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| Registered: March 14, 2007 | Reputation:  |  Posts: 4,623 |
| | Posted: | | | | I have noticed that a lot of war movies are also tagged as "action" genre, and I'm not sure I'm quite comfortable with that.
I have no problem accepting films like Where Eagles Dare as war and action, but I don't view straight WW2 movies like, say, Sink the Bismarck as action. While there certainly is lots of action in combat scenes, it's not the kind that I personally equate with the genre "action".
Anyone else feel the same way? | | | My freeware tools for DVD Profiler users.
Gunnar |
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| Registered: March 13, 2007 |  Posts: 21,610 |
| | Posted: | | | | I cant think of maybe more than a couple of war films that would not also fall into action. But remember gunnar, that genre is highly subjective, if data is not being replaced a la someone trying to replace a correct set of genre with their own version then I would likely not argue about adding action to an existing war genre. | | | ASSUME NOTHING!!!!!!
CBE, MBE, MoA and proud of it.
Outta here
Billy Video |
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| Registered: March 13, 2007 | Reputation:  | | Posts: 3,195 |
| | Posted: | | | | Sometimes.
Sometimes they are also drama.
Action, Drama, War is not an uncommon triple for war movies.
Not that it matters to me what the online has since I treat genres as personal. | | | | First registered: February 15, 2002 | | | | Last edited: by Nexus the Sixth |
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| Registered: March 13, 2007 | | Reputation: | | Posts: 17,330 |
| | Posted: | | | | I would say with the limited amount of war I have watched... that I would usually include war and action genre. But as others has said... genre is a personal preference type field... so I usually keep it local only... unless the fields online are blank of course. | | | | Pete |
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 | Piffi | | We'll Always Have Paris |
| Registered: July 15, 2009 |  Posts: 1,555 |
| | Posted: | | | | I have to agree with the posts above. For me genre is a personal thing aswell. But i am a big fan of war movies. And i will say that some of the movies is a mix between action and war. And others War movies ONLY. IMO i think that depends really.  |
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| Registered: March 14, 2007 | | Reputation: | | Posts: 4,623 |
| | Posted: | | | | I realize that genres are subjective. I didn't mean to suggest that we should change the genres for any movie in the database. If that had been my intention I would have posted in the Contribution Discussion forum.
If I had asked someone for a suggestion for a good action movie, I would probably have been disappointed if they came up with a straight war movie. For me War and Action are quite separate genres, even though there are some movies that fall into both categories.
I was curious as to if someone else felt the same. Not too many, it seems... | | | My freeware tools for DVD Profiler users.
Gunnar |
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| Registered: March 14, 2007 | | Reputation: |  Posts: 6,741 |
| | Posted: | | | | They are subjective. And I'd also say there are movies that are just war and then there are movies that are war+action.
On the war side:
Saving Private Ryan
Tora! Tora! Tora!
Full Metal Jacket
On the war+action side:
Pearl Harbor
On the just action side:
The Final Countdown | | | Karsten
DVD Collectors Online
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| Registered: September 18, 2008 | | Reputation: |  Posts: 2,650 |
| | Posted: | | | | Quoting GSyren: Quote:
While there certainly is lots of action in combat scenes So there are action scenes? You've answered your own question IMO.  |
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| Registered: March 13, 2007 | | Reputation: |  Posts: 485 |
| | Posted: | | | | 'genre' is highly subjective because there is hardly a common definition of each of the categories. Some use film school type definitions because they are familiar with them, some use the common meaning of the category name. Obvious one is 'western'. As I grew up with a notion that this was mostly 'cowboys chasing indians' stuff (or however this is more PC-friendly phrased nowadays) and still restrict the category to Mid Western USA located movies with a story framed in the second half of the 19th century up to WWI, others define it much broader. With 'war' something similar is going on. 'Casablanca' is obviously is a WWII war time story but it doesn't have battle scenes. 'Lawrence of Arabia' definitely is a WWI war movie -- with multiple battle scenes. If you include civil wars, like the USA civil war, 'Gone with the wind' is one too. It may depend on locality, but in my collection the former two are not labeled war and the last one is -- at least as I received them from the online db. So, does 'war' imply battle scenes or not? So what is 'action'? Since movies, at least physically, are about catching movement, just about any movie might qualify. Well, perhaps not 'Buried'  . But that is an extreme view. Looking at what is generally qualified as 'action', I would call it a eufemism for 'violence'. Be that by an individual brandishing a gun, sword, ..., be that a small group or be that a large group (read: war). 'action' is also blurred by movie marketing. I see movies branded as action movie just to attract a male audience in particular. Says little about the actual action/violence. So, action for me is one of those 'too broad to be meaningful' qualifications. But it is available as a genre in DVDp, so anybody can use it according to their own interpretation of the word. Just don't take the genre content in the DVDp online DB for its word... | | | Eric
If it is important, say it. Otherwise, let silence speak. |
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| Registered: June 21, 2007 | Reputation:  | | Posts: 2,621 |
| | Posted: | | | | The opening of Private Ryan is certainly action, but is the film? I don't think so, war/drama IMO. Maybe we need a percentage of action scenes runtime to the feature runtime to make a formula like we did for black and white vs. color.  |
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| Registered: March 14, 2007 | | Posts: 5,734 |
| | Posted: | | | | Quoting GSyren: Quote:
I have noticed that a lot of war movies are also tagged as "action" genre, and I'm not sure I'm quite comfortable with that.
