Genre researchCrime/thriller

Genre history ofAction/ crime/

thriller

Timeline1960 – Never Let Go (John Guillermin)1962 – Serena (Peter Maxwell)1964 – Killers (Don Siegel) 1966 – Tokyo Drifter (Seijun Suzuki)1968 – Pretty Poison (Noel Black)

(Pierre Koralnik) Cannabis – 1970(Shunya Itō) Female Convict 701: Scorpion – 1972

(Jack Hill) Foxy Brown – 1974(Antonio Margheriti) Death Rage – 1976

(Daryl Duke) The Silent Partner – 1978 1980 – Dressed To Kill (Brian De Palma)1982 – Le Choc (Robin Davis)1984 – Fanny Straw Hair (Vicente Aranda)1986 – Reform School Girls (Tom DeSimone)1988 – Backfire (Gilbert Cates)

(Sammo Hung) Pantyhose hero – 1990(Paul Verhoeven) Basic Instinct – 1992

(Roger Donaldson) The Getaway – 1994(Roger Rodriguez) From Dusk Til Dawn – 1996

(Akashdeep) Miss 420 – 19982000 – Charlies Angels (McG) 2002 – Die Another Day (Lee Tamahori)2004 – Catwoman (Pitof)2006 – Casino Royale (Martin Campbell)2008 – The Dark Knight – Christopher Nolan2010 – Salt (Philip Noyce)2012 – Dredd (Pete Travis)

Sub genresCrime, thriller and action films all have a lot in common and the elements of the genres are often combined to create one film. However, the genres individually have different sub genres, giving these films an extremely broad spectrum of elements to play with when creating a crime/thriller/action film.

The subgenres of Action are:- Action comedy: Dumb and Dumber (Peter Farrelly), Big Mommas House (Raja Gosnell), Beverly Hills

Cop (Martin Brest), Midnight Run (Martin Brest)- Action horror: Resident Evil (Paul W. S. Anderson), Ghost Rider (Mark Steven Johnson), Undead

(Michael and Peter Spierig), Blade (Steven Norrington)- Disaster: Independence Day (Roland Emmerich), The Day After Tomorrow (Roland Emmerich), 2012

(Roland Emmerich), Twister (Jan de Bont)- Martial arts: The Karate Kid (John G. Avildsen), Kill Bill (Quentin Tarantino), Ninja Assassin (James

McTeigue), Enter The Dragon (Robert Clouse and Bruce Lee)- Sci-fi action: Terminator (James Cameron), Star Trek (J. J. Abrams), Transformers (Michael Bay), I

Robot (Alex Proyas), Predator (John McTiernan)- Spy: Mission: Impossible (Brian De Palma, John Woo, J. J. Abrams, Brad Bird, Christopher McQuarrie)

Casino Royale (Martin Campbell), Salt (Philip Noyce), The Bourne Trilogy (Doug Liman, Paul Greengrass, Tony Gilroy)

- Action thriller: Die Hard (John McTeirnan), Point Break (Kathryn Bigelow), Snakes On A Plane (David R. Ellis), Rambo (George P. Cosmatos)

- Superhero: The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan), Man Of Steel (Zach Snyder), Iron Man (John Favreau), The Amazing Spider Man (Marc Webb)

The Subgenres of Crime are:- Crime comedies: Analyse This (Harold Ramis), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (Guy

Ritchie), In Bruges (Martin McDonagh), Mafia! (Jim Abrahams)- Crime thrillers: Silence Of The Lambs (Jonathan Remme), Untraceable (Gregory Hoblit),

Witness (Peter Weir) - Film noir: The Maltese Falcone (John Huston), The Big Sleep (Howard Hawks) Chinatown

(Roman Polanski), Sin City (Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino)- Heist films: The Killing (Stanley Kubrick), Ocean’s 11 (Lewis Milestone), Dog Day

Afternoon (Sydney Lumet), Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino), - Hood films: Menace II Society (Allen and Albert Hughes), Boyz n da Hood (John

Singleton), Legal dramas: 12 Angry Men (Sydney Lumet), A Time To Kill (Joel Schumacher)- Mob films: The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola), Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese), Bugsy

(Barry Levison), Scarface (Howard Hawks)- Mystery: In The Heat Of The Night (Norman Jewison)- Police procedural: He Walked By Night (Alfred L. Werker), Madigan (Don Siegel), The

French Connection (William Friedkin)- Heroic bloodshed (Cinema of China): The Swordswoman of Huangjiang (Chen Kengran,

Zheng Yi-Sheng, Shang Guan), Once Upon A Time In China (Hark Tsui)- Mumbai underworld (Cinema of India): The Apu Trilogy (Satyajit Ray)

The Subgenres of Thriller are:- Comedy: Charade (Stanley Donen), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Shane Black), Mr And Mrs Smith (Doug

Liman), The Big Fix (Jeremy Kagan)- Conspiracy: Snake Eyes (Brian De Palma), The Da Vinci Code (Ron Howard), Edge Of Darkness

