Features and conventions of an action thriller

General features and conventions

While action heroes have existed in films since the 1920s (such as Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn), the genre itself didn’t become popular until directors such as John Carpenter and George Miller began making action-centred films.

The action film genre is generally characterized by the physical action that tells much of the story, as opposed to drama's for example where the story is told via the dialogue. In addition, there is a "hero" character whose individual efforts make up a lot of the action. One very strong example is the "Die Hard" movie series, where Bruce Willis' character was the hero. Action films are known for having a few characteristics that run throughout the genre. They are always fast-paced, have a (usually male) hero-centred narrative, a beautiful love interest who will require saving, and a multitude of guns, explosions, chases, and dangerous stunts. Character development usually takes a while to understand, but with so much excitement on-screen, viewers most likely won’t care.

The general idea of a good action movie, including a good hero have changed over the course of history. For example, In the 1920s and 30s, good action movies were frequently characterized by the swashbuckling adventure stories starring actors such as Douglas Fairbanks who fought many a sword fight in period dramas. The cowboy or western film as well as war movies became the commonly talked about action film topics of the 40s and 50s; and the 1960s were dominated by the James Bond spy series with the one-man army that single handily took down many a villainous mastermind and used technologically advanced spy tools, gadgets and hot cars to get the job done. The action movie genre didn't really begin to develop as an independent movie type until the 1970s with the "Dirty Harry" franchise which starred Clint Eastwood, who was seen as the cowboy of the time, for the previous roles he had played.

The 1980s are known as the action era, with a large number of good action movies. In fact the summer time became known as the time for action movies to be released to audiences nationwide. The action era featured stars who even today star as action movie stars including: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford. The genre flourished with films such as Die Hard, Rambo, The Terminator, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. The success of these films led to a massive amount of like-themed movies, including several successful franchises. Also some of the main themes for action movies back in the 80’s included themes like - man versus a corrupt system, stories about the end of the world, and comic book heroes brought to life, which I’m sure will be familiar to all of us.

There are many sub-genres within the larger action genre which include: Spy films, Cop films, Crime films, Buddy films, Superhero films, Revenge films, and Apocalypse films.

 In all of these it’s up to the hero to save the day. He (or on rare occasion, she) is good, the villains are bad, and there’s nothing in between.