The Rise & Fall of the Action Hero Part 3

We're now into the 1980s, the most important era of Action Hero iconography. The 80s Tough Guys drew inspiration from much of what came before them creating a monstrous package that reflected not only the elder statesmen, but the time period in which they were made. It was this decade that Action Heroes would not only be big box office attractions, but attracting new revenue through merchandising that hadn't been seen before or since. The 80s was both the crescendo and the collapse of the Action Hero.

Chuck Norris had his eye on success from an early age growing up in a small Oklahoma town. He got into martial arts during his time stationed in post war Korea, attaining a black belt in Tang Soo Do (later to become a Tae Kwon Do Master and found his own style). Returning to the states he amassed an amazing amount of trophies and public interest that led to the opening of a number of Karate studios. Movies weren't far behind. Of his early roles, the most famous is his fight with Bruce Lee in WAY OF THE DRAGON (1972). Norris next played the villain in a film he wasn't too fond of, SLAUGHTER IN SAN FRANCISCO (1974), a Golden Harvest production with Tae Kwon Do practitioner Don Wong Tao (making his debut). Critics started paying attention to Norris in the underrated GOOD GUYS WEAR BLACK (1978) and his career took off from there. Each new film was bigger than the last, and Chuck soon found himself as 'that karate guy'. Much like Chiba did in Japan, Norris carried American martial arts movies in the States even after he'd stopped doing them. Desiring something more as an actor, by 1983, he veered away from martial arts movies to action pictures that had martial arts in them. It didn't much matter as Norris's Karate heritage remained paramount no matter what type of film he did. In 1986 he had a cartoon mini-series called KARATE KOMMANDOS which he created, and did his own voice work. There was also a comic book and toy line. Norris patterned himself on the type of characters John Wayne played in his pictures. Concurrent with Wayne's stoicism, Norris would eventually turn into a seemingly indestructible force for good. This reached parody proportions in INVASION USA in 1985. Norris did find what he desired that same year with CODE OF SILENCE, and that was critical acceptance in what is considered his best movie.

In previous decades we had Tarzan and Hercules among the Action Hero cognoscenti. Arnold Schwarzenegger brought that physicality, that musclebound look that had been absent since the 1960s and multiplied it times a hundred. A fierce competitor in bodybuilding, some of his heroes (and colleagues) were in fact Hercules actors; the one Schwarzenegger idolized the most was the massive Reg Park famous from HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD (1961). Arnold was hungry for stardom, and it came to him in 1982, fittingly, with CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982). Here was a movie that played to his strengths... literally. Arnold's movies were sold on his muscles and his intimidating face. For  a lot of Tough Guys, you passed muster not just by your look, but your face (especially in the eyes). Some of these guys might not of been thespians, but charisma and intensity sold them to audiences; Sonny Chiba had it, William Smith had it, and Arnold Schwarzenegger had it. He also had a penchant for catch-phrases. THE TERMINATOR (1984) was an iconic milestone for the actor in that it was the debut of the now famous, "I'll be back" line. COMMANDO (1985) accelerated the over the top heroism the 80s became known for, and it brought the wisecracks which became a Tough Guy staple from here on out. Schwarzenegger could cinematically do no wrong from this point forward.

One of the more gifted Action Heroes of the 1980s was Sylvester Stallone. The man was a machine. Even Ivan Drago thought so in ROCKY 4 (1985). Stallone was akin to Jackie Chan in that he had a hands on approach to the films he was starring in; so it wasn't unusual to see his name listed as a writer and director in addition to the star. Already established for ROCKY, Stallone expanded his box office power as an action star with the release of FIRST BLOOD (1982), and even more so with the blockbuster RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II (1985). John Rambo was far and away the most influential Action Hero of the entire decade. Rambo clones popped up all over the place. 70s Captain America, Reb Brown, made a career out of them; The Rambo-alikes weren't limited to American soil, but around the world. Rambo even affected the marketing of action pictures worldwide. In reality the actor in the clone films might not look like he just left the gym, but you'd never know by the advertising. By the dozens, various action-war pictures all looked interchangeable with one another. All you needed was a shirtless, enraged, muscled up guy with an M60 and explosions going off around him and your picture was sold.

Carl Weathers had already been in the movies by the time he was being groomed for Action Hero status in the 1980s. He was a hitman after Pam Grier in FRIDAY FOSTER (1975) and was one of Fred Williamson's buddies who turned against him in BUCKTOWN (1975) to name just two. FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE (1978), DEATH HUNT (1981), and PREDATOR (1987) were three of his bigger productions. ROCKY (1976) put him on the map giving a fantastic performance as Apollo Creed. Weathers became ACTION JACKSON in 1988; a success at the box office, the potential for a action franchise never materialized. Despite this, he did a couple action films that were more or less disguised sequels to ACTION JACKSON. Weathers did get his own TV series with FORTUNE DANE, but unfortunately it only lasted five episodes.

