthawks ''.
SEE ALSO |
|
|