Action films are overwhelmingly popular globally due to their ability to provide thrilling, escapist entertainment that engages audiences through visceral experiences, amplified by psychological mechanisms like mirror neurons, and their universal appeal transcends language barriers.
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Hello friends!
Nowadays, action films
are in great demand.
If you look at the list of the highest grossing Indian films,
you'll notice that of the top 50 movies,
most of them are action movies.
Pathan, Jawan, RRR,
Pushpa, KGF, Bahubali,
7 of the top 10 films are action films.
Irrespective of being made in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu or English.
You'll see this pattern even in Hollywood.
The list of top films include,
Avatar, Avengers,
Star Wars, Spider-Man, Jurassic World,
Whether it is the Marvel Cinematic Universe
or YRF's Spy Universe,
their box office success has
created a long line of sequels.
Every year, of the films releasing in theatres,
many are action films.
Recently, Superman was released.
And soon, War 2 is going to be released.
Even before the release of these films,
their trailers garner millions of views.
What is so special about action movies
for people to like them so much?
Friends, in this video, come let's find out
the interesting science and psychology behind this craze.
Friends, if you remember your childhood during the 90s and 2000s,
when we used to watch movies on TV,
we loved the ending of the movie.
It had the final showdown between the hero and the villain.
As always, in these films, the police used to arrive late.
till then the hero and villain's sides would continue fighting.
Films like, Johnny Mera Naam,
Zanjeer, Deewaar,
Hum Paanch, Ghayal,
Tirangaa, Main Khiladi Tu Anari,
Koila, etc.
Instead of being pure action films,
they were often of mixed genres.
Like the film Deewaar, had heavy drama with action.
"Today, I have buildings,
property, bank balance, bungalow, cars,
what do you have?"
"I have my mother."
The film Hum Paanch was a commentary on society.
"For whom are you weaving it?
For those who are exploiting your hard work?
How long will you continue to be exploited?
Such slave-mentality!"
The film Tirangaa exposed corrupt politicians,
and in Main Khiladi Tu Anari,
action was mixed with comedy.
-"Okra!" -"Okra?"
"Oh!"
"Shivangi,
Shivangi, I told you so many times,
I don't like okra,
why did you make okra?
Shivangi?!"
But with time, the producers realised that
audiences wait for the last fight scenes,
so why not stuff the film with action.
They replaced storytelling with action.
Friends, this was the beginning of
modern action movies.
This trend had crept into Hollywood a long time ago.
Die Hard, Rocky, Terminator,
John Wick, Top Gun,
Mission Impossible,
The actors who were famous for their acting,
weren't suitable for these roles.
These films were made for bodybuilder heroes.
Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Sylvester Stallone.
Apart from this, we saw some smart heroes too.
Like Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves.
These films were full of fight sequences,
shoot-outs, explosions, car chases, and stunts.
There was another stream for martial arts action films.
Like Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon,
Fist of Fury,
Or Hong Kong star Jackie Chan's Drunken Master,
Project A, Police Story or Rush Hour.
We had Kill Bill, Kung Fu Hustle,
The Karate Kid, and many more.
In Bollywood, such action films became mainstream with the 2004 film, Dhoom.
"We're thieves,
we disappear like smoke."
After Dhoom, we got the Don and Race film series.
But the kind of flashy action that's popular now,
began with the 2009 film, Wanted.
The film that set off Salman Khan's second innings.
Directed by the legendary dancer Prabhu Deva,
it was a remake of Puri Jagannadh's Telugu film Pokiri.
but the rest of the elements of the film is common.
Action films are often called 'Popcorn Entertainment' or 'No-brainer'.
Audiences are required to think while watching these.
Their plots are not complex.
There's a clear-cut distinction
between the hero and the villain.
And the audience is usually told about this beforehand.
Even if you don't watch the trailer,
just by looking at the poster you'd be able to tell,
which actor will be playing the hero,
and who will be the villain.
Right from the very beginning, you are told whom to cheer for.
There won't be any major character arc.
This makes it difficult to show any grey-shaded characters in these films.
Characters where the audience would have a hard time
deciding whether it was a good person or not.
The stories of such films ensure that
the audience doesn't get a chance to think.
That's why they show simple stories.
If the hero of the film is a police officer,
the villain will be a gangster.
If the hero is a secret RAW agent,
the villain will be a terrorist.
The twists and turns of the story
will be presented blatantly to the audience.
And if a character shifts loyalty,
at the end of the film, it would be clarified,
whether they were on the hero's side or the villain's.
Never a grey character.
In these simple stories, the characters are grand.
Larger than life.
Like a superhero.
And in the film's trailer,
the action scenes are used for marketing.
That's the focus.
If you watch War 2's trailer,
you will see one action sequence after the other.
High octane action.
Unimaginably large sets.
Because the audience of such films want that.
The first film of the YRF Spy Universe was
Ek Tha Tiger.
Followed by Tiger Zinda Hai and War.
When the film Pathan was released in 2023,
there was a crossover of some characters.
Tiger came to help Pathan,
and with this they created
the YRF Spy Universe.
