CONVENTIONS OF AN ACTION FILM GENRE

The genre ‘Action’ was discovered in the 1920’s and was generally based around western films that included sword fight and chase scenes on horse-back. As technology has improved over the years, action films are always changing and new variations are starting to appear. In the 1960’s the first James Bond film was produced and has served an inspiration to a lot of action movies nowadays.  

Action films usually include a high level of energy which gets shown throughout the film. Action films tend to have a very large budget because it has to cover all to the costs for the stunts, costumes and props needed. There is non-stop motion, this keeps the viewer tied into the film, and there is furthermore spectacular rhythm and pacing created by the adventurous characters and mis-en-scene. Main characters often include two-dimensional 'good-guy' heroes battling the 'bad guys’; this is all designed for pure audience escapism.

What an audience will stereotypically view in an action film:

•          Explosion
•          Gun Fights
•          Chase Scenes
•          Fist Fights
•          Natural Disasters such as (floods, tsunamis and tornado's)
•          Destructive Crises
•          Prison or Culprit escapes
•          Blood
•         A Victory

Some examples of Action Movies:

•        The fast and Furious sequel
•          James Bond
•          Die Hard
•          Batman: The Dark Knight
•          Indiana Jones
•          300
•          The Matrix
•          Avatar

Popular actors that known for their good acting in action films are:

•          Sylvester Stallone
•          Arnold Schwarzenegger
•          Jackie Chan
•          Daniel Craig
•          Bruce Willis
•          Will Smith
•          Hugh Jackman
•          Tom Cruise
•          Paul Walker