If we look for the root cause, we can actually find the root cause from American Westerns, such as Clint Eastwood's "The Bad and the Dead". Of course, anyone who has seen this movie knows that in addition to playing guns and posing, There are almost no real fighting parts, but such a movie has created the image of a hard-line hero, eclectic, unruly, wild and bandit, but responsible, these various character elements are later. The formation of the core characters of the hardcore film laid the foundation.
The real hardcore movies only started to emerge in the 1970s. A worldwide figure in the early 1970s was the leader of this type of film - Bruce Lee, who made his films through "Big Brother Tangshan", "Jingwumen", "Dragon Crossing the River", "Dragon and Tiger Fight", "Game of Death" ” and other films interpret such a genre film with flesh and blood, and use Chinese Kung Fu to open up a new field for Hollywood genre films, especially the latter three films.
It was in the 1980s that Hollywood's hard-core action films entered their heyday. The hard-core action stars that emerged during this period were all household names, such as Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis. , Jean-Winton, Steven Seagal, the names of these action movie stars have actually represented the brilliance of Hollywood's 80 years of action movies. "First Blood", which was first launched by Stallone in 1982, imprinted the heroic image of "Rambo" into people's minds, and it also made people pay attention to such a man with hard muscles all over his body. . The image of the tough guy after that was undoubtedly the "Terminator" in 1984. The future robot played by Schwarzenegger believes that it should run through the memory of a generation and become a common talk of the entire post-80s and post-90s, science fiction plus action, and James Cameron's unique conception and theme probe, The film has become a classic of sci-fi action movies.
It was followed by Bruce Willis' Die Hard series in 1988, Jean-Winton's "Bloodspot" and Steven Seagal's "On the Court." Action blockbusters have sprung up like mushrooms after the rain, and hard-core heroes represented by various stars have also influenced a generation of fans and filmmakers.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, hardcore action movies entered a stable period, and the hardcore heroes continued to develop. The "First Blood" series, "Terminator" series and "Die Hard" series were launched one after another. In the sequel, the overall quality of the film has also been steadily improved and guaranteed. In addition, new hard-core movie stars have begun to emerge, and Jason Statham is one of them.
Statham's fortune should be counted in Guy Ritchie's "Two Smoking Guns", this British nonsensical comedy, which has gained enough popularity for Statham as one of the leading actors, and then the film path began to become smooth. unhindered. And its re-cooperation with Guy Ritchie in 2000, "Snatch abduction", has won a consistent good reputation.
Jason Statham's hardcore image is no longer like a hero in the heyday of the 1980s. Due to his perfect body and handsome face, the focus of attention is not only the muscles full of domineering, but some personalized elements of the character itself. , such as questioning of reality, self-examination and dissatisfaction with past life, maverick style, etc. These simple grafting of the characters of drama films into hardcore films has produced an extraordinary chemical reaction, and the audience's view The change of film interest is actually one of the reasons for this kind of conversion. People have begun to get tired of the simple punching scenes and lively scenes of machine guns and cannons. At this time, appropriate changes have indeed made new attempts for the development of films.
During this period, in addition to hardcore stars from Europe and the United States, action stars from mainland China and Hong Kong also began to enter Hollywood. Among them, Jackie Chan and Jet Li are the two best developed among them. With the release of "Red Zone" in the United States, Jackie Chan has made his name as an international action superstar more stable, and his action films have changed the image of Hollywood hardcore heroes. The image of omnipotent or absolutely strong, starting from the perspective of the little person, using his own personal will to adapt to the real world that he can't change, this is a highlight of Jackie Chan's action films. Such a change makes watching movies. The author can integrate himself into the role and regard himself as the little character in the film, which not only shortens the distance between the film and the audience, but also humanizes the traditional hardcore action film.
The difference is that Jet Li did not make changes in the theme or content of the film, but in the image of the characters. For example, adjustments are made in the pros and cons of the characters. Although Jet Li has played positive roles in many domestic and Hong Kong movies, it is not always the case in Hollywood. "The Savior" and "The Mummy 3" are all negative roles; and more The important change is in the body shape. The traditional hard-line images are tall and muscular men, while Jet Li is uncharacteristically. The role played by his thin and thin body has a different charm, which is mainly reflected in the style, His kung fu is more fierce and fast, no longer relying on blood plasma and muscle breath to mobilize the audience's adrenaline, giving people more simplicity and elegance, this "Matrix"-like temperament is also the most personal style of Jet Li Important point.
Although Hollywood's hardcore action movies have a solid foundation and a large audience, the hardcore movies have shown a downward trend in the past decade. Among them, sci-fi elements and numerous superhero films should be its biggest competitors.
Although superhero-themed movies have deep roots in Hollywood, the real force and the beginning of box-office guarantees started with the "X-Men" series produced by Twentieth Century Fox in 2000, and in 2008 Wei's "Iron Man", Hollywood's new darling finally brought such a sci-fi plus action movie to the extreme. So many film critics predict that the sci-fi film market in the next ten years will be dominated by Marvel and DC. At the same time, the series of feminine and aesthetically pleasing films during this period have also developed greatly, such as the "Twilight" series, "The Hunger Games" series, and the next "Divergent", etc., which are based on female themes and The market impact of Unreal World's eye-catching series on traditional hardcore movies should not be underestimated.
Therefore, at a time when the audience's viewing habits are increasingly illusory and feminine, the development of traditional hard-line Hollywood action films will also be difficult. Aesthetic fatigue, these two reasons alone are enough for the eight major Hollywood film companies to consider carefully. However, for the historical value and extensive influence of hardcore movies, we still have to pay tribute to this. As for the future movie market, whether we should have new expectations for those action movie stars, or cherish the memory, this may still have to be decided by the audience and the audience. A joint decision of the filmmakers.
This article is the original reprint of the film critic "Few Wasters"
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