Action Movies

The very basis of movies is, well, movement — action. Still pictures don't move. Moving pictures do move. Even when the movie industry was in its infancy, it seems that movie makers instinctively knew that those who would spend their hard-earned money on movie tickets wanted to see action. People wanted to see fist fights, gun battles, sword fights, chases, etc.

Today, "action movies" are basically the same as what are often billed as "adventure films" or "thriller films." Action films are usually based on a standard formula. There's always a hero. There's always a villain. There is always a physical conflict. The hero wins after it appears that he will lose. Action movies are made for a mostly male audience between the ages of 10 and 35. It wasn't until the 1990s that the film industry decided to add female heroines to action films. The industry also changed the basic storyline to include romance subplots and scenes that make action movies more appealing to a broader audience.

The early action movies were about cowboys or pirates and featured chases on horseback, and fights with fists, guns, or swords. As progress happened, the horse chases were replaced with automobile chases, and the fights were with all kinds of weaponry. Fist fights are, however, still a mainstay of action films, and martial art combats are now big. The heroes are rarely cowboys or pirates today with only a very few exceptions. Today's heroes are mostly affiliated with the police or the army in some way.

The old action movies were mostly low-budget films. It didn't cost much to film a horse chase. Today's actions films, though, are much more extravagant productions, and the special effects used are certainly not "cheap."

Action movies usually do very well at the box office, but the critics are very rarely impressed with them.

What is your view of the latest action movie, and are we headed in the right direction?