Action Movies: The Cinema of Striking Back

by Harvey O'Brien

Action The Cinema of Striking Back  is a short, sharp introduction to the cinema of action. Action movies aren't just full of action, they're about about responding to threats and traumas with extreme prejudice. Action heroes don't seek out adventure, they respond to dire necessity; frequently with panic, hysteria, and rage. Though they look like hypermasculine ubertexts, action movies reveal the fears and anxieties behind the bluster. In fact that's what most of them are actually about. Harvey O'Brien takes us through the evolution of the action movie as a distinct genre, with an eye for the ethics and aesthetics of 'action movies' not just as a description of content, but a moral argument. He revisits some familiar arguments around gender and violence, but brings a new angle to the debate by not taking first impressions for granted. Films examined in detail include Death Wish , Mad Max 2 ,  First Blood Part II , Last Action Hero , The Matrix , Kill Bill , and The Expendables : disreputable entertainments that nonetheless tug at the popular imagination for good reasons.

Genres: Film, Action

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2012

Reviews

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this is a comprehensive look at the history and evolution of the action movie there were some parts that felt rushed or overcomplicated (maybe through bad editing?).
Also this book cites Slavoj Zizek often and there is nothing in his work someone else hasn't sad more coherently and intellegently. This was a real issue for me.
There is also one weird jab at (radical) feminism in Hollywood which seems misplaced and overly personal.
Other than that I did enjoy it as an introduction into the topic.

[Steen Ledet · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Short Cut series from Wallflower/Columbia UP is an admirable series and O'Brien's book a good addition. Introducing many sources and providing a good historical overview, I feel the book is light on aesthetic and heavy on ideological criticism.

[Adriano Barone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, I could have written two thirds of this. So I'm happy to be an expert now, and of course, since the author agrees with me on everything, I STRONGLY recommend it. :-D