Action film
Related: adventure - adventure film - crime film - damsel-in-distress - escapism - fiction - film sensationalism - thriller - violent films Western film
Definition
Action movies, or sometimes known as actioners, usually involve a fairly straightforward story of good guys versus bad guys, where most disputes are resolved by using physical force. Action films are largely derived from crime films and thrillers, by way of westerns and to some extent war films. Modern Hollywood examples of the genre are usually "high concept" films where the whole movie can be easily summarized (eg. "a scientist brings dinosaurs back to life only to find them trying to dominate earth, again" for Jurassic Park). Who exactly the good guys are differs from film to film, but in Hollywood films they usually are patriotic and rather conservative (though not die-hard) Americans, whereas the bad guys are usually either criminals or agents of foreign powers. In the 1950's and '60s, they were very often Communists, which brings some action films fairly close to propaganda films. Starting in the 1970s, Communists were seen less as the predominant villains (although they were still widely present until the late '80s), and the focus turned instead to drug lords, terrorists, or some other criminal element. Action movies also tend to have a single heroic protagonist and often portray institutions such as the military or police as incompetent and limited by rules and regulations which the protagonist has no regard for. This creates the stereotypical conflict between an action hero and the establishment.
The genre, although popular since the 1950s, did not become one of the most dominant forms in Hollywood until the 1980s and 1990s, when it was popularised by actors such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone. The 1988 film Die Hard was particularly influential on the development of the genre in the following decade. In the movie 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 which often just used the same formula in a different setting. Examples included Under Siege, Passenger 57, Executive Decision, Con Air and Air Force One.
Action films tend to be expensive requiring big budget special effects and stunt work. Action films have mainly become a mostly-American 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 in action film include a development toward more elaborate fight scenes, perhaps because of the success of Asian martial arts elements, such as kung fu and karate, in Western film. Actors in action movies are now much more skilled in the art and aesthetic of fighting than they have been in the past, apart from a few acknowledged fighters like Steven Seagal. Now, a distinction can be made between films that lean toward physical agile fighting, such as The Transporter, and those that lean toward other common action film conventions, like explosions and plenty of gunfire, such as Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever or Lethal Weapon, although most action movies employ elements of both.
Several of the common action film conventions saw their birth in the release of James Bond series (containing many of the original elements of spy movies still seen today). One popular element is the car chase, a feature that is almost standard in action films. Bullit and The French Connection were among the earliest films to present a car chase as an action set-piece. At present, many action films culminate in a suspenseful climax centered around a Mexican standoff between two leading characters.
Action films also constitute very good examples for feminist film theory, because in them, the separation between the physical male who controls the scene and the look and the female, who is almost always the object of the look is very clear. 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. These are maybe best exemplified in works by James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow.
Due to their widespread appeal, many of the following films have also spawned one or more sequels. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_movie [Nov 2005]
Hong Kong action cinema
The traditions of Hong Kong action cinema developed starting in the 1970s are the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame.
Influence in the West
All of these developments not only made Hong Kong the dominant cinema in East Asia, but reawakened Western interest. Jackie Chan and films like Tsui Hark's Peking Opera Blues (1986) were already building a cult following when Woo's The Killer (1989) had a limited but successful release in the U.S. and opened the floodgates. In the 1990s, Westerners with an eye on "alternative" culture became common sights in Chinatown video shops and theaters, and gradually the films became more available in the mainstream video market and even occasionally in mainstream theaters. Western critics and film scholars also began to take Hong Kong action cinema seriously and make many key figures and films part of their canon of world cinema.
From here, Hong Kong came to define a new vocabulary for worldwide action cinema, with the aid of a new generation of North American filmmakers. Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992) drew inspiration from City on Fire and his two-part Kill Bill (2003-04) was in large part a martial arts homage, borrowing Yuen Woo-Ping as fight choreographer and actor. Robert Rodriguez's Desperado (1995) and its 2003 sequel Once Upon a Time in Mexico aped Woo's visual mannerisms. The Wachowski brothers' The Matrix trilogy (1999-2003) borrowed from Woo and wire fu movies and also employed Yuen behind the scenes. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_action_cinema [Dec 2005]
High concept
High concept, in movies, is a term typically used to refer to the style and mode of production developed by Hollywood studios in the late 1970s. The term has also been claimed to originate from the marketing and management work of media executives Barry Diller and Michael Eisner at the ABC network in the 1960s. Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) and George Lucas' Star Wars (1977) are commonly referred to as the first high concept movies.
The plot of a high concept movie is easily understood by audiences, and can often be described in a sentence or two. The story line is extremely efficient in that every scene and character is used to drive the plot forward. Often in high concept, characters and scenes that at first seem unnecessary are later used to reveal or explain a plot twist.
High concept movies feature relatively simple characters and a heavy reliance on conventions of cinematic genre. Stylistically, high concept movies tend to be high-tech, crisp, and polished. Such movies also rely on pre-sold properties such as movie stars to build audience anticipation, and use heavy advertising, market research, and test screenings to ensure maximum popularity.
