Adventure film
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Adventure Film is a film genre.
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[edit] History
The adventure film reached its peak of popularity in 1930s and 1940s Hollywood, when films such as Captain Blood, The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Mark of Zorro were regularly made with major stars, notably Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power, who were closely associated with the genre. At the same time, Saturday morning serials were often using many of the same thematic elements as high-budget adventure films.
[edit] Modernizing the genre
The genre has undergone periodic revivals since the 1950s, with figures like Robin Hood being re-cast for a new generation. Some of the revivals have been successful, as with Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), and some less so, as with Swashbuckler (1976). In the 1980s the success of Steven Spielberg's Saturday morning serial-style adventure Raiders of the Lost Ark spawned a host of imitators, such as the Pirates of the Caribbean
There is often a degree of overlap between the adventure film and other genres. For example, Star Wars (1977) contains elements of science fiction, while The Mummy (1999) combines the horror genre.
[edit] Popular concepts
- An outlaw fighting for justice or battling a tyrant (e.g., Robin Hood, Zorro or Star Wars)
- Pirates (e.g., Captain Blood or Pirates of the Caribbean)
- Searching for a lost city or for hidden treasure (e.g., King Solomon's Mines or Indiana Jones)
[edit] Notable adventure films
See also List of adventure films.
- Captain Blood (1935)
- King Solomon's Mines (1937), (1950), (1985)
- The Prisoner of Zenda (1937) and (1952)
- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
- The Sea Hawk (1940)
- The Black Swan (1942)
- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
- The African Queen (1951)
- The Crimson Pirate (1952)
- Scaramouche (1952)
- The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
- Star Wars films (1977–2005)
- Indiana Jones films (1981–2008)
- Romancing the Stone (1984)
- The Goonies (1985)
- The Princess Bride (1987)
- Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
- The Rocketeer (1991)
- The Mummy films (1999–2008)
- Lord of the Rings films (2001–2003)
- Hero (2002)
- Pirates of the Caribbean films (2003–2007)
- The Incredibles (2004)
- The Librarian films (2004–2006)
- National Treasure (2004–2007)
- Blood Diamond (2006)
- Zorro films
- Various versions of the novels of Alexandre Dumas, including The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers and The Man in the Iron Mask