While Marvel Cinematic Universe focuses on comic book superheroes,
Iron Man, Captain America,
Spider-Man, Avengers,
Superheroes to save the world and humanity.
On the other hand, our spy universe doesn't have such comic books
from which they could borrow characters.
They focused on patriotism, terrorism, and real-world issues.
In some ways, such attempts were truly challenging for the Indian film industry.
The MCU has more than 50 years' worth of content from the comic books.
As well as older films.
MCU uses those as the base.
But the spy universe didn't have such a base.
They began with films
and have already become quite successful.
In total, their films have collectively earned more than ₹30 billion in India.
For the uninformed,
there are four main Indian secret agents in the spy universe.
First, Avinash Singh Rathore,
codenamed Tiger.
This role is played by Salman Khan.
Second, Major Kabir Dhaliwal.
That's the main character of the War franchise.
Played by Hrithik Roshan.
And the third agent is Pathaan
played by Shahrukh Khan.
War 2 will present the fourth agent
Special Units Officer, Vikram.
Played by Jr NTR.
This film might be interesting because
for the first time in their film series,
we might get to see a grey character.
The trailer doesn't make a clear distinction
between the hero and the villain.
Usually, in action films, the villains are very important.
Whether it's Thanos in Avengers
or Jim in Pathaan,
played by John Abraham.
When the audience watches the hero fighting the villain in these films,
they feel very heroic themselves.
The audience watching the film feel that
they are the hero beating up the villain.
Actually, friends, in our mind,
there's a type of neuron called Mirror Neurons.
These mirror neurons help us observe, understand,
and imitate other people's actions and behaviour.
From an evolutionary perspective,
they help us learn.
We can empathise with others
and relate to their situation.
Neuroimaging studies done by scientists have proven that
if we see someone running,
that is, if we perceive motion,
or if we are the one running, that is, we produce motion,
in both cases, there's activity in the same areas of our brains.
Similarly, if we simply observe a behaviour,
or think about it later,
in both cases, our mirror neurons are fired.
An interesting science experiment related to this is
the Fake Rubber Hand Experiment.
In which a fake rubber hand is placed in the place of the subject's hand.
While the real hand is hidden behind a barrier.
And when this rubber hand is touched,
the subject starts believing that they've actually experienced it.
"Oh, my God, I'm feeling it!"
"There."
Our brain looks at this an external body part as its own,
if the vision, touch, and timing are properly aligned.
That's why when this rubber hand is hurt,
the subject feels the pain.
Similarly, when we watch the hero of the film,
we relate to him,
and simulate his actions in our mind.
This gives us a sense of thrill,
And the hero's victory, feels like a personal victory.
This isn't limited to the climax of the film.
Throughout all the action sequences,
like the car chases,
jumping from a building,
we keep on anticipating the hero's victory.
Or if he's in danger,
we hope for his survival.
When it happens after a while,
it feels like getting a reward.
And the audience watching the action film gets quick dopamine hits.
A sense of thrill while staying in a safe environment.
In action scenes, we often see rapid cuts.
To keep the shots short,
and change the camera angles.
There's auditory simulation too
using background music and sound effects.
This tricks our brain into believing that
it is actually living in that experience.
Most of the time, the purpose of action movies is not to be a profound movie,
to become someone's favourite film.
In fact, action films aim at
being fun for the audience.
Watching a 2-hour fast-paced movie
and then going back to mundane life.
The great films are different because
they make you forget the popcorn on your lap.
On the other hand, action films are also called Popcorn Flicks.
This has been proven by research.
A 2014 study by Cornell University was published
in the JAMA Internal Medicine Journal.
Researchers gave snacks to 94 students.
Chocolate, biscuits, carrots, and grapes.
These subjects then watched the 2005 action movie, The Island,
and a one-to-one interview-style show.
The study found that
the amount of food they ate while watching the podcast,
on average, compared to that,
they ate double the amount while watching the action film.
65% more calories.
The audience of action films acknowledge that
they don't want to watch anything too emotional.
They don't want to watch anything heavy.
They want to get lost in the film for a while,
even if it's only for two hours,
they want to forget their tensions during the film.
That's why it is also called Escapist Cinema.
This way, action films cater to the widest possible audience.
They manage to keep viewers with shorter attention spans and less focus hooked.
But being fast-paced and uncomplicated doesn't mean that
action films don't evoke any emotional response.
Even though action film lovers don't want to watch anything too emotional,
research has shown that
compared to crime films and documentaries,
action films evoke more emotional response.
Researchers were surprised by these results.
This research conducted in August last year,
at Martin Luther University,
and was published in the Frontiers in Behavioural Neuroscience Journal.
In this research, the brain activity of about 257 people was analysed.
Specifically, the focused on two parts of the brain.
The Amygdala and the Nucleus Accumbens.
Amygdala processes our vital emotions.
Especially fear, anxiety, and aggression.
The fight or flight response generated when perceiving a threat,
that is, if you saw something scary,
and the inherent response that follows,
whether to fight it or run away from it,
that response is generated in this part of your brain.
