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COMMON FEATURES OF ACTION MOVIE REVIEW WRITING ON

WWW.IMDB.COM

A MASTER’S PROJECT

SUKUMAL SUKHUM

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Master of Arts Degree in English

at Srinakharinwirot University

October 2009

COMMON FEATURES OF ACTION MOVIE REVIEW WRITING ON

WWW.IMDB.COM

A MASTER’S PROJECT

SUKUMAL SUKHUM

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Master of Arts Degree in English

at Srinakharinwirot University

October 2009

COMMON FEATURES OF ACTION MOVIE REVIEW WRITING ON

WWW.IMDB.COM

AN ABSTRACT

SUKUMAL SUKHUM

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Master of Arts Degree in English

at Srinakharinwirot University

October 2009

Sukumal Sukhum. (2009). Common Features of Action Movie Review Writing on

www.imbd.com. Master’s Project, M.A. (English). Bangkok: Graduate School,

Srinakharinwirot University. Project Advisor: Dr. Walaiporn Chaya.

This study investigated the common features of action movie review writing in

terms of the writing pattern and organizational formats. It also examined types of writing

as well as their purposes, sentence structures, and word choices used in writing action

movie reviews. The data used for analysis were the content of ten action movie reviews

from the year 2007 to 2008 on the website www.imdb.com. The criteria for analyzing the

features of writing were based on Rudeen’s organizational formats (2000) and Garbis et

al.,’s (2001) movie review guidelines. The results of the study revealed four main

patterns: Pattern 1: Providing a Board Overview; Pattern 2: Comparison with the Previous

Episodes; Pattern 3: Describing the Movie’s Storyline; and Pattern 4: Providing

Reviewer’s Comments or Concluding the Review. According to types of writing, three

types of writing were used (informative writing, persuasive writing, and narrative

writing), but in different parts of the movie reviews depending on the purpose of writing;

while, simple sentence was the most frequently used (39.38%) followed by complex

sentence (25.23 %) and compound sentence (23.38%). For word choice, concrete words

were used most to convey the intended meaning, and three kinds of emotional words were

found. First, emotional words of fun aimed to present an amusing tone of the writer’s

feeling to readers. Second, emotional words of violence were intended to show a violent

or an exciting tone. Finally, emotional words of disappointment were aimed to present

the writer’s disappointed feeling toward those action movies to readers. The findings

suggested that the movie review writing can be used to develop types of writing,

particularly informative writing. Also, the movie reviews can be used as reading materials

to enhance the ability to read for pleasure and critical reading.

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The master’s project advisor, chair of the English program, and oral defense

committee have approved this master’s project Common Features of Action Movie

Review Writing on www.imdb.com by Sukumal Sukhum as partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the Master of Arts degree in English of Srinakharinwirot University.

Master’s Project Advisor

………………………………………………

(Dr. Walaiporn Chaya)

Chair of the English Program

………………………………………………

(Dr. Walaiporn Chaya)

Oral Defense Committee

……………………………………………… Chair

(Dr. Walaiporn Chaya)

……………………………………………… Committee

(Assistant Professor Dr. Nitaya Suksaeresup)

……………………………………………… Committee

(Dr. Somsak Kaewnuch)

This master’s project has been approved as partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the Master of Arts degree in English of Srinakharinwirot University.

……………………………… Dean of the Faculty of Humanities

(Associate Professor Chaleosri Pibulchol)

October………, 2009

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research work would not have been possible without the dedication and good

valuable suggestions of Dr. Walaiporn Chaya, my master’s project advisor. I would like

to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for her great patience in reading,

editing, and encouragement me throughout this study.

I also would like to extend my thanks to Assistant Professor Dr. Nitaya

Suksaeresup, for her professional instructions and thoughtful advice. My appreciation

extended to Dr. Prapaipan Aimchoo, for her valuable comments.

In addition, my deepest special thanks are extended to Dr. Somsak Kaewnuch who

devoted his time with great patience in reading and gave me valuable advice and careful

proof-reading. Without his kindness, this master’s project could not have been

accomplished.

Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my beloved family: father,

mother and brother, who always give me all their love, care, and stay with me.

Sukumal Sukhum

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page

1 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………… 1

Background of the Study…………………………………………………….. 1

Purposes of the Study………………………………………………………... 7

Research Questions…………………………………………………………... 7

Significance of the Study…………………………………………………….. 7

Scope of the Study………..………………………………………………….. 8

Definition of Terms………………………………………………………….. 9

2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE……………………………………… 11

Writing Review……………….……………………………………...………. 11

Movie Review Writing…………………….………………………………… 13

An Overview of the IMDB Domain…………………….…………………… 15

Action Movie…………………………..……………….……………………. 16

Writing Styles……..………………………………………………………..... 19

Types of Writing………………..…………………………………………..... 20

Types of Sentence Structures…...…………………………………………..... 23

Types of Word Choices in Movie Reviews….……………………...……….. 25

Related Studies……………………………………………………………….. 27

TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued)

Chapter Page

3 METHODOLOGY…………..…………………………………………………. 31

Research Procedure………..……………………………………………..... 31

Data Analysis...............……..……………………………………………... 33

4 FINDINGS............…………..…………………………………………………. 35

Common Features in Action Movie Reviews Writing .................................35

Organizational Formats of Action Movie Review Writing...........................41

Types of Writing, Sentence Structures, and Word Choices in Action

Movie Reviews Writing................................................................................77

5 CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION.....................……………………………. 88

Conclusion.......……………..……………………………………………... 88

Discussion....................……..……………………………………………... 91

Limitation.......……………..……………………………………………..... 92

Recommendation for Further Study..……..…………………………..........93

REFERENCES………...………………………….....…………………………......…...94

VATAE......…….……......………………………………………………………….......100

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1 Overall Patterns of Action Movie Reviews Writing............................................36

2 Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing:

Movie Title: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End…………………........41

3 Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing:

Movie Title: Spider-Man 3…………………....………...................................44

4 Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing:

Movie Title: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull..................47

5 Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing:

Movie Title: Transformers...............................................................................50

6 Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing:

Movie Title: Iron Man.....................................................................................54

7 Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing:

Movie Title: Quantum of Solace.....................................................................58

8 Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing:

Movie Title: National Treasure: Book of Secrets ...........................................62

9 Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing:

Movie Title: The Bourne Ultimatum...............................................................65

10 Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing:

Movie Title: Live Free or Die Hard................................................................69

11 Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing:

Movie Title: The Incredible Hulk...................................................................73

LIST OF TABLES (continued)

Table Page

12 Types of Writing in Action Movie Reviews........................................................78

13 Frequency of Sentence Structures in Ten Action Movie Reviews......................81

14 Concrete Nouns and Descriptive Words Typically Found in Action Movie

Reviews............................................................................................................83

15 Emotional Words Typically Found in Action Movie Reviews...........................85

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

1 Review Format......................................................................................................12

2 The Titles of Action Movie Reviews and Their Grossed Income.........................32

3 Percentage of Sentence Structures Used in Action Movie Reviews.....................82

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Language is an essential device for communication. Humans use language to

communicate their ideas, thoughts, feelings or even the point of views with other people

in the society. Therefore, it becomes an important tool which helps people in the society

to understand each other through listening, speaking, reading and writing. Language is

also used to organize the content of communication, what human beings want to

communicate into the sounds that are heard, or the written symbols that are read. In this

way, humans can communicate with one another by speaking and writing. By speaking,

it is easy for both communicators to understand each other because they can use the body

language and interact through face-to-face communication. However, communicating by

written language appears to be more complicated than spoken language since the writers

cannot convey their ideas or thoughts using face-to-face communication. Thus, the writer

needs to make the reader understand his/her ideas by writing effectively and clearly.

Communicative writing would be effective when a reader can understand or perceive the

same ideas as those that the writer intends to communicate.

Currently, due to the globalization phenomenon, people can communicate with

other peoples all over the world through communication technology. Also, the fast-

growing resources of information can be accessed conveniently and globally through the

Internet. This results in the worldwide use of online written materials available in many

foreign languages, particularly in English, with a variety of purposes. For example, the

information on the Internet can be the resource of input for thousands of users in the field

of English language. Researchers can also search for research studies in many fields such

as the scientific research, technology development, geography, history and so on. The

Internet can also be digital video libraries. For people who want to further their studies,

they can study in a distance education system through online connections. In addition,

the online international business is very popular, and it is a fast and cheap way for

business people. They can create many business sections on the Internet such as

advertisement or entertainment sections to persuade consumers. It is then necessary for

website creators or writers, of any languages, who deliver online messages to write as

clearly as they can so that their audience or Internet users can decipher their information

correctly. Since there are various kinds of materials on websites, Internet users can

search for any kind of information to meet their needs. However, in this competitive

globalized world, a huge number of people do not have much time to relax because they

have to work hard for their survival. Entertainment sections on websites appear to be

valuable information for them.

Under the entertainment sections, one of the most frequently used by Internet

users is a movie review. A movie review is a way in which the writer expresses his/her

opinion of a movie with a short summary of its plot and characters as well as comments

on the movie. The purpose of most movie reviews is to help the audience to determine

whether they want to rent, buy, or see the movie (Eliashberg & Shugan, 1999). In

addition, from a review the audience can get roughly movie’s content and other

information about the movie. Moreover, the readers can search for the description of a

movie that they want to see by selecting types of the movies on the websites, so they can

get the useful information of the movie from movie reviews. Movie reviews on the

websites also allow a reader to quickly examine the main content of a movie, and help

them decide whether the movie worth seeing. Online movie reviews have also rated

those movies. Therefore, an online movie review is considered a powerful marketing

tool, or word-of-mouth information that has the impact on the Internet users’ decision

(Duan, Gu & Whinston, 2008). In addition, the message conveys brief content of the

movies and some ideas that a reviewer has attempted to persuade and attract a reader to

see the movies. The effective online movie reviews can have the persuasive effect on the

moviegoers, so movie producers use them as marketing strategies in the competitive

entertainment business. Therefore, professional movie review writing should give

sufficient details, with the essentials such as the basic plot, and the major events with or

without the important turning point so that the audience can make a decision whether to

see the film. The movie reviews, particularly the online movie reviews are important

because of the high competition among the producers, and there are many online movie

reviews on various websites to choose from.

Since there are many professional movie review websites such as

www.movies.yahoo.com, www.depreview.com, www.consumerreview.com

www.imdb.com , www.thefridayflyer.com and so forth, to persuade the audience to read

the reviews is challenging, and movie review writing is a complicated task

(Charoenchasri, 2007). In fact, writing a movie review is similar to writing on any topic.

That is, the writer needs to choose a topic, generating ideas, craft a thesis or focus,

research and structure an argument, and find the tone. Bowen & Cali (2008) states five

features of effective writing including focus, organization, support and elaboration, styles

and convention. However, writing a movie review is slightly different from writing on a

given topic in that the writer needs to perform some tasks that are related to any of those

movies he/she wants to review. In addition, the purpose of a movie review is to persuade

and convince the online consumers. A movie review is one of the most powerful channels

to generate word-of-mouth information. Style of writing and word choices are considered

the most essential features to attract reader’s interest (Zhang, Dellarocas, and Awad,

2004). Moreover, there are different kinds of movies including action, adventure,

comedy, drama, romance, horror and thriller, musicals, science fiction, and war movies.

One style of writing may be suitable for one kind of movies but not for another.

Furthermore, each type of a movie also serves different needs of the audiences.

Therefore, the movie reviewer can help the consumers to completely understand the

movie’s content and some other important information of each movie (Kungwanpradit,

2004). Kunwanpradit also states that since a movie review is a kind of writing a

summary, the use of different style from the original can mislead readers in understanding

the content of original movie. Since there are various kinds of movie reviews and the

styles of writing, writing styles are very important in persuading the reader to read those

reviews. The movie review writing which lacks of consideration for the reader’s

comprehension ability is then going to be unread because it may confuse the readers;

most of the audiences prefer to read the writing that is easy to understand.

Coffey (1987) suggests that writing is the process. Syntax, grammar, and

vocabulary are composed to make a sentence. If verbs are weak, grammar is poor, and

syntax is rickety, sentences will fall apart. Coffey also states that readers should learn

three important steps in the writing process: the careful and deliberate formulation,

organization of the information before writing, and the editing of information once it has

been written. A movie review is the analysis and evaluation of movies (Jergensen, 1998).

For instance, a humorous writing style would work well for a comedy; whereas, a more

serious tone would be appropriate for writing a drama review. Thus, writing movie

review has the impact on films, mainly in a new release of each movie. Particularly, the

plot summary and description of a movie that makes up the majority of any movie

reviews can have an important influence on whether people decide to see a film. Poor

reviews will often doom a film to obscurity and financial loss.

Mencher (1996) also suggests that “a review has two parts: basic information

about a work (straight reporting) and the reviewer’s assessment (the criticism)” (p.30). In

a movie review, the reviewer can give opinions on the movie to persuade whether the

audience should see the movie. There are both negative and positive movie reviews,

which depends on the purpose of movie reviewers. A reviewer has to make a case. A

solid case is made through the reviewer’s knowledge of the field, clear, authoritative

writing and proof in the review that the critic’s standards are valid (Chaovalit & Zhou,

2005). It can be said that reviewers consumer reports. They tell us whether we should

spend our time and money on a product. Thus, the use of writing styles and word choices

in the movie reviews are essential for writers.

Moreover, Baker (1992) points out that the smallest unit which the readers would

expect to possess individual meaning is the word. Then, using of word choice is also

important because movie reviews have strong effects on reader’s interest. Therefore, the

words must be interesting and meaningful.

Since the purposes of most the movie review are to help the moviegoers in

determining whether they want to see the movies, whether on DVD, CDs, or at the

cinemas, a number of prior research studies on online movie reviews have been

conducted to examine the influence of online word-to-mouth communication, the impact

of online product recommendations on consumers’ online choice (Duan, Gu, & Whinston,

2008). Most of online movie reviews abroad has also focused on investigating the

relationship between consumers’ generated content and product sales (Narayan &

Dellarocas, 2006). The results of these studies are mixed, and these studies are mostly in

the field of economics or business.

In Thailand, like in most parts of the world in which the utilization of the Internet

for an entertainment purpose has gained more popularity. However, the previous research

studies on online movie reviews are very rare. One study by Charoenchasri (2007)

conducted the genre analysis of newsgroup movie reviews. This study examined steps in

the schematic description of rhetorical pattern of movie review genre in professional

movie reviews written by newsgroup on the website www.imdb.com. Kungwanpradit

(2004)’s study investigated writing style used in movie overviews on website “Yahoo!

Movies” http://movies.yahoo.com. The study aimed to examine the general

characteristics of movie overviews on website “Yahoo! Movies,” and the language

characteristics and styles including the use of sentence structure, the use of word choice

and the tone the in different kinds of movie review writing. Meeprom (2005) analyzed

language styles of film synopses on the Internet, at the website http://movies.yahoo.com.

This case study investigated three aspects of language usage: typical characteristics of the

film synopses, distribution of words categories used, and grammatical structures of

sentences.

Since there are few previous studies on online movie reviews, the other aspects of

common features of movie review writing yet have been uninvestigated, particularly in

action movie reviews. For this reason, this present study attempts to extend the

knowledge in this area. Then, in this study common features of action movie review

writing including types of writing, sentence structures and word choices will be explored

and classified. The results will reveal how writing styles and word choices are used to

gain the readers’ attention and successfully persuade the Internet users to read their

reviews particularly in action movie reviews. Ten online action movie reviews have been

selected from the Internet website “www.imdb.com” as data.

