History Main / HollywoodActionHero

* ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian'' and ''Film/ConanTheDestroyer''

* ''TheLastBoyScout''

* ''[[Film/The6ThDay The 6th Day]]''

* ''[[Film/ConanTheBarbarian Conan the Barbarian]]'' and ''Film/ConanTheDestroyer''

* ''[[HerculesInNewYork Hercules in New York]]''

* ''[[EnterTheDragon Enter the Dragon]]''
* ''[[Film/FistOfFury Fist of Fury]]''
* ''[[GameOfDeath Game of Death]]''
* ''[[WayOfTheDragon Way of the Dragon]]''

* ''[[CodeOfSilence Code of Silence]]''

* ''[[WayOfTheDragon Way of the Dragon]]''

* ''[[Film/IComeInPeace I Come in Peace]]''

[[AC:HarrisonFord]]

* ''[[ArmourOfGod Armour of God]]'' and ''Armour of God II''

* ''[[RumbleInTheBronx Rumble in the Bronx]]''

* ''[[TimeCop Timecop]]''

* ''[[Cradle2TheGrave Cradle 2 the Grave]]''

* ''[[FistOfLegend Fist of Legend]]''

* ''[[KissOfTheDragon Kiss of the Dragon]]''

* ''[[OutForJustice Out for Justice]]''
* ''[[OutOfReach Out of Reach]]''

* ''[[Film/CliffHanger Cliffhanger]]''

* ''[[XXx xXx]]''

* ''Film/TheAdventuresofRobinHood''

* ''TheAdventuresofRobinHood''

* ''[[GhostsOfMars Ghosts of Mars]]''

* ''PitchBlack'' and ''TheChroniclesOfRiddick''

* '''[[AC: Morality:]]''' A few are {{Anti Hero}}es but most are plain old heroes who are morally upright. That doesn't stop them from killing mooks yet deliberating a bit with villains though.
* '''[[AC: Aesthetics:]]''' Usually rugged and [[PermaStubble unshaven]], often [[TheBigGuy muscular]], and usually [[GoodScarsEvilScars scarred.]]
* '''[[AC: Martial Ability:]]''' They'll of course be MadeOfIron or just plain ''made'' of hit points, soaking up tons of damage without stopping. They'll rarely fight with anything more complex than GoodOldFisticuffs and a trusty {{BFG}} or HandCannon. A recent trend among {{Action Hero}}es is to take a page from [[JohnWoo the Book of Woo]] and use GunsAkimbo.

The phrase "action heroes" appeared early in the 1960's, used to describe the CharltonComics protagonists (later the inspiration for the characters in ''{{Watchmen}}''). This phrase, coined by Dick Giordiano, applied to their mostly non-metahuman adventurers such as {{the Question}} and [[BlueBeetle Ted Kord]]. The era with the biggest affluence of Action Heroes are probably the 80's and 90's, with big name stars like Stallone, Schwarzeneger, Bruce Willis, and many, ''many'' others starring in a half dozen {{Summer Blockbuster}}s every year. Many film critics lament that the current generation of actors has failed to produce a viable crop of Action Heroes, with only a few actors fitting the "classical" model like JasonStatham, VinDiesel, and [[DwayneJohnson The Rock]]. There was also a big action movie scene in Hong Kong, with stars such as Bruce Lee, Chow Yun-Fat, Jackie Chan and Jet Li kicking serious ass with kung fu (or gun fu, in the case of Chow Yun-Fat).

[[AC:ArnoldSchwarzenegger]]

* ''[[Film/CollateralDamage Collateral Damage]]''

* ''[[Film/RedSonja Red Sonja]]''

* ''PaleRider''

* ''[[Film/{{Doom}} Doom]]''

* ''[[Film/DrunkenMaster Drunken Master]]'' and ''Drunken Master II''

* ''[[Film/{{Bloodsport}} Bloodsport]]''
* ''[[Film/{{Cyborg}} Cyborg]]''

* ''[[Film/StreetFighter Street Fighter]]''

* ''TangoAndCash''

* ''Film/GhostRider''

* ''[[Film/{{Assassins}} Assassins]]''

* ''[[Film/JudgeDredd Judge Dredd]]''

* ''[[XXx xXx]]''

* ''[[MarkedForDeath Marked for Death]]''

* ''TheFifthElement''

* ''DirtyHarry''

* ''MissingInAction''

* ''TheExpendables''

* ''RedScorpion''

* ''TheRundown''

* ''TheExpendables''

* ''HardTarget''

* ''UniversalSoldier''