When we interact with the world,
and our brain interprets the information,
it is known as Social Cognition.
Thus, the Amygdala creates emotional memories like this.
The second part, the Nucleus Accumbens,
is called the reward centre of the brain.
Researchers found that when an audience is watching an action film,
Most activity is observed in these two brain areas.
Here, the reaction is the strongest.
Researcher Esther Zwiky stated that
these results were quite surprising.
They did not expect such strong emotional reactions
because action films have a lot of stimuli.
The audience watching comedy films,
they experienced similar brain activity too.
But on the other hand, the fans of crime films and thriller films,
experienced lower activities in these areas of the brain.
They respond less to the emotional stimuli.
Though this may sound weird, it's true.
Normally, we group action films, thriller films, and crime films together.
And consider comedy films to be completely different.
But this research showed that
the audiences of action and comedy movies were equally involved,
and that of thrillers and crime movies were placed in a different category.
This brings us to another important conclusion.
Violence is of different types.
Dhoom, Ek Tha Tiger, War, Avengers, Superman,
the violence shown in these action films
can be termed as comic book violence.
Even the other action films like
James Bond and Rush Hour
present a stylised comic book violence.
There's a lot of fighting,
but not a lot of bloodshed.
That's closer to real life.
This is why even family audiences can watch these films,
and these films often enjoy the age rating of PG-13.
Children older than 13 years can watch these with an adult family member.
In India, it is equivalent to CBFC's U/A rating.
These aren't dark films.
As I said earlier, these films have a moral certainty.
A clear-cut hero and a clear-cut villain.
The audience projects itself onto the hero and cheers for him.
When the hero trips, they say,
"Come on, stand up, fight back."
That's why people get emotionally involved.
Similarly, most comedy films are also safe for family audiences.
There too, you can directly relate to the main characters.
Whether that's Jim Carrey's comedies
or films like Hera Pheri.
But the second category of films I mentioned,
dark thrillers and crime films,
they are much more complex than these.
Parasite, Joker, Nightcrawler,
Silence of the Lambs, Ugly,
they offer no moral certainty.
There present grey characters and dark subject matters.
It's difficult to know which characters to support.
Who was good and who was evil?
I've mentioned this in my older videos too that
making a film on violence isn't inherently wrong.
If it is a thought-provoking and sensitive film like Benny's Video.
The problem arises when
violence is raw and senseless.
Which tries to give a sadistic delight to the viewer.
By deliberately showing such bloodshed
that any average person would feel disgusted.
Horrified.
Such films often glorify crime.
They promote toxic masculinity.
These films are the cancers of society.
Globally, psychologists agree that
such regressive films definitely have a negative impact on society.
Hostel, Saw, The Wild Bunch,
Animal, I Spit on Your Grave,
Kill Bill, Kick Ass 2,
these movies show a lot of senseless and disturbing violence.
Directors of such films often try to hide behind the action genre.
Comparing their films with films like Mission Impossible,
comparing the kind of violence in both.
Ignoring all difference.
"Why the need for so much gruesome, graphic violence?"
"Why not..."
"Because it's so much fun, Jen!"
But there's a huge difference.
And the audience feels this difference very clearly.
Comic book violence-style fights
doesn't provoke the feeling of disgust in the viewer.
It isn't disturbing.
Filmmakers need to understand this difference
irrespective of whether they want to make crime thrillers or action films.
The filmmakers should realise that
though the film industry is a business
but cinema is also an art form.
You can make an action film artistic too.
Like Zhang Yimou's film Hero.
Counted among the most beautifully shot top 10 films.
It has top-level action sequences
with a brilliant story, marvellous acting, and mind-blowing cinematography.
You can watch the Hindi dub of this film on YouTube.
Additionally, Ang Lee's legendary film
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
It was nominated for 10 Oscars,
and won 4 Oscars.
A brilliant film and a sensation at the world-wide box office.
This film was made on a budget of $17 million
and earned $214 million.
Although box office collection should not be the metric of a film's brilliance,
I am mentioning this only to help film producers understand that
there's money to be earned from artistic films too.
Some other examples are The Matrix,
or Sushant Singh Rajput's Byomkesh Bakshi.
I hope that the action shown in the action films genre is improved,
and along with that,
efforts are put into the concept and story too.
Let's see if they actually do this,
but one thing is for sure,
competing with the popularity of action films
is very difficult for other genres.
The last and simplest reason for this is
the universal language of these films.
In the other types of films,
we need to understand what's happening on the screen.
You need to know the nuances of the language the film is in.
But not for action films.
Whether you mute action films or watch a dubbed version,
it can penetrate every region, culture, and country across the world,
and appeal to everyone.
Because of this cross-cultural influence,
the chance of an action film being profitable
is much higher than the other genres.
But I hope that the upcoming action films,
be it War 2, Pathaan 2,
in addition to being profitable,
they can offer a good experience to the audience.
But sometimes, action films can flop
if the filmmakers take the audience for granted.
That's what happened with this film.
Click here to watch this video,
to learn about the interesting formula used by film industries.
Thank you very much!
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