Action movies are a film genre where action sequences, such as fights, shootouts, stunts, car chases or explosions either take precedence or, in finer examples of the genre, are used as a form of exposition and character development. The action typically involves individual efforts on the part of the hero. While action has long been an element of films, the "Action film" as a genre of its own began to develop in the 1970s. The genre is closely linked with the thriller and adventure film genres.

While the non-stop motion and fast pacing of action films makes these escapist "popcorn films" a reliable source of revenue for movie studios, relatively few action films garner critical praise. Action films tend to be formulaic works based around clichéd stock characters and well-worn plots. While action films have traditionally been aimed at male audiences, from the early teens to the mid-30s, action filmmakers from the 1990s and 2000s added female heroines, romance subplots, and more substantial storylines to broaden the appeal of action films.
[Stallone.jpg |thumb| Actor [[Sylvester Stallone] starred as a troubled Vietnam war vet who becomes a "one man army" in the popular Rambo]] action films.

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