I recommend The Professional and The Bourne Identity.

Raiders of the Lost Ark Die Hard The Rock Lethal Weapon Point Break Aliens The Matrix Terminator 2 Predator Cliffhanger It's pretty simple really: if it stars Sly Stallone (the later Rocky movies, First Blood, Cliffhanger, Expendables, Demolition Man), Arnold (Terminators, Predator, True Lies, The Running Man), Keanu Reeves (The Matrix, Speed, Point Break), Nic Cage (The Rock, Face Off, Con Air) or, latterly, Liam Neeson (Taken, Unknown, The Grey, The A Team), it probably qualifies; if it's written by Shane Black (Lethal Weapons, The Last Boy Scout), it probably qualifies; if James Cameron (Terminators, Aliens, True Lies, Avatar) is involved in any capacity and there's no sign of a boat sinking, it definitely qualifies.

I'd like to think (there I go again!) that the question is "What action screenplay is best to read in order to learn how to actually write action screenplays?" I like to read certain scenes to see how it was written and if it was conveyed on screen. That being said - 1. Dark Knight (for any type of script study!) 2. Salt 3. Zombieland 4. Kill Bill (original draft - just to see what you are not supposed to write but looking forward to writing however you want!!) 5. Inception (Another How-To screenplay) 6. Source Code 7. As said above - James Cameron scripts 8. Mr. and Mrs. Smith (yeah, I said that!) 9. Scarface (Oliver Stone written) 10. WANTED The list is endless actually. Happy reading!

Anyone have the original draft of Lethal Weapon that sold? Not subsequent drafts or the transcript of the movie, but the one he threw in the trash and then took out and sold? I remember there being some great action description in that, one of the first time a screenwriter didn't describe exactly what happened but game the *feeling* of the action scene, the blur, the smell of cordite, etc.

Jackpot! I just found Bill Martel's article on Action Subgenres. I hope it's helpful for this week's discussions.

The list so far rocks. Die Hard is a must, for many reasons. Depending on what a writer feels he or she wants to write, it seems valuable to analyze at least one example of several types of action or action-hypenate films. ie: One in the action-domestic comedy vein, whether it's "True Lies" or "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," (which manages to use some action scenes to propel the Mr. and Mrs. story forward and not simply stop the story until the set piece is done). One in the bickering buddy-cop vein, from a comedic actioner like "Rush Hour" to the edgier and elegant "Lethal Weapon." One in the smart martial-arts vein, from "Kill Bill" to "The Matrix" to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." One in the superhero sub-genre, personally favoring "The Dark Knight" or "Iron Man." One in the super skill-set variety, from "The Bourne Identity" to "SALT" to "Taken." ...and so forth, just to see how each ticks, discern its special beats and heart, feel the speed of the action description. From this perspective, I'd add one from the "build a team" structure. I haven't seen "The Avengers" yet, so don't know if they "recruit" the team, but this is a venerable form of action film. Choices range from classics like "The Dirty Dozen" and "The Magnificent Seven" to recent incarnations like "RED" and "The Expendables." Caper and heist films use this strategy a lot, so gaining insight into the context-building nature of team building could be very beneficial.

I second many of the rec's above as paragons of the genre -- Raiders, DIe Hard, Predator, Terminator, Aliens, etc -- but if you want to study "Action" as a genre, you should probably also include where it began the post-modern Western, War, and Crime film. A few thoughts on what that might encompass: The Magnificent Seven Guns of Navarone Dirty Dozen Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Dirty Harry Food for thought.

Ken, Judy, and Erik--I like how strategically you're thinking about the question. I'm still boggled by the scale of the action genre, which is making it hard to answer the question. I'm going to build on Ken's question reframe the question, too: which action screenwriters are best to read in order to learn how to actually write action screenplays?” William Goldman - Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (The script doesn't seem to be online anymore but it is in one of his books--anyone recall the title?--and is fairly likely to be at your local public library.) Shane Black - Lethal Weapon (script) Luc Besson - The Fifth Element (script) I'd really love to read the script for La Femme Nikita but I haven't managed to track it down. Akira Kurasawa - The Seven Samurai (script) Alfred Hitchcock Yeah, yeah: director not a writer. But he was very hands on with his scripts, as I understand it, and has a very distinctive style. - North by Northwest (script) ...that's off the top of my head and far from a definitive list. What other writers do you feel one needs to study? And, speaking of Hitch, do you see any merit in sorting out a list based on directors?

[...] Genre Essentials: Action – 10 Action Scripts You Must Analyze (gointothestory.blcklst.com) [...]

Armored (2009) might be worth looking at, if only because if I recall correctly it sold as a spec script. Confirmed: "JAY SIMPSON became an Academy Nicholl Fellowships finalist and sold his first script in the same week, in November of 2006." (via this interview) Script Link (pdf)

Hey folks, I still haven't been able to find links for these scripts, which have come up in our discussions somewhere along the line: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Con Air The Dirty Dozen Dirty Harry Guns of Navarone Iron Man Rambo: First Blood Taken If any of you can find a link to a copy online, especially to a PDF, could you share it please so these can make the short list? Thank you.

Shauna - The script for Butch Cassidy is in Goldman's book, "Adventures in the Screen Trade". It's a lot of fun on the page, (as is the rest of the book).

Thank you for the heads up, Diane!

Hey, everybody. Here's what we've got so far. (I'm not including actual links to scripts, or this comment will get jammed up in spam filters, but I've sent the full linked list to Scott.) These scripts are all in PDF format: *Armored (2009) (**spec script sale) *Bonnie & Clyde *Bourne Supremacy *Bullitt (1968) *Commando (1985) *The Dark Knight *Deliverance (1972) *Expendables *The French Connection (1971) *The Getaway *G.I. Jane (1997) *Hannah (2011) * The Hunt for Red October (1990) *The Last Boy Scout *Leon: The Professional *Lethal Weapon (1987) *Marathon Man *Manhunter (1986) *Mandingo *North by Northwest *Raiders of the Lost Ark *Red (2010) *Salt (2010) *The Seven Samurai *Speed *The Thin Red Line *The Thomas Crowne Affair (1999) & (1968) *Warriors *Zombieland (2009) Scripts I've found in .txt or .html but not PDF: 48 Hrs. (1982) Air Force One (1997) Assassins Big Trouble in Little China (excerpts) Blade (1998) – script Blue Thunder (1983) – script Bound (1996) script Bourne Identity Bullitt (1968) – script Cliffhanger Code of Silence (1985) Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) Deep Cover (1992) Die Hard El Mariachi h Escape from New York Face/Off (1997) The Fifth Element (1997) The Fugitive (1993) Get Carter (1971) Entrapment (1999) Gladiator Goldfinger Kill Bill (2003) The Long Kiss Goodnight (1995) Platoon Point Break The Rock Running Man Rush Hour (1998) Shanghai Noon Southern Comfort (1981) Terminator II Top Gun True Lies The Wild Bunch Film I haven't found any scripts for yet: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Con Air The Dirty Dozen Dirty Harry Guns of Navarone Iron Man Rambo: First Blood Taken

Thank you again to everyone who contributed to the action script list. Please remember to come on over to the Action Essential Voting List and cast your votes for the top 10 scripts and top 10 films.