1. MOVIE GENRES Categorizing the Movies You Watch

2. Zhan-ruh The term genre is used a lot around the movie industry to break down the type of film into categories. It's difficult to place a lot of films in a single category. For this reason a lot of films have multiple genres.

3. Main Film Genres Action Action Adventure Adventure Animation Animation Biography Biography Comedy Comedy Crime Crime Detective/Courtroom Detective/Courtroom Documentary Documentary Drama Drama Epic Epic Family Family Fantasy Fantasy Film-Noir Film-Noir History History Horror Horror Musical Musical Mystery Mystery Romance Romance Sci-Fi Sci-Fi Sports Sports Thriller Thriller War War Western Western

4. Movie Narrative All movies must have narrative, e.g., tell a story. All movie stories must have a central struggle. The central struggle is the problem with which the main character is confronted

5. Action Stories whose central struggle plays out mainly through a clash of physical forces.

6. Action Movies The Dark Knight The Dark Knight 48 Hours 48 Hours Face/Off Face/Off Die Hard Die Hard Lethal Weapon Lethal Weapon Fight Club Fight Club Bourne Ultimatum Bourne Ultimatum

7. Adventure Stories whose central struggle plays out mainly through encounters with new worlds.

8. Adventure Movies Apollo 13 Apollo 13 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Water World Water World The Matrix The Matrix Wizard of Oz Wizard of Oz Into the Wild Into the Wild

9. Animation Animation is not a strictly-defined genre category, but rather a film technique, but it is large enough to deserve its own category.

10. Animation Movies Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs WALL-E WALL-E South Park South Park The Incredibles The Incredibles Monsters, Inc. Monsters, Inc. Shrek Shrek Watership Down Watership Down Wallace & Gromit Wallace & Gromit Fantasia Fantasia

11. Biography Stories whose central theme focuses on an important historical person, place or thing.

12. Biographical Movies Ray Ray Patton Patton The Aviator The Aviator Amadeus Amadeus Gandhi Gandhi Evita Evita Citizen Kane Citizen Kane Man on the Moon Man on the Moon

13. Comedy Stories whose central struggle causes hilarious results.

14. Comedy Movies Ace Ventura, Pet Detective Ace Ventura, Pet Detective Monty Python and the Holy Grail Monty Python and the Holy Grail The Big Lebowski The Big Lebowski The Wedding Crashers The Wedding Crashers Caddyshack Caddyshack Meatballs Meatballs

15. Crime Also: Gangster Stories whose central struggle is about catching a criminal – or watching him or her get away.

16. Crime/Gangster Movies 48 Hours 48 Hours Fargo Fargo The Usual Suspects The Usual Suspects Pulp Fiction Pulp Fiction The Sting The Sting No Country for Old Men No Country for Old Men The Departed The Departed

17. Detective/Mystery Also Courtroom and Mystery Stories whose central struggle is to find out what really happened and thus to expose the truth.

18. Detective/Courtroom Movies A Few Good Men A Few Good Men Caine Mutiny Caine Mutiny The Verdict The Verdict Vertigo Vertigo The Maltese Falcon The Maltese Falcon Chinatown Chinatown Vantage Point Vantage Point JFK JFK

19. Documentary A movie that attempts to document reality.

20. Documentary Movies Fahrenheit 9/11 Fahrenheit 9/11 Bowling for Columbine Bowling for Columbine An Inconvenient Truth An Inconvenient Truth March of the Penguins March of the Penguins Super Size Me Super Size Me Hoop Dreams Hoop Dreams

21. Drama Stories whose central struggle involves intense realistic characters and situations in conflict with either themselves, others, or forces of nature.

22. Drama Movies I Am Legend I Am Legend 21 21 Casablanca Casablanca Memento Memento Shawshank Redemption Shawshank Redemption Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

23. Epic Stories whose central struggle plays out in the midst of a clash of great forces or in the sweep of great historical change.