Like Weathers, Dolph Lundgren had all the right ingredients for Action Hero heights, but never quite reached the peak of his colleagues. He surprised many with his turn as Ivan Drago in the gigantic hit ROCKY 4 (1985). Weathers had more experience, but Lundgren's Tough Guy career lasted longer even if he never got a signature breakout role as a single. MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (1987) and RED SCORPION (1989) were his two big theatrical 80s lead roles. Lundgren would alternate between roles in big Hollywood pictures and limited release/direct to video movies. One of his best is ARMY OF ONE (JOSHUA TREE) from 1993. At this time everybody was doing John Woo style actioners, and it wasn't long till the Chang Cheh influenced director was in America directing movies here. For Lundgren, he ended up finding even greater success with a steady stream of DTV action films till his recent return to the big screen in THE EXPENDABLES franchise.

From Japan came Sho Kosugi. The Japanese Shotokan stylist virtually came out of nowhere, and was chiefly responsible for making the word 'ninja' a household name. Often casting his two sons in his films, Kosugi had a nice run as an Action Hero. Largely forgotten by the mainstream these days, the man was at one time comparable with the big names of the 80s. There wasn't a martial arts magazine Kosugi didn't grace the cover of, and he had his own merchandising line, fan club, and instructional video, and hosting duties on Trans World's Ninja Theatre line among other things. To see Kosugi at his best, check out REVENGE OF THE NINJA (1983) and PRAY FOR DEATH (1985). Kosugi was then the biggest Asian star in American cinema since Bruce Lee. Some bad choices aided in the fizzling out of his career by the close of the decade, but he did get some nice buzz surrounding his return to the screen in NINJA ASSASSIN in 2009. 

Bruce Willis was the last of the big Action Heroes to emerge in the 1980s. His is one of the more surprising since he was known mostly for comedies. So in his case, the reverse applied. Here was an actor who'd never done action before, and went from comedy to starring in DIE HARD (1988), one of the greatest action films of all time. Willis's off duty cop, John McClane, was different from the likes of Norris, Stallone, and Schwarzenegger. The only trait he shared with those guys was a penchant for one-liners. Performing nearly the whole movie bare-footed, Willis's performance helped make him and DIE HARD an overnight sensation and pop culture phenomenon. From here on out, every Hollywood actioner was a DIE HARD.... Die Hard on a Bus, Die Hard on a Plane, Die Hard on a Ship, etc, etc, etc.

In the 60s and 70s, producers would parody popular genres that were growing stale. By the late 80s, Action Heroes began doing comedies; only this time it seemed more of a career move as opposed to an act of desperation. It was sort of Action Hero Capitalism. One guy offered an alternate product to the norm, and people bought it. If the audience liked it, then another guy in the same field decided to offer the same service to compete. Schwarzenegger did it, Norris did it, and Stallone did it. Arnold was the most successful of the Macho Trifecta in doing comedy; or mixing laughs with action.

Schwarzenegger got surprisingly good notices when he did TWINS in 1988. It was a choice he made and not one dictated by declining ticket sales. He was back in action after that, with a few other lighter films spread out like KINDERGARTEN COP (1990), the action hero parody THE LAST ACTION HERO (1993), and JUNIOR (1994). His line in KINDERGARTEN COP, "It's not a tumor!" became as memorable as "I'll be back." Schwarzenegger's career finally began losing steam by the new millennium. He was getting older, and the invincible hero of the 80s was long past its prime.

Stallone attempted comedy much earlier than his colleagues. He was never very good at it. The only time he seemed comfortable was when he was in a Tough Guy scenario. When he tried placing that archetype in a comedic framework, it never gelled well. For example, RHINESTONE (1983) was an epic disaster for a few reasons--Stallone sings and it simply wasn't funny. If at first you don't succeed doing comedy, try, try again; and so later attempts at funny business with OSCAR (1991) and STOP! OR MY MOM WILL SHOOT (1992) were all flops as well. Once Stallone returned to the Action Hero mold with CLIFFHANGER (1992), he was back in business.

