History of Action Genre

History of Action Genre

The success of the James Bond series in the 1960s and 70s made it a popular concept of the modern day action film. Earlier Bond films included features such as quick cutting, car chases, fistfights and the complicated action sequences. However the trend today includes Asian martial arts elements, such as Kung Fu and Karate can be found in non-Asian action films due to Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.  Action films lean to the common codes and convection of an action genre e.g. explosions and plenty of gunfire, such as lethal weapon.

Beginning of the 60s they action films began to include violence and sexual elements which appealed to a wider audience. Then in the 70s the kung Fu genre became popular due to Bruce Lee four martial arts film that included intense fights. Edwin S.Porter’s western action film “The Great Train Robbery 1903” which was a classic and has remained very significant to the history of cinematic. Action genre expanded in 80’s and 90s due to the growth of special effects and the demands for the action genre to include more violence and shorter plots. The most profitable film series according to the Guinness World Records was James Bond and it’s the longest running series now. By the end of 80s the action genre was featured in every genre due to its popularity. In the 90s there was a development in CGI which often had a higher budget as it created new settings, the competition was high as all film companies wanted to entertain the audiences.