There's something to be said about the "everyman" look to action heroes so that male viewers can self-insert, and how that 100% caters to white men as well. Even In Marvel movies, out of uniform Captain America's iconic street clothes are plain shirts with slacks, while Black Panther's clothes a bespoke, detailed, and use color. Even Tony Stark's flamboyancy is kneecapped to colorful ties & pocket squares.

The man from uncle (2015) puts their male protagonists in suits too! and yet both characters have a unique and distinctive style!! I love that film

I don't watch a lot of action movies, but I've always liked Ripley's jumpsuit from the Alien movies. Underscores her working class background and pragmatic nature, and differentiates her from the Marines until her big action heroine turn at the climax.

I really appreciate when costumes can enrich the choreography of fight scenes, like the sleeves tearing off in Drunken Master 2, or more recently the corset in Enola Holmes. Even just Oddjob's whole deal.

i think indonesian action movies like 'the raid 2' and 'the night comes for us' are very interesting because the protagonist's costume must be simple for practicality, but is always contrasted by the set design and other characters. for example, the kitchen fight in 'the raid 2'- black figures fighting in a pristine white kitchen. the two characters look similar; they're equals as fighters and in another life they might've gotten along. in 'the night comes for us', the protagonist, who used his jacket and some phonebooks as makeshift armor, is dressed very practically, while the antagonist, who has delusions of grandeur, is dressed impractically in a suit, which disadvantages him later in the fight

It really is silly how rigid this style is, and how strongly that is tied to homophobia. Like: the protags could wear solid tees in all manner of colors plus dickies(running from black, through blue, to khakis and dark greens), accomplishing the same "care some but not too much" effect(and getting more of an everyman feel as this is legit working class clothing), but they're so afraid that any hue other than white/grey/black will get called "gay" that they dont even try it. Another aspect of this: the common Hwood getup is really middle-class/petty-rich casual wear, so there's also definitely a class-ideology element to these costuming choices. We're prompted to see how well-off white ppl dress as "authentic", and how most ppl dress as "ethnic" and thus "unamerican"/"unserious".

I'm surprised you didn't mention that Uma Thurman's yellow and black ensemble in KILL BILL: VOL. 1 is an homage to Bruce Lee's iconic costume in GAME OF DEATH, which supports your point about costuming in Asian action films versus Hollywood.

I still love your deep dive on Inception costumes, and would love an outfit by outfit breakdown. As for my favorite action movie costume... Maybe Hot Fuzz? I guess they're able to put it together the way they are because it's a comedy, but I liked the use of sunglasses as reference to classic cop movies.

I feel like each new Behind the Seams episode gets stronger. Well done. Would you consider looking at the costuming on Evil, the CBS show now on Netflix and currently filming season 2? I feel like there's a whole level of storytelling happening just through the clothes. I've also never seen a character dress quite like Kristen before.

I can't believe the YT algorithm has recommended me your channel after three years 😅 If I had to pick out an iconic action hero costume, I would go with Axel Foley's Detriot Lions varsity jacket from Beverly Hills Cop 2 It's so ordinary, yet it says so much as in it immediately identifies him as an outsider, and it clashes with the suits and ties of his colleagues intentionally but in good-hearted way. Subscribed ❤

Ah I was waiting for this! And in a grey t-shirt, no less.

I don't want to question your analysis rooting that trend into Tyler Durden (I have no idea!) but I was struck by something in the passage about shredded bodies with all the recent superhero action movies examples, which is that it looks like that cinematic trend towards macho strong men is also coincidental to the political trend of various countries reverting to embracing populism embodied by... macho "strongmen". Ugh.

Nice vid, thanks for making and sharing! while watching I tried to think of action hero costuming that stayed with me, here is what I came up with: I am clichee and I like the big dramatic coats so the one action hero outfit that came to my mind, outside of the already mentioned Matrix and Indiana Jones was Del Toros Hellboy, the many pockets and very lived in coat just fits my personal aesthetic preference. Like big coats, I love leather jackets and sunglasses, and for some reason Su (played by Jet Li) costume in Cradle 2 the Grave - his (most main cast but his specificly) just look so very early 2000s action aesthetic. It makes me nostalgic, I guess its mostly that. I generaly at best meh towards suits as a costume but Logan 2017, impressed me by making the suit fit Logan/Wolverine which I wouldnt have though of before watching the movie like at all.

This was really lovely and informative! Thanks so much for sharing it!

I think an underrated role of the Action Hero Look is Relatability. A simple yet neat outfit lets the male audience members project themselves into the role. Ludacris and Tyrese’s outfits get a pass because they AREN’T main characters, so their colorfulness just makes the fantasy more attractive

5:19 I'd love to hear you talk about the costuming of your favorite action movie!

Do you think Die Hard started the tank top trend?

The regime required to produce the currently fashionable action hero body is so grim - even without mentioning steroids, the level of dehydration that's required to make abs look ripped for a shirtless scene. It must be really unpleasant to work in those conditions and probably isn't too great for the body long term

Hey Gavia, Is there any way you can move the captions to the top of the video for the next one? I normally have closed captioning turned on, and i've noticed that they completely cover the titles at the bottom (and make both sets of text really hard to read) if I watch your videos on my tv. It's not so bad on my laptop (so maybe its an issue with the different youtube apps?) It's not the end of the world (for me) if it doesn't get changed, but it's an accessibility thing i've noticed

To cite a classic, Edward Fox in Day of the Jackal. He's more of a villain than a hero but has wonderful costumes, including a tasteful ascot. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackal_(The_Day_of_the_Jackal)#/media/File:JackFox.jpg

I didn't care much about costumes in general until I watched JoJo's Bizarre adventures. Before that I enjoyed seeing a distinctive look. Now I can't wait to see something as outstanding as Araki's work in movies too. I mean, no one thinks JoJos are not heroic.

I think a lot of your statement can be summed up with a male truism - “A man cares what he looks like, but he doesn’t care TOO much.” You should always look sharp, but if you branch out with your outfits too much you start looking kooky.

Costuming is also defined by practicality. If the John Wick people had known they were gonna make up to FOUR sequels, they might’ve gone with jeans and a T-shirt too 😆😆