Editing Action film (section)

===Hollywood action films===
Harvey O'Brien wrote in 2012 that the contemporary action film emerged through other genres, primarily [[Western (film)|Westerns]], [[crime films|crime]] and [[war films]] and can be separated into four forms: the formative, the classical, the post-classical and neoclassical phases.{{sfn|O'Brien|2012|p=12}} [[Yvonne Tasker]] reiterated this in her book on action and [[adventure films]], saying that action films became a distinct genre during the [[New Hollywood]] period of the 1970s.{{sfn|Tasker|2015|p=2}}

[[File:Steve-McQueen-1968.jpg|thumb|[[Steve McQueen]] in 1968, the year ''Bullitt'' was released.]]
The formative films would be from the 1960s to the early 1980s where the [[Antihero|Anti-hero]] appears in cinema, featuring characters who act and transcend the law and social conventions. This appears initially in films like ''[[Bullitt]]'' (1968) where a tough police officer protects society by upholding the law against systematic corruption. This extended into films which O'Brien described as "knee-jerk responses" to perceived threats with rogue cop and [[vigilante film]]s such as ''[[Dirty Harry]]'' (1971) and ''[[Death Wish (1974 film)|Death Wish]]'' (1974) where the restoration of order is only possible by force and antisocial characters prepared to act when society does not.{{sfn|O'Brien|2012|p=12}} The vigilantism reappears in other films that were exploitative of southern society such as ''[[Billy Jack]]'' (1971) and ''[[White Lightning (1973 film)|White Lightning]]'' (1973) and "good ol' boy" comedies like ''[[Smokey and the Bandit]]'' (1977). This era also emphasizes the car chase scenes as moments of spectacle in films like ''Bullitt'' and ''[[The French Connection (film)|The French Connection]]'' (1971). O'Brien described these films as emphasizing "the fusion of man and machine" with the drivers and vehicles acting as one, concluding with what he described as "the ultimate in apocalyptic modernity and social erasure" in ''[[Mad Max 2]]'' (1981).{{sfn|O'Brien|2012|p=13}}

O'Brien described the classical form of action cinema to be the 1980s. The decade continued the trends of formative period with heroes as avengers (''[[Lethal Weapon]]'' (1987)), rogue police officers (''[[Die Hard]]'' (1988)) and mercenary warriors (''[[Commando (1985 film)|Commando]]'' (1985)). Following the continuity of the car and man hybrid of the previous decade, the 1980s featured weaponized men who were either also carrying weapons such as ''[[Sudden Impact]]'' (1983), trained to be weapons (''[[American Ninja]]'' (1985)) or imbued with technology (''[[RoboCop]]'' (1987)).{{sfn|O'Brien|2012|p=13}} O'Brien noted that the formative trends at this point had become "identifiably generic" as film industries began to reproduced these films during the decade producers like [[Joel Silver]] and production companies like [[The Cannon Group, Inc.]] began to formulate production of these films with both high and low budgets.{{sfn|O'Brien|2012|pp=13-14}} The action films of this era have roots in classical story telling, specifically rooted from [[martial arts films]] and Westerns, and are built around a three-act structure centered on survival, resistance and revenge with narratives where the physical body of the hero is tested, traumatized and ultimately triumphant.{{sfn|O'Brien|2012|p=14}}

The third shift in action cinema, the postclassical, was defined by the predominance of Eastern cinema and its aesthetics, primarily the wire-work of [[Hong Kong action cinema]] from the classical era, through the convention of the increasingly computer generated effects. This saw the decline of overt masculinity in the action film which corresponded with the end of the [[Cold War]] in 1991, while the rise of self-referential and parodies of this era grew in films like ''[[Last Action Hero]]'' (1993). O'Brien described this era as being soft where the hard bodies of the classical era were replaced with computer generated imagery such as that of ''[[Terminator 2: Judgment Day]]'' (1991).{{sfn|O'Brien|2012|p=15}} This was displayed in corresponding with corresponded with millennial angst and apocalypticism showcased in films like ''[[Independence Day (1996 film)|Independence Day]]'' (1996) and ''[[Armageddon (1998 film)|Armageddon]]'' (1998).{{sfn|O'Brien|2012|p=15-16}} Action films of mass destruction began requiring more overtly super heroic characters with further comic book adaptations being made with increased non-realistic settings with films like ''[[The Matrix]]'' (1999).{{sfn|O'Brien|2012|p=16}}

The fourth phase arrived following the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001, which suggested an end to fantastical elements that defined the action hero and genre.{{sfn|O'Brien|2012|p=16}} Following the release of [[Quentin Tarantino]]'s ''[[Kill Bill: Volume 1]]'' (2003) and ''[[Kill Bill: Volume 2]]'' (2004) revisited the tropes of 1970s action films leading a renaissance of vengeance narratives in films like ''[[The Brave One (2007 film)|The Brave One]]'' (2007) and ''[[Taken (film)|Taken]]'' (2008). O'Brien found that Tarantino's films were [[post-modern]] takes on the themes that rescinded irony to restore "[[cinephile]] re-actualization of the genre's conventions."{{sfn|O'Brien|2012|p=16}} The genre went into full circle resurrecting films from the classical period with ''[[Live Free or Die Hard]]'' (2007) and ''[[Rambo (2008 film)|Rambo]]'' (2008) finding the characters navigating a contemporary world while also acknowledging their age, culminating into ''[[The Expendables (2010 film)|The Expendables]]'' (2010) film.{{sfn|O'Brien|2012|p=16}}

The most commercially successful action films and franchise of the 21st century have been comic book adaptations, which commenced with the ''[[X-Men (film series)|X-Men]]'' and is seen in other series such as ''[[Spider-Man in film|Spider-Man]]'', and ''[[Iron Man in other media#Marvel Cinematic Universe|Iron Man]]'' series.{{sfn|Tasker|2015|p=179}}{{sfn|Tasker|2015|p=182}} Tasker wrote that despite the central characters in superhero cinema being extraordinary, occasionally even God-like, they often followed the traces of the central character becoming powerful of which is fundamental to action films, often dealt with origin stories in superhero films.{{sfn|Tasker|2015|p=180}}