Purposes of the Study

The main purpose of this study was to find out the common features of movie

review writing in terms of main pattern, organizational formats, types of writing, sentence

structure, and word choices of action movie review writing on www.imdb.com.

The purposes of the study are presented as follows:

1. To examine common features of movie review writing in action movie review.

2. To investigate types of writing, sentence structures and word choices that can

be commonly found in action movie reviews.

3. To examine the frequencies of types of writing, sentence structures and word

choices commonly found in action movie reviews.

Research Questions

This study addresses three main research questions as in the following.

1. What are the common features of action movie review writing?

2. What are the common types of writing, sentence structures, and word choices

used in action movie reviews?

3. What are the frequencies of types of writing, sentence structure, and word

choices used in action movie reviews?

Significance of the Study

It is certain that movie reviews have an important impact on moviegoers or

consumers in many ways, and each type of movie review has different writing styles. For

example, a humorous writing style would work well for a comedy review, a serious tone

would be good for a drama review, and a mysterious tone would be suitable for a thriller

review. Besides, movie reviews are written to help readers to make their decisions

whether or not to see a film. The findings of the study will be directly beneficial for the

following reasons:

Firstly, the results will benefit the readers to understand the content of movie

reviews and clearly understand what the movie review writer wants to present through

written language.

Secondly, the study will benefit the writer to see the essentials of movie reviews;

therefore, he/she can use techniques of movie review writing to persuade the reader’s

interest.

Thirdly, the results will help learners of English to practice reading and writing

skills, so they can write a movie review professionally.

Finally, the findings will be the sources of information for anyone working in

language education, movie industry, advertising, and marketing.

Scope of the Study

This study investigated common features of action movie reviews in

www.Imdb.com. The purpose is to find out the common features of movie review

writing in terms of types of writing, sentence structure, and word choices including the

frequencies used. Top 250 worldwide Box Office from all types of movie which each

movie has grossed over US$200,000,000 at the box office during their theatrical runs

were collected. Because of the different of quantities in each type of movies were

released in each year, some types of movie may be released more or less. However,

action movie review is one types of movie to release in less quantity in each year. Then,

ten action movie reviews during the year 2007 – 2008 were used as samples from

www.imdb.com. Furthermore, this study does not focus on examining any preferable

types of reviews positive and negative review writing in order to avoid biases in picking

up the data.

Definition of Terms

Terms used in this study need definitions. The lists of terms are as follows:

1. Movie reviews refers to pieces of movie review writing which the movie

reviewer aims at informing, persuading, and narrating t in order to convey his/her feeling

through the message so that the reader can make a decision whether or not to see a

movie.

2. Action movie refers to a type of movies which is full of physical stunts and

activities like battles, flights, car chases, or races etc.

3. Writing style refers to types of writing, types of sentence structure, and word

choices used in action movie reviews which the style of writing shows the writer ideas

and feeling to the reader.

4. Common features refers to the writing style used in movie review writing on the

website to suit the specific content and to persuade audience including purposes of

writing.

5. Types of writing refer to kind of writing which this study emphasizes three

types of writing: informative writing, persuasive writing, and narrative writing.

6. Types of sentence structure refer to the kind of sentences which are classified

into four types: simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence, and compound-

complex sentence.

7. Word choice refers to the kind of word choices used in action movie review

writing which are classified to two types: concrete words, and emotional words.

Summary of the Chapter

This chapter provided the background information and rationale for this study. In

addition, the chapter first discussed the important role of compute technology,

particularly the websites which provide a lot of useful information for people in the

globalization phenomenon. Then it described the contribution of online movie review

writing. It also described the purposes of the study, research questions, significance of

the study, scope of the study and definition of terms. The next chapter reviews the

theoretical foundation and the concepts of the movie review writing.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERTURE

This study aimed to investigate the common features of action movie review

writing on the websites. It also examined the writing styles including types of writing,

sentence structure and word choice the movie reviewer used in movie reviews. In order

for readers to understand the overall concept of the study, this chapter will elaborate on

the following. First, some background knowledge about writing reviews and movie

reviews will be given. Second, overviews of the IMDB domain and action movies will

be presented. Third, some styles as well as genres commonly used in movie review

writing, which are classified as informative, narrative, and persuasive, will be

discussed. Then, a short overview of types of sentence structures and word choices will

be given for the purpose of exploring words and sentence types that movie review

writers normally choose in their writing. Finally, related research conducted abroad

and in Thailand context will be discussed.

Writing a Review

Writing a review, the writer considers the relationship between the work and the

audience, or the relationship between the writer and his/her audience. Thus, a review is

a critical evaluation of a text, event, object, or phenomenon. The important element of

review is a commentary, not only a summary. It means that a review makes an

argument. A review can offer agreement or disagreement and identify the points where

writer find the work exemplary or deficient in its knowledge, judgments, or

organization. Reviews can be found in many forms such as books, articles, art,

policies, exhibitions, performances and films (Drewry, 1974). Normally, reviews are

succinct; from a review, a reader knows the overall perspectives, arguments, and

purposes inside the work that has been reviewed. Kamerman (1978) suggests that

“reviewers should be as fair as possible in saying how well the author has carried out

his or her intent in the book being reviewed, and they should judge the book that has

been written, not the book they wish the author had written” (p. 7).

Furthermore, a review has to focus on opinions, not facts or details. Summary

should be kept to a minimum, and specific details should serve to illustrate arguments.

Palmer (1993) also claims that a review is an essay that draws attention to and passes

comment on a topical matter – the publication of a book, the release of a record, the

opening of a stage play or film, and so on.

Hutchison (1996) states that, “Reviews do not really lend themselves to formats

or patterns. Let’s look at how critics review works when they know their subject

matter, when they have prepared themselves to be critics through education, reading,

and viewing, and mastering books, music, cinema and theater” (p. 333). Hutchison’s

(2001) standard review format is described as follows:

Figure 1. Review Format

Appraisal of the work

Intent of the artist

Synopsis of the work,

performance exhibit

Evidence supporting your

appraisal

Artist’s intent

accomplished, not

accomplished.

Suggestions to the readers

Movie Review Writing

A movie review is a critical writing that examines why and how a movie works.

It provides the reader with a basic idea of what the film is about. Moreover, it provides

the writer’s critical assessment of the success/failure or effectiveness/ineffectiveness of

the film supported by the evidence the writer gathers from the film (The Writing

Center, 2009). Furthermore, it is one kind of review writing which is written to help

readers decide whether or not to see a movie. Movie reviews are written to give a

commentary, not only a summary. It offers the writer’s opinions on the qualities of a

particular movie. It also tells a little about the storyline to catch readers’ interest and

encourage readers to venture to the theatres to see the movies for themselves. Thus, the

critique is an opportunity to exhibit a critical awareness of the elements of the film to

share the delight and pleasure the film offers the viewer. Moreover, Juergensen (1998)

claims that the purpose of a movie review is not to merely summarize the plot, but to

evaluate its worth.

A movie review is a way in which writers expresses their idea of a movie with a

short summary of its plot and characters as well as comments on the movie. In

contrast, summary writing is a piece of writing in a short version which conveys an

objective condensation of the main ideas of the writing. It is written to help writers

convey an effective communication to readers because readers can get the main idea of

the writing quickly and do not have to waste their time reading every word from the

original source (Aropoff, 1970). Furthermore, when writing a summary, the following

parts should be omitted: background discussions, personal comments, digressions,

conjectures, introductions, explanations, examples, and definitions. Besides, some

materials are not printed materials such as film, play, or the events in a story, so it is

useful for readers to get a brief content from the summary. However, a good movie

review is not a summary of a film, but a critical analysis that examines why and how a

movie works. When writing a movie review, reviewers always consider who the

intended audience is for the film. In addition, a good movie review usually uses scenes

and dialogues from the film to support writers’ arguments (Essay-Paper.net, 2006).

According to Rudeen (2000), a movie review can be organized as the following.

Title and deck

The title of the review and the deck (a sentence in special print

above the review) suggest the reviewers opinion-whether her or she

thinks the movie is worth seeing or not

Where

At the top of the review, is the name the movie and the places

where it can be seen.

Introduction

Here the reviewer tells us why he or she thinks the movie is good or

not. There is also often a brief summary of what the movie is

about, the story line and what kind of movie it is-adventure, horror,

romance, for example

Actors’ Roles

This part gives a short description of the main characters and names

the actors who play the parts. Reviews refer to roles the actors have

played in other movies.

Story line

In this part you find out more about the story line and also where

and when the movie takes place and what the setting or mood is.

There may be more information about the roles as the reviewer talks

about the story line

Conclusion

The reviewer may conclude with an interesting or thought-

provoking question or statement to tempt you to see the movie for

yourself. Our local reviewer sometimes makes a ling with a local

situation or social attitude.

Source: “Reading Movie Reviews” by Bangkok Post Educational Services (2000),

from http://www.bangkokpost.com/education/movies.htm

Additionally, Garbis et al. (2001) propose a guideline of movie review writing

to keep readers’ interest as follows.

Paragraph 1

Offers overall impression of the movie while mentioning the movie’s

title, directors, producers, writers, main actors or supporting actors of

the movie.

Paragraph 2

Offers a brief summary of what the movie is about.

Paragraph 3

Offers actors’ roles aim to gives a short description of the key actors.

Paragraph 4

Offers movie techniques used in scenes. There may be more

information about the roles, the soundtrack, or explain the idea that a

movie is really interesting.

Paragraph 5

Address how well the movie represents the novel or play.

Paragraph 6

Offers the reader in reviewer opinion. It is the last opportunity to

guide the reader to attend the movie.

Source: “Film Analysis Terms” by M. Garbis and C. Adams, Baltimore, 2001, from

http://www.studyguide.org/filmterms.htm

An Overview of the IMDB Domain

The name of IMDB stands for the Internet Movie Database. This site was

launched in the year 1990, and in 1998 was acquired by Amazon.com. The IMDB

website consists of information about films, television programs, and games products.

The IMDB is aimed at entertainment professionals. It provides a variety of services

including production and box office details. IMDB has 57 million visitors, 17 million

of whom are registered (Wikipedia, 2009).

According to Chaovalit and Zhou (2005), there are many product reviews that

exist in various forms across different websites, for instance, complementary reviews

sites such as www.amazon.com; professional reviews sites such as

www.dpreview.com, www.cnet.com, www.zdnet.com and www.imdb.com; opinion

sites of consumers such as www.concumerreview.com, www.epinions.com, and

www.bizrate.com; and news or magazines with feature reviews such as

www.rollingstone.com. For movie reviews, however, the IMDB is a data source to

select because it is the one professional reviews site well-known as the largest

accumulation of data about films. It can be said that IMDB gives chances to customers

to present their opinions towards movies they want to criticize.

Furthermore, Kats et al. (2002) and Melville et al. (2002) mention that the

IMDB is a movie database which contains information about movie products,

recommendations and movie reviews written by members in the Usenet newsgroup.

They are professional in writing movie reviews which are officially stored in the

database of IMDB.

Action Movie

Action movies are movies which have a lot of physical stunts and activities,

possibly extended chase scenes, races, rescues, battles, fights, escapes, and destructive

disasters (floods, explosions, natural disasters, fires, and so on). The main focus in

action movies is usually on a male hero. Action movies always have a resourceful hero

struggling against incredible odds, life threatening circumstances, or an evil villain.

Moreover, the actors always plays in scenes of trapping or chasing each other in various

modes of transportation such as buses, ships, trains, planes, horsebacks, and so on

(Dirks, 2007). The following is an example of action movie reviews from website

www.imdb.com.

Title and deck

SPIER-MAN 3

A film review by Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO****): ***

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END A film

Butterworth

** (out of ****)

Live Free Or Die Hard

2007

126 minutes

Rated PG-13

By Scott Mendelson

Where -

Introduction /

Paragraph 1-2

In SPIDER-MAN 3, Spidey gets in touch with his inner evil twin,

which turns out to be a lot of fun for him and for us. Even if the

movie isn't nearly as good as SPIDER-MAN 2, it's not a

GODFATHER 3 sort of disaster of a third picture in a series.

About the worst that can be said of SPIDER-MAN 3 is that it's

overstuffed with villains and it's at least twenty minutes too long.

(Spiderman3)

The reinvention of James Bond films continues with QUANTUM

OF SOLACE. The old James Bond had incredible luck and nearly

always did the right thing. This Bond bungles his way into

situations and is as likely to foul up someone else's plan as he is to

fix it. The tension between M and Bond always seemed a little

disingenuous since Bond was clearly MI6's super-weapon. The

new Bond as of the last two films is more of a loose cannon and is

dangerous to both sides. (Quantum of Solace)

Actor’s Role /

Paragraph 3

Depp's more subdued this go around. At least he's not reduced to

clown status, as he was last time, but he was key to the first film's

success and his savvy "savvy?" is neither here nor there. Instead,

Pirates 3 spreads the witty asides around. It's not quite the same.

(Pirate of the Caribbean: At World’s End)

The "3" in the title could also refer to the number of villains. This

time we get three villains for the price of one movie ticket. James

Franco plays "Goblin Junior," as the son of The Great Goblin is

derisively called. Thomas Haden Church plays the Sandman, a

character created out of some great special effects. And, Topher

Grace plays Venom, a character with somewhat similar skills to

Spider-Man. (Spiderman3)

Story Line /

Paragraph 4

However, for those who are old enough to attend middle school or

drive a car, this is a surprisingly effective large-scale adventure

picture. The plot involves Timothy Olyphant as a rogue ex-

government agent attempting to shut down the country by hacking

into our electrical systems. Ironically, the story progression in the

first act often resembles Willis's terrific 16 Blocks from last year,

albeit with emotional heft traded in for elaborate shootouts and

fights. The action scenes are set-up in a way to mirror the

claustrophobia and vulnerability of the original film. With the

exception of a third act True Lies rip-off, the action bits are

relatively creative and the filmmakers were smart to fill the villain

roster with notable sidekicks and thugs. Maggie Q does king-fu

and District B-13's Cyril Raffaelli does his 'parkour' wall-bouncing

thing, alas all too briefly. (Live Free or Die Hard)

The film opens in 1947 in the Nevada desert, where a nuclear test -

- complete with a fake, picture postcard slice of suburbia -- is

underway. Indy and George "Mac" McHale (Ray Winstone) get

themselves captured there by KGB agents, led by Irina Spalko. As

Spalko, Cate Blanchett is a hoot, giving one of the best bad

Russian accents on record. Her villain is so deliciously over the top

that Blanchett steals every scene she is in. (Indiana Jones and the

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)

Conclusion /

Paragraph 5-6

There are lots of characters, and each one gets a good 15-minute's

worth, although as a whole, it never develops very much

dramatically. And it's heavy on special effects. If you consider all

the stuff that happening on screen, including: smoke rising, people

running around, robots transforming, combat, and things getting

destroyed (all in one shot), you could easily find this experience

chaotic. But the project knows what it wants to accomplish, and it

does. While not a great film, "Transformers" holds your attention

and is what the summer moviegoing experience is all about.

(Transformers)

Plumbing the art decorator's depths with characters and situations

we've come to enjoy, the atmospheric "Pirates of the Caribbean: At

World's End" winds up evening the series out. Would I see it

again? If appropriately compensated, maybe. Would I watch

Pirates 2 again? "I'm disinclined to acquiesce to [that] request.

