Global Cinema: Action Films introduces students to the major action subgenres—from spy thrillers and buddy films to sci-fi blockbusters and superhero spectaculars—while examining its aesthetic devices, history, cultural impact, and global evolution. The course traces the emergence of action cinema through its precursors, such as film noir and westerns, to establish the genre's codes, conventions, and preoccupations. It further situates action film as a global practice by analyzing Hollywood productions alongside Hong Kong wuxia, Bollywood masala films, Japanese samurai cinema, and Korean thrillers, revealing their influence on the idiom, tempo, and aesthetic strategies of the contemporary action film.