* ''[[BigTroubleInLittleChina Big Trouble in Little China]]''
* ''EscapeFromLA''
* ''EscapeFromNewYork''

* ''MadMax'' and its sequels

* ''TheRock''
* ''ConAir''
* ''KickAss''
* ''GhostRider''

* ''TheRock''

* ''UnderSiege'' and ''Under Siege 2''

* ''DemolitionMan''
* ''TheExpendables''
* ''[[{{Rambo}} First Blood]]'' and its sequels

* ''[[The6ThDay The 6th Day]]''

* ''[[ConanTheBarbarian Conan the Barbarian]]'' and ''Conan the Destroyer''

* ''{{Eraser}}''

* ''LastActionHero''
* ''{{Predator}}''

* ''TrueLies''

* ''TheBigSleep''

* ''AcrossThePacific''

[[AC: MelGibson]]
* ''LethalWeapon'' and its sequels

* ''[[AboveTheLaw Above the Law]]''

* ''Hard to Kill''

* ''RawDeal''

* ''TheRunningMan''

* ''RedHeat''

* ''IndianaJones''
* ''StarWars''

* ''{{Commando}}''

* ''TheTuxedo''

* ''Film/IndianaJonesandtheLastCrusade''

* ''Kick-Ass''

* ''TangoandCash''

[[AC: ErrolFlynn]]

[[AC: HarrisonFord]]

[[AC: HumphreyBogart]]

* ''Film/Air ForceOne''

* ''RomeoMustDie''

[[AC:Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson]]

The movies of the 2000s have instead produced the ActionSurvivor who, rather than being a MartyStu, is more akin to a SelfInsertFic where HilarityEnsues. Occasionally both are teamed up as an ActionDuo.

A subtrope of the ActionHero, A Hollywood Action Hero is, perhaps obviously, TheHero of a SummerBlockbuster ActionAdventure Movie. However; he (and it's [[AlwaysMale almost always a he)]] is usually defined by a few specific traits that separate him from other types of heroes:

[[AC: Personality:]]
Usually a Hollywood Action Hero is [[TheStoic stoic]] and [[DeadpanSnarker glib]] or wisecracking and jolly. Usually he's either creative or [[TheDeterminator determined.]] This last one usually combines with MadeOfIron to form ImplacableMan.

'''[[AC: Intellect:]]''' Usually BookDumb but deadly practical, sometimes unusually smart.

'''[[AC: Morality:]]''' A few are {{Anti Hero}}es but most are plain old heroes who are morally upright. That doesn't stop them from killing mooks yet deliberating a bit with villains though.

'''[[AC: Aesthetics:]]''' Usually rugged and [[PermaStubble unshaven]], often [[TheBigGuy muscular]], and usually [[GoodScarsEvilScars scarred.]]

'''[[AC: Martial Ability:]]''' They'll of course be MadeOfIron or just plain ''made'' of hit points, soaking up tons of damage without stopping. They'll rarely fight with anything more complex than GoodOldFisticuffs and a trusty {{BFG}} or HandCannon. A recent trend among {{Action Hero}}es is to take a page from [[JohnWoo the Book of Woo]] and use GunsAkimbo.

The era with the biggest affluence of Action Heroes are probably the 80's and 90's, with big name stars like Stallone, Schwarzeneger, Bruce Willis, and many, ''many'' others starring in a half dozen {{Summer Blockbuster}}s every year. Many film critics lament that the current generation of actors has failed to produce a viable crop of Action Heroes', with only a few actors fitting the "classical" model like JasonStatham, VinDiesel, and [[DwayneJohnson The Rock]]. There was also a big action movie scene in Hong Kong, with stars such as Bruce Lee, Chow Yun-Fat, Jackie Chan and Jet Li kicking serious ass with kung fu (or gun fu, in the case of Chow Yun-Fat).

The phrase "action heroes" appeared earlier in the 1960's, used to describe the CharltonComics protagonists (later the inspiration for the characters in ''{{Watchmen}}''); this phrase, coined by Dick Giordiano, applied to their mostly non-metahuman adventurers such as {{the Question}} and [[BlueBeetle Ted Kord]].

The zips (or whatever trendy term we're calling this decade) have instead produced the ActionSurvivor, who rather than being a MartyStu is more akin to a SelfInsertFic where HilarityEnsues. Occasionally, both are teamed up as an ActionDuo. If the Action Hero happens to be Santa, he becomes ActionSanta; similarly, Jesus becomes KungFuJesus. If the Action Hero is female, she's an ActionGirl.