Means 'no.'" (Pirate of the Caribbean: At World’s End)

This "Hulk" film is a dull disaster with an unconvincing love story,

non-threatening villains, lots of amped-up explosions, and a lead

character who hardly seems to be the same person that becomes

the Hulk. For a fully developed and humanistic take on a raging

Hulk and a complex Bruce Banner who wishes for the beast to be

expunged, check out the TV series or the 2003 Hulk. This droning

Hulk of a movie is for the birds. (The Incredible Hulk)

Writing Styles

According to Gould, DiYanni, and Smith (1989), style is the verbal identity of a

writer, as unmistakable as his or her face or voice. All the habitual choices a writer

makes––of word and phrase, of sentence pattern and length, of structure and

organization, of voice and tone––all these and more constitute style. A writer’s style

reflects an individual way of seeing the world, and as such is something far greater than

the sum of the identifiable parts within a sentence or a paragraph. Furthermore, “when

our style is effective, it offers our readers consistency in vocabulary, tone, and voice as

well as clarity in thought,” (Gould, DiYanni, and Smith, 1989, p. 280). Thus, each

writer has a different style of writing to convey to readers. Writers achieve effective

styles when their words, phrases, and sentences clearly convey their ideas and their

feelings about those ideas to their readers. In short, a writing style is a taste, and there

are no two identical writing styles, but, of course, writing styles create different effects

on readers.

Types of Writing

Narration, description, argument, and analysis are four major approaches in

writing. However, many writing experts give them different names and divide them up

differently. Thus, it is important to note that these methods can overlap, that more than

one can be used in any piece of writing, and that more than one can be used even at the

same time (Kelsch L. M. & Kelsch T., 1981). Moreover, in Rhetorical Modes in Essay

Writing (2008), it is stated that there are four rhetorical modes of discourse, namely,

narrative, descriptive, expository, and persuasive/argumentative writing. A narrative

writing tells a story. It is to recount a personal or fictional experience or to tell a story

based on a real or imagined event. A descriptive writing is used to create a vivid image

of a person, place, or thing. It is to enable the reader to share the writer’s sensory

experience of the subject. An expository writing is used to tell how to make or do

something, report on an experience, or explore an idea. It is to inform, clarify, explain,

define or instruct by giving information. A persuasive writing is used to state an

opinion and support it convincingly. It is to convince the reader to accept a point of

view or to take a specific action. However, in movie reviews, there are three types of

writing commonly used: informative, persuasive and narrative.

Informative Writing

An informative writing is designed to convey facts and data. This writing is to

make it clear and coherent. An informative writing is mostly facts but can contain

opinion if it is a personal text. Informative texts use words that are descriptive, precise,

and to the point. The texts are related to the subject, and present tense is used

informative movie reviews. A good informative writing should clearly explain or

inform. An informative writing is not writing expressing opinions but facts. More

importantly, informative pieces should be clear and precise.

Moreover, Winterowd (1981) claims that “to be informative, a piece of writing

must give the reader information, the two characteristics of information are that it has

surprise value and content” (p. 191).

Example:

The film is still brutally violent [Present tense], with an on screen body count

that nearly exceeds the combined totals of parts 1 and 3 (part 2, with its two

passenger airplane crashes, is still the record holder). There are point-blank

executions galore, and many vicious fight scenes, gruesome explosions, and

fatal car wrecks. [Present tense] Point being, fans of the series should know that

this is still a rough, profane, and violent adult action film. [Clearly

explain/inform]

Persuasive Writing

The most important factor of persuasion is the ability to give reasons as well as

the effective use of language. Persuasive writing is aimed to change opinions, modify

values, or encourage an action by the reader. However, the purposes of persuasive

messages are different from the aims of expressive and expository writing. People use

persuasion to convince others to agree with the proposed decision or action, which

should be the best solution. Without an action or feeling or emotion, there will be no

persuasion. Coffey (1987) said that persuasion is a writing to convince readers to

accept our point of view on a given subject. The goal of persuasive writing is to have

reader come to agree with our opinions by carefully building strong and convincing

arguments for our side while tearing down or weakening the opposing sides.

Gould, DiYanni, and Smith (1989) claim that “when we try to persuade

someone of something, we try to prove a point and at the same time we try to get the

reader or listener to see things the way we do” (p. 195).

Example:

Will you enjoy this movie? As long as you’ve managed to maintain a child’s

ability to wonder, and your heart isn’t made of stone, you will love it!

[Convince readers to accept in point of view]

Narrative Writing

A narration develops a subject or idea by explaining what happened, how it

happened, or why it happened. Normally, a narrative writing tells related events in a

sequence of time. A narrative writing functions as an action creator; the movement of

each event has an important role; therefore, a writer has to manipulate well on the

sequence of related events that lead to the climax of story. Usually, the narrative writer

creates a story with a point or purpose. Moreover, the writer’s work is to present that

point or purpose clearly by concentrating on a significant event in great detail by

emphasizing what happened, and omitting the rest of unnecessary events. Coffey

(1987) describes narration as a story about a series of events or actions. Narrative

details are ordered in a logical sequence of time. Moreover, Coffey states that verbs

create the action in a story. Generally speaking, verbs should be in the active voice

rather than in the passive voice. Active verbs help keep the story moving and make the

events seem more alive to readers. Narration also has three important qualities. First, it

tells a story. Second, it generally describes events in chronological order. Finally, it

makes a point.

Example:

Edward Norton initially makes a convincingly scrawny Bruce Banner, living in

Brazil and working at a soda factory. He has maintained communication with a

genetic scientist who may know how to cure Bruce's Green Giant anger

problem. Unfortunately, a drop of Bruce's blood that accidentally falls into an

open soda bottle is all that is needed to raise awareness from the government

and the sour, unemotional General Ross (William Hurt). The military arrives

armed and ready to shoot Bruce Banner, though there is a new foe, a Marine

named Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), who is interested in acquiring a sample of that

genetic Hulk pool. [Tells a story related events in a sequence of time]

Types of Sentence Structures

Klammer (1997) suggests that a sentence is an independent unit of expression

and adds that a simple sentence follows the pattern of subject plus predicate. In

addition, a sentence is a group of words containing a subject and a predicate and

expressing a complete thought.

Winterowd (1981) claims that language gives us many ways to put ideas

together into sentences, and the writer who cannot use sentence combining devices will

have major problems. Writers must automatically and unconsciously be able to use the

sentence structures of their language to put their ideas down in a fluid, coherent way.

In general, sentences are classified as simple, compound, complex, and compound-

complex.

Simple sentence

A simple sentence contains one clause with a subject and a predicate (Klammer,

1977). It has to have a subject (something or someone that is performing the verb) and

a verb (an action or a state). It can stand alone as a complete simple sentence, also

called an independent clause. Moreover, a simple sentence can have a compound

subject (e.g. Jack and Jim) and a compound verb (e.g. worked and walked). However,

there are no commas separating these elements. Thus, simple sentences are useful for

creating an emphasis because they present ideas clearly.

Examples:

This film hits you with all the immediacy of a fist to the gut. [a simple subject,

film, and a simple verb, hits]

Elliott and Rossio can’t possibly service them all satisfactorily. [a compound

subject, Elliott and Rossio, and a simple verb, can’t service]

Compound sentence

A compound sentence contains two or more independent clauses joined in

conventional ways (Klammer, 1977). The clauses are joined by a coordinating

conjunction (with or without a comma). Coordinating conjunctions include and, but,

nor, or, and so. Moreover, the clauses are also joined by a correlative conjunction (with

or without a comma), or a semicolon alone. Correlative conjunctions are such as

both… and and not only…but also. A compound sentence presents a balanced

relationship between the clauses that are joined. Thus, it is emphasized that the ideas in

the sentence are of equal importance.

Example:

Gems mined for this purpose are called conflict diamonds [independent], and

they are the currency of Danny Archer [independent].

Complex sentence

A complex sentence contains at least two clauses: one independent and one or

more subordinate clauses (Klammer, 1977). The dependent clause is introduced by

either a subordinate conjunction such as although, because, since, while, and when, or a

relative pronoun such as that, who, what, and which. One clause (the main clause) is

emphasized over the others (the subordinate clauses). Thus, a complex sentence

expresses a interrelationship of the ideas in the sentences.

Examples:

The case commences at Christmastime in 1968 [independent], when a couple is

shot to death on a remote lover’s lane in Solano County [dependent].

Although he is on his way home for the night [dependent], McClane is called

upon to bring in Matt Farrell for questioning [independent].

Compound-complex sentence

A compound-complex sentence contains three or more clauses, at least two of

which are independent clauses, and at least one of which is a subordinate clause

(Klammer, 1977). Thus, a compound-complex sentence establishes a complicated

relationship among a series of ideas.

Examples:

The origin plot of the Incredible Hulk since its inception in the late 60’s never

made a lot of sense [independent] – what is the point of using a genetically

[independent] – engineered Hulk as a secret weapon when his animal instincts

cause him to destroy everything in his path [dependent]?

Susie was sick [independent], but she could not stop working [independent]

because she had to finish the report for the meeting the next day [dependent].

Types of Word Choices in Movie Reviews

Lannon (1983) suggests that word choice ultimately determines the quality of

your writing. After all, any sentence is only as effective as the words it contains.

Jacobs (1992) explains that word choice refers to a writer’s selection of word. The

selection should be accurate and explicit, so that all actions and ideas are clear. If a

passage is effective, if it conveys an idea well or gets at the essence of an action vividly

and powerfully, we may confidently say that the words are right.

Moreover, Winterowd (1981) also suggests that “words are symbols that convey

concepts and, therefore, are basic to the thought process. In fact, words and their

functions in sentences are topics that ought to interest the intellectually curious, and

some knowledge of words is necessary to the writer” (p. 399).

Concrete Words

Concrete refers to objects and things that people perceive through senses.

Sherman (1966) claims that concrete/specific language makes a writer’s style more

vigorous and colorful. In technical writing it is especially desirable because it not only

increases liveliness but also gives information more effectively and reduces the

likelihood of vagueness. On the other hand, abstract/general words are vague. The

significant point is that in offering the interpretation a writer would be providing

additional objective facts rather than omitting them in favor of vague expressions or

unsubstantiated interpretation.

All writers know what to say to their readers but some do not have exact words

to convey the intended meaning. In order to convey the intended meaning, writers must

select concrete words which can convey the exact meaning. Concrete words are

subsets of abstract words. They give clear meaning for abstract words. Thus, writers

should select concrete words to be clear in the meaning that they want to express

(Sherman, 1966).

Examples:

Abstract/General Words

major incident response unit

Concrete/Specific Words

ambulance, police car

several factors safety, cost

bad weather hurricane

receptacle jar, beaker, can, box

obtain buy, rent, requisition

We are taking precautions

against fire.

We are installing fire doors and an

automatic sprinkler system.

Emotional Words

An emotional reaction is a kind of human behavior; all human beings have

needs and must try to fulfill their needs. Therefore, writers should know how to

motivate needs through emotions so that their messages motivate the readers and thus

fulfill their interests. Writers should realize that emotional words are important, and

thus they should be careful about picking up a word for the writing. Mortensen (2007)

suggests that if we want to create emotion, choose words that will trigger feelings.

There are many words that are emotionally loaded with and represent different values

of different people. Moreover, words, because of their various lengths, can convey

emotional colors. Generally, short words are more blunt, direct, and harsh. Longer

words are drawn out to evoke colors of melancholy or suffering.

Examples:

Unemotional Words Emotional Words

cheap thrifty

traditional old-fashioned

fun merriment

sad painful

strange eccentric

Related Studies

There are few research studies on online movie review writing. Some studies

investigated writing styles in movie synopses, while other studies analyzed the

persuasive styles used in movie handbills or the persuasive influence of movie reviews

on online consumers.

Kungwanpradit (2004) conducted a study on writing style used in movie

overviews on the website “Yahoo! Movies.” The study investigated the general

characteristics of movie overviews, the use of sentence structure, the use of word

choice, and the use of tone in movie overviews. The findings revealed that there are

three general characteristics of movie overviews: number of sentences used in movie

overviews, the identifying actor’s and actress’s names, and the content of movie

overviews. In the part of grammatical structures, the most frequent structures used in

movie overviews are complex sentences, then compound-complex sentences, simple

sentences, compound sentences and fragments respectively. Simple sentences and

compound sentences are mostly used in comedies. Complex sentences are used most in

dramas, compound-complex sentences in romances. Besides, similes are frequently

used in dramas. Metaphors are most frequently used in romance. Metonymy and

hyperbole are mostly used by comedies. Furthermore, the findings about word choice

revealed that concrete words are used less than abstract words. Finally, the study found

that most movie overviews convey a purposive tone or an emotional tone.

Charoenchasri (2007) conducted a study on genre analysis of Newsgroup movie

reviews on www.imdb.com. This study was undertaken to analyze the particular

aspects of moves, sub-moves, and steps seen in the schematic description of rhetorical

pattern of movie review genre on the Imbd domain and the use of lexical features. The

findings showed that movie reviews on the Imdb domain follow the five moves in the

corpus of movie reviews: introducing the movie, describing the movie’s storyline,

providing comments, concluding the review, and offering other information. Also, the

study pointed out that the organization of ideas to establish moves and to reflectively

indicate the intentional rationale behind moves and steps is underlined by means of

utilizing discourse markers that help to convey the communicatively functional

statement under the entire rhetorical arrangement of the text.

Meeprom (2005) conducted a case study on language styles of online film

synopses at Yahoo! Movies. The case study investigated three aspects of language

style: characteristics typical of the film synopses, distribution of word categories, and

grammatical structures of sentences. The findings showed that the film synopses in the

sample ranged widely in style and included 35 typical characteristics. Also, the

findings revealed the patterns of “main characters plus conflict” and “main characters

plus conflict and climax” were most frequently used. Moreover, the study found that

nouns were the most frequent used, followed by verbs and prepositions. As for the

grammatical structure analysis, complex sentences were the most frequently found and

the relative clause was the predominant method of combining sentences. The active

voice and the present tense were usually used. The style, analyzed by the computer

programme Right-Writer3.0, was defined as weak and mostly difficult to read.

In another study, Eliashberg & Shugan (1999) investigated an important factor

of film critics. This study considered the relationship between the market performance

of entertainment services and the role of critics. The objective of this study was to

examine the potential role that critics may play in predicting and influencing the

commercial box office. The findings showed that critical reviews correlate with late

and cumulative box office receipts, but do not have a significant correlation with early

box office receipts. These findings suggested that critics, at least from an aggregate

level perspective, appear to act more as leading indicators than as opinion leaders.

Besides, Bozilovic (1998) conducted a study on factors of film

communicability. This study aimed to show that film critiques have an inevitable role

in the communication. The findings of this study showed that a critique is an important

mediator in the communication of the film and the audience so it should be made in

such a way as to provoke and enhance communication. The influence of film criticism

is proved by the number of empirical researches. The study showed that with the age of

the examinees knowledge develops and the comments on the critique in the newspapers

are used as the basis for film selection.

Summary of the Chapter

This chapter presented the literature as the theoretical framework for this study.

The first section described the concept of writing a movie review and then the overview

of the IMDB domain and action movies were discussed. The third section highlighted

the writing style and writing genre as well as types of sentence structure and word

choices. The previous studies contributed to the study both abroad and in Thailand

were presented in the final section.

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This present study aimed to find out common features of action movie reviews on

the website www.imdb.com. Writing style, specifically common types of writing,

sentence structures and word choices in action movie reviews were also investigated.