Norris lightened up, although his first go at it remained within the action realm. FIREWALKER (1986) was a Cannon movie that paired him with Louis Gossett, Jr. in an Indiana Jones type adventure. After years of violent action pictures, two of which (MISSING IN ACTION 3, DELTA FORCE 2) cost the lives of crew members during each production, Norris switched gears in the 90s to do some family friendly fare with the KARATE KID oriented SIDEKICKS (1992) and TOP DOG (1995); the latter film was the third in the buddy cop-dog sub genre that included K-9 and TURNER AND HOOCH (both 1989). Norris's action movies often had humorous touches (like in LONE WOLF MCQUADE), so comedy didn't feel alien in his movies, even if it was predominantly low-key humor.

Once the Reagan Era was over, it was like something died in the Action Hero arena. The gung ho air of patriotism and jingoistic bravado would slowly whither away. In recent years, this sort of attitude, and the 80s period itself, has been turned into a negative stigma politically. But then the era we're in now is the polar opposite of the era at that time. In the 90s, a new crop of action stars emerged, but few stood out; but some found longevity in the viable direct-to-video market. Wesley Snipes seemed like he might be the next breakout star. An accomplished martial artist, he co-starred with Stallone in 1993s DEMOLITION MAN as the main villain. He never capitalized on Action Hero status like some of his contemporaries, but did a few films in that vein till a tax evasion scandal sidelined his career. 

Some of the more durable stars that were popular in the 90s, but didn't explode into the mainstream were Cynthia Rothrock, Mark Dacascos, Billy Blanks, and Don "The Dragon" Wilson. Dacascos and Blanks were probably the most successful in parlaying their films careers into other avenues (Dacascos with the IRON CHEF TV show and Blanks with his Tae Bo video series). During this time period, there were also lots of guys challenging other guys to fights; just like what you'd see in one of your finer kung fu movies.

Two of the most successful men who carried the Action Hero torch, Jean Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal, weren't of the same stock like Norris and Stallone. They came on the scene at the tail end of the 80s action craze. Ego got in the way, leading to lawsuits and oddball behavior that eventually relegated them to video store shelves instead of theatrical releases.

Steven Seagal is likely the most peculiar Action Hero of them all. He was a fight coordinator on films like THE CHALLENGE (1982) and made his debut in ABOVE THE LAW in 1988. His next three pictures (all with three words in the title) made more money than the last, and he became a household name by the time he did his version of DIE HARD with UNDER SIEGE (1992). It was around this time things began to go downhill even though Seagal had been ruffling feathers virtually right out of the gate. In the late 80s, Seagal had denigrating things to say about Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris that pissed off a number of martial artists including Bob Wall (you'll remember him from ENTER THE DRAGON). His injuring stunt men on movie sets stirred the ire of others like Richard Norton. Eventually, Seagal stated that he could beat anybody in the world, anytime, anyplace, and issued a challenge to anyone to fight him; to the death, no less. So Karate champion Bob Wall had enough of Seagal's arrogance and gathered 11 other martial artists (Bill Wallace, Benny Urquidez, Howard Jackson, Blinky Rodriguez, Roger Carpenter, Allen Steen, Richard Norton, Dennis Alexio, Pat Burleson, Jim Harrison, Billy Robertson), and called the group 'The Dirty Dozen'; twelve men who were eager to take Seagal on. Naturally, the big fight never took place. Seagal apologized and that was the end of it. But it wasn't the end of Seagal bizarre behavior amidst a flurry of dubious claims and sexual harassment charges too many to list here.

Jean Claude Van Damme is cut from the same cloth. Another guy who came to popularity rather quickly, and had an enormous ego to boot as well as questionable credentials. Van Damme was central to replacing the ninja craze with a flood of increasingly tiresome kickboxing movies. BLOODSPORT (1988) was his big debut. KICKBOXER (1989) followed. Both were moderate successes considering very little money was spent on them. UNIVERSAL SOLDIER (1992) was his first big Hollywood style movie. While very limited in what he showed onscreen (he did the same three kicks over and over again), the women absolutely fell in love with the man; and he responded by showing as much skin as possible. Van Damme did a handful of interviews on the Arsenio Hall Show. In his first in 1991 he was asked if he'd ever hurt anyone on the set of a movie, to which he said never. He did say that what small accidents there were, it was the other guys fault. A few years earlier, Van Damme had been involved in an accident with Jackson Pinckney, a stunt guy on the set of CYBORG (1989). Much like Seagal, VD had a rep for not pulling his blows during fight scenes. During the bungled scene, Van Damme was supposed to slash Pinckney's chest, but stabbed him in the eye instead. The suit was filed three years later in 1991 and settled in Fayetteville, NC in 1993. Pinckney, who lost sight in his left eye, was awarded $487,500 in damages. Naturally there were conflicting testimony's, pro and con over the course of the trial, but Van Damme's actions can be summed up this way--when asked to comment, VD's response was, "I'm not a lawyer, I'm just here to make great movies. You will like my next film, HARD TARGET". Speaking of HARD TARGET, you could write an entire article about Van Damme's runaway ego on this picture alone.

