In movies, the ’80s are more than a decade. They’re an adjective. Heck, they’re practically subgenre.
Don’t believe me? Just say the phrase “’80s action.” For action aficionados, that’s not only a period of time. Those two words conjure all sorts of images. They make me think of burly dudes who — wait until you hear this one — do not get along. They’re exchanging one-liners while trading bullets with the bad guys. They’re wearing sunglasses. One of ’em might have a toothpick. The other is getting too old for this stuff, only he does not use the word “stuff.”
It makes me think of blistering car chases. The kind with screeching tires and wild vehicular jumps. The kind that takes up at least 12 minutes of a 95 minute movie. Oh, it makes me think of explosions. Big explosions that the burly dudes can narrowly escape. They’re probably presented in slow-motion. If you listen closely, you can maybe hear a jungle cat’s ferocious roar buried somewhere beneath the explosion in the sound mix.
All that from those two words.
That’s ’80s action. And today on ScreenCrush let’s celebrate the best in ’80s action by picking the single best action movie of each year of the 1980s. Interestingly, some of our picks will absolutely embody all of those genre tropes. Others will go far afield of the clichés associated with the period. But they are all incredible action movies. And based on the way things are going, we’ll never see another period like it ever again, so we might as well appreciate the amazing films it gave us.
The Best Action Movie of Every Year of the 1980s
The 1980s were an incredible decade for action movies. Here are the ten best movies for each of its ten years.
READ MORE: The Best Horror Movies of the 1980s, Year By Year
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