Film Genre Notes Action-Adventure

Action-Adventure Genre traceable in literature all the way back to Beowulf. the Western is arguably the first real action film genre.

Westerns vs. Action-Adventure Western focused on taming nature or the natural inhabitants Today’s Action-Adventure is more about wars over oil reserves, mineral deposits and preservation of homeland security. The modern movie has given way to spreading democracy and clashing against diverse religious doctrines.

Westerns vs. Action-Adventure Continued Gunslingers, Indians, and swindling town mayors are replaced by serial killers, egomaniacal dictators, suicidal terrorists, and corrupt corporate CEOs.

Westerns vs. Action-Adventure Continued Star Wars follows the typical Western, yet blends seamlessly with the modern war theme. The television Star Trek (1966-1969) was first pitched to network executives as Wagon Train in Space.

Action vs. Adventure The term action-adventure is widely used to label both action and adventure films; however, there are important differences between the two genres.

Action Movies Contain Violence – whether with fist, knife, or gun Enormous explosions Car crashes Nearly impossible on-foot pursuits

Action Hero Generally the hero gets in a predicament he must escape. There’s a female involved in some way. There’s a wicked, unrelenting villain. Most stories are contemporary (modern) in nature.

Adventure Movies Focus on larger than life heroes exploring and conquering exotic lands in predicaments linked to greater world conflicts and consequences. Portray a hero, generally a male, with a female needing rescuing from a perilous predicament.

Adventure Movies Continued In its purest rendition, the adventure genre embraces stories from history and mythology. Hollywood uses action-adventure films as the primary source for their tentpole movies: big-budget films released during the summer months and marketed to the widest audience possible. This approach means big bucks for the studios

Popular Action-Adventure Sub-Genres Science fiction – Star Wars (1977-2005), X-Men (2000-2006), Transformers (2007) Fantasy – Lord of the Rings (2001-2003), Spiderman trilogy (2002-2007) Suspense – Bourne (2002-2007), Mission Impossible (1996-2006) Disaster – Titanic (1997), The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

Top Box Office Action-Adventure Franchises Star Wars – science fiction Jurassic Park – science fiction The Lord of the Rings – fantasy Harry Potter – fantasy Die Hard – thriller James Bond – thriller Indiana Jones – adventure