Genre is the category a something falls into - such as thriller, comedy or action. Genre is a way to classify things into groups. Genre is used to make it easier for people to choose what they want to see.

The Action Genre

Action films have many factors which distinguish it from other film genres. Action films usually involve a pretty straightforward theme with a protagonist versus an antagonist and disputes are usually resolved with physical force.

The protagonist represents the hero and the antagonist represents the villain. Antagonists are usually motivated by things such as greed, corruption and revenge. The Antagonist usually has many minions to fight for them so they usually don’t fight until the climax of the film where their minions are all dead. They don’t care how many people are killed to achieve their goals. The protagonist normally fights to oppose the antagonist and fights against incredible odds. This is not always the case. In Indiana Jones Indiana started off with the aim only to find treasure not to fight. In good action films the protagonists and the antagonists usually have individual personalities while in bad action films the characters are usually stereographs meaning they are depictions of the typical good or evil entity. The antagonists are usually marred in some way in Action films. In James Bond Renard the antagonist has a bullet through which doesn’t kill but cuts off all his senses. In Indiana Jones Dr. Rene Belloq has a burn in his hand.

Protagonists usually have women with them. The women with them can be anything from their sidekick to their wife. In James Bond, James has numerous women with him. In Indiana Jones, Indiana he has Marion.

Music is very important in action films. It is used to aid audience excitement and to set the mood for the audience. For example when people are fighting there is special music to go with the fighting and when there is a chase there is music that reflects the atmosphere of the chase. The music for James Bond where James was trying to stop Renard from creating a nuclear reaction in the submarine was really fast paced to express the need for haste.

The plots in action films usually don’t have a lot of depth. The plot is usually only just enough for you to understand what is happening. For example James Bond movies don’t have much of a plot. It focuses almost entirely with scenes of fights and chases.

Humour is important used a lot in action films and is used to lighten the scene. The action heroes will usually use witty one-liners on the Antagonists.

Action films use a lot of special effects. The sound in fights and chases are amplified to increase the effect. Without special effects action films won’t work nearly as well. In fights and chases special effects are a must have thing. You wouldn’t be able to have much action without special effects. You need special effects for scenes with people dying and for dangerous stunts. You can’t have the actor really do a dangerous stunt. All the explosions of vehicles and buildings in James Bond had special effects added to make it look better.

Action is the most important factor in Action films. Films like James Bond revolve around the action. You must have fights and chases and such in action films. Indiana Jones has 12 chases!

Setting is also an important factor in action films. You need the appropriate setting for a battle or chase. Some of the settings include cities, caves, on ships and in factories. James bond movies use the setting for chases and fights to a dramatic effect. For example the boat chase where James’s boat was moving on the streets.

Comparing Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark and James Bond: The World is Not Enough

The plot is explained in much more depth in Indiana Jones. You are told a lot more about what is happening. In James Bond they just skimmed over the plot so you don’t really understand some of the things.

Indiana Jones and James bond both use different kinds of action. Indiana Jones doesn’t have much fighting that actually involves combat with people. It is more about people chasing each other and people fighting things in traps like snakes. James Bond has a lot more fight scenes involving big explosions and has lots of fighting between people.

Since there wasn’t much of a plot the characters in James Bond were also not expressed well enough. You know almost nothing about each of the characters after watching the film. The characters don’t really have their own personalities. They are more of the depiction of the perfect villain and the perfect hero. For example Renard the antagonist has a bullet in his head which cuts off all his senses which makes him the perfect antagonist since he can’t feel pain.

The characters in Indiana Jones have more personality. For example Indiana is not your average Protagonist. He is a collector of ancient artefacts and not a superhero like person. He has his weaknesses and strengths and you know a lot more about him. Marion is another example of the difference in the characters of the two movies. Marion is different from the women in James Bond. The women in James Bond films are not developed enough. In one scene a nurse we have never seen before goes from treating James’s wounds to having sex with him.

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