24. Epic Movies 300 300 Star Wars Star Wars The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments Ben Hur Ben Hur 2001: A Space Odyssey 2001: A Space Odyssey Empire of the Sun Empire of the Sun

25. Family Also: Childrens Stories whose central theme is primarily for children and families.

26. Family Movies Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Home Alone Home Alone Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Charlie and the Chocolate Factory A Bugs Life A Bugs Life Shrek Shrek Sky High Sky High

27. Fantasy Stories which are animated, or whose central struggle plays out in two worlds - the "real" world and an imaginary world.

28. Fantasy Movies Big Big Ghostbusters Ghostbusters Mary Poppins Mary Poppins The Mask The Mask Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Lord of the Rings Lord of the Rings Groundhog Day Groundhog Day

29. Film-Noir Strictly speaking, film noir is not a genre, but rather the mood, style, point-of-view, or tone of a film.

30. Film-Noir Movies Citizen Kane Citizen Kane Murder, My Sweet Murder, My Sweet Notorious Notorious The Maltese Falcon The Maltese Falcon Sunset Blvd. Sunset Blvd. Double Indemnity Double Indemnity The Third Man The Third Man Touch of Evil Touch of Evil

31. History Stories which bring to life an actual historical event, place or person usually not as grand as an epic.

32. Historical Movies Gettysburg Gettysburg Malcolm X Malcolm X Chaplin Chaplin Nixon Nixon The Alamo The Alamo Galipoli Galipoli Ride With the Devil Ride With the Devil Wyatt Earp Wyatt Earp

33. Horror Stories whose central struggle focuses on escaping from and eventually defeating a Monster (either human or non-human).

34. Horror Movies Blair Witch Project Blair Witch Project Psycho Psycho Scream Scream Tremors Tremors Saw Saw The Grudge The Grudge Amityville Horror Amityville Horror The Exorcist The Exorcist

35. Musical Stories that can revolve around any theme as long as the narrative is significantly carried along by songs.

36. Musical Movies Singin in the Rain Singin in the Rain Moulin Rouge! Moulin Rouge! Chicago Chicago The Sound of Music The Sound of Music Rocky Horror Picture Show Rocky Horror Picture Show West Side Story West Side Story

37. Romance Also: Love Stories whose central struggle is between two people who each want to win or keep the love of the other

38. Romance Movies Ghost Ghost Pretty Woman Pretty Woman The Way We Were The Way We Were Titanic Titanic Sleepless in Seattle Sleepless in Seattle Sex and the City Sex and the City Annie Hall Annie Hall As Good As It Gets As Good As It Gets

39. Sci-Fi Science-Fiction Stories whose central struggle is generated from the technology and tools of a scientifically imaginable world.

40. Sci-Fi Movies The Sixth Sense The Sixth Sense Star Wars series Star Wars series Back to the Future Back to the Future Iron Man Iron Man The Truman Show The Truman Show The Prestige The Prestige Twelve Monkeys Twelve Monkeys Planet of the Apes Planet of the Apes

41. Sports Stories whose central struggle is related to a sport or sports figure.

42. Sports Movies Miracle Miracle Remember the Titans Remember the Titans The Natural The Natural Brians Song Brians Song Cool Runnings Cool Runnings Hoosiers Hoosiers Chariots of Fire Chariots of Fire Slap Shot Slap Shot

43. Thriller Stories whose central struggle pits an innocent hero against a lethal enemy who is out to kill him or her.

44. Thriller Movies Three Days of the Condor Three Days of the Condor The Dark Knight The Dark Knight Silence of the Lambs Silence of the Lambs Hotel Rwanda Hotel Rwanda There Will Be Blood There Will Be Blood Reservoir Dogs Reservoir Dogs Fatal Attraction Fatal Attraction

45. War Stories whose central struggle deals with war or the impact of war.

46. War Movies Saving Private Ryan Saving Private Ryan The Longest Day The Longest Day Platoon Platoon Full Metal Jacket Full Metal Jacket M*A*S*H M*A*S*H Gladiator Gladiator Stalag 17 Stalag 17 Kellys Heroes Kellys Heroes

47. Western Stories whose central struggle deals with the Western/cowboy era.

48. Western Movies Red River Red River Silverado Silverado Tombstone Tombstone The Cowboys The Cowboys Outlaw Josie Wales Outlaw Josie Wales Quigley Down Under Quigley Down Under High Noon High Noon