I'm choosing these movies not because they are the best of the action genre but because they perfectly represent the formula of their respective styles.
I'm glad I didn't grow up in the 80s because I probably would have hated myself. The 80s was full of homophobic movies starring uber-buff male leads like Stallone and Schwarzenegger. I think it's easy to say that they were, not only, the epitome of action star during their time, but also for maleness in general. Everyone wanted to be big and oiled up. This cultural obsession with size is still prevalent, if not growing. But most action films emphasized this type of character up until the end of the 20th century.
So now let's get a deeper look at the Action Movie of the 80s and 90s:
80s and 90s Action Movies feature:
- Physically impressive male lead
- Stallone in Demolition Man, Judge Dredd,
- Schwarzenegger in Total Recall, Predator, Commando, The Running Man
- Attractive female love interest
- Bullock in Demolition Man
- Tommy Chong's daughter in Commando
- Maria Conchita Alonso in The Running Man
- Rachel Ticotin in Total Recall
- Quirky funny sidekick/Comic Relief
- Rob Schnieder/Dennis Leary in Demolition Man
- Rob Schnieder in Judge Dredd
- Johnny Cab, Three-Boob Lady, and the various midgets in Totall Recall
- Anytime Arnold or Sly make a comment after killing someone a la "Stick around" counts in my opinion
- Outlandish Central Villian
- Wesley Snipes' hair and tire-armor in Demolition Man
- Richard Dawson in The Running Man (most unthreatening villain in history?)
- The Predator in Predator - Outlandish in the most literal of terms
- Rico in Judge Dredd - Outlandish only in the fact that it's Armand Assante and his over-acting
- Bennet in Commando - He's outlandish because he wears a metallic mesh tank top, fingerless gloves, and is not gay.
- Science Fiction Attributes
- Brave New World inspired psuedo-utopia in Demolition Man
- Future dystopia in The Running Man and Judge Dredd
- Alien Hunter in Predator
- Aliens, Mutants, and Mars setting in Total Recall
- Ridiculous Over-the-top Ultra-Violent Climax
- Snipes' Frozen Head decapitation in Demolition Man
- Richard Dawson killed by rocket car in world's first Reality TV inspired political coup in The Running Man
- Arnold activates ancient alien technology which gives Mars a breathable atmosphere but only after Cohaagen's head explodes in Total Recall
- Arny drops a two-ton wooden pillar on the Predator, prompting him to activate a neutron bomb which destroys everything in a three mile radius except for Schwarzenegger in Predator
- Arnold throws a ten-foot steaming pipe through Bennet and drolly tells him to "Let off some steam" in Commando
While I can only draw upon two movies that epitomize action movies of today (Casino Royale and The Bourne Ultimatum) I think it's safe to say that those movies will be the template for future action films.
Action Movies of Today Feature:
- Physically Ambiguous male lead
- Matt Damon shows about as much skin as a devote Shiite woman in The Bourne Ultimatum
- With the exception for a brief shot of Craig in the Bahamas, he is always dressed up in Casino Royale
- Chase Scenes as Action Center Pieces and a de-emphasis of violent action
- Bourne giving cues to the British journalist are as captivating and thrilling as any gun fight.
- Bond leaping around the construction site like a Russian gymnast.
- It should be noted that more people die in the "Hologram Shoot Out" scene in Total Recall than in all the Bourne and Bond movies. Yes, all of them.
- No humor whatsoever
- Bourne never even smiles
- Bond turns the franchise on it's ear with the "Does it look like I bloody care?" response to the "Shaken or stirred?" question.
- Intricate network of villians
- It's the CIA in Bourne
- It's an unidentified crime syndicate in Casino
- Espionage Attributes
- It's pretty obvious to point these out.
- Symbolic Low Key Book-end Climax
- Bourne ends up in the East River (I think) in a way very similar to the first scene in the first movie, where he loses his memory
- Bond meets up with the man responsible for his love's blackmail and he makes mention of events that happened at the beginning of the film, namely his recently achieved Double-Oh status.
So we have very distinct evolution. It appears the spectacle of the human form has been put on the back burner in recent action movies (with the exception of sword-and-sandal epics like 300 and Troy). Humor has also been put away but I can't imagine that will last. The success of Live Free or Die Hard is an interesting movie to note because it's franchise has roots in subversion, which shows, but it also embraces the excessiveness of the genre at the same time (like McClane leaping forty feet from a jet fighter to a crumbling freeway).
I think the biggest change in action movies is the way violence is portrayed. In the 80s, violence was excessive and over-the-top to almost comic degrees. I mean, Wesley Snipes was in a movie where he gets frozen and Stallone swings in and drop kicks his head off. That kind of comic violence would never be in a movie nowadays and I suppose I'm glad. I think of that as a sign of progress.
Violence in film now is taken more seriously. It's just as, if not more so, graphic but it's more meaningful. I think David Cronenberg has perfected cinematic violence. While he's not an action director, I could totally see him making and action movie. In a Stallone movie from the 80s, you cheer when he shoots some guy or kicks some guy's head off. In a Cronenberg movie, you don't. You see the reality of violence - it's ugly, nauseating, and generally off-putting. Stallone's character in Demolition Man says, "Violence isn't a good thing. Hurting people isn't fun. Well sometimes it is." And it's a crowd pleaser and everyone laughs. But if a character in a Cronenberg movie said that, the audience would jeer and probably feel disappointed in themselves because they probably laughed and cheered when Stallone said it.
The point of this isn't that action movies of the 80s and 90s were bad or that they were morally unaccountable but that they saw violence in a totally different way as they do now. Violence in action movies of today, generally speaking, is akin to violence found in dramas. Now the violence is handled in the same way as the violence of a husband slapping his wife for being unfaithful. It's got the same tone. It's dark and uncomfortable. Casino Royale was different than the other Bond movies because the violence shaped the character into something terrible. It was gritty and real. And the Bourne movies are the same - he never smiles. He never jokes around. Bourne lives in a world of violence. His life is completely devoid of any kind of joy because of it. That's why there aren't any Jason Bourne action figures. No kid wants to be like Jason Bourne, not in the way they want to be like Dutch from Predator or John Spartan from Demolition Man. The violence in their lives never changed them. Beating up someone for John Spartan or Dutch is like doing the laundry. It happens and it happens so frequently it's as banal as doing your laundry. Of course the audience loves it because they live without that constant violent element and they see how "cool" those types of characters are. They are just like us - except they beat the shit out of the bad guys. They're funny and good natured and you would invite them to your kid's birthday party. In action films like The Bourne Ultimatum, characters ask each other questions like, "Look what they make you give" and we get a sense that beating the shit out of "bad guys" isn't all it's cracked up to be. The violence consumes them and leaves them hollow, lonely, and with a sense of regret for getting involved in that kind of life.
So if this is the direction of violence in action films, then I sincerely endorse it.
