The Evolution of the Action Hero: From Schwarzenegger and Stallone to Brad Pitt and Will Smith

Used to be that action movie stars didn’t say very much. Our heroes (and our villains) had names like Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Bronson, Darth Vader, and the TX-32. They were big; they were beautiful, and very, very dangerous. In short, they were the perfect male specimens, at least from the neck down.

Verbal communication was a different story. “Yo Adrian!” was about as close as they got to a complete sentence. Oh, they talked plenty, but almost always with some other body part than their mouths. In their own silent violent way, they convinced thieves, murderers and hate-filled robots to repent and give up their evil ways. We didn’t mind at all. We’d forgive anyone for being quiet and a little slow on the uptake, as long as he satisfied our craving for bone-crushing violence.

Times have changed. We are no longer satisfied to watch one meathead battle it out against another, with the possible exception of the Presidential election. Nowadays, we demand more from our movie stars: we still want muscles and power, but also intelligence. The film industry has responded by giving us exactly what we want: an action hero with the whole mind and body package.

Want proof? Fabio, the verbally challenged Greek god who was once considered the ultimate male specimen, has been reduced to the role of spokesman for “I Can’t Believe Its Not Butter.” No less than the Terminator has been elected Governor of California, once referring to his opponents as “girlie men.” Even The Rock, star of the WWF (the ultimate meathead sporting event) has become a legitimate actor.

What happened? How, in the span of little more than a decade, did our action heroes become so eloquent and so intelligent? Three reasons come to mind.

Personal Trainers. Nowadays it seems as if all movie stars have their own personal trainers. These trainers follow their actors wherever they go, often bringing with them portable gyms inside of tractor trailers. For the right price, anyone can look like a bodybuilder in a matter of months. Actors like Will Smith and Brad Pitt realize that if they want to be action heroes, they have to look the part. Hollywood studios have decided that it is easier to take an actor and give him muscles than to take a muscleman and teach him how to act.

We demand more from our action movies. We used to expect one thing from action movies: action. The plot was almost always the same. Some bad guy orders a hit on an innocent guy, who escapes, and spends the rest of the movie killing subordinate bad guys before finally getting a crack at the head bad guy. Thanks to films like the Matrix, modern movies are now required to have between three and ten plot twists, usually involving a time machine or schizophrenia. It takes an intelligent action hero to solve such complex mysteries.

We expect more from big men. Everywhere you look, big men are doing more. Arnold’s a governor. Will Smith writes children’s books. Stallone and Willis are businessmen. Keanu Reeves is, well let’s be honest; we never expected much from Keanu in the first place. We demand more from our action heroes, and in most cases, they deliver.

So what’s next? Will we see the campaign of President Schwarzenegger (perhaps with Danny DeVito as running mate)? Will Bruce Willis discover the cure for cancer? Will the Rock win a Nobel Prize? Will Shaq finally realize he can’t act? The sky’s the limit for these Hollywood big men.