'What Makes an Action Film an Action Film?': How the James Bond Movies Defined the Genre

Abstract

This working paper takes up the role of the James Bond film series in the development of the action movie as a distinct cinematic form. While the association has often been mentioned it has rarely been discussed in a detailed, rigorous, let alone comprehensive way, because film critics have rarely undertaken rigorous formal examination of the action film and its history, and because the role of the Bond films has frequently been slighted in Hollywood-centric histories of the action movie (for example, stressing the role of George Lucas while overlooking the extent to which the Bond movies influenced Lucas). In its examination of the matter the paper focuses on the innovation in filmic structure entailed in the films' elevation of an increased quantity and frequency of "shocks," the prioritization of set pieces, and the associated acceleration of the narrative over conventional dramatic structure and pleasures, verisimilitude or logical coherence; and the presentation of action-oriented narrative in a contemporary rather than historical or obviously fantastical setting.

Keywords: Action Films, Action Films-History, The James Bond Films, Film, Cinematic History, Film History, High Concept Filmmaking