| In changing paradigms of human civilization, the action hero transforms from an ordinary human into a superhuman figure through rigorous physical actions. People tend to identify with the hero who pays a price for nations, sacrifices his life for a cause larger than himself, and ultimately chooses death over life in the greater purpose of humanity. The action hero integrates the human and the machine to challenge hurdles on multiple fronts. In popular Hollywood sci-fi and Hong Kong action movies, the action hero uses the body and technology and transcends physical limits and the cultural divide. By crossing human limits, geographical borders and national boundaries, the popular action hero falls in the nexus between media network and digital gaming industry. The media representation of the action hero, going beyond the divide between the real and the virtual over the space-time continuum, invokes the unity and harmony among humans, and the current dissertation unfolds the underlying connections underneath the visual spectacle of the action hero in popular Hollywood and Hong Kong movies at the turn of the millennium. |