It's interesting to note that, considering both their attitudes, Seagal and Van Damme had a long rivalry via a war of words that lasted throughout the 1990s. Both men were fond of issuing challenges, it seems, but it all came to nothing but a lot of talk. In the 90s, there were lots of this sort of thing going on between actors and martial artists. How much of it was actual machismo overload or publicity stunts is debatable.

Accomplished kickboxing champion Don "The Dragon" Wilson issued a similar challenge to Van Damme in 1989. Some thought it was just a stunt since Wilson's BLOODFIST (1989) was in competition with VD's KICKBOXER. At any rate, VD had made remarks about his martial arts past as a kickboxing champion, yet no record could be found substantiating his claims. So Roger Corman offered $100,000 for a winner take all fight between the two. Van Damme declined citing it would be stupid for him to fight for a paltry sum when he was making $6 million on his movie contract. What's funny about this is that Van Damme was supposedly willing to fight Steven Seagal for free! Wilson wasn't done with goading Van Damme, though. If you've seen his RED SUN RISING (1994), there's an in-joke poking fun of VD. During the finale, Wilson is fighting one guy after the other and this one guy jumps into frame that looks and acts like VD. He then kicks at Wilson who promptly grabs the leg and quickly disposes of the adversary all with a big grin on his face!

In is own right, Don Wilson is one of the most prolific action stars. Few of his films had theatrical play, but he seemed to star in a new one every other week. His BLOODFIST series is arguably his most popular work with eight films in the series. Wilson is still making action movies today.

By the time the new millennium rolled around, there were a few actors who tried to become the new breed of Action Hero. It didn't quite work out for them; at least not in the way of the bigger names discussed above. Guys like Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson were looked upon as the next big thing in action pictures. Diesel ran out of gas just when he was getting revved up, and Dwayne Johnson got more attention on wrestling for the WWE than he did on the Silver Screen. Diesel's arrogant Xander Cage in XXX (2002) wasn't too far removed from the actor with the inflated ego playing him. 

Johnson's sagging Action Hero status was a genuine surprise. His first star turn in THE SCORPION KING (2002) didn't exactly set the world on fire, but the build-up to his next star turn in THE RUNDOWN (2003) hyped him as the successor to Schwarzenegger and his cohorts. With no competition, THE RUNDOWN was a letdown in ticket sales. His star turn in the WALKING TALL (2004) remake was an unnecessary, utter misfire. Johnson wasn't even the main character in his next genre film, the SciFi-Action picture DOOM (2005).

Martial artist Jason Statham has shown the most promise, although he has yet to truly break out the way past big screen Tough Guys have. His films are moderate successes, but consistent; especially in that the man seems to have a movie coming out every month. Possessing a great look, boatloads of charisma, and uttering his dialog at barely a whisper, Jason Statham is the closest to the classic Tough Guy mold. A prolific actor, he's also a really good one, and a fine martial artist who can do the HK style very well. He's the closest to a Chuck Norris the genre has at the moment. Strictly an action guy, he's yet to headline a comedy; although some might say IN THE NAME OF THE KING (2008) would qualify, if unintentionally so.

Speaking of funny business, within a few years of their being in the spotlight, both Diesel and Johnson were doing comedies and kid pictures, and enjoying great success with them; which, by this point, was where you went when you couldn't attract an audience any other way. However, the two actors finally struck upon Action Hero style success in the recent FAST AND THE FURIOUS sequels; which were ensemble pieces as opposed to solo vehicles. Of the two, Johnson has the most potential, and the right attitude to be as big as any of the major Action Heroes to come before him.

Meanwhile, old schoolers of the Action Hero variety were doing ensembles of their own to show they still had it. The real test, though, was in if they could carry a picture by themselves like they used to do. 

THE EXPENDABLES series offered old school action fans an opportunity to see their favorite stars herded together in the same film. As movies, they're not very good, and little more than shells of the actors' former glories. Still, it was nice to see the old guard back in action. Ironically enough, THE EXPENDABLES movies were far more profitable overseas than domestically. With an $80 million budget, the first film made a little over $103 million US. By comparison, it made $171 million overseas. The sequel had a $100 million budget vs. $85 million domestic gross, but an impressive $220.4 million haul overseas. The third film (rated PG-13) has an unconfirmed budget between $90-$100 million, could only muster $39 million domestic, but cleaned up yet again overseas with $167 million.

