80's Action Films

Royale with Cheese

Just wondering if anybody has suggestions for a list of essential 80's action films. I'm currently watching Rambo 4 for the 3rd time, I fúcking love this film. So I want to get together a load of similar films and watch in awe at the killing.

Obviously the other rambo's are needed (still have only seen bits of 2 and 3). Chuck Norris films, all of them. I'm a bit stuck after that.

I guess what I like about Rambo 4 is that it's nowhere near as cheesy as you expect it to be. Although he takes down an entire army nearly on his own, it's shot to look quite realistic. And it's brutally violent. I'm ok with cheese too though.

tman

The Running Man

*wanders off to order a copy*

Commando is hard to beat as well

Rhyme

tman wrote: »

Commando is hard to beat as well

Watched that earlier, still a classic.

Throw in Total Recall as well.

DingDong

Die hard, The killers, Mad Max, The Princess Bride , Red dawn would be one to definitely watch. So many other I just can't think of at the moment

Galvasean

Although technically released in the 90s Showdown In Little Tokyo is from the same director as Commando and definately has that 80s action/cheese appeal.

DeathWish 3 is another fine one. It's completely goofy and OTT but thoroughly enjoyable. Heck they show it on Sky Modern Classics! :pac:

And who could forget Road House? The ultimate in mullet bound bar room brawl action!

edit: nearly forgot the legendary Conan the Barbarian!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082198/

Royale with Cheese

Ah yeah Road House is quality. And an 80s definitely film doesn't have to be made in the 80s, to be an 80's film.

Good suggestions lads, keep 'em coming.

Ruu_Old

Predator, Lethal Weapon, heaps more. The Deathwish series of films were good.

joeperry

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

Obviously the other rambo's are needed (still have only seen bits of 2 and 3).

you seriously need to buy rambo 1st blood tomorrow,its the best of the lot,well i havent seen no. 4 but no. 1 is my fav film of all time.

Royale with Cheese

joeperry wrote: »

you seriously need to buy rambo 1st blood tomorrow,its the best of the lot,well i havent seen no. 4 but no. 1 is my fav film of all time.

Yeah I've seen the first one a good few times. Just not 2 or 3 for some reason.

Podge2k7

Die Hard,Tango and Cash,Beverly Hills Cop??

martinr5232

Missing in actions,Death before dishonour,Southern comfort

Cant think of anymore at the mo but i will.

Slutmonkey57b

joeperry wrote: »

you seriously need to buy rambo 1st blood tomorrow,its the best of the lot,well i havent seen no. 4 but no. 1 is my fav film of all time.

70's film. And not like the 80's sequels at all.

Xavi6

Platoon has some of the coolest action scenes of any movie.

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

mike65

48 Hrs (NOT Another 48 hrs though)
Best Seller
F/X Murder by Illusion
Thief (existential thriller)
Nighthawks
Runaway Train (existential thriller)

Mike.

the whole year inn

Robocop

Galvasean

Xavi6 wrote: »

Platoon has some of the coolest action scenes of any movie.

Not cheesy enough to be a true 80s actioner.

Oooh, how about Highlander?
Anyone mention the first Terminator film?

Sqaull20

Apocalypse Now
Cobra
Universal Soldier
The Running Man
The Last Boy Scout ( one of my favourites )
Red Heat
Bloodsport
Above the Law
Tango And Cash

If you only watch one, watch running man.

irish_bob

Sqaull20 wrote: »

Apocalypse Now
Cobra
Universal Soldier
The Running Man
The Last Boy Scout ( one of my favourites )
Red Heat
Bloodsport
Above the Law
Tango And Cash

If you only watch one, watch running man.

appocolypse now is from the 70,s and it could hardly be called an action movie


heres my list

die hard
predator
lethal weapon

Dont be at yourself

Beverly Hills Cop

latenia

For anyone interested in this era I highly recommend reading 'High Concept,' the biography of Don Simpson who together with Jerry Bruckheimer pretty much invented the dumb 80s movie. He produced Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, The Rock and Bad Boys amongst others and was possibly the worst degenerate who ever lived.
My favourite anecdote is about how Stallone wanted to play Axel Foley in Beverly Hills Cop but as a straight action flick with no comedy. To get him away from the project they (knowing that he was particularly sensitive about the size of his manhood) told him about a new treatment at a Swiss clinic that involved injections of sheep semen to increase tumescence. Sly jumped at the chance and flew to Switzerland for several months, Eddie Murphy got the part and the series went on to gross a billion dollars.
As for 80s action movies in general there are just 2 names you need to look out for as marks of quality: Gary Busey and Michael Ironside. If they appear in the cast list it's probably worth watching.

