Sub Genres Of Action and Adventure Films

Action comedy - This is a sub-genre involving action and humour. This sub-genre became a popular trend in the 1980's when actors who were known for their background in comedy such as Eddie Murphy, began to take roles in action films. The action scenes within the genre are usually light hearted and rarely involve death or serious injury. Comedy films that contain action-laden sub-plots are not considered part of the genre as the action scenes of the genre as the action scenes have a more integral role in action comedies. An example of this sub-genre included The Blues Brothers, 1980.
Die hard scenario- In this sub-genre the story takes place in limited location; a single building, plane or vessel, which is seized or under treat by enemy agents, but are opposed by a single hero who fights an extended battle within the location using stealth and cunning to attempt to defeat them. This genre began with the film Die Hard and became popular in Hollywood because it's crowd appeal and the relative simplicity of building sets for such a constrained piece. This films are sometimes described as "Die Hard on a...". An example of this sub genre is Snakes On A Plane 2006.
Disaster film- This genre has elements of thriller and sometimes science fiction films; the main conflict of this sub-genre is some sort of natural or artificial disaster, such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes or nuclear disasters that are shown with heavy action scenes, special effects, over the top destruction and use of CGI. An example of this genre is The Day After Tomorrow.
Martial arts - Martial Arts films contain numerous fights between characters as the films primary appeal and entertainment value; and often as a method of story telling and character expression and development. These films contain many characters who are martial artists or actors frequently train in preparation for their roles or the director may rely more on the stylized action or film making tricks. Shanghai Noon is an example of this sub-genre.
Sci-fi action- This genre shares many of the conventions of a science fiction films and emphasises; gunplay, space battles, invented weaponry and other sci-fi elements weaved into action film premises. An example of sci-fi action is Bryan Singers X-men, 2000.