This chapter then presents the research methodology beginning with a description of

research procedure including research design, sources of data, and the procedure for data

collection and analysis.

Research Procedure

Research Design

This study is a qualitative study by nature. To be more specific, the qualitative data,

the content of movie reviews, were collected and analyzed using the framework of

Rudeen (2000) and Grabris et al. (2001). The source of the data was www.imdb.com.

which the movie reviews were posted, and the content in the movie reviews were

analyzed to find out the common features of movie review writing.

Data Collection

The data of this study were collected from Internet Websites “www.Imdb.com”.

The reason to select Internet Websites to be the main source of data because at present the

Internet is quickly search engines for people to get information of movies. The IMDB is

the professional reviews site and well known for containing the largest accumulation of

data about films. Moreover, Wikipedia (2009), Kats et al. (2002), and Melville et al.

(2002) mention that IMDB is popular in terms of entertainment professionals. This site

gives information about movies and good source of movie reviews written by members in

the Usenet newsgroup who are professional in writing movie reviews. Customers have a

chance to present their opinions towards movies they want to criticize. Besides, the data

of this study were selected from action movie review writing. Everybody loves to see

movies and each has a different choice to watch movies of their interest. A few love

comedy movies, a few might prefer drama movies others might love horror movies and

quite a lot of people love to see action movies (Hanson, 2009). Additionally, people need

excitement. Action movies are a simple and effective out, allowing people to experience

a heightened state with no risk in a convenient form. Then, the reason to select this action

movie was that action movies are loved by all age groups such as children, youngsters

and older generation.

Sampling procedure

According to the selection, all selected action movie reviews are randomly

collecting from top 250 Worldwide Box Office which each movie has grossed over

US$200,000,000 at the box office during their theatrical runs. All selected data were

collected during the year 2007 – 2008 on www.imdb.com. Figure 2 presents the detailed

information of the ten action movie reviews of this present study.

Action Movie: Year 2007 - 2008 Worldwide Box Office

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007) 2. Spider-Man 3 (2007) 3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) 4. Transformers (2007) 5. Iron Man (2008) 6. Quantum of Solace (2008) 7. National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007) 8. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) 9. Live Free or Die Hard (2007)

10. The Incredible Hulk (2008)

US$958,404,152 US$885,430,303 US$783,400,000 US$700,759,914 US$571,827,600 US$569,968,427 US$453,961,501 US$440,725,045 US$377,520,804 US$254,218,390

Figure 2. The Titles of Action Movie Reviews and Their Grossed Income

Data Analysis

This study used content analysis method to find out the common features of action

movie review writing. A personal computer with Internet access and compact disc

recordable (CD-R) was used in collecting data from online sources. The collected files,

the texts of action movie review from the website www.imdb.com were copied. Then the

data were manually analyzed in the following steps:

To answer the first research question: What are the common features of action

movie review writing? The common features of writing used in action movie reviews

were analyzed in terms of the common features of movie review writing that typically

found in action movie reviews based on Rudeen’s organizational formats (2000) and

Garbis et al.,’s (2001) movie review guidelines.

The results revealed the common features in terms of the main pattern and the

organizational formats used in ten action movie reviews.

To answer the second research question: What are the common types of writing,

sentence structures, and word choices used in action movie reviews? First, the data were

analyzed based on three types of writing: informative, persuasive, and narrative. Next,

four types of sentence structures: simple, compound, complex and compound-complex

sentences used in the movie content were analyzed. The results showed the types of

writing and the types of sentence structure used most in the ten action movie reviews.

Finally, to answer the third research question: What are the frequencies of types of

writing, sentence structure, and word choices used in action movie reviews. The

researcher analyzed the most frequency of types of writing, sentence structures, and word

choices both quantitatively and qualitatively by presenting in percentage.

Summary of the Chapter

This chapter discussed the research methodology including research design,

sources of data, sampling procedure, data collection and analysis. The sources of data for

the study were the action movie reviews on the website www.imdb.com. The data were

the content of the movie reviews, and the data were analyzed using the content analysis

based on the framework and the guidelines of movie review writing. Chapter four

presents the results of the study.

CHAPTER IV

FINDINGS

This study investigated common features of action movie review writing. This

chapter presents the results of the study which are divided into two main sections.

The first section presents the results of the common features of movie review writing

that typically found in action movie reviews based on Rudeen’s organizational

formats (2000) and Garbis et al.,’s (2001) movie review guidelines. The second

section discusses types of writing, sentence structures, and word choices in action

movie review writing.

Common Features in Action Movie Reviews Writing

This study aimed at investigating common features of action movie review

writing. The content of each part of the texts as well as its purposes was analyzed to

find out the common features of action movie reviews. The findings revealed four

overall patterns of writing in action movie reviews: a broad overview of the movie, a

comparison with the previous episode of the film, description of the movie’s storyline,

and making comments. The first pattern was aimed to provide a broad overview of

the movie including the actors’ role and the background information related to the

movie for the readers. The second pattern was intended to compare the present movie

with the previous episodes while the third pattern was the description of the movie’s

storyline and the last pattern is the provision of the reviewer’s comments on the

movie, both positive and negative or the conclusion of the review. The description of

overall patterns in action movie review writing was summarized in Table 1.

Table 1

Overall Patterns of Action Movie Reviews Writing

Patterns of Action Movie Review

Writing

Intents

1. Providing a Broad Overview

Intent 1: Giving the general description of the

movie

Intent 2: Giving the background knowledge

related to the movie

2. Comparison with the Previous

Episodes (i.e. Spiderman 1, 2,

& 3)

Intent 1: Comparison with the previous episode

Intent 2: Comparison with all previous episodes

3. Describing the Movie’s

Storyline

Intent 1: Describing the impression events in the

movie

4. Providing Reviewer’s

Comments or Concluding the

Review

Intent 1: Giving reviewer’s comments or making

an entire judgment in positive and negative or

evaluate the movie

Intent 2: Giving suggestions in the movie or

offering other information such as other special

comments or contact information of the reviewer

Table 1 shows each pattern of action movie reviews with its intents in each

part of the text. The following section is then the explanation of four patterns of the

movie reviews as well as the sample review content to help the readers have a

profound understanding.

Pattern 1: Providing a Broad Overview

This pattern focuses on giving information, general description, or background

of the movie to the readers. The reviewers provide general information or description

of actor’s roles, scenes, highlight, or spotlight events of the movie. This pattern

consists of 2 intents as follows.

Intent 1: Giving the general description/information of the movie. This part

mainly focuses on scenes or actors’ role which the reviewers consider that it is

important to help the readers to get some general information so that they can make a

decision whether to see the movie. Below is the example of Intent 1.

Example

Director: Paul Greengrass, Screenplay: Tony Gilroy, Scott Z. Burns, George

Nolfi (based on the novel by Robert Ludlum) Cast: Matt Damon, Joan Allen,

David Strathairn MPAA Classification: PG-13 (The Bourne Ultimatum)

This part illustrates that the reviewer gives the information about the names of

the film director (Paul Greengrass) movie stars (Matt Damon), and movie

classification rating which parent have to suggest their children (parental guidance

suggested: PG-13).

Intent 2: Giving the background knowledge related to the movie. This part of

the review mainly presents the general background knowledge of the movie such as

the information about the previous movie and the income.

Example

For the last two months, the story around Live Free or Die Hard (Die Hard IV)

has been Fox's decision to rework the film for the sake of getting a PG-13

rating. Of course, the original three Die Hard films were hard-R, with graphic

violence, pervasive profanity, and a general rough-and-tumble quality that

were (along with the Lethal Weapon films) the standard bearers of adult action

entertainment for about a decade. (Live Free or Die Hard)

This part shows that the reviewer wants to present the background knowledge

about the movie classification. As the example, the reviewer tells the reader about the

movie classification of all the original three Die Hard films which were classified as

hard-R, with graphic violence.

Pattern 2: Comparison with the Previous Episode

This pattern aims to compare the present episode of the movie with the

previous one and explain the difference between the two versions and interesting

things in the movies.

Intent 1: Comparison with the previous episode. This option uses only one

previous episode to explain what interests towards the movies are.

Example

The first National Treasure canoodled the American Revolution into a mildly

entertaining The Da Vinci code spoof. Book of Secrets schlumps the Civil

War into dreck. (National Treasure: Book of Secrets)

This part shows that the reviewer wants to explain the useful information

between the present and previous episode of the movie. The reviewer tells the main

these of the previous episode of National Treasure that involves the Da Vinci code

spoof; while, the present movie is about the Civil War.

Intent 2: Comparison with all previous episodes

In Intent 2, the reviewer gives the information for all previous episodes and

explains the main interests in the movies or explains the difference among those

previous episodes.

Example

Compared to "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"

(hereafter referred to as Pirates 1), its sequel, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead

Man's Chest" (hereafter referred to as Pirates 2), was a complete and utter

waste of everyone's time, a sorry state of affairs that robbed those colorful

pirate rogues we had come to know and love of their ineffable charm.

Three's supposed to be a charm of course but you won't find much of that in

Gore Verbinski's continuation (current thinking: culmination) of his silly yet

spectacular swashbuckling saga starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira

Knightley, and Geoffrey "them's more what you'd call guidelines than actual

rules" Rush.

Compared to Pirates 2, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (hereafter

referred to as Pirates 3) often feels like Pirates 1, which is a bit unfair since it's

nowhere near that good. But it's better than Pirates 2. Keep telling yourself

that and you'll likely make it through to the (world's) end.

What you will find in Pirates 3 is a lot of the same. And I mean a *lot* of the

same. Save from an opening sequence in Singapore (with Chow Yun-Fat) and

a brief, much ballyhooed cameo by Keith Richards as Captain Jack's

paterfamilias (Depp often cited the Rolling Stones guitarist as his inspiration

for Sparrow's body language and vocal deliveries) there's little here we haven't

seen before. This time it's longer, noisier, more spectacular, perhaps, in terms

of its set pieces--the battle scenes, especially--but bigger isn't necessarily

better (although it *is* better than Pirates 2). (Pirate of the Caribbean: At

World’s End)

This examples above shows that the reviewer’s intent to make readers

understand the content of the present movie by comparing with all the previous

episodes. Moreover, the reviewer points out the main important points between the

previous and the present movie to help readers to understand what the present movie

presents.

Pattern 3: Describing the Movie’s Storyline

This pattern aims to focus on explaining scenes, detailed events, and situations

in the movie. There is the only one intent found in action movie reviews.

Intent 1: Describing the impressive events in the movie. This option explains

the impressive events that occur in the movie and gives some examples or situations

of storylines.

Example

Director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, United 93) wastes zero

time in mining the action from this storyline. As a filmmaker, his edit points

are quick, his camera shaky, and his close-ups constant. He wants realism and

he wants his action to appear in real-time. The pseudo-documentary style he's

becoming known for is at its best here, muting the spectacle of his stunts to

make room for believability in the play-pretend realism. And since it appears

many of his stunts were actually coordinated on set-and not in front of a

computer monitor-the realism is certainly accepted as, well, real.

For this reason, The Bourne Ultimatum sprints as a missile for the moon. It's

fast and sometimes infuriatingly so, as it rounds plot corners at double-time,

leaving us confused and choking on its dust. But all is forgiven when a clever

foot-chase is launched, when Bourne kicks down the clutch of a motorcycle,

as he hijacks an NYPD squad car, as he leaps from a roof, etc, etc. Luckily his

stunts are as loud as they are intelligent. And since Bourne stays generally

low-tech with his tricks, he becomes a sort of spy-version of MacGyver. (The

Bourne Ultimatum)

As shown in the example above, the reviewer explains the impressive events

in the movie, the action of this movie by giving credit to the director that many of

stunts were actually coordinated on set-and not in front of a computer monitor, so the

realism is certainly accepted.

Pattern 4: Providing Reviewer’s Comments or Concluding the Review

For this pattern the reviewer expresses his/her point of view, comments,

evaluate and make judgments for the movie in both a positive and negative way. The

reviewers’ expression can help readers to decide whether or not to see the movie.

Intent 1: Giving reviewer’s comments or making an entire judgment in

positive and negative or evaluate the movie.

Example

QUANTUM OF SOLACE has one of the more complex and satisfying of the

Bond film plots. The character of Bond has more depth than he does in some

of the more pulpy entries in the series. It is one of the rare Bond films that can

be appreciated on an adult level. I rate it a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10.

(Quantum of Solace)

The extract shows that the reviewer males comments on the plot of the movie

and the characters of the actors. Moreover, the reviewer gives the rating scale (7/10).

Intent 2: Giving suggestions in the movie or offering other information such

as special comments or contact information of the reviewer. This intent aims to make

suggestion or recommendation about the movie.

Example

SPIDER-MAN 3 runs 2:20. It is rated PG-13 for "sequences of intense action

violence" and would be acceptable for kids around 6 and up.

My son Jeffrey, age 18, gave it *** 1/2, although he didn't like it as much as

the second and he thought this one was too predictable. He really liked the

action, the story and the multiple villains. He especially like the way they did

more with humor. His girlfriend Yasmin, age 17, wanted to give it "five

million trillion stars," but I refused to let her go above my scale's maximum of

****. She loved the movie's great twists and turns and the way it scared her.

But, most of all, she loved Spider-Man. (Spider-Man3)

This example demonstrates that the reviewer presents special comments to

make the content of movie review reasonable. As the example, the reviewer also

gives his son and his son’s girlfriend to comment the movie.

Organizational Formats of Action Movie Review Writing

The further analysis of the content of the texts in the movie reviews was

investigated to find out the common features of the movie review writing in terms of

organizational formats based on Rudeen’s (2000) and the guidelines of movie review

by Garbis et al. (2001). The following tables demonstrate the organizational formats

in then action movie reviews.

Table 2

Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing

Movie Title: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Title and deck

Introduction

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT

WORLD'S END A film review by David N.

Butterworth

** (out of ****)

Compared to "Pirates of the Caribbean: The

Curse of the Black Pearl" (hereafter referred to

as Pirates 1), its sequel, "Pirates of the

Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (hereafter

referred to as Pirates 2), was a complete and

utter waste of everyone's time, a sorry state of

affairs that robbed those colorful pirate rogues

we had come to know and love of their

ineffable charm.

None

Table 2

Continued

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Three's supposed to be a charm of course but

you won't find much of that in Gore Verbinski's

continuation (current thinking: culmination) of

his silly yet spectacular swashbuckling saga

starring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira

Knightley, and Geoffrey "them's more what

you'd call guidelines than actual rules" Rush.

Compared to Pirates 2, "Pirates of the

Caribbean: At World's End" (hereafter referred

to as Pirates 3) often feels like Pirates 1, which

is a bit unfair since it's nowhere near that good.

But it's better than Pirates 2. Keep telling

yourself that and you'll likely make it through to

the (world's) end.

Actors’ roles

What you will find in Pirates 3 is a lot of the

same. And I mean a *lot* of the same. Save

from an opening sequence in Singapore (with

Chow Yun-Fat) and a brief, much ballyhooed

cameo by Keith Richards as Captain Jack's

paterfamilias (Depp often cited the Rolling

Stones guitarist as his inspiration for Sparrow's

body language and vocal deliveries) there's little

here we haven't seen before. This time it's

longer, noisier, more spectacular, perhaps, in

terms of its set pieces--the battle scenes,

especially--but bigger isn't necessarily better

(although it *is* better than Pirates 2).

