The document provides an overview of the history and characteristics of action films. It discusses the origins of the genre in the 1920s with films like "The Great Train Robbery." Key developments included the rise of war and cowboy films in the 1940s-50s and the James Bond franchise in the 1960s. CGI became prevalent in action films starting in the 1990s with successes like "Star Wars" and "The Matrix." Common conventions of action films include guns, explosions, chase scenes, a good guy vs. bad guy plot, and destruction of property. Recent box office hits like "Fast and Furious 7" and controversies around films depicting war like "American Sniper" are also summarized.

1. Genre Research
Action
(Sci-Fi)

2. History of the Genre:
• The main genre of the film is action, Sci-Fi is a sub-genre of it.
• The first action film in history was believed to be ‘The Great
Train Robbery’ in the 1920’s.
• The first action-comedy films were created in the 1980’s with
Beverly Hills Cop
• The action film genre was developed through the 1940s and
1950s with the creations of war and cowboy films.
• In the 1960’s, the James Bond franchise was started and was
what dominated the 1960’s film industry.
• During the 1970’s, detective and crime story films began to
emerge, as did martial arts films such as Bruce Lee’s ‘Enter the
Dragon’.
• In the 1990’s, CGI became a popular trend with film-makers and
became the basis for action films, the success of Star wars and
The Matrix sparked a new era of film production that greatly
involved CGI in the film-making process.

3. Famous Examples:
Famous examples of Action films are :
• The James Bond franchise which was started in the
1960’s
• In 1977, the first Star Wars was created by George
Lucas.
• In the 1980’s, the Rambo series was started
• In 1987, Lethal Weapon was created
• In 1988, the first Die Hard was produced
• In 1989, Tim Burton created the first Batman
• In 2008, The Dark Knight was created by Christopher
nolan.

4. News Stories/Controversies:
• One of the most recent action films that have
been criticised is ‘American Sniper’- a film about
a professional sniper in Afghanistan, however
people have regarded the film as being
propaganda for the immense amount of civilians
being killed by the US army.
• In the recent film ‘The interview’, North Korea’s
leader Kim Jong il threatened the US with nuclear
war as the film depicts him as a weak person and
mocks his power and country.

5. Common Conventions:
In an action film, the common characteristics that
make them up are:
• Guns
• Explosions
• Upbeat music
• Running
• Quick camera shots
• A good guy and a bad guy
• Destruction of property (e.g. houses, doors,
windows, cars)
• Chase scene

6. Other information:
Records:
• Fast and Furious 7 became the latest film, after
Avatar, to take $1billion the fastest in box office
gross
• ‘Avatar’ has currently made the world’s highest
amount of worldwide grossing at $2,787,965,087
Awards:
• ‘Critics Choice Movie Award for Best Action
Movie’ awarded to ‘American Sniper’ and ‘Fury’
in 2014