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Action movie cliches
- Thread starter photon
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Invincibility
S/he is dead! Oh wait, nope. Never mind. They're alive
Surviving an explosion by jumping in the air and ducking (greatly parodied in "The Other Guys")
Always having clever one liners lying around
Convenient stuff before all hope is lost
Getting to the bomb one second before impact
Guns never run out of bullets
Thin wooden tables and walls deflect bullets
Henchman never shoot anything with their guns
The main guy never wants help. He goes in alone
Playing off/cashing in on current fears about war and terrorism, etc
Shooting a gas tank makes it blow up
S/he is dead! Oh wait, nope. Never mind. They're alive
Surviving an explosion by jumping in the air and ducking (greatly parodied in "The Other Guys")
Always having clever one liners lying around
Convenient stuff before all hope is lost
Getting to the bomb one second before impact
Guns never run out of bullets
Thin wooden tables and walls deflect bullets
Henchman never shoot anything with their guns
The main guy never wants help. He goes in alone
Playing off/cashing in on current fears about war and terrorism, etc
Shooting a gas tank makes it blow up
People hit by bullets or shotgun blasts flying backgrounds, often through windows. (Newton's laws tell us that, if this were the case, the person firing the gun would also be flying backwards).
Timebombs always have convenient read-outs telling you how much time is left.
Bad guy extras only need to be shot once, anywhere in (or even near) the body, to go down. The good guy can be shot a dozen times and appear only to be suffering mild muscle aches.
If you see someone turning the ignition key in a car, it usually blows up.
Good guys can apparently move from country to country in less time than it would take you or I to book a flight and get to the airport.
Timebombs always have convenient read-outs telling you how much time is left.
Bad guy extras only need to be shot once, anywhere in (or even near) the body, to go down. The good guy can be shot a dozen times and appear only to be suffering mild muscle aches.
If you see someone turning the ignition key in a car, it usually blows up.
Good guys can apparently move from country to country in less time than it would take you or I to book a flight and get to the airport.
The foot always has to slip as someone climbs somewhere. You can time it -one second after they start climbing they always almost fall to their death because of a sudden foot cramp.
And not to forget about them falling down from some cliff or roof. First they fly over the edge, but a new angle reveals someone's fingertips hanging on the edge.
And not to forget about them falling down from some cliff or roof. First they fly over the edge, but a new angle reveals someone's fingertips hanging on the edge.
Twelve guys with 50mm cal. machine guns can't hit the hero who is ten feet away in an empty closet with the door open. The hero can shoot the balls off a gnat in a hurricane with a pistol at 100 yards.
... and the timer always beeps with each second.
Explosions always happen in slow motion. When an explosion occurs, make certain you are running away from the point of detonation so the blast can send you flying, in slow motion, toward the camera.
Sound Clichés
Every button you press on a computer makes some kind of beep.
Text being spelled out on screen (whether computer or lower third) MUST make some sort of typing and/or dot-matrix-printer type of sound.
Helicopters always fly from surround to front-speakers.
People standing outside a running helicopter can always talk in normal or just slightly louder than normal voices.
Characters will never hear an approaching airplane or helicopter, even though in real life you would hear them approaching for at least a minute before they were close enough to see. This also holds true for approaching armies on horseback and tank battalions.
Kids can always whisper even if their two inchs away from a villian - he won't hear. If they step on a branch however, the villians will immediatly know its not some animal, and catch them.
Motorcycles usually change from Harley Davidson choppers when engaged in highway operations to Yamaha Dirt bikes when operated off-road (as in "Then Came Bronson").
It is now the modern era, and thus, sound has been installed in space by the elimination of that nasty vacuum problem.
Explosions in space make noise.
Guns (handguns, rifles, machineguns etc) have a really deep "BOOOMMM!!" sound not a "CRACK!". Also, the there's old cliche about the number of rounds the average magazine holds, the good guys almost never run out of ammo, and they seem to be able to use a handgun accurately to over a 100 meter range (accuracy of weapons over distance is pretty much a factor of barrel length - handguns are for CLOSE distances).
All sub machine guns sound alike and have the same rate of fire.
Machine guns and their rate of fire ... most users of these weapons can manage to sustain over 10 second continuous rate of fire (in actuality, you are supposed to fire the things in short bursts -- after a long burst the barrel will heat up so much the weapon will jam). Also I have never ever seen any protagonist change a MGs *barrel* no matter how long he has used the MG. (the barrels overheat, and also sustain incrediable wear requiring these to be changed -- often in battle, the gunner's mate will carry spare barrels as well as the inexhaustible ammo supply which weighs next-to-nothing). Esp. WW2 era weapons.
Bullets always ricochet, and they must travel pretty slow because the "rico" is 1/2 second later after it moves 50 feet
All bullets make a distinkt riccoche sound and when flying past you they make a zip noise when in fact they are moving faster than the speed of sound and in real life would produce a whip lash or bang sound.
