Title: Action Movies - Filmbug
Headings: Action Movies
Action Movies
Rise of the action film
Current trends
Feminist theory
Sub-genres

Content: Action Movies - Filmbug

Action Movies
Action films are a film genre where action sequences, such as fighting, stunts, car chases 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 films. 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.