It depends on what you define as an action movie. To me, most of the superhero blockbusters that come out these days count as action movies, and Christopher Nolan even uses predominately practical effects. You also have the Fast and Furious franchise, which doesn’t use CG very heavily.
Seems a bit like nostalgia-griping to me.

Agree with Steve above that it all depends on your definition of an action movie. The Raid is a Martial Arts film. That sub-genre has never been the bread-and-butter of Hollywood anyway.

Mission Impossible 4 was a great action movie, so were the Bourne films, especially those directed by Greengrass. I don’t see superhero movies as action movies, I see them as Fantasy films with action elements.

That CGI blood in The Expendables was a distraction more than anything, but CGI is a problem with action movies in general, not just American ones.

Is the American action movie dead? YES. I’m not really talking about how the genre somehow “switch” to superhero movies but more like how Hollywood do really suck in making action scene. Action scene is the bread and butter of action movies. Action scene is the thing that action fans pay to see. Hollywood has no problem in making drama scene but in action scene they do really suck for such a long time.

The Raid, albeit it’s a MA action movie, gives the PERFECT example on how to make action scene. For most part they simply making fun of Hollywood three action scene formula : Quick Cuts, Close Ups, and Shaky Cam. The camerawork and the editing were top notch (it’s actually different than most of MA movies ever made, especially in HK or Thai). They also tried to tell Hollywood that action fans don’t really care about those shitty story and needless romance bullshit. Just make a simple story and focus on the action. Lior gave great examples there in Speed (1994) and Die Hard (1988). MI4 unfortunately is not really a good example as it went down the cliff after the Dubai scenes. But the Dubai scenes themselves have to be included as examples on how to make good action scenes.

The Expendables is a good example on how to make a bad action movie. Bad action scenes and needless story/characters. Bourne movies? they were the one who started those three action scene formula in the first place.

Christopher Nolan is not a good action director. Not yet. There’s only one good action scene is The Dark Knight (the trailer truck scene) while the others were mediocre. But we didn’t care much because the non-action scenes were terrific (and I don’t really call TDK an action movie actually). Most of the action scenes in Inception were also mediocre apart from the hallway fight (and that was short).

How is The Raid a wake-up call? I’ve heard it’s great, but I haven’t seen it, and that’s the problem. No one has seen it. At least not general audiences, the people voting with their dollars. It didn’t have a wide opening in the U.S., and it hasn’t made a lot of money in the U.S., so it isn’t going to change a thing. Maybe some American filmmmakers will see it and be influence by it, but it’s still probably going to be business as usual for a while. The people complaining that American action flicks are stale that say that foreign releases are where it’s at are very few in the overall scheme of things, a very vocal minority.

Also, I don’t understand how Last Action Hero was the last nail in the coffin. If anything, it’s when action movies became more self-aware. It was like Scream for action movies. That same year, we had Demolition Man, which kind of pulled the same trick. After that, we had a good run of clever action flicks, like the aforementioned Speed, True Lies, The Rock (which featured an Oscar winner as an everyman’s action hero), Face/Off, and plenty more. If ANYTHING put a nail in the coffin of action flicks as we knew them, it was The Matrix, which was a CG-fest, a very good, innovative one at that, which became the template for crazy action for the next decade.

Can’t one of these types of movies ever not take itself seriously without having to enter into the self-aware-meta-realm?

lifes a garden, just dig it. thats how i approach wrestling/american action movies

The reason for the death of the action film is Michael Bay.

Take the Mission Impossible films as a case study in action cinema. Each film in this series represent a different type of action film.
The first one has two big set pieces – the biggest and obvious one is the train sequence in the end, but I think it is a consensus by this point that the CIA break-in is not only the centerpiece of the film but also one of the best action sequences ever, without one shot fired or one building exploding. It has never been equaled until the Dubai sequence in MI 4. So, as far as action goes, MI 1 is perhaps not wall-to-wall mayhem but it works thanks to memorable set-pieces.

MI 2 was a completely different story. The action was ramped waaay up courtesy of John Woo, and Ethan Hunt turned into James Bond. Some liked it, some didn’t, but it was a very different action film, verging on comic book. It lacked memorable set-pieces like the first one had but compensated for it by sheer operatic lunacy. It by far has the largest body count and biggest gunplay scenes in the series (according to the article, MI 2 would be considered the best action film in the series, then).

The hallmark of MI 3 was its breakneck pace and return to character. The personal crisis Ethan Hunt faces adds urgency and intensity to the proceedings. The rescue sequence is somewhat generic action, but the bridge attack is spectacularly handled and the movie… just… doesn’t… stop. It scales back the excess of part 2 while still supplying the adrenaline rush, and it’s a fantastic action film.

MI 4 brought everything together, taking elements from all films: The memorable set-pieces approach from part 1, the James Bond attributes of Ethan Hunt from part 2, and the incredible pacing from part 3, creating a quality blockbuster and action movie. All it needed to be perfect was a great villain.

So just like the American action film, The Mission Impossible films are all action, and they’re all different, and they’re all good in their own way, as long as you don’t use an “action checklist” from 30 years ago.

Could you repeat the question please.

I think post 2000s, we really did see the US traditional action movie die out. There have been some exceptions that have kept the genre alive in the Direct-To-Video market (see the outstanding Universal Soldier: Regeneration), but in general, the proliferation of CGI, and most importantly, the PG-13 rating, have effectively killed US action movies.

Up until even 1999, the typical summer blockbuster action movie coming out would still be rated R (see True Lies, Terminator 2, Speed, The Matrix). We’re talking expensive movies with high production values, but it was accepted that those movies would be violent and get released with an R rating.

Then the studios figured out they could make more money with a PG-13, and started trimming all the impact from the action genre, and replacing it with lots of explosions to compensate for the lack of violence. This is a big reason that Shaky-Cam cinematography worked its way so heavily into mainstream action movies, and it’s also the reason that action movies in general have become so CGI-heavy, its safer on the rating to have your protagonists fighting aliens or giant robots than real people.

Is there hope for the future? I’m doubtful. If Prometheus gets cut down to a PG-13, which I’m terrified is going to happen, then you know we’ve hit bottom. And stuff like Haywire comes out and does the action absolutely right, and makes almost no money.

At least we’re seeing foreign directors pick up the slack with stuff like The Raid. Hopefully others will follow.

Well, first I must add to the voices loving on Last Action Hero. Just recently rewatched it with my significant other and we both had an amazing time laughing with the movie. With, not at. I think it’s pretty awesome all around.

“You think you’re pretty funny, don’t you?”
“I know I am, I’m the famous comedian, Arnold Grounschweigger.”

It’s also amazingly easy to be nostalgic about films as unsurprisingly the bad films of the past are forgotten and the good ones start seeming closer and closer together becoming one big mass of perfection located somewhere, indistinct, in former times. There always remains hope.

That’s fine, I’m just making a suggestion.

To be completely honest I think the big change in the American Action film has come about because of the events of 9/11, you can’t show one American super soldier taking on 100 guys with a machine gun and coming out unscathed anymore, now we have to recognize the vulnerable hero that can be hurt, killed or even corrupted. That’s part of why I loved Rambo 4 and The Expendables, it was a return to form that I can appreciate.

In the case of massive CGI-fests (for which I am in no way in favor) I think Hollywood are just pushing out something that has proven time and time again to sell really well. Though I dare say they’re shifting away from action and moving more into adventure.

I don’t think its dead, just need a new story plot and more action.