Handguns: All handguns make a frightening clicking sound when handled as though to suggest that the parts are loose. The more advanced the gun (Men in Black) the louder, and more varried, the clicking. In real life any gun making noises like that would probably explode in your hand with the first discharge. Note: All energy type weapons will power up with a loud hum.
I think a lot of people might complain if movies set in Space like Star Trek and Star Wars, had no sound whenever the action cuts to outside the ship though. I would love to see a space action movie with no sound in space, but the reason why filmmakers do it, is because they may fear that audiences won't like it, or will think something is wrong with the film print?
(1) Anytime someone needs to steal a getaway car ...a set of keys always magically falls from the visor.
(2) Whenever you blow something up, you have to walk away from it with your back to the explosion like you don't give a shit.
(3) Whenever you finally catch the bad guy and hold him at gun point ...you have to stand inches away from him so that he can hit you in the head and steal your gun.
(4) All "Sniper vs. Sniper" scenes require that one sniper shoot the other sniper in the eye through his own riflescope.
(5) When running away from a car that's trying to run over you ...you must always run down the middle of the street. .....NEVER run off to the side!
(6) In a car chase scene, there will ALWAYS be a narrow gap between the cars at a red light intersection.
(7) Car doors magically stop all bullets.
(8) When two speeding cars are next to each other in a gun fight ...nobody ever thinks to just shoot out the other guy's tires.
Lastly,
(9) In every action movie, your hero must dangle from something while clinging for their life.
-Birdman
(2) Whenever you blow something up, you have to walk away from it with your back to the explosion like you don't give a shit.
(3) Whenever you finally catch the bad guy and hold him at gun point ...you have to stand inches away from him so that he can hit you in the head and steal your gun.
(4) All "Sniper vs. Sniper" scenes require that one sniper shoot the other sniper in the eye through his own riflescope.
(5) When running away from a car that's trying to run over you ...you must always run down the middle of the street. .....NEVER run off to the side!
(6) In a car chase scene, there will ALWAYS be a narrow gap between the cars at a red light intersection.
(7) Car doors magically stop all bullets.
(8) When two speeding cars are next to each other in a gun fight ...nobody ever thinks to just shoot out the other guy's tires.
Lastly,
(9) In every action movie, your hero must dangle from something while clinging for their life.
-Birdman
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Agreed. I allow the rules of a space vacuum to be violated. If the Enterprise or the Death Star blows up I want to see it, hear it and feel it. I lump that in with most alien species magically knowing how to speak the English language. ...You have to bend the rules a little, ya know?
-Birdman
Although to play devil's advocate, Gravity did stay scientifically accurate in terms of sound and the scenes were incredibly intense, probably some of the most intense of the year or past few years in terms of action and science fiction.
Corollary: Characters can silently tramp through the forest to sneak up on someone.
Bogus Bonus - At night no one ever trips over vines or gets poked in the eye with branches.
Exploding cars! Five car pileup? THEY ALL BLOW UP! Shoot the bad guys car a bunch? IT EXPLODES! Fall off a cliff? BIG BURNING FIREBALL!
Forget drunk driving, the real danger is cars made out of C4! Incidentally, there's a really good episode of Mythbusters where they do exploding cars...it being Mythbusters, the myths were debunked, but they blew up the car with explosives anyway. Because, you know, explosions.
Forget drunk driving, the real danger is cars made out of C4! Incidentally, there's a really good episode of Mythbusters where they do exploding cars...it being Mythbusters, the myths were debunked, but they blew up the car with explosives anyway. Because, you know, explosions.
Are you finally catching on to why some film "clichés" must be used? The audience expects them, it is part of the language. I'll repeat it one more time; it's not about reality, it's about creating an emotional connection for/with the audience.
Ah, nah! And they can't be regular explosions which are most often just big radiating streaks of dust and debris from a small puff of white smoke.
Noooooo... !
They gotta be giant bellowing plumes of gas vapor fireballs!
Oh, and while we're at blowing up things - how about when blowing up a building it's achieved through a single or a few "very well placed" bombs.
That is a really good point. There is a film (not an action one but still) where this is addressed and that is Jacob's Ladder. He is being chased by a car down a narrow alley and Jacob tries to run side to side but he's trapped.
I think to avoid cliches like the one you pointed out is to create an environment where it's difficult for the character to escape easily whether that's making it a narrow environment or a bustling and busy one.
Both good & bad guys are able to fire weapons in confined spaces with no apparent effect on their hearing. In fact, they barely seem to notice the noise.
Good guys can drive cars off ramps and through the air, ending in a landing that clearly bends the chassis, and yet the car just keeps on driving (with no propshaft and probably most of the rest of the car missing).
Heroes are always shot in the shoulder - a form of wound that leaves them apparently unhurt and unhindered and (one shot later) with little more than a light, decorative stain on their shirt.
The female love interest will always wear a skirt or dress in an action sequence, so that it can become delightfully tattered.
