From Swashbucklers to Supermen:A Brief History of Action Movie Heroes

文/戴维·埃利希 译/刘莉

From Swashbucklers to Supermen:A Brief History of Action Movie Heroes

文/戴维·埃利希 译/刘莉

How we got from silent comedians to Tom Cruise hanging on to a plane in 8 easy steps. 从默片笑星到悬在飞机上的汤姆·克鲁斯，动作片主角经历八次变身，成为了如今的形象。

There’s a moment inMission: Impossible—Rogue Nationwhere the CIA director refers to the fi lm’s relentless hero as “the living manifestation1manifestation表现。of destiny.” The dialogue sounds right on the money2right on the money完全正确。. That phrase could be dropped into the first sentence of his biography and nobody would think twice. As the franchise3franchise本意指（情节虚构类）作品（电影、文学、电视、电玩等）的知识产权。这种作品往往都是计划好系列出品。movie franchise指由其他题材（小说、电视剧等）改编的系列电影。has progressed,Cruise has done nothing less than take 100 years of action movies and collapse them into one (very compact) person.

Now we’re taking one look back tracing how the Hollywood action hero has morphed over the decades.

The acrobat

Action has been a staple4staple主要内容。of the movies since Edwin S. Porter sent a locomotive5locomotive火车头。barreling6barrel〈美俚〉高速行进；飞驰。straight at the audience, but the first proper action heroes were actually comedians. You do not get Jackie Chan without Charlie Chaplin; Bond—James Bond—is virtually unthinkable without Buster Keaton;and it’d be impossible to imagine Ethan Hunt without a clock-hanging Harold Lloyd.

The silent era’s funnymen are remembered as clumsy agents of chaos,but they were also daredevils7daredevil胆大的人；冒失鬼。who’d risk life and limb8risk life and limb出生入死；冒着生命危险。for a good laugh and laid the groundwork for virtually9virtually差不多；事实上。all the derring-do10derring-do蛮勇；大胆冒险行为。that followed. Nobody exemplified this better than Keaton—watching him grab on to moving cars,jump across chasms11chasm（地上的）深裂口，裂隙。, swing12swing纵身跃向；荡向。across waterfalls, leap around and on top of moving trains (including one stunt that left him with a broken neck), and ride a motorcycle on its handlebars, you can feel your pulse quickening. Even when he did stunts that made it seem as if the action was happening to him—like the famous falling house sequence13sequence（电影中表现同一主题或场面的）一组镜头。fromSteamboat Bill Jr.14《小比尔号汽船》（又名：《船长二世》）是一部黑白默片。影片讲述一个天真、毛躁的年轻船长为了向同为船长的父亲证明自己，惹出了一系列爆笑故事。(1928)—the comedian had a knack15knack本事；非凡才能。for making the act of standing still seem totally kinetic16kinetic运动的；有力的。. Forget the Western tough guys; the modern action hero really starts here.

The swashbuckler17 swashbuckler亡命之徒；侠客。

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Douglas Fairbanks Sr.18（1883—1939），美国电影演员，主演动作片，以健美的体态、熟谙各种打斗技巧的才能和永远的乐观精神享誉世界。当时人们往往把他当作美国勇往直前精神的象征。这类影片中比较有名的是为贫民伸张正义的《佐罗的面具》（The Mask of Zorro，1920）和《罗宾汉》（Robin Hood，1922）、神话故事影片《巴格达窃贼》（The Thief of Baghdad，1924）等。was laughing in the face of danger. Brawnier19brawny强壮的；肌肉结实的。and more overtly athletic than the great comedians of the time, the agile20agile敏捷的。actor gave birth to the action hero who could save the day21save the day扭转败局；转危为安。, make the girl swoon22swoon 痴迷；对（某人）神魂颠倒。, and then swing in on a burning chandelier23chandelier水晶灯；树枝形的装饰灯。or the dangling24dangle悬挂着。sail of a pirate ship just in time. Like Errol Flynn after him, the only thing that seemed to separate Fairbanks’ characters from the actor’s legendary off-screen persona was a frilly25frilly多褶边的。costume and a bendy rapier26rapier轻巧细长的双刃剑；长剑。. And by the time Flynn would cross sabers with27cross sabers with sb与某人刀剑相接。Basil Rathbone’s Sir Guy inThe Adventures of Robin Hood(1938), Hollywood made the chivalrous man-of-action its default hero mode and would never look back.

