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Three-character action movies before 1990

1920s-1950s

The thriller action film genre was actually born from the serial films of the silent film era, which is equivalent in time to Edwin Porter's early classics "The Great Train Robbery" (1903, known as the genre pioneer of hardcore genres such as westerns, police films, dramas and action films). Famous early series include Edison's "The Adventures of Mary." series (What Happened to Mary?, 1912) and (The Adventures of Kathlyn, 1913), most of these series describe the adventures of the female protagonist. They consist of chases, escapes, fights, gunfights and nature. Disasters and other action sequences are the core. This kind of action sequence has been the most obvious feature throughout the entire history of the development of action films, and the establishment of the series also laid the foundation for subsequent thrilling action film series.

David Griffith is well aware of the great spectacle of action spectacle. In both "The Birth of a Nation" and "Intolerance," he used long-shot battle scenes and focused chase and rescue actions to capture the audience. While one could claim that these two films were the prototypes of the feature-length form action film, it was not until the 1920s that the action thriller evolved into a recognizable and defined genre. >The action movies of the classic era (1920s--1950s) can be called "adventure" action movies. Adventure action movies tend to be about the heroic era of that time and place (foreign lands and the past), adding exotic scenes and adventurous eras. Romantic female subjects combine thrills, action, violence and romance to create a wider appeal. Therefore, a key element of the adventure action film is that its characters and conflicts are placed in a romance different from everyday life. A past era, a hostile contemporary environment and an isolated wilderness jungle. Adventure action films must create an environment that is different from the everyday world to exaggerate the danger and strengthen the protagonist's efforts to overcome difficulties. The protagonist's ultimate victory will establish him or her. In addition, the bizarre environmental settings and gorgeous action scenes in adventure action movies provide excellent opportunities for cinematic spectacle.

The pioneer of adventure action movies is famous. "Tarzan Series"

Douglas Fairbanks Sr. is the most famous early adventure action film star

Zorro

, almost single-handedly created and popularized the "swash-buckler" genre, thus becoming the prototype of the first American male idol. The son of a Jewish lawyer studied at Harvard University. In the 1920s, he married Mary Pickford and became the most popular king and queen in Hollywood. Together with Chaplin and Griffith, they founded the "United Arts Company". He was also an American film arts and entertainment company. The first president of the Scientific Society (Oscar Society).

Fairbanks starred in adventure action films including The Mark of Zorro (1920), The Three Musketaers (1921), Robin Hood (1922), The Thief of Baghdad (The Thief of Baghdad) Thief of Bagdad. 1924) and (The Iron Mask, 1929)

Different from Fairbanks' relatively pure hardcore image, Rudolph Valenti, known as the "Latin Lover" Riudolph Valentino infused early thrilling action films with romantic tenderness and exoticism. His works include "The Sheik" (1921, the love adventure of an Arab sheikh and a British lady), "The Sheik" "(Blood and Sand, 1922, the life-and-death love of a Spanish matador) and "The Son of the Sheik" (1926, the difficult love between the son of a chief and a dancer), etc.

Errol Flynn is recognized as the heir to Fairbanks and the most outstanding "King of Heroic Films" in the talkies era. On Silvertwilight , Flynn often plays a free-love rebel, a hero who fights injustice and wins the heart of a beautiful woman through courageous actions. In 1935, Michael Curtiz directed "Captain Blood" (Captain Blood), which made Flynn an instant hit, and he starred in "The Adventure of Robin Hood" (1938) and "Thc Sea" (1938). Hawk (1940) and other adventure action films, Errol Flynn was originally a British doctor who was mistakenly convicted of being a rebel conspirator and was sent to the Caribbean as a slave with his fellow slaves. Taking a boat and becoming a pirate, Flynn successfully rescued Olivia de Havilland, who was captured by other pirates, and rescued the besieged British colony. He redressed his grievances and became the new governor of the colony. "The Pirate Captain" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It made Flynn and de Havilland famous at the same time. Since then, they have starred in 8 films together. Lin has collaborated with director Cortez 12 times. In addition to "Pirate Captain", the most important one is undoubtedly "Robin Hood"

"Robin Hood" is based on the widely circulated British folk legend. Adapted from the novel, Prince John of England attempts to usurp his brother's throne. The aristocratic Robin Hood, who is unwilling to join in the conspiracy, flees to Sherwood Forest, organizes his own troops to rob the rich and give to the poor, and relieves the people who are heavily exploited by the Nottingham authorities. Breaking into Nottingham Castle to rescue the woman he loves. "Robin Hood" was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

The 1960s-1980s

At the same time as the classic adventure action film. Different location settings, modern "thriller" action movies tend to focus more on the here and now (American and contemporary), while in the 1960s The social reality environment is the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and the East-West Iron Curtain, which also created the adventure action movie hero "007 James Bond Series". According to Guinness World Records, ' "007 James Bond Series" is the most profitable film series in film history.

