Action Thrillers

The definition of a thriller is this:

• Thriller is a genre of film that uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements. Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and/or terror. Thriller films tend to be adrenaline-rushing, gritty, rousing and fast-paced.

When combining a thriller with an action film you substitute some of the suspense creating elements with more violence and fight scenes thus combining the two genres to create one combination. Such films that have done this very effectively is The Dark Knight. 
The threat is constantly visible in the form of the villain, The Joker, which takes the element of implied danger out of the equation. Instead an "adrenaline-rush" mood is created through this seen threat rather than through suspense and tension.
However this is not to say that there aren't scenes where it is extremely tense which is why i feel The Dark Knight is one of the best action-thrillers to take influence from.







Another fantastic film that is an excellent example of an action thriller is Looper. The plot is about hitmen that are hired by mob bosses from the future. These mob bosses send anyone they don't want in their coorporation to the past where they are assassinated. This seems like a perfect plan as the bodies are undetectable in the past. However there is a catch; when you become a hitman or "looper", you assign yourself to a contract meaning that you yourself may be sent back from the future and you have to kill yourself.
Already you can tell from the plot that this is going to be an action packed film with the connotations of gunfights between hitmen and mob bosses. Yet there is also a factor of uncertainty as the loopers are always on edge, not knowing if they'll kill themselves that waking day.
The complex plot allows these factors to blend seemlessly into one another.

Finally, the last film i will be taking influence from is the "Jason Bourne" series. Within this series, ex agent is being constantly hunted from place to place by the company who used to work for. However he has no recollection of why he is trying to be killed when all he wants is answers.
The use of well choreographed fight scenes, and suspenseful situations such as "a phone call while in the crosshairs" cause this film to be a gem of an action thriller. Overall what the director has achieved is a dark nightmarish world for the main character "Jason Bourne" filled with army issue snipers and pistols, heists and a riveting plot line that causes the audience to grip their seats. The threat is mystertious as it seems that everyone wants to kill Jason, creating a huge amount of tension right from the start, 
The main lesson i will take from this film are to really put thought into choreographing fight scenes; it adds another level of drama and when a brawl doesn't look like its been obviously choreographed,