Galvasean

Demolition Man, released in 93, but definately an 80s actioner.
Also True Lies of 1994, a bit more polished than usual, but still has the heart.

Drag00n79

Big Trouble in Little China was one I used to enjoy.
Oh, and Action Jackson too.

irish_bob

Galvasean wrote: »

Demolition Man, released in 93, but definately an 80s actioner.
Also True Lies of 1994, a bit more polished than usual, but still has the heart.

demolition man wreaked but i know what you mean by it being at heart an 80,s flick
not sure i agree about true lies though , movies that were cleary intended to out bond james bond were a more recent phenomenon

Royale with Cheese

Watched Commando yesterday. Was alright, guess I was expecting a little bit more from it. Arnie is without a doubt the finest actor of his time.

Fúck you asshole.
No, fúck you asshole.

skelliser

Raw Deal
Red Heat

classics!!

skelliser

skelliser wrote: »

Raw Deal
Red Heat

classics!!

I watched them back to back yesterday. Was a truly awesome combination.

irish_bob

Deleted User wrote: »

I watched them back to back yesterday. Was a truly awesome combination.

both of those movies were garbage but he made the truly great predator inbetween each so i can forgive him

Duggy747

Die Hard
Raw Deal
Red Heat
Predator
Robocop
Commando
Conan The Barbarian
Escape From New York
Highlander
Lethal Weapon
Mad Max 1 & 2
Terminator
Aliens (Can't believe nobody mentioned this)
The Breakfast Club
Cobra
Death Wish series
Rambo 1 - 3
The Delta Force
Missing In Action
Invasion U.S.A - Chuck at his very best

mossylikescake

it seems that anything with kurt russell(escape from new york,tango and cash), patrick swayze(roadhouse, point break) or danny glover(leathal weapon, predator 2) is just amazing, and they're always on tv.

i can't believe no one mentioned the last action hero!! technically 90's but a hilarious send up of cheesey 80's action films, especially after watching any of the films mentioned above.it gets me everytime!!!

Duggy747

mossylikescake wrote: »

i can't believe no one mentioned the last action hero!! technically 90's but a hilarious send up of cheesey 80's action films, especially after watching any of the films mentioned above.it gets me everytime!!!

Arnie as Hamlet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCVc5TaPpe8

My favourite scene in the movie, sums up mindless 80's actioners perfectly.

mossylikescake

i wish we studied arnie's portrayal of hamlet for the leaving cert

Galvasean

Dark Angel/I Come In Peace
Sure it came out in 1990, but is definately an 80s buddy cop movie until

aliens show up

irish_bob

Duggy747 wrote: »

Die Hard
Raw Deal
Red Heat
Predator
Robocop
Commando
Conan The Barbarian
Escape From New York
Highlander
Lethal Weapon
Mad Max 1 & 2
Terminator
Aliens (Can't believe nobody mentioned this)
The Breakfast Club
Cobra
Death Wish series
Rambo 1 - 3
The Delta Force
Missing In Action
Invasion U.S.A - Chuck at his very best

did you mention the breakfast club

dont remember what the kill count was in that but i suppose detention can seem like death

Pride Fighter

Lone Wolf McQuaid
An Eye For an Eye
Uncommon Valour
Mr. Majestyk
The Force of One
Karate Kid films I suppose, the first and third ones are great fun
Lock Up
The Rockys

MagicMarker

Lock Up!! Almost forgot about that one, great movie!

No one (i think) has mentioned any Steven Segal movie.. well, pretty much all of them!

Under Siege
Marked for Death
License to Kill
Nico

etc etc

What about the mid 90's Bruckheimer/Simpson era? The Rock, Con Air and such...

Also Van Dammage...

