The 80's Top Action Flicks!
by sethgecko61 | created - 02 Jun 2011 | updated - 20 May 2021 | PublicThe 25 best testosterone infused flicks of the 1980s
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1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure
In 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.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies
Votes: 1,036,556 | Gross: $248.16M
2. Die Hard (1988)
R | 132 min | Action, Thriller
A 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.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson
Votes: 945,211 | Gross: $83.01M
3. Predator (1987)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.
Director: John McTiernan | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Kevin Peter Hall, Elpidia Carrillo
Votes: 454,566 | Gross: $59.74M
4. The Terminator (1984)
R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A 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.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield
Votes: 923,747 | Gross: $38.40M
5. Lethal Weapon (1987)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Two newly paired cops who are complete opposites must put aside their differences in order to catch a gang of drug smugglers.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Mitchell Ryan
Votes: 276,266 | Gross: $65.21M
6. Escape from New York (1981)
R | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In 1997, when the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence
Votes: 157,410 | Gross: $25.24M
7. Commando (1985)
R | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A retired Special Forces colonel tries to save his daughter, who was abducted by his former subordinate.
Director: Mark L. Lester | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Dan Hedaya, Vernon Wells
Votes: 174,813 | Gross: $35.10M
8. First Blood (1982)
R | 93 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A veteran Green Beret is forced by a cruel Sheriff and his deputies to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.
Director: Ted Kotcheff | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Brian Dennehy, Richard Crenna, Bill McKinney
Votes: 275,419 | Gross: $47.21M
9. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
R | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In the post-apocalyptic Australian wasteland, a cynical drifter agrees to help a small, gasoline-rich community escape a horde of bandits.
Director: George Miller | Stars: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Max Phipps
Votes: 193,604 | Gross: $12.47M
10. Lone Wolf McQuade (1983)
PG | 107 min | Action, Crime, Drama
After helping the local police with some horse thieves, a Texas Ranger aims at a drug lord with arms trade as well. They're interested in the same woman and they're both into martial arts.
Director: Steve Carver | Stars: Chuck Norris, David Carradine, Barbara Carrera, Leon Isaac Kennedy
Votes: 13,950 | Gross: $12.23M
11. Sudden Impact (1983)
R | 117 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
When a woman exacts deadly revenge on the aggressors who raped her and her sister ten years earlier, Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan is assigned to the case.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, Bradford Dillman
Votes: 48,594 | Gross: $67.64M
12. Heartbreak Ridge (1986)
R | 130 min | Drama, War
Hard-nosed, hard-living Marine Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway clashes with his superiors and his ex-wife as he takes command of a spoiled recon platoon with a bad attitude.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Marsha Mason, Everett McGill, Moses Gunn
Votes: 48,179 | Gross: $42.72M
13. Aliens (1986)
R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Decades 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.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser
Votes: 762,670 | Gross: $85.16M
14. Raw Deal (1986)
R | 106 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A former FBI agent turned small-town sheriff agrees to help the FBI chief infiltrate the Chicago mafia when the FBI chief's son is killed by them.
Director: John Irvin | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kathryn Harrold, Sam Wanamaker, Paul Shenar
Votes: 37,585 | Gross: $16.21M
15. Silent Rage (1982)
R | 103 min | Action, Crime, Horror
A sheriff tries to stop the killing spree of a silent maniacal murderer who, as the result of secret genetic experimentation by an unethical scientist, has the ability to self-heal.
Director: Michael Miller | Stars: Chuck Norris, Ron Silver, Steven Keats, Toni Kalem
Votes: 6,698 | Gross: $10.49M
16. Conan the Barbarian (1982)
R | 129 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A powerful warrior seeks to avenge the genocide of his people and the murder of his parents at the hands of a snake cult.
Director: John Milius | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones, Max von Sydow, Sandahl Bergman
Votes: 162,439 | Gross: $39.57M
17. Rocky III (1982)
PG | 99 min | Drama, Sport
Rocky faces the ultimate challenge from a powerful new contender, and must turn to a former rival to help regain his throne as the undisputed fighting champion.
Director: Sylvester Stallone | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers
Votes: 211,137 | Gross: $125.05M
18. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
R | 105 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A freewheeling Detroit cop pursuing a murder investigation finds himself dealing with the very different culture of Beverly Hills.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Lisa Eilbacher
Votes: 202,975 | Gross: $234.76M
19. Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
PG-13 | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A rough-and-tumble trucker and his side kick face off with an ancient sorcerer in a supernatural battle beneath Chinatown.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong
Votes: 153,878 | Gross: $11.10M
20. Missing in Action (1984)
R | 101 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Colonel Braddock launches a mission deep into the jungles of Vietnam to find the POW camp that he escaped from and free the Americans still held captive there.
Director: Joseph Zito | Stars: Chuck Norris, M. Emmet Walsh, David Tress, Lenore Kasdorf
Votes: 16,524 | Gross: $22.81M
21. Rocky IV (1985)
PG | 91 min | Drama, Sport
Rocky Balboa proudly holds the world heavyweight boxing championship, but a new challenger has stepped forward: Drago, a six-foot-four, 261-pound fighter who has the backing of the Soviet Union.
Director: Sylvester Stallone | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers
Votes: 226,325 | Gross: $127.87M
22. Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
R | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
Rambo returns to the jungles of Vietnam on a mission to infiltrate an enemy base-camp and rescue the American POWs still held captive there.
Director: George P. Cosmatos | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Charles Napier, Steven Berkoff
Votes: 182,412 | Gross: $150.42M
23. Cobra (1986)
R | 87 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A tough-on-crime street cop must protect the only surviving witness to a strange murderous cult with far-reaching plans.
Director: George P. Cosmatos | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Brigitte Nielsen, Reni Santoni, Andrew Robinson
Votes: 79,581 | Gross: $49.04M
24. Tango & Cash (1989)
R | 104 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Framed by their ruthless arch-nemesis, a pair of mismatched LAPD officers must put their differences aside to get even with the brutal crime baron who sent them to rot in a maximum-security prison.
Directors: Andrey Konchalovskiy, Albert Magnoli | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Teri Hatcher, Jack Palance
Votes: 113,502 | Gross: $63.41M
25. Above the Law (1988)
R | 99 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A former Special Operations Vietnam vet works as a Chicago cop, and uncovers C.I.A. wrongdoing.
Director: Andrew Davis | Stars: Steven Seagal, Pam Grier, Henry Silva, Ron Dean
Votes: 34,601 | Gross: $18.87M
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