Offers actors’

roles

Offers movie

techniques used

Table 2

Continued

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Not only are Cap'n Jack, Will Turner, Elizabeth

Swann, Barbossa, that flamin' monkey, and

those two funny pirates (one with the wooden

eye?) all back in fine fighting form but so too

are the entire cast of Pirates 2, pretty much,

including locker room attendant Davy Jones

(Bill Nighy) and his fleet of fishy followers, the

Jamaican high priestess Tia Dalma (Naomie

Harris), "Bootstrap" Bill Turner (Stellan

Skarsgard), and Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom

Hollander).

Storyline

Beckett rises to a position of prominence in

Pirates 3, forming an unhealthy alliance with

old tentacle face in a bid to rid the Seven Seas

of Sparrow and his motley crew of brigands and

ruffians (Beckett's keeping Jones's heart on ice

in the cooler, so to speak, so he has the upper

hand). Fortunately for the good guys Ms.

Swann also puts in a bid for more screen time

and wins, elevating her pulchritudinous position

to King of the Pirate Lords! Which doesn’t

leave much room for Jack...?

Offers a brief

summary

Conclusion Depp's more subdued this go around. At least

he's not reduced to clown status, as he was last

time, but he was key to the first film's success

and his savvy "savvy?" is neither here nor there.

Instead, Pirates 3 spreads the witty asides

around. It's not quite the same.

Plumbing the art decorator's depths with

characters and situations we've come to enjoy,

the atmospheric "Pirates of the Caribbean: At

World's End" winds up evening the series out.

Would I see it again? If appropriately

compensated, maybe. Would I watch Pirates 2

again? "I'm disinclined to acquiesce to [that]

request. Means 'no.'"

Address how

well the movie

Offers the

reader in

reviewer

opinion

As shown in Table 2, the results revealed that this reviewer wrote the movie

review “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End” using according to Rudeen’s

(2000) organizational formats. However, the reviewer did not inform the reader

where they could see the movie. Furthermore, base on Garbis et al.,’s (2001) movie

review guidelines, the findings revealed that part of writing which offers overall

impression of the movie was not found.

Table 3

Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing

Movie Title: Spider-Man 3

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Title and deck

Introduction

SPIDER-MAN 3

A film review by Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****): ***

In SPIDER-MAN 3, Spidey gets in touch with

his inner evil twin, which turns out to be a lot of

fun for him and for us. Even if the movie isn't

nearly as good as SPIDER-MAN 2, it's not a

GODFATHER 3 sort of disaster of a third

picture in a series. About the worst that can be

said of SPIDER-MAN 3 is that it's overstuffed

with villains and it's at least twenty minutes too

long.

But as a wildly expensive popcorn movie, it

delivers the goods nicely enough. Best of all,

it's quite funny. Returning as story's eponymous

lead, Tobey Maguire is never better than when

he's finally allowed to be mean.

None

Offers overall

impression of

the movie

Table 3

Continued

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Storyline

Actor’s role

One of the movies many storylines has a

meteorite crashing into earth, leaving behind a

substance that turns good men bad. This icky

and spidery black goo attaches itself to Peter

Parker, a.k.a. Spider-Man, our All-American

superhero. When it does, Spider-Man turns into

a killer who wants to seek revenge. Later, he'll

renounce his devils and learn the true power of

forgiveness in a rather sappy yet satisfying

ending.

Peter also turns into a real lady killer. He's a

player who struts his stuff with pride. By far the

film's funniest scene comes when Maguire does

an homage to John Travolta's Tony Manero in

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, as Maguire

disco dances down the streets of New York.

Another delicious moment comes as he does a

Gene Kelly-type dance number in a club as his

date, Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), looks

on in amazement. The whole date is intended as

a big show-off for his old squeeze, Mary Jane

Watson (Kirsten Dunst). This is the movie,

however, where Peter wants badly to pop the

question to Mary Jane, but circumstances keep

conspiring to stop his proposal from happening.

The "3" in the title could also refer to the

number of villains. This time we get three

villains for the price of one movie ticket. James

Franco plays "Goblin Junior," as the son of The

Great Goblin is derisively called. Thomas

Haden Church plays the Sandman, a character

created out of some great special effects. And,

Topher Grace plays Venom, a character with

somewhat similar skills to Spider-Man. Of

course, all three of the bad guys have

sympathetic good guy alter egos.

Offers movie

techniques used

Offers actors’

roles

Address how

well the movie

Offers movie

techniques used

Table 3

Continued

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Conclusion

Even though I wished it had been shorter, and

hence more focused, I had a good time. I've

heard it called the most expensive movie ever

made. If that's anywhere near true, they

significantly overspent since, although it looks

fine, it's certainly no LORD OF THE RINGS.

SPIDER-MAN 3 runs 2:20. It is rated PG-13

for "sequences of intense action violence" and

would be acceptable for kids around 6 and up.

My son Jeffrey, age 18, gave it *** 1/2,

although he didn't like it as much as the second

and he thought this one was too predictable. He

really liked the action, the story and the

multiple villains. He especially like the way

they did more with humor. His girlfriend

Yasmin, age 17, wanted to give it "five million

trillion stars," but I refused to let her go above

my scale's maximum of ****. She loved the

movie's great twists and turns and the way it

scared her. But, most of all, she loved Spider-

Man.

Offers the

reader in

reviewer

opinion

According to Table 3, the findings revealed that based on Rudeen’s

organizational formats (2000) the movie theater and cinema in which the movie was

shown was not found. Moreover, this movie review has written based on Garbis et

al.,’s (2001) movie review guidelines

Table 4

Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing

Movie Title: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Title and deck

Introduction

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF

THE CRYSTAL SKULL A film review by

RATING (0 TO ****): *** 1/2

The magic is back!

Can Harrison Ford at his age really pull off the

role of action hero Indiana Jones again? I'm

here to tell you that he can and does it with

great comedic gusto to boot. The long wait for

the next Indiana Jones movie is over, and it was

well worth the wait.

You've probably already been talked out of

loving this movie by all of the other reviewers

whose mantra is that the latest Indy film is good

but nothing special. Don't listen to them.

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF

THE CRYSTAL SKULL is absolutely terrific.

In my packed audience, everyone was clearly

very attentive and on the edge of their seats

throughout this rip-roaring adventure. And, in a

time when the studios are releasing one long

movie after another whose two hour plus

running times feel twice that long, the latest

Indiana Jones manages to make its two hours

fly by. You'll swear the movie was less than

ninety minutes long.

None

Offers overall

impression of

the movie

Table 4

Continued

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Storyline

Actor’s roles

Director Steven Spielberg knows how to dazzle

us, and he certainly does it here. One of the

reasons why this Indy film works is the script,

full of snappy dialog. After reportedly rejecting

other screenwriters and scripts, Spielberg went

with writer David Koepp, whose wide-ranging

talents can be seen in a whole host of

wonderful, magical -- and sometimes

frightening -- movies, including ZATHURA: A

SPACE ADVENTURE, WAR OF THE

WORLDS, SPIDER-MAN and PANIC ROOM.

The film opens in 1947 in the Nevada desert,

where a nuclear test -- complete with a fake,

picture postcard slice of suburbia -- is

underway. Indy and George "Mac" McHale

(Ray Winstone) get themselves captured there

by KGB agents, led by Irina Spalko. As Spalko,

Cate Blanchett is a hoot, giving one of the best

bad Russian accents on record. Her villain is so

deliciously over the top that Blanchett steals

every scene she is in.

Since Mac is a double agent, a double, double

agent, or who knows what, he doesn't stay

teamed up with Indy for long. But INDIANA

JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE

CRYSTAL SKULL is a buddy comedy. Indy

sidekick Mutt Williams is played by Shia

LaBeouf (the young lead in

TRANSFORMERS). With a switchblade knife,

a big head of greasy hair that requires constant

combing, a leather jacket and a noisy

motorcycle, Mutt is a cross between James

Dean and a young Marlon Brando. He is also

every bit Indy's equal, with "Get on, Gramps"

being one of his first putdowns of Indy.

Offers movie

techniques used

Offers a brief

summary

Offers actors’

roles

Table 4

Continued

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Conclusion

Mutt says that as they speed away on his

motorcycle, eventually riding right through the

library at the college where Indy is currently

teaching.

The quest this time involves a highly magnetic

box with "Roswell, N. M." on the side and a

strangely shaped crystal skull located deep in

the Peruvian jungle. While never taking itself

too seriously, the movie miraculously makes all

of its shenanigans and mysteries appear

genuine, even if far-fetched.

This rollicking good adventure is a good-

spirited family film that will entertain young

and old alike. It's also a very handsome picture

as well. Every shot has a warm glow to it that

makes it all very inviting. But I've got to

confess that my favorite parts are when the old

Indy theme is played again and again.

Be ready to laugh loud and often. Personally, I

had a smile on my face throughout the whole

movie since it is such a treat. Some of the

classic lines ("I've got a bad feeling about

this.") are also a lot of fun.

This charmer has other potential as well.

Besides being a movie that should and will

make a mint at the box office, it could also be

used as the basis for a completely new

Disneyland ride. The old ride is great, but one

based on this latest film could be even more

exciting.

Address how

well the movie

Offers the

reader in

reviewer

opinion

Table 4

Continued

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF

THE CRYSTAL SKULL runs what proves to

be a blazingly fast 2:02. It is rated PG-13 for

"adventure violence and scary images" and

would be acceptable for kids around 9 and up.

According to Rudeen’s organizational formats (2000), the findings revealed

that part of the place where it can be seen is not found. Moreover, this movie review

was written based on Rudeen’s organizational formats (2000).

Table 5

Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing

Movie Title: Transformers

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Title and deck

"Transfomers" - More than Meets the Eye

by Homer Yen

None

Table 5

Continued

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Storyline

Introduction

In the mid-1980s, Hasbro Inc. launched a set of

unique toys that, when twisted and turned,

transformed into alien robots. The Transformers

lore told of good aliens called Autobots, led by

wise Optimus Prime (voice of Peter Cullen who

was the original voice in all of the Transformers

cartoons from the 80s), who battled against evil

Decepticons, led by the malicious Megatron

(voiced here by Hugo Weaving). Like all

cataclysmic wars, theirs eventually ripped their

home planet apart, and the reason for the war,

an amazing energy cube, was lost to the stars.

This seemed to happen many eons ago. From

various seemingly unrelated scenes that happen

early in the film, we can surmise that the cube

found its way to our planet and the power-

hungry Megatron was not far behind.

For some like me, the Transformers was as

synonymous to my childhood as baseball is to

American sports. And watching a film with

blockbuster ambitions replete with special

effects that boggle the mind, I was reminded of

my younger years when I was just thrilled to

have a Matchbox car where the doors and the

engine hood would open. But with the

exponential improvement in digital technology

as well as the increasing expertise of today's

filmmakers, three-story tall alien robots can

convincingly share space with six-foot-tall

human counterparts.

Offers a brief

summary

Offers overall

impression

Table 5

Continued

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Actors’ Roles

The special effects wizards at Industrial Light

& Magic have taken it to a whole new level as

they use computer magic to transform these

aliens with 10,000+ moving parts into all sorts

of vehicles. Frankly, I marvel at the genius that

goes into how a simple piece of corrugated

cardboard can be folded into a fully enclosed

box. Here, we have robots that leap into the air

and then start transforming into vehicles. We

have airplanes that plummet towards the ground

and then transform into robots before hitting the

asphalt. That means, oh man, I'm in boyhood

heaven.

The Autobots befriend a not-quite-ready-for-

prime-time teenager, Sam Witwicky (Shia

LeBeouf) who can aide the good guys in

finding the energy cube. Sam, unaware of his

mythical responsibilities, is instead trying to

catch the attention of schoolmate hottie,

Mickaela Banes (Megan Fox) and trying to

dodge around his overly inquisitive parents.

Sam's growth as a friend to the Autobots, as a

love interest to Mickaela, and as a responsible

son to his parents goes above and beyond what

we'd expect from a film like this. The romantic

and comedic elements are oddly appealing.

And yet, there is also a fair amount of action

and suspense that one would expect from a July

4th release. Outside of this summer's final

"Pirates of the Caribbean" installment,

"Transformers" has some of the most eye-

popping action sequences this year. Autobots

want to live peacefully and will protect humans,

but Decepticons want to destroy Autobots and

consider loss of human life as collateral

damage.

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There are lots of characters, and each one gets a

good 15-minute's worth, although as a whole, it

never develops very much dramatically. And

it's heavy on special effects. If you consider all

the stuff that happening on screen, including:

smoke rising, people running around, robots

transforming, combat, and things getting

destroyed (all in one shot), you could easily

find this experience chaotic. But the project

knows what it wants to accomplish, and it does.

While not a great film, "Transformers" holds

your attention and is what the summer

moviegoing experience is all about.

Offers the

reader in

reviewer

opinion

An analysis of the movie review “Tranformers” revealed that the content of

this movie review was written based on a combination of Rudeen’s organizational

formats (2000) and Garbis et al.,’s (2001) movie review guidelines. However, the

reviewer did not provide the information of the theater or cinema that the movie was

shown.

Table 6

Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing

Movie Title: Iron Man

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Title and deck

Introduction

IRON MAN

A film review by Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2

As popcorn flicks go, IRON MAN has enough

action and goofy moments to mostly keep your

attention throughout its bloated two hour plus

running time. (There is probably a sizzling

ninety-minute movie buried within its one-

hundred-and-twenty-six minutes.) But its thin

script suggests that the movie is more interested

in setting up a franchise than entertaining us,

which it does do sporadically.

Don't get me wrong. When the movie clicks,

which isn't nearly often enough, you'll have a

good time. The best moments in the picture are

the silliest, as when Tony Stark (Robert

Downey Jr.) fails spectacularly in perfecting his

Iron Man suit, which is a wearable killing

machine.

The film's central premise is based on a heavy-

handed political message that is ridiculous and

inconsistent. Hollywood has been churning out

anti-war movies with reckless abandon for the

past several years, while audiences have been

avoiding them like the plague.

None

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Storyline

In IRON MAN, Hollywood attempts to sneak

its anti-war sentiments into an action film. Tony

Stark, a billionaire playboy who has made his

riches off of his armaments company, decides

that war and the weapons of war are immoral.

So, he orders his company to stop building

them, which are their only products. What does

he do then? He wages a one-man war with his

own personal weapon of mass destruction. So,

the message becomes -- I guess -- that wars and

weapons are okay so long as the wager of the

wars is a superhero and not our military.

But I digress. Most people, predominately teens

and young adults, going to see IRON MAN just

want to know if Iron Man is going to blow up a

lot of stuff. Trust me -- the body count will be

high and the explosions will be loud enough to

shake the walls of the theater. Get a big bag of

popcorn and be ready for plenty of death and

destruction. You won't be disappointed in that

regard.

When we first meet Tony, he has temporarily

left his buxom playmates behind so that he can

venture to Afghanistan in order to demonstrate

his latest innovation in firepower to some

military brass. Along the way he quotes his

father, who firmly believed that "Peace means

having a bigger stick than the other guy."

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After being captured by the enemy, Tony

converts to a peacenik but one with a really

lethal weapon in the form of an invincible iron

suit -- it's actually titanium, but it looks like

iron. What causes Tony's conversion? He finds

out that his weapons have the potential for

inflicting collateral damage. His faux-sentiment

will undoubtedly remind you of Claude Rains's

character in Casablanca, when he said "I'm

shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going

on in here!"

But in no time, Tony is back alone in his private

laboratory in California, aided only by his

personal secretary, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth

Paltrow). Pepper books the charitable events

that he rarely attends and does icky things like

reaching into Tony's chest in order to insert a

new device to protect his heart from the

shrapnel in his body.

