What Makes A Great Action And Adventure Movie Script?

The action and adventure movie genre is one that often sits at the top of the box office. It’s a genre that can have a wide reach across many different audiences and captivate with its mix of engaging characters, thrilling set-pieces and general sense of escapism.

But how do you approach writing what is such a formidable and large scale genre? And what exactly are the elements that make up an action and adventure movie in the first place? We investigate…

What Exactly Makes an Action and Adventure Movie?

In this article, we’ll focus on what exactly makes an action and adventure movie. Amidst many large scale elements, there are key storytelling beats that make up the genre. These required elements typically include, most prominently, an epic, stimulating challenge for the protagonist, a powerful antagonist and memorable supporting characters.

For action and adventure movie examples we will focus primarily on three classics of the genre: James Bond’s Goldfinger (1964), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) and Back to the Future (1985). These are not only examples of classic staples of the genre but examples of how action and adventure movies can extend their key elements into franchise form.

The Hero’s Quest

In action and adventure movies, the protagonist will take on a quest that will challenge them mentally and physically. This quest will typically be the biggest challenge they have ever faced, therefore justifying its presence as a central drive for the story.

• The protagonist’s quest will also lead them to experience a journey of discovery.
• Mostly, the journey will be of personal development and the protagonist, by the end, will have changed from the start of their journey.
• The quest will likely reveal the protagonists’ flaws. Moreover, their journey will bring big changes to them, their personality and their way of life.
• In action and adventure movies, the protagonist often starts their journey alone. But during their quest, they will have taken on both allies as well as enemies.

Large scale action sequences are synonymous with this genre and this is all about testing the protagonist to their limits. The action scenes aren’t just about filling the movie with as many explosive and entertaining set-pieces as possible (although that’s certainly a bonus).

Instead, the action scenes represent the extent to which the protagonist has to fight against the odds to achieve their goals and reach the end of their quest. Simply put, it won’t be and shouldn’t be easy.

The Hero’s Challenges and Triumphs

So action and adventure movies consist of a protagonist taking on a huge mission or quest.

• During their journey, they will overcome obstacles that involve high energy combat scenes.
• The hero will face multiple setbacks in the form of obstacles. And the obstacles will be both physical and mental.
• Typically, the hero often begins their journey adapting to the new environment they find themselves in.

In action and adventure movies, the hero will have transformed over the course of their journey and will eventually triumph and end their journey on a high point. Whether they have overcome a deeply instilled fear or a huge in the moment crisis; the hero experiences success.

The hero will return to a semblance of normality with praise and will have developed a reputation among their world. Importantly, a hero solves situations before they evolve into problems. Heroes are rare among characters, and they have a particular skillset that allows them to solve a situation or problem that other characters can’t.

Throughout their journey, a hero is often an inspirational role model for the people in their world. Moreover, they obtain care and compassion towards helping others before looking out for themselves.

Meanwhile, antagonists plot against the hero and constantly try to outwit the hero’s actions. In an action and adventure movie, usually, the villain comes away empty-handed and the hero wins.

This may seem simple but the purpose of combining action and adventure is usually to provide a satisfying win for the audience. By no means does this need to be easy and, in fact, you should really be challenging the hero as much as possible. But in the end, audiences tend to expect a win for the protagonist of some sort, even if a lot is lost along the way.