As a modern action hero, the British super spy agent James Bond (codename 007) is basically based on the British novelist Ian ·Inspired by the protagonist of 1an Fleming's novels, starting with "Casino Royale" in 1952, Fleming has launched 15 James Bond novels, and other writers continued to write them after his death. , more than 40 James Bond novels have been released so far.

When Fleming originally named his protagonist, he thought he needed a simple, unromantic and masculine name. As a result, he named the super agent James Bond. However, not all the story structures of 007 films were written by Ian Fleming. It is said that only the first 13 episodes are from the original novels. After that, film companies purchased the "007" three-character movie rights and then created new ones. Story shooting.

The stars who really dominated Hollywood action thrillers in the 1970s and 1980s were Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford and Bruce Willis <. /p>

After the 1990s

Since the late 1980s, action movies have undergone significant changes, from adventure legends in the classic period

to modern ones. Thrilling romance, developed into pure violence and audio-visual excitement

Terminator

Contemporary violent action movies also tend to be futuristic and surreal, and the violence of the film is also the star trend. Gamification, machineization, abstraction and aestheticization have given rise to the so-called "John Woo's violent aesthetics".

Hollywood is open to any lucrative business, although action movies have always suffered from weak storylines, monotonous male lone heroes or killers, and dominant special effects

and beset with crazy stunts, but action movies remain one of Hollywood's most profitable genres. By the 1980s, action movies had become more frenetic and violent, and more expensive to produce. Contemporary heroes with infinite strength and indestructibility (Stallone, Schwarzenegger, etc.) and ultra-violent action movies have come a long way from the action protagonists of classic adventure and thrilling action movies. Many action films have gradually merged with other genres to a certain extent, such as horror films, science fiction films, and thrilling drama films.

The emergence of contemporary violent action films. It cannot be influenced by Hong Kong kung fu (martial arts) movies. Bruce Lee, the emperor of Hong Kong kung fu movies, starred in "The Big Boss" (1971), "Fists of Fury" (1972), and "Enter the Dragon" (1973) in the early 1970s. , "Return of the Dragou" (1973, also director) and "The Game of Death" (1973), which have become global film cultural phenomena. Although the overall structure and plot design of Bruce Lee's movies are obviously parodies of James Bond movies, the brilliant action scenes and dazzling fast pace of Kung Fu movies have inspired Hollywood, which is good at learning and learning from others, to follow suit, and the aftermath is still rippled to this day. .

The influence of Hong Kong kung fu movies on American movies first appeared in action movies. When American Chuck Norris was stationed in South Korea as a US Air Force officer, he came into contact with and fell in love with Eastern martial arts and karate. He opened it after he retired from the army. Karate school, he won the world professional karate middleweight championship continuously from 1968 to 1974, and later joined the film industry at the instigation of his student friend Steve McQueen. Norris once learned skills from Bruce Lee and co-starred with Bruce Lee in "The Way of the Dragon."

He inherited Bruce Lee's tradition of Chinese Kung Fu and Japanese Karate. In the 1970s and 1980s, he starred in "Good Guys Wear Black" (1979), "Force of One" (1979), and "Tooth for Tooth". (Eye for an Eye, 1981), (Forced Veageance, 1982), the Vietnam War Rambo-style "Missing in Action" trilogy (1984, 1985 and 1988), "Code of Silence" (Code of Silence) Silence. 1985), (invasion U.S.A. 1985), (Delta Force, 1986, 1990 and 1991) and (Hit man, 1991), were enthusiastically received by the audience. Welcome, Norris also became the first American star to introduce oriental action film culture to the United States.

The stern-looking Stevea Seagal once studied martial arts in Japan and called himself a Japanese "fusion." "Aikido" champion. He returned to the United States to teach Eastern martial arts to celebrities and rich people, and became the teacher of Hollywood's number one agent Michael Ovitz (formerly the owner of the most famous agency company in Hollywood and the president of Disney). After entering the silver twilight, he became a big-name action star, starring in "Above the Law" (1988), "Hard to Kill" (1990), "Marked for Death" (1990) and "The Pursuit of Justice". ) (Out for Justice, 1991). In these formulaic action films, Siegel consistently played "personalized" police officers who used slightly illegal methods to "deal with garbage." "Under Siege" (Under Siege) played a Navy special forces soldier who served as a cook on an aircraft carrier and won an unexpected success. After that, he starred in "On Deadly Ground" (1994) and "Under Siege 2". "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory" (1995), "Executive Decision" (1996) and "Fire Down Below" (1997), continuing his action movie routine.

Belgian-born action film star Jean Claude Van Damme (Jean Claude Van Damme) once won the European Karate Championship. He began to set foot in the film industry in 1984 and starred in many films. This action film shows that he is still active in the film industry.