The success of the action genre during the 1980s is one to behold, holding strong significance all these years later. It was the time of larger-than-life action heroes, gratuitous action set-pieces, and all-around big thrills. The Hollywood action blockbuster truly came to its own during this decade. Unlike filmmakers of the decade prior, those in the 80s were less concerned with weaving social statements, rather focusing their efforts on mastering the action spectacle.
Intent on pushing the bounds of the imagination, visionary filmmakers of the time gave birth to a swath of iconic action franchises that remain relevant to this day. Separate from the Golden Age of classical Hollywood, the 80s may well be called the golden age for blockbuster action. So, here is a list of the best action movie of every year in the 80s.
1980: The Empire Strikes Back
It has to be a really special movie scene that impacts the public consciousness in such a way that it becomes a cultural phenomenon with a life of its own. That is what audiences were treated to when they went to the theaters in May 1980 to watch The Empire Strikes Back, the second movie in the newly developing Star Wars franchise.
The movie displayed a more dramatic tone than was seen in the first movie, and developed important plot elements in the fictional universe. Critics found the tonal shift jarring coming from the campier storytelling of the first movie. But this was simply a sign of the elaborate fictional universe that George Lucas was working to develop. Most importantly, the movie ended with possibly the most iconic cliffhanger in all of cinema, unrivaled to this day by anything else.
1981: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Star Wars was far from the endgame for Lucas, as he also held aspirations for modernizing the serial films that he used to watch as a kid. He returned the next year with another cinematic epic that pushed the bounds of the medium even further: Raiders of the Lost Ark. With direction from the great Steven Spielberg and John Williams returning from Empire to deliver the musical score, the large-scale action adventure of Raiders took its definitive place in Hollywood history as the epitome of the cinematic experience.
Fresh off his stint as Han Solo, the movie placed Harrison Ford as the face of another genre-defining film franchise, establishing him as a top action star. Raiders went on to earning nine nominations at the Academy Awards, winning five of them.
1982: First Blood
Beyond the fantastic adventures of Lucas and Spielberg, the 80s also saw the rise of action cinema that centered around hypermasculine, seemingly undefeatable heroes whose sole goal was to wreak maximum carnage. Movies like Mad Max 2 and Escape from New York, released in 1981, were just a few examples of the type.
But the first Rambo movie, titled First Blood, simply hit different. Based on the eponymous novel by David Morrell, it was as much a portrayal of the traumas of war veterans as it was a groundbreaking action film. Sylvester Stallone was the perfect actor to portray the role, embodying both the unrelenting action hero and the troubled veteran with ease. His performance, combined with the larger-than-life spectacle of its action set pieces, made Rambo an enduring piece of Hollywood cinema, spawning an entire franchise that remains a genre staple.
1983: Scarface
Over-the-top action phantasms were clearly the reigning trend in the 80s, but the decade also gave way to the occasional crime drama. The Brian De Palma-directed Scarface was a classic story of rise and fall, and captured audiences’ imagination by going all-out on the violence. Scenes of stylized action from the movie, alongside its many catchy dialogues, found their own place in pop culture, and the movie remains among the most referenced and parodied in film history.
1984: The Terminator
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Two other names that had a fantastic creative period during the 80s were James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Audiences’ growing taste for large-scale action set in fantastic locations meant that it was only a matter of time before the sci-fi genre got the 80s treatment. What did end up happening with the genre, however, was better than anyone could have hoped.
The Terminator was the first major title in the 80s to explore that route, a sci-fi action film that used the sci-fi elements to bolster the action. Schwarzenegger, who was initially pitched for the role of Kyle Reese, was a dream casting for the Terminator. It was almost as if he was born to play the role, with everything from his Mr. Olympia-winning physique to his foreign accent fitting into the role naturally. The film’s premise about an all-powerful AI waging war on humans was striking and almost archetypal, and it elevated the movie from a generic action flick about humanoid robots to something that felt relevant and timeless at its core.
1985: Police Story
Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan was also seeing the best days of his career in the 80s. While his Hollywood breakthrough was still a decade away, Chan was busy perfecting his unique cinematic style during this time. Released in 1985, Police Story was effectively the culmination of all the different style elements that Chan had been developing throughout his early career, featuring the best of his stylized action-comedy and the breathtaking practical stunts.
The movie was a critical and commercial success, winning Best Picture and Best Action Choreography at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Initial responses were mixed among western critics; but more so as time goes on, Police Story is gaining recognition as one of the best action films of the 80s, even finding a place in Time Out’s list of the best action movies of all time.
1986: Top Gun
The 1986 movie Top Gun concerned itself with a single thing, and that was to deliver cinematic entertainment in its purest form. It took one of the most thrilling professions in the world as its subject, and sought to capture its thrills in the most realistic way possible. Despite appearing almost cartoonish at times, the movie leaned into the theatrics at all times and the audiences were all for it. The special experience that Top Gun delivered remained so strong in people’s memories that it allowed a sequel made over 30 years later to become one of the highest-grossing movies of the year.
1987: Predator
The monster that was introduced with the first Predator movie was so intense and over-the-top that it instantly gained iconic status. A muscular, eight-foot humanoid with an insect mandible for a mouth and murdering for a job is a concept that still sounds incredulous today. We can only imagine the excitement of the audiences who saw the creature for the first time in the theaters.
What’s more, the movie also starred Arnold Schwarzenegger in a role that featured absurd displays of masculinity that were even more absurd than The Terminator. An intense sci-fi action bash pitting Arnold Schwarzenegger against a killing machine — it doesn’t get more 80s than that.
1988: Die Hard
The director of Predator, John McTiernan, returned the next year for another action movie that would achieve iconic status. Die Hard differed from the typical 80s action film in a few crucial ways, most significantly in the way its hero, John McClane, was written. Far from the macho, musclebound heroes of other 80s hits, Bruce Willis’s McClane was written as an Everyman cop who finds himself as the unwilling hero. However, this was a deliberate choice that made the movie a hit among audiences.
Die Hard had other strengths as well: the focus on the family aspect of McClane’s character, the compelling villain role brought to life by Alan Rickman, and little details like the use of Christmas music all served to make the movie an evergreen piece of 80s action cinema.
1989: Batman
The 1989 Batman film is remembered fondly by fans for its memorable tone and performances. With Tim Burton in the director’s chair, the movie had a distinctive visual style, and Michael Keaton’s performance as the Batman was also well-liked. The highlight of the film, though, was Jack Nicholson’s performance as the Joker, as he stole every scene through with his menacing aura.