Universal Soldier
Bloodsport
A.W.O.L
Double Impact
Nowhere to Run
Kickboxer
Cyborg
Death Warrant
Hard Target

eunified61

what about dirty harry

rednik

To live and die in LA. Excellent action film with a good cast.

Midnight Run. Easily De Niro's best comedy/action.

48 hours and Beverly Hills Cop. When Eddie Murphy was likeable.

constitutionus

well if you want cheese you could do worse than "they live!" with rowdy rowdy piper

i thought it was fun anyway.

iron eagle.

no retreat no surrender

for sheer popcorn fun check out "the last dragon" its just shamelessly fun. go bruce leroy

most of the rest i liked have been mentioned already. for such duff actors van damme and lundgren were in some class actioners. i'll second both universal soldier and running man. the latter is just littered with one liners.

i presume die hards been mentioned ? (oops just seen it has ! ) for the life of me i cant remember the name of it but there was a class kung fu film with rutger hauer playing a blind ninja or something? im pretty sure its called "Blind" something or other. pic on the vid was him with a katana striking a classic pose. hauer did another one set in a future london flooded out called "split second" which is fecking impossible to find but its a class sci/fi actioner if you can find it. im pretty sure its an 80s flick as its set in the far distant 90s

edit . aargh, got the years wrong in the last one , MADE in the 90s and dealing with far distant 2008 but still a clas film

MagicMarker

constitutionus wrote: »

for the life of me i cant remember the name of it but there was a class kung fu film with rutger hauer playing a blind ninja or something? im pretty sure its called "Blind" something or other. pic on the vid was him with a katana striking a classic pose.

Blind Fury:D

Class film, although i haven't seen it since i was a kid so it's probably ****e now!

Remember near the start of the movie he's walking along the road with his walking stick (those things blind people use) and he ends up walking towards a crocodile and touching it with the stick, then walks around it haha.

Also the stick was really just a camouflaged katana.

constitutionus

thats the one ! i wanted to say "blind justice" but i knew it wasnt that corny. i seem to remember him being a viet nam vet or something, having lost his sight during the war and being trained over there by a sympathic local

ya got to give it to the 80s, it might be cheese but its GREAT cheese !

Galvasean

constitutionus wrote: »

well if you want cheese you could do worse than "they live!" with rowdy rowdy piper

Check out Tough AND Deadly, starring Billy Blanks and Rowdy Roddy Piper.
They're tough... and deadly... I'm told.

Killme00

The Best of the Best
No Retreat / No Surrender
Sidekicks
Iron Eagle

MagicMarker

No Retreat No Surrender isn't even cheese. It's just plain bad!

It was one of my favourite movies as a kid but i watched it for the first time in years not long ago and it's just soo bad, the acting is pretty much the worse i've EVER seen.

Larianne

Duggy747 wrote: »

Die Hard
Raw Deal
Red Heat
Predator
Robocop
Commando
Conan The Barbarian
Escape From New York
Highlander
Lethal Weapon
Mad Max 1 & 2
Terminator
Aliens (Can't believe nobody mentioned this)
The Breakfast Club
Cobra
Death Wish series
Rambo 1 - 3
The Delta Force
Missing In Action
Invasion U.S.A - Chuck at his very best

Action Film?

Red Heat a great film, as is Commando. Love it. And Under Siege.

buffalo bill

Rambo first blood though, IMHO falls out side of the cheesy 80's action flick. It is actually a movie with some (relative) depth.

Now Commando - that to me is the classic of the genre. Pure action sequences, some terrible dialogue and one liners and of course, a pile of bodies at the end....

MagicMarker

Lets not forget the likes of

American Ninja
China O'Brien

buffalo bill

Would Karate Kid count???

Royale with Cheese

Watched Rambo 2 and 3 last night. Prefer the gritty brutal violence of the 4th one to be honest, although 2 and 3 are definitely worth a watch.

Will check out the running man next.

chopperbyrne

For pure 80's ownage look no further than Aliens, Commando, Predator, The Terminator and Running Man.

Arnie was Godlike in the 80's!

Edit: Forgot to mention the greatest Christmas film of all time Die Hard.

biko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfY1wa8oVN0