Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film

ACTION AND ADVENTURE FILMS
Action and adventure have long been established features
of American and other national cinemas. Associated with
narratives of quest and discovery, and spectacular scenes
of combat, violence and pursuit, action and adventure
films are not restricted to any particular historical or
geographic setting. Indeed, the basic elements of conflict,
chase, and challenge can be inflected in any number of
different directions. As such, action and adventure as
cinematic forms are constantly in the process of reinvention,
manifesting themselves in a multiplicity of different
genres and sub-genres over time. It is nonetheless useful
to distinguish between the two terms and the kind of
cinema to which they refer, since ‘‘action,’’ ‘‘adventure,’’
and ‘‘action-adventure’’ are all descriptors with difference
valences. With this in mind, a rudimentary distinction
can be made between action sequences and adventure
narratives. Action is associated with a particular kind
of scene or spectacle (explosions, chases, combat);
adventure, by contrast, implies a story (typically, though
not always, the quest narrative) often located within a
fantasy or exoticized setting, for example, the search for
mythical objects or treasure in such films as King
Solomon’s Mines (1950) and Raiders of the Lost Ark
(1981).
Despite their generic diversity, all action and adventure
films focus on some form of conflict. Alone or as
part of a group, the heroes face some figure, force, or
element that challenges them physically and mentally.
They may face an opponent of enormous size, strength
(The Terminator, 1984) or intelligence (The Matrix trilogy,
1999, 2003, 2003), alien or supernatural forces (the
monstrous creature in the Alien series, 1979, 1986, 1992,
1997; the invading alien ships in Independence Day,
1996), an unjust system (the British in Captain Blood,
1935; imperial power in the Star Wars series, 1977,
1980, 1983, 1999, 2002, 2005), mechanical malfunctions
(runaway trains in The Hazards of Helen, 1914; the
booby-trapped bus in Speed, 1994), a natural disaster
(Volcano, 1997), or simply a harsh natural environment
(the deserts of Lawrence of Arabia, 1962). Of course,
many action and adventure films often call on several of
these elements in combination: thus, in The Thief of
Bagdad (1924), Ahmed (Douglas Fairbanks) faces physical
humiliation at the hands of palace guards before
traversing a series of challenging environments and
defeating a variety of monsters and treacherous human
opponents in order to claim his prize (marriage to the
princess). In all these circumstances, the action or adventure
hero is called upon to demonstrate courage, initiative
and physical endurance, ultimately triumphing over what
are typically cast as impossible odds.
EARLY AND SILENT ACTION AND ADVENTURE
Action and adventure form a key component of early and
silent cinema. At a relatively early stage of film history,
elements of chase and pursuit were developed into basic
narratives through innovations in editing, evident in such
important cinematic reference points as The Great Train
Robbery (1903) in the United States and A Daring
Daylight Burglary (1903) in the United Kingdom. Both
titles involve crime, some form of pursuit, and the ultimate
capture of the thieves in question by the forces of
law. The sensational appeal of crime and pursuit remain
evident throughout the silent era. Film historians such as
Richard Abel and Ben Singer have done much to map
SCHIRMER ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FILM 27