I have no problem accepting films like Where Eagles Dare as war and action, but I don't view straight WW2 movies like, say, Sink the Bismarck as action. While there certainly is lots of action in combat scenes, it's not the kind that I personally equate with the genre "action".
Anyone else feel the same way? No, Action is irrespective of its circumstances. | | | | Don't confuse while the film is playing with when the film is played. [Ken Cole, DVD Profiler Architect] |
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| Registered: March 14, 2007 | | Reputation: | | Posts: 4,623 |
| | Posted: | | | | Quoting samuelrichardscott: Quote:
Quoting GSyren:
Quote:
While there certainly is lots of action in combat scenes
So there are action scenes? You've answered your own question IMO. Despite the smiley I felt I had to comment... There are lots of crime in the Bond movies, but you don't see them tagged as Crime genre. And rightly so, because it takes more than a crime to make a movie a Crime movie. By the same token, action scenes by themselves do not an Action move make, in my opinion. Quoting bbbbb: Quote:
No, Action is irrespective of its circumstances. And obviously I disagree. Action as a genre is not irrespective of its circumstances. IMHO. | | | My freeware tools for DVD Profiler users.
Gunnar |
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| Registered: March 13, 2007 | | Reputation: | | Posts: 485 |
| | Posted: | | | | Quoting bbbbb: Quote:
No, Action is irrespective of its circumstances. Only to the extent that most directors yell "Action" to start recording a scene and when they've had enough action yell "Cut" to get the actors to stop. But I agree with GSyren. It takes more than an action scene to define a movie overall as "action", even apart from what we understand action to stand for. Just like a quip or a joke doesn't make a movie a comedy. After all, the well known one-liners of Arnold S. do not change his action movies into comedies. | | | Eric
If it is important, say it. Otherwise, let silence speak. |
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| Registered: March 13, 2007 | | Reputation: | | Posts: 485 |
| | Posted: | | | | Quoting bigdaddyhorse: Quote:
The opening of Private Ryan is certainly action, but is the film? I don't think so, war/drama IMO. The actual opening I'd call drama, as it is a war grave visit. Wouldn't call that one 'action'. The next sequence, as well as the closing battle, the village sniper sequence and the bunker sequence I'd call flat-out 'war'. Nothing else. Quote:
Maybe we need a percentage of action scenes runtime to the feature runtime to make a formula like we did for black and white vs. color. Though I think we all have a feel for what action stands for, the starting point should be to define it more clearly. Most movies with criminal acts tend to incorporate violence, if only for the neat effects. But do we equal 'action' with 'violence'? | | | Eric
If it is important, say it. Otherwise, let silence speak. | | | | Last edited: by eommen |
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| Registered: March 23, 2011 | | Posts: 462 |
| | Posted: | | | | Quoting eommen: Quote:
But do we equal 'action' with 'violence'? I don't equal action with violence at all. Like I don't think "A Clockwork Orange" is an action movie. To me action is more like a combination of speed and danger or something. | | | | Last edited: by No-way |
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| Registered: March 14, 2007 | | Reputation: | | Posts: 6,741 |
| | Posted: | | | | Quoting eommen: Quote:
Only to the extent that most directors yell "Action" to start recording a scene and when they've had enough action yell "Cut" to get the actors to stop. Are you telling me thal ALL movies are cut? Censorship!!! I want the uncut version!!! | | | Karsten
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