The evolution of ACTION GENRE

Martelle Kumar

Over the years these high energy films have made some changes.

EARLY ACTION1920's to the 1930's the predominant films were classic swashbuckling movies where heroes would

battle villains with the swords. Heros like Douglas Fairbanks as a "Swashbuckler“

Swashbuckler films are an action-adventure subgenre often characterised by swordfighting and adventurous heroic characters.

Mainly set in Western Europe in the period between the late Renaissance and the age of reason with

appropriately lavish costumes.

1920’s- 1930’s

In the 40's and 50's War Movies, Cowboy Movies, and Spy Adventure Films took the stage as the top action films of the time.

1940’s-1950’s

Early action

The leap from sword fighting to spy movies/western styled films in early action may be because of the change in culture. Spy

and western were more realistic than sword fighting. The costumes became more normal and associated to the theme,

it therefore became more realistic to the audience

WHY

EARLY ACTION

During the 60's it was Ian Fleming's larger than life creation, James Bond.. It was inspired by movies like North by Northwest (A 1959 American thriller) and The Guns of Navarone(a 1961 British-American Action/Adventure war film) 

The James Bond dominated the 60's.

Part of their appeal were the larger than life characters (both heroes and villains). A great feature of the Bond movies was that 007 was basically a "one man army."

He would dispatch his opponents with either fist fights, weapons or futuristic gadgetry.

The Bond films were also adorned with many car chases and Martial Arts combat.

1960’s

EARLY ACTIONThe 70’s introduced a gritty dectective and urban crime dramas shaped the a new ‘action style’

Movies like Dirty Harry (1971) entailed featured the convention of intense car chase inspired by the popular stunt work in previous the Bond films. Movies dismissed western themes and showed that the modern world offered just as much glamour, excitement, and potential for violence as the old west.These films brpught an end of the prolific "cowboys and Indians" era of film westerns.

long with this change came the major introduction to Martial Arts Action. Movies like You Only Live Twice, enter the Dragon with Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris

1970’s

EARLY ACTION

A gate way to a new culture wass exposed as audiences were facinated by martial art films in 1970’s

The cross-pollenization of genres (such as spy-films and war movies, or westerns and detective dramas) would become the norm in the 1980s. It should also be noted however, that the 1970s saw the introduction of martial-arts film to western audiences.

1970’S

EARLY ACTION

Again the genre made changes to cater to the far from niche audience. The gritty cop feel became popular

because it was within belief. The bond era created a new field to see authority and underground villains

COW BOY TO COPS

EARLY ACTION

The 1980s would see the action film take over Hollywood to become a dominant form of summer blockbuster; literally "the action era" popularized by strong male

rising comedianlike Eddie murthy smashed box office records with the action-comedy in ,

The film proved to be successful and was followed with a sequel in 1985, Rambo:firs bloodwhich became the most successful film in the series and made the character John Rambo a pop cultural icon.

• Movies like lethal weapons (1989) proved that low-budget action plots (like a maverick cop with

1980’s

EARLY ACTIONComedians became more common to appeal to a bigger audience

TODAYS ACTIONTODAS ACTION