We then hear more about how troubled the

wealthy Tony is. With no family and friends,

save possibly Pepper, he is said to be "a man

who has everything and nothing." Don't worry

about him too much, since he'll eventually be

earning everyone's accolades as he takes on the

bad guys. Most of this part of the story,

however, is conveniently left for the next

episodes in what I'm sure the studio is hoping

will be a long running franchise. This film ends

in a single and very predictable fight. I'm sure

that IRON MAN 2 will juice up the villain

count and concentrate even less on the minimal

storyline.

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IRON MAN runs way too long at 2:06. It is

rated PG-13 for "some intense sequences of

sci-fi action and violence, and brief suggestive

content" and would be acceptable for kids

around 7 and up.

The film is playing in nationwide release now

in the United States. In the Silicon Valley, it is

showing at the AMC theaters, the Century

theaters and the Camera Cinemas.

Offers the

reader in

reviewer

opinion

According to Rudeen’s organizational formats (2000) and Garbis et al.,’s

(2001) movie review guidelines, the findings revealed that the content of this movie

review was written base on both of guidelines. However, part of the place where it

can be seen is not found base on Rudeen’s (2000). Moreover part of actor’s roles base

on Rudeen’s (2000) and Garbis et al.,’s (2001) were omitted.

Table 7

Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing

Movie Title: Quantum of Solace

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Title and deck

Introduction

Actors’ roles

QUANTUM OF SOLACE

(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)

CAPSULE: Picking up just after where

CASINO ROYALE left off, James Bond is

involved in trying to find the people behind the

death of his beloved Vesper. This is a decent

spy thriller on an adult level. The tone is

downbeat, but it is still one of the best in the

series. Marc Forster's action scenes could be

more coherent, but he is better with the

dramatic material. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10

The reinvention of James Bond films continues

with QUANTUM OF SOLACE. The old James

Bond had incredible luck and nearly always did

the right thing. This Bond bungles his way into

situations and is as likely to foul up someone

else's plan as he is to fix it. The tension between

M and Bond always seemed a little

disingenuous since Bond was clearly MI6's

super-weapon. The new Bond as of the last two

films is more of a loose cannon and is

dangerous to both sides. This makes for a much

more believable story. Bond super- villains

used to have nonsensical goals like starting

World War III or otherwise wiping out

humanity. Dominic Greene (played by Mathieu

Amalric of THE DIVING BELL AND THE

BUTTERFLY) has a rather nasty plot in the

current film, but it is not very different from

plots that have been hatched in the real world.

None

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The new Bond no longer has the incredible luck

at gambling the old one did, that kind of luck

would have severely damaged the story of

CASINO ROYALE, but he does have some

unaccountable skills like the old one did. In the

new film Bond seems to know how to pilot a

1950s vintage cargo plane. But the new Bond is

no longer the guy every schoolboy wanted to

be. The old Bond, when he loses the love of his

life, drowned the man responsible in a mud

bath. The new Bond drinks, and mourns, and

strikes out only sometimes at the people

responsible. Most of the glamour is gone. So

are the gadget-weapons (with the exception of

one in CASINO ROYALE). And the insistence

that his drinks be shaken and not stirred is a

relic of the past. Just about everything that

made the series childish have been done away

with. Rather than the romantic setting of

previous films like Istanbul, this Bond is not

afraid to spend much of the film in a Bolivian

slum. The film's colors are subdued and faded

to give the film a downbeat feel.

The new film starts uncharacteristically without

the usual gun- barrel and blood logo. Never

fear, fans, the trademark logo has been

relocated to the end of the film. Instead the film

starts with three long and mindless chases as

well as the worst Bond title sequence in recent

memory over the worst title sequence song.

With those out of the way to placate the wrong

kind of Bond fans the film settles down to a

reasonable pace and a more acceptable--even

complex--story.

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Vesper it seems had gotten involved with a

highly secret yet ubiquitous international

criminal organization, a sort of a latter-day

S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Daniel Craig as very probably

the best of the Bonds rushes in to find the new

organization and get revenge. He is not quite

equipped with all of the facts. Bond follows the

trail to Haiti. There his masquerade as someone

else brings him into contact with Camille (Olga

Kurylenko) who is on her own mission of

vengeance. Greene, a member of this secret

organization--it is called Quantum--is working

a deal with a Bolivian general involving

politics, power, and a stretch of worthless

desert. (By the way, calling the organization

Quantum is an insult to the viewer. The title

would have made perfect sense if the word

"quantum" was never used in the film. It was

like putting the mine in ENEMY MINE rather

than explain the title.)

Director Marc Forster has had a very mixed bag

of films to his credit. He directed MONSTER'S

BALL, FINDING NEVERLAND,

STRANGER THAN FICTION, and THE KITE

RUNNER. That is a very mismatched set of

films. While this film has one of the worst title

songs of the whole Bond series, it also has some

of the best music. Sadly it was not music

written for the film, but rather for Giacomo

Puccini's opera TOSCA. One of the film's few

funny moments had the leaders of Quantum

hashing out their plans electronically at a

performance of TOSCA. This bit of extreme

boorishness, talking over the transcendent

music, had to be a new low point for Bond

villains.

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The film takes some swipes at the United States

(as they did in previous films like YOU ONLY

LIVE TWICE) and for the first time in my

memory took a little swipe at Israel (claiming

one of the villains is ex-Mossad). Also the evil

Dominic Greene masquerades as an ecology

advocate spouting cliches.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE has one of the more

complex and satisfying of the Bond film plots.

The character of Bond has more depth than he

does in some of the more pulpy entries in the

series. It is one of the rare Bond films that can

be appreciated on an adult level. I rate it a +2 on

the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10.

Offers the

reader in

reviewer

comment

According to Rudeen’s organizational formats (2000) and Garbis et al.,’s

(2001) movie review guidelines, the findings revealed that the content of this movie

review was written base on both of guidelines. However, based on Rudeen’s (2000),

part of the place where it can be seen was omitted.

Table 8

Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing

Movie Title: National Treasure: Book of Secrets

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Introduction

Storyline

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

A Movie Review by Jonathan Moya

Rating: C+ or 2.5 out of 5

The Review:

National treasure: Book of Secrets at least gets

the history right before its treasure turns out to

be a watered-down piece of booty. The same

cast from the first movie plus the addition of

Helen Mirren as Benjamin Gates mom

(Nicholas Cage returns either laughing his way

through the role or laughing all the way to the

bank depending on your half-glass philosophy)

goes through practically the same adventure. In

true Santayana fashion "those who can not learn

from history are doomed to repeat it" forever in

the sequels.

The first National Treasure canoodled the

American Revolution into a mildly entertaining

The Da Vinci code spoof. Book of Secrets

schlumps the Civil War into dreck.

The conspiracy this time around involves the

Lincoln Assassination, a lost city of gold, what

looks like ancient Native American dildos

misinterpreted as treasure locations, two desks

on different sides of the world and the real

reason Mt. Rushmore was commissioned. And

that great MacGuffin, The Book of Secrets

which reveals the truth about the Kennedy

assassination, the missing eighteen minutes of

the Nixon tapes, the moon landing, Area 51 and

all the other time holes of presidential history--

all this to redeem the good name of great

granddaddy Gates from the muddiness of

misattribution.

None

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This is a serious spoof of a spoof which means

the facts and plot turns don't connect in any

coherent or logical way, and the action except

for one good car chase in London (this is a Jerry

Bruckheimer extravaganza after all) mainly

grinds together in anticlimactic jolts. Yes, the

cast looks happy- they trapeze around the world

and got well paid for it (hopefully, in

confederate notes).

When half the cast start mysteriously slipping

in and out of American and British and German

accents there is a sense that a little too much

self-medication at the complimentary set wet

bar was taking place. Nicolas Cage does the

lamest cockney accent ever put on film in one

scene in a mock argument between his on and

off again ex played by Diane Kreuger only half-

disguising her German heritage. Even Helen

Mirren frequently reverts to uttering the

Queen's English.

We haven't seen method from Nicolas Cage in

many a moon. He has been too busy being these

lame action idiots (Ghost Rider and Wicker

Man). It may not even be in his genes anymore.

Does he really like the look of himself as an

action figure that much?

America never tires of conspiracy theories and

treasure hunts, so National Treasure: Book of

Secrets should be a big hit.

For me, however, it gets a lost in time grade of

C+.

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The Credits: Directed by Jon Turteltaub; written

by Marianne and Cormac Wibberley, based on

a story by the Wibberleys, Greg Poirier, Ted

Elliott and Terry Rossio, based on characters

created by Jim Kouf, Oren Aviv and Charles

Segars; directors of photography, John

Schwartzman and Amir Mokri; edited by

William Goldenberg and David Rennie; music

by Trevor Rabin; production designer, Dominic

Watkins; produced by Mr. Turteltaub and Jerry

Bruckheimer; released by Walt Disney Pictures

and Jerry Bruckheimer Films. Running time: 2

hours 4 minutes.

WITH: Nicolas Cage (Ben Franklin Gates), Jon

Voight (Patrick Gates), Harvey Keitel (Agent

Sadusky), Ed Harris (Mitch Wilkinson), Diane

Kruger (Abigail Chase), Justin Bartha (Riley

Poole), Helen Mirren (Emily Appleton) and

Bruce Greenwood (the President). "National

Treasure: Book of Secrets" is rated PG

(Parental guidance suggested) for bloodless

violence and mild innuendo.

The findings revealed that the content of this movie review was written base

on According to Rudeen’s organizational formats (2000) and Garbis et al.,’s (2001)

movie review guidelines. Besides, part of the place where it can be seen base on

Rudeen’s (2000) was omitted.

Table 9

Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing

Movie Title: The Bourne Ultimatum

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Title and deck

Introduction

Actors’ roles

The Bourne Ultimatum

reviewed by Samuel Osborn

Director: Paul Greengrass Screenplay: Tony

Gilroy, Scott Z. Burns, George Nolfi (based on

the novel by Robert Ludlum) Cast: Matt

Damon, Joan Allen, David Strathairn MPAA

Classification: PG-13

The auditorium in which I screened The Bourne

Ultimatum was filled to capacity and humming

comfortably with the floating refreshment of air

conditioning when I took my seat. By the film's

end, the theatre was still full to capacity but the

room's temperature had risen several

uncomfortable degrees. The air conditioning

was furiously rattling, expelling refrigerated air

as efficiently as possible, but it couldn't keep up

with the perspiration-inducing intensity that the

film had caused our heart-rates to rise to. The

film had indirectly made the room hotter. Talk

about global warming.

Stoic, solemn, and robotic, Jason Bourne

returns for his trilogy capper, The Bourne

Ultimatum. Less of a continuation and more of

an upgrade from The Bourne Supremacy, this

third installment, working off of Robert

Ludlum's source material again, invents new

memories for the amnesiac hero to remember.

What used to be Operation Treadstone has now

been upgraded to Operation Blackbriar and Mr.

Bourne was (of course) involved with it in some

corner of his blurry past.

None

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As Ultimatum picks up almost immediately

after Supremacy left off, Jason Bourne is still

on the run, hurdling cops like leapfrog and

outrunning the CIA like they were a pack of

blind, one-legged cats. Falling in beside the

defensive, calculating Pamela Landy (Joan

Allen) as the CIA's resident Bourne expert is

Noah Vosen (David Strathairn). Vosen heads

up the Blackbriar gang and has hooked a

reporter, Simon Ross (Paddy Considine), whose

exposure stories on Bourne have uncovered

confidential information. Because the

information concerns Bourne's past and because

it's a matter of national security, Ms. Landy,

Mr. Vosen, and Mr. Bourne are all on his trail.

Director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne

Supremacy, United 93) wastes zero time in

mining the action from this storyline. As a

filmmaker, his edit points are quick, his camera

shaky, and his close-ups constant. He wants

realism and he wants his action to appear in

real-time. The pseudo-documentary style he's

becoming known for is at its best here, muting

the spectacle of his stunts to make room for

believability in the play-pretend realism. And

since it appears many of his stunts were actually

coordinated on set-and not in front of a

computer monitor-the realism is certainly

accepted as, well, real.

For this reason, The Bourne Ultimatum sprints

as a missile for the moon. It's fast and

sometimes infuriatingly so, as it rounds plot

corners at double-time, leaving us confused and

choking on its dust.

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But all is forgiven when a clever foot-chase is

launched, when Bourne kicks down the clutch

of a motorcycle, as he hijacks an NYPD squad

car, as he leaps from a roof, etc, etc. Luckily his

stunts are as loud as they are intelligent. And

since Bourne stays generally low-tech with his

tricks, he becomes a sort of spy-version of

MacGyver.

Though I'm not positive as to how essential this

installment is to the Bourne legacy. CIA

Director Ezra Kramer is discussing the Bourne

subject with Ms. Landy early on in the story.

Both are unsure of Bourne's importance to the

agency, weighing out the possibility of giving

up the search altogether. Landy mentions that

maybe he's not involved with this particular

quarrel at all; that this isn't Bourne's fight.

Kramer shrugs, frowns, and says, "Well, let's

keep looking." It seems even the fictional

players are stretching their connection to

Bourne to keep this story chugging. And it's

true; the Bourne legacy doesn't require this

story to be told. This becomes apparent when

the same good joke from the second film is

repeated twice more in the third; and also when

the action set-pieces are nearly the same, if not

extended to a more satisfying length. Like I

said, this is more of an upgrade than a sequel.

But don't think I'm complaining. The

intelligence of the screenplay is a damned

marvel. To craft the delicate logic of such a

complex CIA tale deserves a merit on its own.

And so what if it's a formula their running

through the Hollywood factory for another go-

round? The last film was the best spy film in

ages.

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Just imagine how good this upgraded version is.

And technically The Bourne Ultimatum does

have its own (very valid) storyline that jet-sets

Jason from Morocco to Paris to London to

Madrid and finally to good ole' Manhattan. And

though what character building that's continued

here may not be required viewing for any

Bourne enthusiast, the power that David

Strathairn most certainly is. Skeletal and sever,

Strathairn's Noah Vosen is a formidable needle

of a villain. He's human, as all CIA leaders

claim to be, but that trait is buried beneath a

permafrost mounted by his overwhelming

coldness. Strathairn drives this storyline into a

realm of quasi-originality, making The Bourne

Ultimatum relevant enough for us to enjoy it

unabashedly. Because of him we swallow again

the tired conceit of Bourne's lost memory and

his lingering guilt. We admit that, yeah, this

truly is a magnificent flick. Samuel Osborn

After observing, the findings revealed that the content of this movie review

was written base on Rudeen’s organizational formats (2000) and Garbis et al.,’s

(2001) movie review guidelines. However, part of the place where it can be seen base

on Rudeen’s (2000) was not found.

Table 10

Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing

Movie Title: Live Free or Die Hard

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Title and deck

Introduction

Live Free Or Die Hard

2007

126 minutes

Rated PG-13

By Scott Mendelson

For the last two months, the story around Live

Free Or Die Hard (aka Die Hard IV) has been

Fox's decision to rework the film for the sake of

getting a PG-13 rating. Of course, the original

three Die Hard films were hard-R, with graphic

violence, pervasive profanity, and a general

rough-and-tumble quality that were (along with

the Lethal Weapon films) the standard bearers

of adult action entertainment for about a

decade. Having now seen the film, I now ask

Fox what exactly it was thinking, but not for the

reason you think.