With the success of this series, both Schwarzenegger and Stallone decided to go it solo and do some good old fashioned R rated actioners like in the old days. Audiences couldn't have been less interested, which is unfortunate since THE LAST STAND (2013), Arnold's first action movie lead in ten years, was a great throwback to better days. With a few back to back failures, Schwarzenegger and Stallone are still managing to get theatrical releases. Both THE LAST STAND with Arnold and Stallone's BULLET TO THE HEAD (2013) bombed worse than a Rambo raid on a VC stronghold. The two did ESCAPE PLAN (2014) together, which did a little better, but was another bomb. Curiously, that films original title was THE TOMB. It would seem likely they changed the title to avoid any critical barbs using it as a metaphor for their respective careers. Both men are starring in upcoming projects that are sequels to past triumphs, so it remains to be seen if they can replicate the same level of their past successes.

Possibly one attributable factor to the lack of any new, bankable action stars, or a thriving Action Hero genre in general is the changing of movie technology. The advent of CGI has rendered such films nearly obsolete. Instead of making a film centered around a single character, action pictures are sold instead on their special effects. Comic book superhero movies have become the new wave of action film, and yet few say how this actor or that actor stood out, as opposed to how good the SPX were. The current BATMAN trilogy is an exception to this rule, although it's the comic character people are going to see as opposed to Christian Bale. The CGI action has become the selling point and not necessarily the actor. Once audiences finally tire of these empty special effects driven productions, a new Bronson, or Norris, or Stallone may well emerge; or possibly Vin Diesel or Dwayne Johnson can make some single hits on the level of their group efforts in the FAST AND FURIOUS franchise. Johnson's recent HERCULES film is a sign that he can pull it off.

Regarding the glut of superhero movies, in the place of the standard Action Hero, we get guys in superhero outfits custom fitted with built in muscles. Chris Hemsworth in the THOR films is the closest, but then his build is more out of duty to the character than any desire on his part to be an action star. As specified in the previous articles, one thing these men, most of them, had in common is individualism, a desire to succeed at whatever they put their mind to. The look they brought to their roles was actually them--a reflection of their personality. Bronson's chiseled features and Chuck Norris's natural build is missing from the slate of current action stars who have been built by the movie studio as opposed to their own ambitions.

Another possible reason for the decline in Action Heroes is this effort by feminists (and, amazingly enough, some males) to castrate masculinity. The times when a man could be a man are now deemed offensive, and chivalry is apparently dead in the eyes of many. Moreover, Politics in America has taken on a dangerously radical position in recent years, and it's infected pop culture and the entertainment industry. Political correctness has laid the smack down on barrel-chested, oiled up, muscular men in the vein of Schwarzenegger, Stallone, or Bronson--emasculating the male action star to the point where it's like walking on eggshells to even suggest such a thing. You couldn't make an overly brawny movie nowadays without special interest groups taking issue with something, or throwing around words like 'chauvinistic', or 'sexist'. What passes for an action star today are comic book characters, or these teen heartthrobs fresh out of college. Even Conan (as played by Jason Momoa) has been sanitized, looking like he just got done surfing at a California beach.

Whatever the reason for the decline of Macho Action Heroes, their time may come again and enjoy the sort of success they did, particularly in the 1980s. If not, fans of Tough Guy cinema have a great many gems to relive over again, and dozens more left to discover.

THE END

The Rise & Fall of the Action Hero Part 2

The western is the lifeline of action cinema. Having strands in other styles of action films, you can find the western structure in war pictures, martial arts movies, or even some horror movies. The oater has had its ups and downs over the years, but it's the one style of moviemaking that has a symbiotic relationship with American heritage. One man has maintained global identification with these tales of the prairie for over 70 years running.

"The Duke" John Wayne (Marion Robert Morrison) is arguably the single most iconic western action hero of all time; and one of, if not the single most influential on the industry even to this day. THE SEARCHERS (1956), for example, had an indelible impact on a number of Hollywood's biggest filmmakers including Spielberg and Scorsese. Like him or not, when westerns are mentioned, the name John Wayne is bound to be brought up. There had been other western heroes, singing cowboys and such, but Wayne is, and was, synonymous with the oater; and without him, the genre might of turned into a veritable ghost town. Referred to as the model 'everyman', Wayne's stature in these films grew to legendary proportions. He was the living, breathing essence of the traditional sagebrush saga. The good guys and the bad guys were clearly defined in Wayne's movies. The good guys were hard working, honest, strong men who adhered to rugged individualism. The bad guys were the exact opposite--they worked in less than reputable professions, were devoutly dishonest, preferring to steal and kill for what they want. This was the classic good vs. evil template, and one that other action stars, like Chuck Norris, emulated in their own films. Christened The Duke after a pet dog he had as a kid, Wayne acted in virtually every genre, but it's the westerns he's most associated with. An Academy Award winning actor, John Wayne's career had an amazing longevity to it that few, if any, could attest.