High concept movies also have a presence outside of theaters, and usually have soundtrack and music video tie-ins to cross-promote the movie. Promotional tie-ins can extend into dozens of venues; a common occurrence is themed products sold at fast-food restaurants such as McDonald's.
"High concept" is used as a derogatory term by some movie critics, to refer to movies that pander to the lowest common denominator and are only concerned with financial profit.
High concept movies often have themes which tie into an area of popular fascination, such as sharks, dinosaurs, Auschwitz, flying saucers and so on, and thus have a ready-built foundation of subsidiary issues and ever-ramifying facts which can feed the marketing machine from magazine articles to weblog chatter on levels from the superficial to the intellectually or factually exhaustive.
In recent years, another use has come into being by film reviewers, in reference to films which are self-referential, in that the story is largely about the making of the movie itself. A few examples include:
- Bewitched
- Wes Craven's New Nightmare
- Adaptation
The irony of the advent of this definition is that such films often cater to exactly the opposite type of moviegoer as those to which the more traditional definition is ascribed. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_concept [Nov 2005]
High concept
High concept, in movies, is a term typically used to refer to the style and mode of production developed by Hollywood studios in the late 1970s. The term has also been claimed to originate from the marketing and management work of media executives Barry Diller and Michael Eisner at the ABC network in the 1960s. Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) and George Lucas' Star Wars (1977) are commonly referred to as the first high concept movies.
The plot of a high concept movie is easily understood by audiences, and can often be described in a sentence or two. The story line is extremely efficient in that every scene and character is used to drive the plot forward. Often in high concept, characters and scenes that at first seem unnecessary are later used to reveal or explain a plot twist.
High concept movies feature relatively simple characters and a heavy reliance on conventions of cinematic genre. Stylistically, high concept movies tend to be high-tech, crisp, and polished. Such movies also rely on pre-sold properties such as movie stars to build audience anticipation, and use heavy advertising, market research, and test screenings to ensure maximum popularity.
High concept movies also have a presence outside of theaters, and usually have soundtrack and music video tie-ins to cross-promote the movie. Promotional tie-ins can extend into dozens of venues; a common occurrence is themed products sold at fast-food restaurants such as McDonald's.
"High concept" is used as a derogatory term by some movie critics, to refer to movies that pander to the lowest common denominator and are only concerned with financial profit.
High concept movies often have themes which tie into an area of popular fascination, such as sharks, dinosaurs, Auschwitz, flying saucers and so on, and thus have a ready-built foundation of subsidiary issues and ever-ramifying facts which can feed the marketing machine from magazine articles to weblog chatter on levels from the superficial to the intellectually or factually exhaustive.
In recent years, another use has come into being by film reviewers, in reference to films which are self-referential, in that the story is largely about the making of the movie itself. A few examples include:
- Bewitched
- Wes Craven's New Nightmare
- Adaptation
The irony of the advent of this definition is that such films often cater to exactly the opposite type of moviegoer as those to which the more traditional definition is ascribed. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_concept [Nov 2005]
Action/Spectacle Cinema: A Sight and Sound Reader (2000) - Jose Arroyo (Editor)
Action/Spectacle Cinema: A Sight and Sound Reader (2000) - Jose Arroyo (Editor) [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Popular cinema’s most consistently violent film metacategory, the contemporary Hollywood action film/thriller/blockbuster.
Book Description
Often dismissed as 'High Concept' or 'popcorn', movies, this most popular of contemporary genres can and should, this book asserts, be taken seriously on its own terms. In doing so, questions of aesthetics are foregrounded and evaluative criteria are explored. This volume investigates relations between contemporary action cinema and television, cartoons, comics, special effects and Theme Parks as well as the connection between related types of cinema such as neo-noir and the serial killer film.
This first in a new series of Sight and Sound Readers includes case studies of such key figures as John Woo and Arnold Schwarzenegger and a wide range of articles that focus on some of the most successful films of the 90s (Speed, Jurassic Park, Titanic) and some of the most important directors (Cameron, Spielberg, Bigelow, Tarantino, Mann).--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
See also: Spectacle - action film
Savage Cinema : Sam Peckinpah and the Rise of Ultraviolent Movies (1998) - Stephen Prince
Savage Cinema : Sam Peckinpah and the Rise of Ultraviolent Movies (1998) - Stephen Prince [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Stephen Prince has taught film history, criticism and theory at Virginia Tech for 15 years. His research and publications focus on violence in motion pictures, on Japanese director Akira Kurosawa and Japanese cinema, on the American film industry, on American film during the 1980s, and on political cinema. The author of numerous essays and book chapters, his work has appeared in Film Quarterly, Cinema Journal, Quarterly Review of Film and Video, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. --http://filebox.vt.edu/users/sprince/bio.htm [Dec 2005]
See also: Sam Peckinpah - violent film - American cinema
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