The film is still brutally violent, with an on

screen body count that nearly exceeds the

combined totals of parts 1 and 3 (part 2, with its

two passenger airplane crashes, is still the

record holder). There are point-blank

executions galore, and many vicious fight

scenes, gruesome explosions, and fatal car

wrecks. Point being, fans of the series should

know that this is still a rough, profane, and

violent adult action film. On the other hand, it's

a sorry state for the MPAA when this is

considered more appropriate for children than

the previous entries just because there is less

blood and no one says the 'f' word (the way they

work in McClane's catchphrase within these

confines is surprisingly effective).

None

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However, for those who are old enough to

attend middle school or drive a car, this is a

surprisingly effective large-scale adventure

picture. The plot involves Timothy Olyphant as

a rogue ex-government agent attempting to shut

down the country by hacking into our electrical

systems. Ironically, the story progression in the

first act often resembles Willis's terrific 16

Blocks from last year, albeit with emotional

heft traded in for elaborate shootouts and fights.

The action scenes are set-up in a way to mirror

the claustrophobia and vulnerability of the

original film. With the exception of a third act

True Lies rip-off, the action bits are relatively

creative and the filmmakers were smart to fill

the villain roster with notable sidekicks and

thugs. Maggie Q does king-fu and District B-

13's Cyril Raffaelli does his 'parkour' wall-

bouncing thing, alas all too briefly.

As for our star, a bald Bruce Willis slides back

into his signature role with a minimum of fuss.

The main qualms come with the heavy-handed

treatment of the generation gap between

McClane and the villain, as well as Willis's

accidental sidekick (Justin Long plays a

computer geek who's apparently too young to

have heard of the classic song 'Fortunate Son').

Also, the screenplay goes a little

overboard in re-establishing McClane as a bitter

pill who only reluctantly saves the day (the

opening scene is also a little creepy as McClane

is shown basically stalking his college-aged

daughter). Justin Long comes off better than

expected, thanks to a subplot that deals with his

guilt for having inadvertently helped cause the

chaos that unfolds.

Offers actors’

roles

Offers a brief

summary

Table 10

Continued

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Conclusion

For most of the film, he is not hip or cool, but

scared and slightly ashamed.

Speaking of that college-aged daughter, the

third act stumbles by allowing Lucy McClane

to be abducted by the villains, which is

unfortunate, as the character has been

kidnapped in at least two Die Hard videogames.

Since the conflict between McClane and the

evil Gabriel is established and Long spends

much of the film in mortal peril, there is no

reason to pull out this most tired of chicks.

Regardless of past whiffs (the Underworld

films), director Len Wiseman proves capable of

pulling together a solid, crowd-pleasing action

vehicle that showcases authentic top-notch stunt

work and quality fight choreography. As a

bonus, the supporting cast is filled with reliable

character actors. Cliff Curtis is solid as the head

government agent dealing with the mess,

although Zeljko Ivanek is so wasted that I was

sure he was going to be revealed as a traitor in

the third act.

I still question Fox's decision to dub out the f-

words in order to get that PG-13 (the bad

dubbing is pretty funny at times), since they've

now created a film that is still inappropriate for

younger children but whose rating may scare

off or offend hard-action junkies. And, if Fox

wants the family audience, why are they

opening this against Pixar's Ratatouille?

Offer the reader

in reviewer

opinion

Table 10

Continued

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Studio politics aside, Live Free Or Die Hard is a

fun, well- crafted adult action film. So far, with

this and Rocky Balboa, we're 2 for 2 in 80s

nostalgia revamps. This gives me hope for

Rambo IV (which will be a hard-R), to say

nothing of the much anticipated (and somewhat

feared) fourth Indiana Jones film. It's not a

patch on the original, or the underrated Die

Harder, but it is about as good as Die Hard

With A Vengeance. It doesn't Die Hardest, but

it doesn't Die Hardly either.

The findings revealed that part of the place where it can be seen based on

Rudeen’s (2000) was omitted. In addition, there are three parts base on Garbis et

al.,’s (2001) movie review guidelines omitted: offers overall impression of the movie,

offers movie techniques used, and address how well the movie.

Table 11

Organizational Formats and Guideline of Movie Review Writing

Movie Title: The Incredible Hulk

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Title and deck

Introduction

Storyline

Actors’ roles

THE INCREDIBLE HULK (2008)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

RATING: One star and a half

Why on earth did Edward Norton make a

boring Hulk movie? Why do moviegoers hate

Ang Lee's "Hulk" so much? Why even bother

with essentially reimagining or remaking, or

whatever you want to call it these days, the

2003 box-office bust that was "Hulk"? These

questions plagued me while watching "The

Incredible Hulk," which is a mediocre and

completely flat, superficial superhero movie

that tries to do too much and accomplishes too

little.

Edward Norton initially makes a convincingly

scrawny Bruce Banner, living in Brazil and

working at a soda factory. He has maintained

communication with a genetic scientist who

may know how to cure Bruce's Green Giant

anger problem. Unfortunately, a drop of Bruce's

blood that accidentally falls into an open soda

bottle is all that is needed to raise awareness

from the government and the sour, unemotional

General Ross (William Hurt). The military

arrives armed and ready to shoot Bruce Banner,

though there is a new foe, a Marine named Emil

Blonsky (Tim Roth), who is interested in

acquiring a sample of that genetic Hulk pool.

Most plaguing question: if General Ross only

wants to capture the Hulk and use him as a

weapon, how is killing Bruce Banner going

make that possible? The answer may be that the

General will use Blonsky as his new guinea pig,

though the script never quite makes that clear.

None

Offers a brief

summary

Offers actors’

role

Table 11

Continued

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Nevertheless, Betty Ross (the pallid Liv Tyler)

is waiting in the wings for Bruce to show up,

despite being lovey-dovey with a new beau.

How can anyone compete with the Green

Giant? Oh, well, he has one deficiency - he

can't get too excited and have sex.

The origin plot of the Incredible Hulk since its

inception in the late 60's never made a lot of

sense - what is the point of using a genetically-

engineered Hulk as a secret weapon when his

animal instincts cause him to destroy everything

in his path? Does that not defeat the purpose,

General Ross? Yes, I am asking you, Mr. Ross.

Of course, that would not matter if the film was

entertaining and thrilling. Face it: the sight of

an enormous Hulk wrecking havoc is always

fun to watch. And the scenes where Hulk

destroys a few vehicles on a college campus is

exciting and nifty...and just as dispiriting. The

lack of spirit can be attributed to director Louis

Letterier ("Transporter") and star Edward

Norton who seem to go through the motions.

Numerous action-filled moments of Hulk

throwing a car or a tank in the air or causing the

ground beneath him to break become

monotonous. So does Edward Norton, who

never quite infuses Bruce Banner or the Hulk

with any personality or any depth to his anger

issues. Norton never becomes convincingly

angry either, and how can Edward Norton of

"American History X" never come across as

convincingly angry? It just seems like a

disservice to have a weakling still come across

as a tall green-skinned weakling with muscles -

there is no real sense of transformation or

urgency. The theme seems to be this: Hulk

loves to smash.

Offers movie

techniques used

Table 11

Continued

Organizational

Formats

(Rudeen, 2000)

Text

Guidelines of

Movie Review

Writing

(Garbis et al.,

2001)

Conclusion

A big mistake is the casting of Tim Roth, who

comes across as evil, mean and most certainly

angry, though it is such a one-dimensional

character that it is hard to care whether he lives

or dies - he is just a mean prick from the

beginning. Perhaps Tim Roth should've played

Bruce Banner - he might have come closer to

tapping into that inner rage that is the Hulk in

all of us. Eric Bana came close but the late Bill

Bixby fully accomplished that goal. This is

where a good screenplay is needed, folks. The

cast of characters are limp and underwritten.

William Hurt delivers no zeal or emotion as the

angry General Ross. Compare Hurt's take to

Sam Elliott's in the 2003 Hulk and you see a

world of difference. Ditto for Liv Tyler who is

uncharismatic and lifeless that I can't believe

this is the same actress from "Lord of the

Rings" or even "Heavy." And she scores a -15

on any chemistry with Norton. Check out

Jennifer Connelly from, once again, the 2003

Hulk for a more well- rounded character.

This "Hulk" film is a dull disaster with an

unconvincing love story, non-threatening

villains, lots of amped-up explosions, and a lead

character who hardly seems to be the same

person that becomes the Hulk. For a fully

developed and humanistic take on a raging

Hulk and a complex Bruce Banner who wishes

for the beast to be expunged, check out the TV

series or the 2003 Hulk. This droning Hulk of a

movie is for the birds.

Offers the

reader in

reviewer

opinion

As shown in Table 11, the findings revealed that the content of this movie

review was written based on Rudeen’s organizational formats (2000) and Garbis et

al.,’s (2001) movie review guidelines. However, the information about the cinemas

and theaters based on Rudeen’s (2000) were omitted and parts of the content that

address how good the movies based on Garbis et al.,’s (2001) was also omitted.

To summarize, the organizational formats of ten action movie reviews were

written based on by using both Rudeen’s organizational formats (2000) and Garbis et

al.,’s (2001) movie review guidelines. Of all the ten action movie reviews, three

movie reviews were written using Rudeen’s organizational formats (2000), and

another three reviews used Garbis et al.,’s (2001) movie review guidelines. In

addition, four movie reviews used both Rudeen’s organizational formats (2000) and

Garbis et al.,’s (2001). However, some parts of formats and guidelines were omitted

depending on reviewers. Moreover, some parts of writing was mentioned may be

used to present the first step or last step in movie review writing. The parts of writing

are the steps arranged depending on the purpose of movie reviewers to present or to

persuade their readers. It can be concluded that the steps of writing are flexible; they

were used to convey ideas in the movies in accordance with the aims of movie

reviewers. It means that reviewers can indicate the movie review by offering their

intention through writing independently.

Types of Writing, Sentence Structures, and Word Choices in Action

Movie Review Writing

To find out the writing style of action movie review writing, the content of the

movie reviews was analyzed in accordance with types of writing, sentence structure

and word choice. First, three types of writing frequently used in writing a movie

review including informative writing, persuasive writing and narrative writing were

used as the basis for analyzing the content of action movie reviews. In addition, four

types of sentence structure: simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence

and compound-complex sentence were investigated. To indicate word choice, the

researcher examined three types of word choice: concrete nouns, descriptive words

and emotional words that frequently occurred in action movie reviews.

Types of Writing

According the purposes of writing, the reviewers used informative writing to

give information and general description about movies, and they presented the

information using facts; whereas, the native writing was used to present the storyline,

plot, or showing outstanding parts of the movies. To provide comments, make

suggestions, and persuade reader’s interest, the reviews wrote using the persuasive

writing. The analysis of texts of ten action movie reviews in terms of types of writing

with their purposes was illustrated in Table 12.

Table 12

Types of Writing in Action Movie Reviews

Types of Writing Description

1. Informative

Writing

To give information and general description about movie

which the reviewers present this information in fact.

Example

For the last two months, the story around Live Free Or Die

Hard (aka Die Hard IV) has been Fox's decision to rework

the film for the sake of getting a PG-13 rating. Of course,

the original three Die Hard films were hard-R, with graphic

violence, pervasive profanity, and a general rough-and-

tumble quality that were (along with the Lethal Weapon

films) the standard bearers of adult action entertainment for

about a decade. Having now seen the film, I now ask Fox

what exactly it was thinking, but not for the reason you

think. The film is still brutally violent, with an on screen

body count that nearly exceeds the combined totals of parts

1 and 3 (part 2, with its two passenger airplane crashes, is

still the record holder). (Live Free or Die Hard)

This example shows that the reviewer wants to tell

the readers that the movie was brutally violent.

2. Narrative Writing

To present the storyline, plot, or showing outstanding parts

of the movie.

Example

The film opens in 1947 in the Nevada desert, where a

nuclear test -- complete with a fake, picture postcard slice of

suburbia -- is underway. Indy and George "Mac" McHale

(Ray Winstone) get themselves captured there by KGB

agents, led by Irina Spalko. As Spalko, Cate Blanchett is a

hoot, giving one of the best bad Russian accents on record.

Her villain is so deliciously over the top that Blanchett steals

every scene she is in. (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the

Crystal Skull)

This example shows that the reviewer present the

storyline to readers which involved a sequence of time.

Table 12

Continued

Types of Writing Description

3. Persuasive Writing

To provide comments, to give suggestions, and to persuade

reader’s interest.

Example

Be ready to laugh loud and often. Personally, I had a smile

on my face throughout the whole movie since it is such a

treat. Some of the classic lines ("I've got a bad feeling about

this.") are also a lot of fun.

This charmer has other potential as well. Besides being a

movie that should and will make a mint at the box office, it

could also be used as the basis for a completely new

Disneyland ride. The old ride is great, but one based on this

latest film could be even more exciting. (Indiana Jones and

The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)

As the example, the finding revealed that the

reviewer tried to convince readers to agree in his point of

view since the goal of persuasive writing is to persuade the

readers to accept the reviewer’s opinions.

As shown in Table 12, three types of writing: informative, narrative and

persuasive writing were used respectively in six movie reviews. The reviewers started

the reviews by using informative writing, followed by narrative writing and

persuasive writing. In one movie review, the reviewer started the review by narrating,

and in three movie reviews, the reviewers started the review by using persuasive

writing, followed by informative writing, and narrative writing. In the last part of the

texts, the reviewer tried to persuade the readers using persuasive writing again.

According to the types of writing, it appeared that six movie reviews (60%)

started with informative writing followed by narrative writing and persuasive writing

respectively. Only one movie review (10%) uses narrative writing in the beginning of

the review then informative writing, and persuades writing while three movie reviews

(30%) begin with persuasive writing followed by informative writing, and then

narrative writing, and end with persuasive writing.

Types of Sentence Structures

The further analysis was based on four types of sentence structure: simple

sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence, and compound-complex sentence.

The researcher also counted the frequency of each type of sentence structure used.

Furthermore, fragmentary or non-sentence was also examined. The results revealed

that of four types of sentence structure in ten action movie reviews, simple sentence

was most frequently used (128); while the compound-complex sentence was used

least. The findings are illustrated in Table 13 and Figure 3.

Table 13

Frequency of Sentence Structures in Ten Action Movie Reviews

Movie Title Simple

Sentence

Compound

Sentence

Complex

Sentence

Compound-

complex

Sentence

Fragment /

Non-

Sentence

Pirates of the

Caribbean: At

World’s End

14 2 1 3 2

Spider-Man 3 14 6 9 4 0

Indiana Jones

and the Kingdom

of the Crystal

Skull

17 7 8 4 0

Transformers 5 10 8 2 0

Iron Man 14 5 14 3 0

Quantum of

Solace 25 9 9 1 0

National

Treasure: Book

of Secrets

9 3 1 4 0

The Bourne

Ultimatum 12 8 18 4 1

Live Free or Die

Hard 5 14 6 5 0

The Incredible

Hulk 13 12 8 6 0

Total 128 76 82 36 3

As Table 13, there are five types of sentence structures used in the collected

data of ten action movie reviews. However, percentage of sentence structures in ten

action movie reviews can be found in Figure 3.

Fragment / Non-

Sentence

0.92%

Compound-complex

Sentence

11.08%

Complex Sentence

25.23%

Compound Sentence

23.38%

Simple Sentence

39.38%

Figure 3. Percentages of Sentence Structures in Ten Action Movie Reviews

According to Table 13 and Figure 3, the use of sentence structure of action

movie review shows that the simple sentence is the most frequently used in action

movie reviews writing. There are 128 simple sentences used in action movie review

(39.38%), followed by complex sentences (82 sentences, 25.23%), compound

sentences (76 sentences, 23.38%), compound-complex sentences (36 sentences,

11.08%), respectively. As for fragment or non-sentence, they constitute three

sentences (0.92%) of the entire sentence.

