The Changing Face of the Summer Action Blockbuster
Wed, August 11, 2010 
Air Force One, The Rock, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Bad Boys, Mission Impossible, Con Air, Face/Off and Speed....Just a sample of the main summer blockbusters between 1995 and 1997 when I was a teenager, my how times have changed........Now you may look at the list and think the change I am referring to is that those movies were all written for the screen directly where as today's are all adapted from something, but that isn't it.
The biggest change in the blockbuster scene is in the heroes and the types of action movie being made, back then the hero was a cop or an agent, whatever his job description was he was a guy without powers or a destiny, he was doing what he did because it was the right thing or because he was caught up in a situation beyond his control.
In the 90's the flms that were made as summer blockbusters with big budgets were high concept original pitches, now some may say that several were merely retooled Die Hard clones but never the less, they were not of the adapted ilk of today and they played in a more grounded version of our reality.
Nowadays the audience the summer blockbusters are aimed at is skewed significantly lower in age, and this is reflected in the success of things like Harry Potter and Twilight featuring wizards and Vampires with the lead characters barely past puberty.
Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves in Speed, one of the ultimate high concept actioners of the mid 90'This summer saw three attempts at the regular action blockbuster, firstly the fairly unsuccessful Knight & Day which admittedly was horribly marketed and fused in a large comedy aspect, secondly The A Term which met with fans approval but meagre box office, and then there was Salt, a hit for Angelina Jolie but still with a modest take in comparison to hits from the aforementioned fantasy genres.
Of course there are exceptions, the Bourne Trilogy proved a strong draw in the summer, well at least the 2nd and 3rd parts did, and there was Live Free or Die Hard in summer 2007, and you could point to the success of the two Daniel Craig Bond films in November as proof that the action genre is still alive.
My issue is that in those cases they are established properties, the days of studios backing an original high concept action pitch for the summer seems long gone, and I for one miss those days, it's not to say I don't like some of the comic book movies and sci fi films, but when I look at the release schedule each summer I wish for some new high concept action films like those of yesteryear to be added into the mix. These days you are more likely to find them languishing in September and October with meagre budgets. 
Nicholas Cage and John Travolta Face off in John Woo's 1997 action classic
What brought about this change? maybe it's cyclical, the 80's saw the ultra violent one man army action films take centre stage, then the 90's saw the slicker high concept action films, now we are in the era of the comic book and fantasy film with a dollop of sci fi thrown in.
Another theory is 9/11 led to the mass success of Spider-Man and studios decided what people wanted was escapism to the ninth degree and thus proceeded to adapt comic after comic, however the success of a show like 24 and the continued popularity of a show like NCIS and it's sister show NCIS: Los Angeles show there is still an audience for original grounded heroes and action concepts.
This summer has seen several under-performers across the action range but at least for next summer the diet of of comic book movies filling the summer action quota will remain the same as Green Lantern, Thor and X Men: First Class take their bow. Beyond that who knows? but I recently read a couple of great high concept action scripts, maybe if they come to pass in summers to come we'll see the new school and the old school rubbing shoulders.
Reader Comments (2)
Nice article. As big of a comic nerd as I am, I also miss a lot of the action films from the '80s on up through the '90s. That's why i'm excited for The Expendables. It's going to be a mindless movie but at the very least, still entertaining.
This looks admirably nuts and bolts in its approach http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3068790297/
Yeah it's PG:13 and Tony Scott has gone bezerk over the past decade, but this looks like an old school action/disaster flick in a no-nonsense kind of way.