The best action flicks of the 1980s
My list of action films which in my opinion were the best the 1980s had to offer and that they also aged well until now.
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- DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsBruce WillisAlan RickmanBonnie BedeliaA New York City police officer tries to save his estranged wife and several others taken hostage by terrorists during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.The one action movie that redefined both the genre and the 1980s. Released in 1988, Die Hard was a classic film destined to impact the way people enjoyed on-screen action combined with characters worth focusing on. Director John McTiernan, the screenwriters, the technical crew and Bruce Willis all had something that eventually delivered the great stuff and made history. Bruce Willis is memorable as the tough, anti-authoritarian cop John McClane whose marriage is crumbling. Alan Rickman plays the cold, smart and calculating villain Hans Gruber who is leading a team of thieves who are fooling everyone into thinking they were terrorists just so they can pull of their heist for bearer bonds. Each time I watch this film, I enjoyed every moment of it from start to finish. No doubt about it, Die Hard is a classic!
- DirectorJames CameronStarsSigourney WeaverMichael BiehnCarrie HennDecades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.Aliens stood out well among action and sci-fi films of the eighties. For one thing, James Cameron used his talent and special attention to detail to make a very compelling story laced with great acting from the cast. Aliens also seemed self-aware in the sense that it reflected the gung-ho military trends of 1980s action cinema by showcasing soldier characters who were macho, brave and armed with powerful weapons who only ended up being overwhelmed by the aliens. It's almost like saying that not even Rambo could save the day. On top of that, Sigourney Weaver's performance as Ripley is indeed Oscar-worthy and to this day she still is the most ideal female action lead. Truly Aliens is a classic!
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordKaren AllenPaul FreemanIn 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.The first of four films that featured the hero jointly created by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. This movie was a labor of love highlighting Spielberg's and Lucas' enjoyment of action serials from decades earlier. Raiders of the Lost Ark was classic adventuring made with a new generation of viewers in mind.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsPeter WellerNancy AllenDan O'HerlihyIn a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.RoboCop was more than just an action flick. It was also a lively commentary about American society under the concept that corporations (symbolized by OCP) have gotten so powerful, the people and their government are both disadvantaged. In some ways, it showed what America's future would look like had Reaganomics (economic policies that favored the rich and corporations) lasted longer to impact everyone. RoboCop himself symbolizes the uncompromising policeman who won't stop until he sets things right and that made him people's last hope. The action was pretty brutal and intense, and the in-movie commercials were always entertaining when providing viewers a break from the drama and action. Oh yeah, the newscasts in the film eerily reminds me of Fox News and its manipulated/distorted coverage of news. This film is a classic!
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordSean ConneryAlison DoodyIn 1938, after his father goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones finds himself up against the Nazis again to stop them from obtaining its powers.What was supposed to be the end of a trilogy is still worth watching all over again. It can be argued that this was the "most complete" Indiana Jones adventure in the sense that Indy gets reunited together with his strict archaeologist father (played by Sean Connery) and set off on a series of misadventures together to find the so-called holy grail. Come to think of it when I saw the 2008 film, the absence of Indy's father dragged the adventure down. More on the Last Crusade, you get to see more and new dimensions of Indy's character.
- DirectorJohn GlenStarsRoger MooreCarole BouquetTopolSecret service agent James Bond is assigned to find a missing British vessel equipped with a weapons encryption device and prevent it from falling into enemy hands.What was the best Roger Moore James Bond film was also the best 007 flick of the 1980s in my opinion. Obviously the filmmakers learned from the criticism they received from Moonraker (a really terrible and unbelievable film that almost ruined everything Ian Fleming created surrounding 007) and decide to bring back classic Bond elements. As a result, there were certain storytelling elements from the early 1960s Bond films that were revived (and help emphasize the culture and norms of British secret service operations) and at the same time there was a fine balance established between the action, the romance and espionage. This film, to me, felt like one of the early Connery Bond films in terms of execution and realism.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerLinda HamiltonMichael BiehnA human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity's future salvation.This low-budget action sci-fi flick made the most out of its very limited resources and delivered some great stuff worth watching again and again. Arnold Schwarzenegger was not even originally cast to play the cold and systematic Terminator and as fate showed, he ended up with one of his most defining roles in film. James Cameron knew what he had and what to do to create a deeply engaging, even scary, film that really touched viewers' feelings of fear, insecurity and danger. Heck, the idea that a machine disguised as a human in the hunt for a live target remains disturbing even in this modern age. At the same time, The Terminator gave viewers a glimpse about a future in which people are involved with cyber interactivity (note: the Internet) and are unknowingly in danger of the possibility that someday artificial intelligence advances so much it would become self-aware and make efforts to clamp down humans.