The lone wolf

After World War II, a generation of American men were forced to become action heroes in their own right28in one’s own right凭自己的本事。. When they came back from the fi ghting, they had changed—these soldiers had seen things they couldn’t unsee, and the movies that were made for them re fl ected that.

John Wayne rose to fame before the war by playing relatively uncomplicated gunslingers29gunslinger快枪手;（尤指美国西部电影中受人雇用的）杀手。, men who would roam30roam漫步。the wilds of Monument Valley because that’s where they were thrived. During the war, he was cast as an of fi cer if not a gentleman, leading fi ghter squadrons31fighter squadron战斗机中队。on air raids and helping grunts32grunt〈美军俚，越南战争中用语〉步兵，海军陆战队。raise the fl ag at Iwo Jima. But in 1956’sThe Searchers, however, Wayne revealed a new shade of ugliness of action, leveraging33leverage对……施加影响。his kidnapped niece into a genocidal34genocidal种族灭绝的。crusade against the Comanches. His unrepentant35unrepentant不思悔改的；顽固不化的。racism was the scar of a fractured36fractured断裂的；破碎的。world, and the fi lm ends with his character effectively37effectively实际上。being exiled38exile流放。from civilization, too deformed39deformed畸形的。to reintegrate40reintegrate (into)重新融入。back into the society that he had risked his life in order to preserve.

《豪勇七蛟龙》剧照

The cool customer

Not only did Steve McQueen de fi ne the type we’re talking about here (seeThe Great Escape,The Magnificent Seven,Bullitt...just see almost any Steve McQueen movie, really), he also described it best: “I don’t want to be the guy who learns, I want to be the guy whoknows.” A McQueen hero was the sort of guy who’d jump his Triumph motorcycle or launch his Ford Mustang over the hilly roads of San Francisco,all with the bravado41bravado冒险性；蛮干心理。of a man who knew he could always stick the landing.Calm, collected, and ready for anything,he might toss off42toss off敏捷地做好；轻而易举地处理。a line like “We deal in lead, friend.”

And then there was James Bond, the sort of man who could be tortured in the morning, save the world after lunch,and sleep soundly beside a buxom(and totally interchangeable) babe that night. Bond was born as a man with no chinks43chink裂口，裂缝。in his armor, no wrinkles44wrinkle褶皱。in his tuxedo45tuxedo（配蝶形领结的）成套无尾礼服。, and no thoughts in his head other than “kill the bad guy, get the girl,save the world, and look good doing it.”For the fi rst time since the swashbucklers, the action hero doubled46double兼任。a bona fi de47bona fide真正的。sex symbol.

The vigilante

The next generation of action hero resulted from a simple question: What if Steve McQueen were an unrepentant asshole? Their presence was announced by gunshots instead of footsteps, and they punctuated48punctuate间断；不时打断。every sentence with a bullet. They walked with a swagger49swagger大摇大摆；神气十足。and broke all the rules just because they could—unsurprisingly, a lot of them were cops (some things never change).

Harry Callahan50指由华纳兄弟公司1971年出品的动作片《警探哈里》（Dirty Harry，又名《紧急追捕令》）中克林特·伊斯特伍德（Clint Eastwood）扮演的警探一角。该片讲述哈里不计一切代价誓将凶手绳之以法的故事。didn’t just stop the bad guys, he also messed with them for his own sick amusement. He wasn’t forced into violence, he was excited by it—for this breed of action hero, the villain was just a good excuse. Tellingly51tellingly有力地。,the movie ends with Callahan tossing his badge52badge证章；警徽。into some murky53murky污浊的。water.

The killing machine

Arguably a delayed response to the failure of the Vietnam War, the action hero of the Eighties had the difficult task of finding a gun bigger than the arm they were holding it with. They were glistening54glisten闪闪发光。human cartoons, with biceps55bicep二头肌。strong enough to carry an entire movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger would perfect this breed of hyper-masculine steamroller in 1984’sThe Terminator,elevating himself from strongman to icon by playing a literal killing machine.

Eventually these characters grew so outsized56outsized异型的，特大号的。and ridiculous that parody57parody拙劣的模仿。became the only recourse58recourse依靠。, leading to the likes ofKindergarten Copin 1990 andThe Last Action Heroin 1993.

The superheroes

…And then God created spandex.

The modern action movie’s reliance on the magic of CGI has lowered the physical requirements of its stars,rendering their muscles almost purely cosmetic59cosmetic化妆用的；装点门面的。(Paul Rudd spent months carving out a six pack forAnt-Man, but his abs are only seen in a single shot,revealed in a scene that exists for the sole purpose of showing them off).