(Martin Campbell), In The Line Of Fire (Wolfgang Peterson) - Crime: Kiss The Girls (Gary Fleder), The Silence Of The Lambs (Jonathon Demme), Copycat (Jon

Amiel), The Asphalt Jungle (John Huston)- Erotic: In The Cut (Jane Campion), Chloe (Atom Egoyan), Lust, Caution (Ang Lee), Single White

Female (Barbet Schroeder)- Legal: The Pelican Brief (John Grisham), Presumed Innocent (Alan J. Pakula), The Lincoln Lawyer

(Michael Connelly), Silent Witness (Nigel McCrery)- Political: Seven Days In May (John Frankenheimer), Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock), The Man Who

Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock), State Of Play (Kevin Macdonald)- Psychological: The Talented Mr. Ripley (Anthony Minghella), Trapped (Luis Mandoki), Shutter Island

(Martin Scorsese), Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock)- Spy: Hanna (Joe Wright), Taken (Pierre Morel), Unknown (Jaume Collet-Serra), The Good Shepherd

(Robert De Niro)- Supernatural: Knowing (Alex Proyas), The Skeleton Key (Iain Softley), What Lies Beneath (Robert

Zemeckis), The Gift (Sam Raimi)- Techno: Jurassic Park (Steven Speilberg), I, Robot (Isaac Asimov), Eagle Eye (D. J. Caruso),

Futureworld (Richard T. Heffron)

ActorsSince the genres of action, crime and thriller date so far back, the number of actors who have influenced the industry and films is extremely vast. Some of the most notable actors from earlier films, particularly from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s include:- Paul Newman (from 1949)- James Dean (from 1951)- Clint Eastwood (from 1955)- Sonny Chiba (from 1960) and many more. The action genre particularly thrived throughout the 80’s; the period known as the ‘action era’ enabled us to become familiar with some of the worlds most renowned actors to this day. Including: - Sylvester Stallone- Arnold Schwarzenegger- Bruce Willis- Chuck Norris. The 21st century has also produced a number of influential action stars, some of the most famous being:- Johnny Depp- Brad Pitt- Robert Downey Jr.- Christian Bale- Angelina Jolie- Liam Neeson- Russell Crowe and more.

Key conventions in action films

throughout history

• FightsKick Ass

Gladiator

A fight scene is basically a necessity for any action/crime/thriller film. Often during these fights, the protagonist is seen to be the weaker opponent, however it is conventional that they always come out on top despite the antagonist appearing to have the advantage.

• Explosions

The Expendables 2 (2012)

The Hurt Locker

• A mission waiting to be completed

Mission: Impossible SeriesAvengers

The Bourne Series

•Weapons such as knives, guns, spears, and swords

The Expendables 2 (2012)

Lord Of The Rings

Kill Bill

• ChasesQuantum of solace

The Transporter Point Break

Chases stereotypically involve cars and other vehicles of some kind.

• CarsNever Let Go (1960)

The French Connection

• Technology

The Terminator Transformers

The Dark Knight

More often than not there will be advanced levels of technology in action films, where at least one character has exceptional I.T skills.

• Protagonist (a confident, courageous, intelligent, well built male with an exceptional physique. Would be a stereotype of an attractive male and often dressed in bright colours)

Mission impossible 2 Indiana Jones

• Antagonist (an unattractive, unappealing male, often foreign, insane, greedy, and surrounded by guards to connote weakness, usually seen wearing dark colours and in a dim setting)

Michael Shannon, Man Of Steel (2013)

Darth Vader, Star Wars

Ivan Drago, Rocky 4

Despite his appearance being unconventional for an antagonist, he is Russian and therefore he can easily recognised as the antagonist. Foreign antagonists are often used since they differentiate from the antagonist who is conventionally American.

The character of Zod, (Michael Shannon) portrays a conventional antagonist since they are stereotypically visually unappealing, wear extremely dark costumes, are usually older than the protagonist and are often shown with an evil, aggressive persona.

• Are there any unconventional antagonists/protagonists?

Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games (2012)

Milla Jovovich as Alice in Resident Evil (2002)

Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl in Kick Ass (2010)

• Damsel in Distress -

The MummySpider man

The Damsels in Distress ‘are usually stereotypically attractive, slightly less intellegent than the protagnist and usually need protecting. They are often targeted by the antagonist in order for the hero to save them.

• Are there any unconventional ‘Damsel’s in Distress’

Pretty Poison (1968)

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in the The Dark Knight Rises (2010), is unconventional since she is independent, intelligent, and often challenges and fights alongside the protagonist (Batman – Christian Bale).

• Often set in large cities

The Dark Knight (2008) – Set in the fictional Gotham city Pulp fiction –

Los Angeles

Scarface – Set in Miami

City settings are often a prime example for an action/rime/trhiller film since it enables all of the conventions, such as cars, technology, weapons, and fights to take place which increases the opportunities to create different situations in a movie.

• What unconventional settings are there?

Apollo 13 (1995)

Battleships