Dvd Genres & Age Ratings

Action:

Are usually big-budget films that include high energy, stunts and chases, possibly with rescues, battles, fights, escapes, natural disasters, non-stop motion, and adventurous, often two-dimensional "good-guys" heroes and/or heroines battling "bad guys" - all designed for pure escapism.

Adventure:

These films are usually exciting stories, with new experiences often set in exotic locations. They can include traditional searches or expeditions for lost continents, "jungles" and "desserts", treasure hunts, disaster films, or searches for the unknown.

Adventure films are quite often paired with the Action film genre.

Animated:

These films will include a story line, of  which over 75% of the scenes are made up using a photographed series of drawings or models or computer generated images that simulate movement by recording very slight but continuous changes in the images, frame by frame.

Chick Flicks:

These films are generally catagorised as love and/or romance films. They are designed to appeal to a largely female target audience.  The term "Chick Flick" is typically used as a reference to films that are heavy with emotion or contain themes that are relationship-based (not necessarily romantic).

Childrens:

These films are non-offensive, wholesome, and entertaining films that do not include topics or scenes with violence, foul language, religious issues or gratuitous sexuality. Childrens films and are specifically designed for children 12 and under or for family viewing. They often include a child actor/actress and/or focus on child relatable themes that teach a lesson or moral, or show that good can triumph over evil.

Children's films are very often found in the fantasy genre with wild and imaginative themes and plots that involve a journey, helpful and friendly creatures or supernatural beings, and settings in fantastic, far-away worlds. A wide range of film genres can also be  included in a childrens films such as comedy, adventure and musicals.

Comedy:

These films are generally light-hearted, they are deliberately designed to amuse and provoke laughter (with one-liners, jokes, etc.) by exaggerating the situation, the language, action, relationships and characters.

The comedy film genre are a variety of films including Slapstick, Screwball, Spoofs and Parodies, Romantic Comedies, Black Comedy, and many more.

Crime & Gangster:

These films are developed around the sinister actions of criminals or mobsters, particularly bankrobbers, underworld figures, or ruthless hoodlums who operate outside the law, stealing and murdering their way through life often including films about "serial killers".

Sometimes these films are categorized as Film Noir or Detective-Mystery films.

Disaster:

These films focus on an impending or ongoing disaster including natural disasters, accidents and pandemics. They usually follow a sequense of events from the build-up, to the disaster itself and sometimes the aftermath, oftern from the point of view of specific individual characters or their families. Larger studio budgets now allowe for the special effects used during the production of these films are now done using Computer-generated Imagery (CGI) which gives more emphasis on the destruction, and less on the human drama.

Documentry:

These films span a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures which are intended to show aspects of reality, which can be used for instruction or maintaining a historical record.

They generally represent the observable world. A documentary will look at the past and present, the world of social and historical experiences showing detailed accounts of lives and events.

Documentaries are often produced on low budgets compared to dramatic and narrative films.

Dramatic:

These films are usually serious, plot-driven presentations, portraying realistic characters, settings, life situations, the story lines involve intense character development and interaction. Very rarely are these films focused on special-effects, comedy, or action.

Dramatic films are probably the largest film genre, with many sub genres including Melodramas, Epics or Historical Dramas and many more, some Romantic and Biographical films also fall under this genre.

Epics:

These films genrally cover large periods of time and are set against a vast, panoramic backdrops. Epics sometimes share elements of the adventutre films genre. An Epic film will take a historical or imaginary event, mythical, legendary, or heroic figures and add extravagant settings and lavish costumes, and a sweeping musical score.

Epics are sometimes grouped with the Drama genre as they can include Costume Dramas (Period Dramas), Historical Dramas, and War films.

Family:

These films are designed to appeal to a variety of age groups with a general audience in mind but will always contain appropriate content for children.

In family oriantated film there are components that are geared towards adults- such as witty jokes and humor.

Sub genres for these films include Comedy, Adventure, Fantasy, and Animation.

Film noir:

These films are stylish Hollywood Crime Dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir stem from crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression.

Melodramas have been linked to Film Noir as a sub genre.

Horror:

These films are designed to scare the viewer whilst bringing their hidden and worst fears to life, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while at the same time totally captivating and entertaining us. Horror films feature a wide range of styles, often including monsters and deranged humans.

Horror films are often linked with the Science Fiction film genre when "the menace or monster is related to a corruption of technology", or when "Earth is threatened by aliens".

There are a number of sub genres linked with Horror films including Slasher, Teen Terror, Satanic and Serial Killers.

Musicals:

These films have been developed from stage musicals. The main difference between the stage production and film production is the locations and the use of lavish background scenery .

Musicals are a film genre where songs sung by the charecters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot and/or develop the film's characters.

Romance:

These films are romantic love stories that focus on emotion and passion of the charecters as they make the journey through dating, courtship and marriage.

Romance films use the search for strong and pure love as the main plot focus. Occasionally, during these films the lovers will face obstacles such as finances, physical and or mental illness, various forms of discrimination, psychological restraints or a family that threaten to break their union. As in all quite strong, deep, and close romantic relationships, tensions of day-to-day life and differences in compatibility enter into the plots of romantic films.

Science Fiction (Sci-fi):

These films are usually very imaginative, filled with heroes, aliens, distant planets, impossible quests, improbable settings, fantastic places, great dark and shadowy villains, futuristic technology, unknown and unknowable forces, monsters oftern either created by mad scientists or by a nuclear desaster.

Science fiction films often look at the development of technology that could potentially destroy humankind particularly when technology or alien life forms become malevolent.

These films can be linked with Fantasy, Action and Adventure film genres.

Super Hero:

These films focus on the actions of one or more superheroes, who have superhuman abilities and who are dedicated to protecting the public. Genrally a superhero film will look at the origin of the indeviduals special powers and will include at least one fight against a supervillain and/or the character's archenemy.

Superhero movies are often based on comic books.

These films can be linked with Fantasy, Action, Science Fiction and Adventure film genres.

Supernatural:

 The storylines of supernatural dramas have always been centered around magic or phenomena that cannot be explained by science. The charecters usually assosiated with supernatural films are apparitions, gods, spirits, superhumans, demons, angels, witches and warlocks. 

Supernatural films deal with ghosts and other paranormal topics without the gore and nastiness assosiated with the Horror film genre.

Thriller:

These films use suspence, tension and exitement as the main content. They have the ability to affect the viewer's mood, which can result in giving hightend levels of anticipation, expectation, uncertainty, terror, suprise and some anxiety. Thrillers tend to be psychological, threatening, mysterious and at times involve larger-scale villainy such as conspiracy, espionage and terrorism.

There are many sub-genres which include Psychological Thrillers, Crime and Mystery Thrillers and Spy films. Horror and Action films can also sometimes be overlap with the thriller genre.

War and Anti-War:

These films look at and acknowledge the horror and heartbreak of war from many different perspectives. The overall plot and background is  set on land, sea,  in the air or a combination of 2 or all 3 which also provides the action for the film.

War films are often linked with other genres, including Action, Drama, Adventure, Romance, Suspense, some Epics and some Westerns.

Westerns:

These films are a eulogy to the early days of the American frontier. Westerns have very recognizable plots oftern including horses, dusty towns and trails, and the characters of the Cowboys and Indians.

Over time, westerns have been re-defined, re-invented, expanded and sometimes spoofed.