Action movie

Action movies, or sometimes known as actioners, usually involve a fairly straightforward story of good guys versus bad guys, where most disputes are resolved by using physical force. Action films are largely derived from crime films and thrillers, by way of westerns and to some extent war films. Modern Hollywood examples of the genre are usually "high concept" films where the whole movie can be easily summarized in a simple sentence (eg. "a scientist brings dinosaurs back to life only to find them trying to dominate earth, again" for Jurassic Park). Who exactly the good guys are differs from film to film, but in Hollywood films they usually are patriotic and rather conservative (though not die-hard) Americans, whereas the bad guys are usually either criminals or agents of foreign powers. In the 1950's and '60s, they were very often Communists, which brings some action films fairly close to propaganda films. Starting in the 1970s, Communists were seen less as the predominant villains (although they were still widely present until the late '80s), and the focus turned instead to drug lords, terrorists, or some other criminal element. Action movies also tend to have a single heroic protagonist and often portray institutions such as the military or police as incompetent and limited by rules and regulations which the protagonist has no regard for. This creates the stereotypical conflict between an action hero and the establishment.

Famous actors

• Charles Bronson
• Jackie Chan
• Vin Diesel
• Clint Eastwood
• Harrison Ford
• Mel Gibson
• Ice Cube
• Bruce Lee
• Toshiro Mifune
• Chuck Norris
• Fernando Poe, Jr.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Steven Seagal
• Sylvester Stallone
• Jean-Claude van Damme
• Bruce Willis
• Chow Yun-Fat