They are focus-grouped to perfection,and while they wrestle with themselves(or, in Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder’s movies, they brutally cage fi ght60cage fight笼中格斗。their inner demons61demon恶魔。), their devotion to the greater good is seldom in doubt.Most of all, they are here to stay.

The manifestation of destiny

Which brings us back to Ethan Hunt.

Leveraging the role into an opportunity to be the platonic ideal of the action hero, Tom Cruise has routinely displayed the fearlessness of the silent stars (remember that free-climbing madness from the beginning ofMission:Impossible II?), the easy charm of a swashbuckler, the cool resourcefulness of James Bond, the intense inner turmoil62turmoil混乱；焦虑。of John Wayne, the recklessness63recklessness鲁莽；肆无忌惮。of Harry Callahan, the invincibility64invincibility无敌。of John Rambo, the breezy65breezy〈美〉说说笑笑的；爱谈笑的。camaraderie66camaraderie同志情谊；友情。of the Avengers, and—if you squint67squint眯着眼睛看。—the cracking68cracking〈非正式〉极好的；顶呱呱的。veneer69veneer虚饰。of a guy who’s not as young as he used to be. ■

《碟中谍5：神秘国度》里有个镜头，中情局局长将片中冥顽不灵的男主角形容为“命运的鲜活展示”。这话说得一针见血。若将这个措辞插入他传记的第一句话里，也没人会有异议。随着这部系列电影推陈出新，克鲁斯汲取百年动作电影之精华，以一人之身集中呈现。

现在我们回过头来，看看这几十年里，好莱坞动作英雄的演变历程。

杂技演员

自从埃德温·S.波特导演让一架火车头朝观众径直驶来，动作镜头似乎就成了电影里的重头戏。不过，最早一批正儿八经的动作片男主角，其实都是喜剧演员。如果你没有看过查理·卓别林，就看不懂成龙；离开了巴斯特·基顿，几乎就想不出邦德的样子；要是没看过吊在钟上的哈罗德·劳埃德，你也就无法想象伊森·亨特是何许人也。

在人们脑海中，默片时代的喜剧人演的都是笨拙的惹事鬼，但他们也是一群莽夫，为博观众一笑不惜冒生命危险，为后来作品中几乎所有的冒险行为奠定了基础。这一点，没有谁比基顿表现得更出色了——看见他吊在飞驰的轿车上，纵身跳过鸿沟，荡过瀑布，在行驶的火车车顶跳来跳去（包括让他扭断脖子的一次特技），骑在摩托车把手上前冲，你就能感觉到自己脉搏加速。即便他靠特技让人觉得这个动作好像就发生在他身上——就像1928年《小比尔号汽船》里那个著名的房屋倒塌场景一样，这个笑星也有本事让静静站立的动作看起来动感十足。忘掉西部片里的硬汉吧！现代动作英雄的真正起点是在这里。

冒险王

与此同时，在小镇的另一边，道格拉斯·范朋克正笑对险情。这个机敏的演员肌肉发达，明显比那个时代的著名笑星更有运动风采。他扮演的动作英雄可以拯救世界，让女孩为之痴迷，然后及时地拉住燃烧的枝形吊灯或海盗船摇曳的风帆一晃而进。像后来的埃罗尔·弗林一样，唯一能把范朋克所扮演的角色与演员自身传奇的幕后人格相区分的，就是一身布满褶边的戏服和一柄弯弯扭扭的长剑。当弗林在1938年版《侠盗罗宾汉》中与巴兹尔·雷斯伯恩扮演的盖伊爵士刀剑相接时，好莱坞便将这种骑士风范的冒险王当作默认的英雄模式，再也不用从前的套路了。

孤狼

二战后的那一代美国男人，被迫要凭自己的力量变身动作英雄。从战场归来后，他们已经脱胎换骨——作为士兵，他们亲历了无法从记忆中抹去的场面。为他们量身打造的动作片便反映了这一点。

战前，约翰·韦恩便因扮演不太复杂的快枪手角色一举成名。这类男性常常游荡在纪念碑谷的荒野地带，因为那是他们发迹的地方。战争期间，他扮演了一位或许算不上绅士的军官。他不仅带领战斗机中队展开空袭，还帮助兽族步兵在硫磺岛立起了国旗。在1956年的《搜索者》中，韦恩却揭示了动作片的另一番丑陋，为了寻找被绑架的侄女加入灭绝科曼奇族的大屠杀之中。他不思悔改的种族主义，是一个破碎世界留下的创伤。影片终了，他扮演的角色被文明世界彻底流放，因太过畸形而无法重新融入那个他拼了性命去保护的社会。

