2. For each decade I have researched some of the most
watched action-thriller films.
Each of which I have researched the storyline, and have
included some of the links to their trailers as I can use
conventions and ideas from these to develop my own.
I have researched…
 1970s- Dirty Harry, French Connection.
 1980s- Die Hard.
 1990s- Cliffhanger.
 2000s- Taken.

3. 1970’s
 This genre was first shown in the 1970s, in films such as Dirty
Harry and The French Connection.
 Synopsis of Dirty Harry: When a mad man calling himself 'the
Scorpio Killer' menaces the city, tough as nails San Francisco
Police Inspector (Harry Callahan) is assigned to track down and
ferret out the crazed psychopath.
 The French Connection involves a pair of NYC cops in the
Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a
French connection.
 Action thriller films within this era usually
featured guns and crime.

4. 1980’s
 In the 1980s, action thriller films became Hollywood
blockbusters due to films such as Die Hard and Lethal Weapon.
 These films featured some of the conventions which still
remain today, such as lots of violence, and a race against time.
 Die Hard sub-genre has developed popularity in Hollywood due
to its crowd appeal and
simplicity.
 Trailer of Die Hard, click here

5. 1990’s
 Cliffhanger was a title I had thought
about using, but through this research I
shall not as there is already a film
produced of the same genre and title.
 Cliffhanger is a 1993 American action
thriller directed by Renny Harlin and
starring Sylvester Stallone and John
Lithgow. Stallone plays a mountain
climber who becomes embroiled in a
failed heist set in a U.S. Treasury plane
flying through the Rocky Mountains.

6. 2000’s
 Some of the films also feature mystery, this is the
aspect that I shall incorporate into my own trailer.
 A well-known film which has produced this genre
involving this criteria would be Taken. Taken is the
story of a girl who gets ‘taken’ whilst on vacation
with a friend. A retired CIA agent travels across
Europe and relies on his old skills to save his
estranged daughter.
 Following this link to view the trailer.
CLICK HERE