Action Analysis

Action films are usually far more diverse in their story lines and therefore their paradigms, however they do all have similarities:

For many modern action films, typical props include guns and many other weapons of a similar nature, super cars, planes and other aircraft, typically all things which we associate with fast action, speed and excitement. We the audience enjoy these films as they give us a glimpse of our idea of what it must be like to own and have access to these things and the image they give us, of power, wealth and authority.

The characters you find in these films tend to be fairly stereotypical. They usually have a male lead role, with supporting male characters. Very rarely does this alter as men are still stereotypically seen as the more dominant and stronger gender and thus more suited in the eyes of the audience for the role. Female roles usually occur in the objective of the film, to go rescue the damsel in distress etc. and sometimes to act as the supporting role for the male lead in order to give them motivation to achieve their task.

Settings for these films tend to be fairly recognisable locations to the audience, places such as London, Moscow, Nevada, the Amazon, Himalayas etc. Places we also associate where more adventurous and tougher characters go, particularly to an American audience. These locations strengthen the audiences stereotypes of what these people do in real life situations and the more far off worlds which they have come to associate with these types of films.

Narratives of these types of films are also fairly common place and stereotypical. The main character will encounter a problem, be it a loved one is captured or a new threat is imposed upon him and society and so he must go and resolve it. Usually he will under estimate the enemies power and be almost destroyed in the process. However, it is always resolved by some clever plan he comes up with to defeat this threat and return the equilibrium of the characters lives to almost normal. They are fairly constant throughout each film though as they need to still be recognisable to the audience in their structure. If for instance the hero of the story does not defeat the enemy, audiences are more likely to feel less satisfied with the film as they do not believe the situation within it has been resolved. And it is due to this certain frame of mind about how action films should be set out that leads them to be fairly similar in design.

In conclusion, action films can take many different images, as in they can be set in nearly any location and use many different antagonists in their story. However, they can still be very similar in their narratives and structure and also their character roles. This would be to commit to societies stereotypes of certain genders and genres and make them more appealing to the masses.