冷酷顾客

此处要探讨的类型，当以史蒂夫·麦奎因为代表——不信就去看看《大逃亡》《豪勇七蛟龙》《警网铁金刚》等影片。真的，随便挑一部史蒂夫·麦奎因担纲主角的影片，你就明白了。不仅如此，他还为这类角色做出了最棒的评价：“我不想演那种学着做事的人，而是想演那些会做事的。”一位麦奎因式动作英雄，会从他的凯旋牌摩托上一跃而下，或者在旧金山崎岖的山路上发动他的福特野马。一举一动都透着男人的勇武，知道自己能安然着陆。他镇定、沉着、准备好迎接一切挑战。他可能还会抛出一句台词——“朋友，我们干的是铅的生意。”

然后就是詹姆斯·邦德了。这种男人可以在早上受尽折磨，午饭后就拯救世界，当晚还能与佳人酣然入睡（尽享春宵一刻）。邦德生来就是个无懈可击的男人。他的盔甲上没有一丝缝隙，无尾礼服上没有一条褶皱，满脑子都是“干掉恶棍，抱得美人，拯救世界，风度翩翩”。自冒险王形象之后，动作英雄第一次成了真正的性感构想。

治安会成员

下一代动作英雄源自一个简单的问题：如果史蒂夫·麦奎因是个不知悔改的混蛋怎么办？新一代英雄出场时脚步未至、枪声先闻，三句话不到就拔枪射击。他们走起路来趾高气扬，不守任何规则，因为他们有能力做到——不出所料，他们当中许多人都是警察（这是固定套路）。

哈里·卡拉汉不仅制服了坏人，还为满足自己病态的乐趣玩弄了他们。他并不是被迫打打杀杀，而是对暴力感到无比兴奋——对这种动作英雄来说，除暴安良只是个完美的借口。在影片末尾，卡拉汉一把撕下自己的警徽，狠狠地扔进了浑水之中。

杀人机器

20世纪80年代的动作英雄们面临着艰巨的任务——找一把比他们手中的武器更强大的枪。这可是说是对越战失败迟来的回应了。他们就像闪闪发光的真人版卡通形象，健硕的肱二头肌足以撑起整部片子。这种动作英雄肌肉极为发达，就像蒸汽压路机一样。在1984年的《终结者》中，阿诺德·施瓦辛格让这种硬汉形象至臻完美，通过扮演一架名副其实的杀人机器，让自己从猛男升格为偶像。

但这些形象最后变得过于假大空，而且荒唐可笑，以至于只能拙劣地抄来抄去，催生出1990年的《幼稚园特警》、1993年的《幻影英雄》等一批作品。

超级英雄

……然后上帝创造了斯潘德克斯。

现代动作片十分依赖于CGI技术的魔力，从而降低了对明星的体能要求。影星们的肌肉几乎全是靠化妆弄出来的（保罗·路德花数月时间为《蚁人》练出的六块腹肌，只在一个镜头里出现过。那个镜头存在的目的，单纯就是炫耀这些腹肌）。

他们非常专注地追求着完美。他们同自身搏斗（或者说，在克里斯托弗·诺兰和扎克·施耐德的影片中，他们也与自己内心的恶魔在笼子里残酷搏斗）的同时，也极少有人质疑他们对公众利益的奉献。他们演绎的大多数角色都会永久长存。

命运的展现

把我们又带回了伊森·亨特时代。

借助出演角色的机会，汤姆·克鲁斯塑造了一位柏拉图式的理想化动作英雄。一如往常，他表现出了默片明星的无畏（还记得《碟中谍II》片头，那徒手攀岩的疯狂吗？）、冒险王的万人迷、詹姆斯·邦德的酷帅多谋、约翰·韦恩激烈的内心挣扎、哈里·卡拉汉的鲁莽轻狂、约翰·兰博的所向无敌、《复仇者联盟》中轻松愉快的兄弟情谊。还有，如果仔细看就能发现，他褪去青涩后的完美伪装。 □

动作片英雄简史——从冒险王到超人

ByDavid Ehrlich

（译者单位：复旦大学翻译系）