The hero is capable of following the bad guys around the world, even to remote and exotic places, with no luggage or even a change of clothes. Let's hope they at least have a toothbrush. The only exception to this is when they turn up in remote & hostile places and suddenly seem to have access to all the special clothing, vehicles and weapons they need.
Good guys can drive cars off ramps and through the air, ending in a landing that clearly bends the chassis, and yet the car just keeps on driving (with no propshaft and probably most of the rest of the car missing).
Heroes are always shot in the shoulder - a form of wound that leaves them apparently unhurt and unhindered and (one shot later) with little more than a light, decorative stain on their shirt.
The female love interest will always wear a skirt or dress in an action sequence, so that it can become delightfully tattered.
The hero is capable of following the bad guys around the world, even to remote and exotic places, with no luggage or even a change of clothes. Let's hope they at least have a toothbrush. The only exception to this is when they turn up in remote & hostile places and suddenly seem to have access to all the special clothing, vehicles and weapons they need.
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Yep
Sexual harrassement lawsuits...
Imagine if bond walks into M.penny and says, "you needed to see me"
And she says, "yes...well....its like this...we need to let you go...that smoldering hot secretary you kissed so passionately on your way out of here last time has filed a sexual harassment complaint..."
Or the one where every female worker at a hospital will instantly breach the privacy laws and tell you everything if you talk to her and repeat her name.
Guns never run out of bullets.
Only disposable good guys die. The rest are just badly injured.
The guy always gets the girl ( imagine the hero going up to the chick and asking her out and her going "no, I'm with Harold, hes stupid, and overweight, and he isn't half as adventurous as you, but I'm going to stay with him, not because I don't like you more but because I just think you are arrogant assuming I will leave him for you"
Or the one where the plane almost always has a parachute for the hero, who with no ropes can at will carry a passenger.
How every hero is somehow a parkour and martial arts expert. And if he is not a fighting pro, he can overcome fighting pros by throwing a sucker punch, or a table lamp that is always at hand. Or he can use broken glass as a knife and yet only be lightly cut himself.
The hero can kill a man without remorse or emotion, can see his way through the thickest plot, and can leap from all manner of traps but somehow if it has two legs and blond hair, he just can't step away. The blond is his kryptonite.
The hero can not be ugly. All hero's must have bodies with overly large shoulders, thin waist with abs, and the face of a total chick magnet...Although oddly, when we look at athletes that actually do for instance rock climbing, they do not have over exaggerated shoulder muscles etc because in real life that would make you weighed down by excess, useless muscle fiber.
All women must be skinny. Fat women can only play the role of a total bitch, or a funny lady that is not afraid to flirt.
The hero always has a favorite spirit that he drinks.
The bad guy is always fallible because of his own ego.
Most hero's have a military background to explain their super amount of skills.
Bullets will never hit the hero when he is driving.
All hero's can drive, shoot, and roll a smoke at the same time while casually discussing the sad turn of events that has led to this chase.
Sexual harrassement lawsuits...
Imagine if bond walks into M.penny and says, "you needed to see me"
And she says, "yes...well....its like this...we need to let you go...that smoldering hot secretary you kissed so passionately on your way out of here last time has filed a sexual harassment complaint..."
Or the one where every female worker at a hospital will instantly breach the privacy laws and tell you everything if you talk to her and repeat her name.
Guns never run out of bullets.
Only disposable good guys die. The rest are just badly injured.
The guy always gets the girl ( imagine the hero going up to the chick and asking her out and her going "no, I'm with Harold, hes stupid, and overweight, and he isn't half as adventurous as you, but I'm going to stay with him, not because I don't like you more but because I just think you are arrogant assuming I will leave him for you"
Or the one where the plane almost always has a parachute for the hero, who with no ropes can at will carry a passenger.
How every hero is somehow a parkour and martial arts expert. And if he is not a fighting pro, he can overcome fighting pros by throwing a sucker punch, or a table lamp that is always at hand. Or he can use broken glass as a knife and yet only be lightly cut himself.
The hero can kill a man without remorse or emotion, can see his way through the thickest plot, and can leap from all manner of traps but somehow if it has two legs and blond hair, he just can't step away. The blond is his kryptonite.
The hero can not be ugly. All hero's must have bodies with overly large shoulders, thin waist with abs, and the face of a total chick magnet...Although oddly, when we look at athletes that actually do for instance rock climbing, they do not have over exaggerated shoulder muscles etc because in real life that would make you weighed down by excess, useless muscle fiber.
All women must be skinny. Fat women can only play the role of a total bitch, or a funny lady that is not afraid to flirt.
The hero always has a favorite spirit that he drinks.
The bad guy is always fallible because of his own ego.
Most hero's have a military background to explain their super amount of skills.
Bullets will never hit the hero when he is driving.
All hero's can drive, shoot, and roll a smoke at the same time while casually discussing the sad turn of events that has led to this chase.