As the findings, simple sentences were the most frequently sentences used in

the action movie review, because of writing a review is a kind of writing to link

between the writers and the readers. In general of action movie review writing,

writers prefer to present the fact of information. Then, writing with simple sentence is

the most basic type to express writer’s ideas. It can be said that simple sentence can

be very effective for grabbing a reader’s attention. Although the simple sentence is

the most natural structure, too many simple sentences can make the writing seem

childish.

Word Choices

The results revealed three types of word choices: concrete nouns, descriptive

words, and emotional words.

Concrete Nouns and Descriptive Words

Concrete nouns were used to convey the intended meaning. Moreover,

concrete noun is classified by its ability to reach the senses. Concrete nouns are

something physical that can taste, touch, hear, smell or see an item the word is a

concrete noun. For descriptive words, they can make the writing clearer and more

interesting. Writers select both of concrete nouns and descriptive words to make

readers create a picture which the word refers to. The findings of the study revealed

that word choices used in the movie reviews were concrete nouns and descriptive

words as shown in Table 14.

Table 14

Concrete Nouns and Descriptive Words Typically Found in Action Movie Reviews

Concrete Nouns Descriptive Words

popcorn room hotter

vintage cargo plane smoke rising

leather jacket laugh loud

switchblade knife hard action

the classic song greasy hair

soda bottle wooden eye

masquerade noisy motorcycle

the auditorium long wait

schoolboy completely flat

Moreover, after reading a concrete noun and descriptive word, readers can

understand and perceive the meaning easily by recalling a thing in their real life as the

examples below.

As popcorn flicks go, IRON MAN has enough action and goofy moments to

mostly keep your attention throughout its bloated two hour plus running time.

(Iron Man)

Can Harrison Ford at his age really pull off the role of action hero Indiana

Jones again? I'm here to tell you that he can and does it with great comedic

gusto to boot. The long wait for the next (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of

the Crystal Skull)

The new Bond no longer has the incredible luck at gambling the old one did,

that kind of luck would have severely damaged the story of CASINO

ROYALE, but he does have some unaccountable skills like the old one did. In

the new film Bond seems to know how to pilot a 1950s vintage cargo plane.

But the new Bond is no longer the guy every schoolboy wanted to be.

(Quantum of Solace)

If you consider all the stuff that happening on screen, including: smoke rising,

people running around, robots transforming, combat, and things getting

destroyed (all in one shot), you could easily find this experience chaotic.

(Transformer)

The above example shows that concrete nouns and descriptive words are

useful for writers to express the writer’s intention. However, most of concrete nouns

in action movie reviews are names of place, persons, or things that can be seen,

touched or felt. Besides, most of descriptive words in action movie reviews used

vivid verbs to make the reviews more interesting, so that the readers will read the

reviews and draw a picture which word refers to.

Emotional Words

An emotional word is used to trigger feelings. There are many words that are

emotionally loaded and represented different values to different people. Action

movies are a kind of movies which have lots of physical stunts and activity, possibly

extended chase scenes, races, rescues, battles, fights, escapes, and destructive

disasters. The contents action movie reviews involve the feeling that writers express

to his/her reviews. Then, the emotional words that writers express through reviews

can be classified into three main kinds. There are emotional words about “fun”,

followed by emotional words about “violence” and emotional words about

“disappointment”. However, the examples of emotional words typically found in

investigated action movie reviews can be seen in the following table.

Table 15

Emotional Words Typically Found in Action Movie Reviews

Emotional Words

Fun Violence Disappointment

a lot of fun disaster a lot of the same

funniest boggle the mind disincline to acquiesce

to be a charm the most popping action lame action idiots

come to enjoy to shake the walls become monotonous

great comedic gusto heart-rates to rise dull disaster

well worth the wait brutally violent non threatening villains

absolutely terrific many vicious fight a big mistake

The following examples are emotional words used to express the feeling of

fun-exciting, violence, and disappointment.

Fun

Emotional words of fun are mostly found in action movie reviews; writers aim

to present an amusing tone to readers.

In SPIDER-MAN 3, Spidey gets in touch with his inner evil twin, which turns

out to be a lot of fun for him and for us. (Spider-Man 3)

Another delicious moment comes as he does a Gene Kelly-type dance number

in a club as his date, Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), looks on in

amazement. (Spider-Man 3)

I'm here to tell you that he can and does it with great comedic gusto to boot.

The long wait for the next Indiana Jones movie is over, and it was well worth

the wait…INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL

SKULL is absolutely terrific…And, in a time when the studios are releasing

one long movie after another whose two hour plus running times feel twice

that long, the latest Indiana Jones manages to make its two hours fly by.

You'll swear the movie was less than ninety minutes long… This rollicking

good adventure is a good-spirited family film that will entertain young and old

alike. It's also a very handsome picture as well… Be ready to laugh loud

and often. Personally, I had a smile on my face throughout the whole movie

since it is such a treat. (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)

As popcorn flicks go, IRON MAN has enough action and goofy moments to

mostly keep your attention throughout its bloated two hour plus running time.

(Iron Man)

Violence

Emotional words of violent were also mostly found in action movie reviews;

writers aim to show a violent or an exciting tone of writer’s feeling in action movie to

reader.

And watching a film with blockbuster ambitions replete with special effects

that boggle the mind, I was reminded of my younger years when I was just

thrilled to have a Matchbox car where the doors and the engine hood would

open. (Transformer)

Trust me -- the body count will be high and the explosions will be loud

enough to shake the walls of the theater. (Iron Man)

The air conditioning was furiously rattling, expelling refrigerated air as

efficiently as possible, but it couldn't keep up with the perspiration-inducing

intensity that the film had caused our heart-rates to rise to. (Bourne

Ultimatum)

The film is still brutally violent, with an on screen body count that nearly

exceeds the combined totals of parts 1 and 3… There are point-blank

executions galore, and many vicious fight scenes, gruesome explosions, and

fatal car wrecks. (Live Free or Die Hard)

Disappointment

Emotional words of disappointment are the third types of common words

found in action movie reviews; writers aim to present writer’s feeling of

disappointment in action movie to readers.

What you will find in Pirates 3 is a lot of the same. And I mean a *lot* of the

same…Would I watch Pirates 2 again? "I'm disinclined to acquiesce to [that]

request. Means 'no.'" (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End)

He has been too busy being these lame action idiots (Ghost Rider and Wicker

Man). It may not even be in his genes anymore. (National Treasure: Book of

Secrets)

The lack of spirit can be attributed to director Louis Letterier ("Transporter")

and star Edward Norton who seem to go through the motions. Numerous

action-filled moments of Hulk throwing a car or a tank in the air or causing the

ground beneath him to break become monotonous… A big mistake is the

casting of Tim Roth, who comes across as evil, mean and most certainly

angry, though it is such a one-dimensional character… This "Hulk" film is a

dull disaster with an unconvincing love story, non-threatening villains, lots of

amped-up explosions, and a lead character who hardly seems to be the same

person that becomes the Hulk. (The Incredible Hulk)

To sum up, there are many words that were emotionally loaded. According to

the findings, three main emotional words were found: fun, violence, and

disappointment words. These words can make readers to pay attention and encourage

them to know the significance of the message that communicate to them. The above

examples, words that convey an emotional color depended on how long or short they

were. Generally, shorter words are more blunt, direct, harsh, or sharp. Longer words

are drawn out to evoke colors of melancholy or suffering. However, emotional words

are also depend on the content of writing that writers present.

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION

The purpose of this study was to examine common features of action movie

review writing, particularly common patterns and organizational formats used in

writing online action movie reviews. The study also investigated types of writing,

sentence structure, and word choices in ten online movie reviews. This chapter then

presents a conclusion of the study together with discussions of the findings. Also, the

limitation of the study and recommendations for further studies are presented.

Conclusion

Regarding the first research question of what the common features of action

movie review writing are, the findings revealed four overall patterns of writing in

action movie reviews from www.imdb.com: a broad overview of the movie, to offer a

comparison with the previous episode of the film, to give description of the movie’s

storyline, and the last pattern intended to make comments on the movie. The first

pattern was aimed to provide a broad overview of the movie including the actors’ role

and the background information related to the movie for the readers. The second

pattern was intended to compare the present movie with the previous episodes while

the third pattern was the description of the movie’s storyline and the last pattern is the

provision of the reviewer’s comments on the movie, both positive and negative or the

conclusion of the review. To answer the first research question, the findings of this

study are consistent with Rudeen’s organizational formats (2000) and Garbis et al.,’s

(2001) movie review guidelines because movie review writing’s purpose is to express

reviewers’ idea of a movie with a short summary of plots and characters as well as

comments on the movie, then both of theoretical framework and the findings are

corroborated. To elaborate this point, Rudeen’s organizational formats (2000) and

Garbis et al.,’s (2001) movie review guidelines provide techniques in writing a movie

review and give guidelines of movie review writing. After observing ten action

movie reviews from www.imdb.com, the findings of the current study were consistent

with them. That is, movie reviewers try to express their ideas to readers by presenting

a broad overview of the movie, a comparison with the previous version of the film,

description of the movie’s storyline, and making comments.

With regard to the second and third research questions asking about the

writing styles in terms of types of writing, sentence structures, and word choices

commonly used in action movie reviews as well as the frequencies of sentence

structure, and word choices occurred in action movie reviews. The first type of

writing, informative writing was used in all ten movie reviews. Winterowd (1981)

claimed that informative writing has to give the reader information. The importance

thing to be concerned in writing informative pieces is writers have to write with

clarity and precision. Narrative writing was used in the next part of writing in a

movie review. That is, the reviewers aimed to tell the storyline, plot, or outstanding

part of the movie to make the reader know the brief content of the movie by using

narrative writing. Finally, persuasive writing was used in order to make comments or

give a conclusion of the movie to persuade the reader’s interest. This style of writing

was found in 6 movie reviews (60%).

According to types of sentence structure used, simple sentence is the most

frequently used in action movie review writing. First all reviewers like to offer

information of the movie to make the reader know the general of movie. There are

128 simple sentences in action movie review (39.38%), followed by complex

sentence (25.23%), compound sentence (23.38%), compound-complex sentence

(11.08%). For fragment (non-sentences), they constituted 0.92% of all of the

sentences. Reviewers used simple sentence most because this type of sentence

structure is easy to read and understand. Movie review is a piece of writing that

writers convey their ideas through the words. This supported the finding that the

writers mostly use simple sentence to present their writer’s idea in movie reviews.

Besides, reviewers used concrete word to convey the intended meaning.

According to Sherman (1966) writers should select the concrete words to give clear

meaning that they want to express. In action movie reviews writing, the concrete

nouns and descriptive words were frequently used because the writers needed the

readers to portray a significant event clearly. Furthermore, movie review writing is

written to help the readers make a decision whether or not to see a movie. It offers

writer’s opinions on the qualities of a particular movie. It also tells a little about the

story line to catch readers’ interest and encourage them to venture to the theatres to

see the movies by themselves. Then, writers must select concrete nouns and

descriptive words to convey the exact meaning.

The use of emotional words attacked the readers’ interest because writing a

review is a kind of writing that links between the reviewers and the readers. The

message conveys brief content of the movies and some ideas that a reviewer has

attempted to persuade and attract a reader to see the movies. Then, the findings of

action movie reviews writing revealed three main types of emotional words. The

emotional words about fun evoke readers to interest or participate in movie. The

emotional words about violence reflect the cruel events in the movie. The emotional

words about disappointment reflect the writer’s feelings which readers can judge

whether or not to see the movie.

Discussion

The results of the study revealed that there were four patterns found in action

movie reviews writing which there were consistent with Rudeen’s organizational

formats (2000) and Garbis et al.,’s (2001) movie review guidelines. It can be said that

a good movie review were provided writers opinions on the qualities of a movie, tells

a little about the storyline to catch readers interest and encourage readers to see the

movie.

According to the previous study, Charoenchasri (2007) investigated on genre

analysis of newsgroup movie reviews on www.imdb.com. The finding showed that

movie reviews on the Imdb domain follow the five moves in the corpus of movie

reviews: introducing the movie, emphasizing on describing the movie’s storyline,

providing comments, concluding the review, and offering other information. The

results in this study were in line with the previous study. There were only four

patterns found in this study: providing a board overview, comparison with the

previous episodes, describing the movie’s storyline, and providing reviewer’s

comments or concluding the review. This study focused on action movie reviews, but

the previous study focused on all kinds of movie reviews.

However, some patterns or moves as mentioned in the previous study may be

used to present the first step or last step in movie review writing. The patterns or

moves of movie review writing are steps arranged depending on the purpose of movie

reviewers to present or to persuade their readers. It can be concluded that the steps of

patterns or moves are freely conveyed according to the aims of movie reviewers.

That is, reviewers can indicate patterns or moves of movie reviews by offering their

intention through writing independently.

Moreover, Kungwanpradit (2004) investigated writing style used in movie

overviews on web site “Yahoo! Movies”. The findings of the previous study showed

that simple sentence and compound sentence were mostly used in comedies. The

complex sentence was used most in drama, compound-complex sentence in romance.

The results were different from this present study because the data of this study were

only action movie reviews. The findings of this study found that simple sentence

were mostly used. However, concrete words were mostly used in writing to help

readers form a picture that words refer to. It was consistent with this study which

writers selected concrete words to convey the exact meaning through his/her action

movie reviews.

Limitations

The limitations in this study were as in the following. Firstly, the data

collected in this study were small. There were only ten action movie reviews.

Therefore, the data were limited by kinds of movies. The action movie has a few

quantities to release in each year. Secondly, the data were collected data from only

one website the IMBD domain. Therefore, this site is the one professional review

site. Thirdly, the data selected in this study was limited by gross of box office which

each movie has grossed over US$200,000,000 at the box office during their theatrical

runs. Finally, there were few previous studies on online movie reviews; the other

aspects of common features of movie review writing yet have been uninvestigated,

particularly in action movie reviews. Then, some aspects like grammatical or

rhetorical writing were not explored in this study.

Recommendations for Further Study

Due to language is an essential device for communication which can convey

messages, ideas, or feelings to the readers. This study investigated common features

of action movie review writing on www.imdb.com. The findings of this study can

offer benefits the readers, writers, and other interested to understand and see the

essentials of action movie review writing.

However, this is the one study to research in action movie reviews from an

online source. In the globalization, especially the areas involved movie reviews, there

are many online sources like www.movies.yahoo.com, www.depreview.com,

www.consumerreview.com, and other online sources. Any further study about

common features of movie reviews may consider to investigating other types of

movie reviews such as comedy, romance, fantasy, thriller, and so on. It can be

concluded that other interesting topics related to common features of movie reviews

writing, the researchers can collect the data from other different types of movie

reviews and websites.

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VITAE

101

VITAE

Name: Ms. Sukumal Sukhum

Date of Birth: November 09, 1973

Place of Birth: Bangkok

Address: 877 Sukhumvit 49-14, Soi Prasertsit, Klong-Ton,

Wattana, Bangkok, 10110

Education Background:

1994 Bachelor of Arts (English)

Ramkhamhaeng University, Bangkok

2009 Master of Arts (English)

Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok

Cover
Abstract
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Bibliography
Vitae