Action
Lights, camera, action! Action is the genre I have chosen. There are many stand-alone action films such as Commando, 48hrs and Con Air. There are even more action film series such as Die Hard, Rambo, James Bond and Underworld. The movie I have chosen to suit this genre is the action RED: Retired and Extremely Dangerous
In 1920’s and 1930’s, action films were often about swashbuckling heroes, involving a damsel in distress and featured a romantic element such as the 1920 silent film The Mark of Zorro. The 1940’s incorporated war and western action films including the 1955 war story The Colditz Story. In 1959, Alfred Hitchcock re-invented the spy-action genre with his film North by Northwest and introduced action-orientated set pieces with the crop duster scene and the finale on Mount Rushmore.
This film, North by Northwest, helped inspire producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman film their own spy-adventure film. James Bond, inspired by Ian Fleming’s novels, took the world by storm and is still used today. James Bond introduced some of the common elements and features of an action film that are still used today.
In the 1970’s, gritty detective stories and urban crime drama’s led to a number of police officer films. Asian martial-arts themed movies also appeared including Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon. Also popularized by the cross of martial arts and cops and robbers, Chuck Norris entered with films like the 1977 Good Guys Wear Black. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas then introduced us to Indiana Jones, continuing with the James Bond inspired hero. In 1982, the first ‘Buddy Cop’ film, 48hrs, came out.
The first Rambo film also appeared in 1982, and when its success was proved, it spawned a sequel in 1985. Die Hard was also introduced in 1987 and the first sequel followed in 1988. This era introduced actors such as Sylvester Stallone, Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis.
Action film characters are black and white. The audience will automatically know who the hero is and who the villain is, although they sometimes have tendencies of the opposing side, for example the villain is sympathetic or the hero’s choices are questionable. The hero also has limited support. Often, the hero is by themselves against the villain’s henchmen and is unable to stop and rest, like the first Die Hard movie where the hero is an off-duty cop caught up in a hostage-situation. There is also the element of time. Sometimes it can be a bomb ticking down, like in the movie Speed, other times it’s a villain’s deadline.
There are many characteristics that make an action movie suited to the genre. First is the action. The over-use of violence mean a lot of people die and things are blown apart, most commonly aircraft like aeroplanes and helicopters. The second characteristic of an action movie are the fire-arms. There is often an unlimited supply of weapons and vehicles available for the villains, whereas the hero has to use whatever they take from the deceased or what they already have. The third is the women. There are always women involved, either on the good or bad side. The women are usually beautiful and often in their late 20’s or their early 30’s with slim, tanned bodies. They dress sexually, in order to appeal to the male audience as they are the biggest fans. If they are on the bad side, they often try to seduce the hero. If they are on the good side they usually carry big weapons and are ready with witty remarks to deter any man trying to hit on them.
RED is an action film that focus’ on Frank Moses, a former black-ops CIA agent and his attempts to find out who is trying to assassinate him and why. He enlists the help of his customer service agent, his former mentor, a former black-ops agent and conspiracy theorist, an ex-Russian Secret agent and a former wet-work agent (wet-work agent – Russian for spilling of blood). This film changes the set standards for a common action film. First, the main women aren’t sexually appealing. Sarah, the customer service agent, wears jeans and button-up shirts. Victoria, the wet-work agent, commonly wears long, flowing, white dresses and jackets. The heroes also, being retiree’s and older, don’t wear tight t-shirts and skinny jeans but rather suits and t-shirts with jackets. The hero is not by themselves, but rather in a team. This movie’s villain, however, isn’t clear-cut. At first, one assumes that it is CIA agent William Cooper, but he is really a pawn, whereas the real villains are Cynthia Wilkes and Alexander Dunning. There are numerous gun fights and a few fist fights as well as several explosions. In this movie, different to most others, the hero doesn’t have to steal from the dead; he has his own shed full of fire-arms and bombs. The older team defeat the younger team, not by gun power but rather by small events that seem insignificant but overall, change the outcome altogether. However, while the features aren’t what most action films put into their movies, it still uses the common features and elements of a good action film.
A good action movie has clear-cut characters, so time is not wasted in trying to determine who is good and who is evil. It also has beautiful women, an over-use of explosions and violence and lots of fire-arms. I chose to watch RED because of the change in the standard storyline pattern. Usually, the woman are sexually-appealing, the male is young and still in the police force and are by themselves. Despite all that, it still suits the genre. Action movies are still being made with the main hero being reinvented with different values, attitudes and beliefs. People don’t mind that the film settings, actors and storylines change because the action hero holds the same ideals as them. This hero is real enough in their own imaginations that the action and events become believable and they can then imagine themselves in their shoes. So, in conclusion, lights, camera, ACTION!