The traditional American Hero was soon tested in the mid 1960s with the importing of a new kind of "hero" that had emerged in Italy in 1964. Germany and Italy had been doing American style westerns of their own, but it took Sergio Leone to try something uniquely different with the popular model; and using an American by the name of Clint Eastwood to do it.

Once the 60s were well underway with all the hippies, free love and drugs--the antithesis of the nuclear family era of the 1950s--Wayne's rugged image and American frontier style took a hit from a burgeoning new approach on the western formula from Italy. Over there America's defining cinema archetype was turned on its head. The characteristics of good and evil became blurred. Most of the films featured heroes who weren't all that heroic; many of them were bounty hunters, gunfighters obsessed with money, or bandits instigating, or participating in revolutions. Cynical and brutal in the extreme, there was a radical left-wing approach permeating a majority of those pictures wherein greed was the center of the narrative and criminality was celebrated. The "hero" often didn't care about causes, just himself. And money. Women were also treated with a surprising degree of apathy by Italy's interpretation of the western protagonist (if you could call them protagonists). Women in American westerns were stereotypically of the homemaking variety. Occasionally an Annie Oakley type would seep in; but in Italian westerns they were often little more than a disposable character to make clear who you weren't supposed to root for. In the eyes of such Italian filmmakers as Sergio Corbucci, Sergio Sollima, and Damiano Damiani, it was no longer solely Wayne's West, but one occupied by anarchists and communists; and it wasn't just the Italian approach to the material. The 60s were fraught with change and a great deal of violence; and much of this spilled over into the entertainment industry.

The new breed of American western that took shape in the latter part of the 60s was obviously influenced by its Italian variant in how they were shot, the way the characters were presented, and most obviously in the music. Still, despite the Ameri-oaters new look, heavy dose of cynicism, and ramped up violence, John Wayne remained the symbol of the genre. If anything or anyone was responsible for putting a dent in The Duke's cinematic persona, it was Clint Eastwood; and not just with his anti-heroic turns in a trilogy of films from Sergio Leone.

Clint Eastwood had already been a familiar face on TV's RAWHIDE series, but rose to prominence doing westerns in Italy. Not only was Eastwood crucial in altering the sagebrush paradigm, but he would revolutionize the cop thriller at the start of the 1970s; a genre style that owed a lot to the western. DIRTY HARRY (1971) really is an iconic motion picture, and one that sent critics and leftists into fits of hysteria while coming to the conclusion that the film was fascist (the Italian variants got the same response). Loosely based on the Zodiac Killer murder case that began in 1968, Eastwood's no-nonsense cop struck a chord with the public that reverberated through four sequels and a slew of similar movies starring Tough Guy colleagues like John Wayne (McQ) and Charles Bronson (THE STONE KILLER). Unlike John Wayne, Clint is recognized for multiple genres. In 1978 he took his Tough Guy persona to new heights with the smash EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE. It was Eastwood's most profitable film at that time, and his first attempt at mixing action and comedy. Of course a sequel was inevitable with ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN (1980). It remains one of the best Tough Guy movies of all time, and co-stars the Toughest Tough Guy of them all, William Smith. The versatile Action Hero, Eastwood, like Wayne and others, turned to directing his own films.

One of cinemas most celebrated action heroes was far more popular overseas than he was in the United States.... at first. Charles Bronson had been in just about everything on television and the big screen, but didn't click with American audiences till his turn as Paul Kersey in Michael Winner's iconic DEATH WISH in 1974. This was another production, like DIRTY HARRY, that resonated with audiences. Whereas the judicial system sometimes worked against the victims while favoring the perpetrators, there was a feeling that this type of movie would incite the citizenry to become vigilantes themselves. What's funny about this is that community organizers, activists, and anarchists are praised for instigating anger and violence on a grand scale, yet a movie about a passive, law-abiding man taking that very law into his own hands to do what the law on the books will not do is setting a dangerous precedent. While some critics were outraged, audiences cheered because here was a guy acting out their aggression onscreen.

