Die Hard remains the ur-text because it invented the blueprint. Mad Max: Fury Road perfected the blueprint for the modern era. These films prove that when action is done at its prime level, it achieves the same goal as tragedy or romance: catharsis. We do not watch a prime action movie for the destruction; we watch it for the desperate, ingenious, and very human struggle to survive within that destruction.
Focuses on human kinetic capability, epitomized by Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li.