Much like John Wayne and his western heroes, Charles Bronson had solidified himself as vigilante Paul Kersey, or a similar type of character. That's all audiences wanted to see him do. Also like John Wayne, Bronson was a lead in a variety of roles ranging from westerns to comedies and dramas; yet none were as popular with audiences as his vigilante type roles. It took seven years for Kersey to pick up a gun again in DEATH WISH 2 (1981) when the Action Hero cycle really heated up. 

Another Big Gun of the Action Hero variety was Charlton Heston. Arguably the apotheosis of the Tough Guy model, Heston was blessed with headlining a heady stream of big budget extravaganzas. Many of Heston's action-adventure films were historical productions; these stood out in how varied they all are. About the only time-period Heston didn't tackle was the Stone Age. PLANET OF THE APES (1968) is about as close as he got. SECRET OF THE INCAS (1954) is one of the more influential adventure films Heston starred in. Itself a more polished version of action serials from the 30s and 40s, INCAS was a huge impact on RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981), one of the most important films of the modern action era. Heston's other big epics include BEN HUR (1959), EL CID (1961), 55 DAYS AT PEKING (1963) and THE WAR LORD (1965). He crossed over into SciFi with the likes of three very different movies in PLANET OF THE APES (1968), THE OMEGA MAN (1971), and SOYLENT GREEN (1973). Charlton Heston is arguably the most well-rounded Tough Guy having done pretty much everything and been successful at all of it.

In the early 70s, the anti-hero template had become the norm. Beginning in the late 60s, things changed in a big way. Movie violence was getting more vicious, and the notion that good must always triumph in the end was going out of fashion. Another Action Hero movement was stirring at this time; one that didn't rely on big budgets to tell its story, but sensationalism that painted the good vs evil dynamic in a way it'd never been seen before.

In the wake of the Civil Rights Movement, there was a need and desire for strong black characters onscreen. There had been black actors in the old Hollywood days who had prospered in roles that, while they became financially comfortable for their work, had been deemed derogatory in the eyes of some. The black films of the 70s were similarly disliked for much the same reasons. As far as action stars go, it wasn't till the 1970s that guys like Richard Roundtree, Fred Williamson and Bernie Casey came to prominence when the 'blaxploitation' moniker was coined. Roundtree is arguably the most iconic actor in the black action canon. When somebody says 'blaxploitation', detective John Shaft generally finds his way into the discussion. SHAFT (1971) paved the way for the tough as nails heroes that came after him. Roundtree did two more Shaft films and he was done. Contracted to a 12 picture deal with MGM, he was supposed to headline a few more SHAFT pictures, but feared typecasting and got out of the deal. Roundtree was a regular face in action pictures afterward, but didn't do another SHAFT style picture till the genre was out of style with ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO (1982) and ORIGINAL GANGSTAS (1996).

Many of this crop of big screen heroes were former football players; one in particular is one of the greatest, Cleveland Browns fullback Jim Brown. He began his movie career in 1965 in the western RIO CONCHOS. Brown parlayed his football career into a very successful Hollywood run with a string of beefy lead and co-starring roles in such Macho classics as THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967), DARK OF THE SUN (1968), and 100 RIFLES (1969) to name a few. Brown wanted to play roles that didn't distinguish color, as opposed to a role tailored to a black man. This is evident in his early film work. When the black actioners spawned by the success of SHAFT (1971) took hold, Jim Brown was on top of things as SLAUGHTER (1972), BLACK GUNN (1972) and THREE THE HARD WAY (1974) to name a few. Jim Brown is unique among his genre colleagues in that he was already an established actor prior to the black action boom.

Fred Williamson was the most prolific of this genre style, as well as the genres most flamboyant entrepreneur. Williamson didn't do the number of big Hollywood movies that Jim Brown had done, but did a wide variety of action pictures. His flashy James Bond styled THAT MAN BOLT (1973) was essentially Williamson playing himself and getting paid for it. He eventually began producing his own pictures, formed his own production company (the aptly titled Po Boy Productions), and sold his movies around the world as a one man operation. Budgets were low, but Williamson famously claimed none lost money. About the only thing Williamson was never able to do was make his movies the way he wanted because of budgetary constraints. His lead in THE LEGEND OF NIGGER CHARLEY (1972) was one of the top hits of 1972. Williamson liked westerns and would do more of them; eventually making a lot of movies in Italy where he was very popular. He's still active in the industry today.

The black action films stood out from other similar films. Key to the success of these movies were a predominantly black cast, mostly white villains, an occasional white sidekick, and a strong black hero that all the women wanted. Flurries of racial epithets (like nigger, honky, spade, cracker, etc) were common staples for raw humorous effect and to make the villains even more despicable. From outrageous violence to over the top dialog to lots of nudity, these films gave audiences what a lot of other like-minded features didn't. Curiously, these films came under fire from black interest groups and critics for positing negative stereotypes; for portraying so-called demeaning images of blacks onscreen. The black action style eventually died out, with only a handful of entries in the 1980s; and a mild resurgence in recent years.

For decades Hong Kong and Japan had been doing action films that, by the 1970s, had developed their own style of heroism that was unlike anything seen anywhere else. Japan was closer to the American style. Hong Kong redefined the Tough Guy schematic that would be adopted by American filmmakers by the close of the 1990s. Largely unrecognized outside of Asia for his contribution to Macho Movies, Chang Cheh (above in middle) single-handedly brought male ruggedness to HK cinema. Prior to 1967, movies in HK were dominated by female stars. They were the headliners, and even played male roles till Chang made testosterone fashionable at the box office over there; to take things further, Chang Cheh refined stylized violence to complement this new vein of masculinity that was heretofore unseen in Hong Kong prior. His influence was felt in America, although the man was never officially recognized for it. Naturally, his films were attacked by critics for their extreme violence while his brotherhood among men was misread and misconstrued as a director artistically announcing his alleged homosexuality despite spending much of his career in opposition to the notion.

In the annals of action cinema, the kung fu films out of Hong Kong in the 1970s have always been underestimated. Their influence on popular culture has rarely ever been formally addressed. Seemingly the black sheep of action pictures, they enjoyed several years of dominance till over-saturation cheapened their value, and Hollywood blockbusters became the norm. It's the one genre that was co-opted by the likes of the western and black actioners to make those films more enticing. Eventually, instead of importing more Chinese films, producers in America and Italy got the idea of making their own martial arts films. Everybody was literally kung fu fighting in the 1970s. The fad with the longest life, one man was chiefly responsible for that...

In the late 60s, Bruce Lee was slowly making a name for himself in Hollywood, yet super stardom, while always just within reach, eluded him. It wasn't till FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH (1972) made a lot of noise at theaters around the world did Bruce finally gain unparalleled popularity in the US with ENTER THE DRAGON (1973), his first lead in an American production; and the first martial arts movie financed by an American company. Out of all the Action Heroes, Bruce Lee arguably remains the most folkloric of all. After his death, Bruce Lee was literally everywhere. For a guy who only starred in four complete pictures (the patchwork GAME OF DEATH features archive footage of Lee from the original, incomplete production from 1972), Lee's star has remained astonishingly bright ever since. He died well before he reached his full potential. Lee the Legend maintains the mystique surrounding Lee the Man.

With the aid of the kung fu boom and Bruce Lee's charismatic Tough Guy persona, Japan answered with a Tough Guy of their own. Shinichi 'Sonny' Chiba had already been a star since the early 1960s acting in a variety of genres and a wealth of works unsurpassed by anyone else mentioned in these articles. The need for action pictures in the style of the HK productions was provided by Toei Company, Limited, arguably Japan's most prolific filmmaking machine pumping out movies and TV programs like product on a factory conveyor belt. The answer to Kung Fu was Karate in the form of THE STREET FIGHTER (1974), a smash on the international scene. More similar fare followed with Chiba articulating himself in a variety of bone-breaking roles where instant death is doled out with vicious precision. Devoted to martial arts and athletics, Chiba created the JAC (Japan Action Club), his own training facility for aspiring actors and actresses. Chiba eventually made his way to America in a string of low budget actioners and a few big budget Hollywood films. A cult actor in America, Chiba's popularity in Japan is the equivalent of John Wayne in the USA.

Before Chiba, there had always been samurai pictures with guys like Shintaro Katsu (ZATOICHI) and his brother Wakayama Tomisaburo (SHOGUN ASSASSIN), Ichikawa Raizo (SLEEPY EYES OF DEATH), and others. The Karate films were a melding of samurai theatrics and gangster style. Chiba literally carried the Karate genre on his shoulders for several years before placing his JAC (Japan Action Club) students into the limelight. Since then, there hasn't been anyone else quite like Chiba who has done the variety of work he has.

In the late 1970s, an American star who, like Chiba, was a martial arts champion, was being groomed for stardom. Appearing in bit roles earlier in the decade, this man made his name in an epic big screen battle against Bruce Lee in 1972s WAY OF THE DRAGON. By 1980, this man would not only design and shape the look of the American martial arts picture, but would become the first of the 80s Action Heroes when the terminology became set in stone.

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 3--FINAL.