From the hand-clasping, bicep-bulging first encounter between Dutch and Dillon, to Billy’s provocative chest slicing, to a mud-bathed Arnold’s primal, taunting howl, John McTiernan’s sci-fi action extravaganza so deftly accomplishes what it sets out to achieve.
Predator is the kind of film that makes you feel inferior as a man as its testosterone explodes through the screen and punches you in the mouth. If a more macho movie exists, I’ve not found it. It’s about fear of the future and fear of machines, and it was years ahead of its time.Ĭast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham, Elpidia Carrillo, Shane Black, Richard Chaves, Kevin Peter Hall It’s what drives the John Connor of the future to send Kyle Reese back to 1984, and it’s the overwhelming emotion Sarah Connor lives in until she finally has enough during the film’s climax. The urgency with which they operate sells the fear of this relentless cyborg as something very real. But lost in the discussion is the taut tension from start to finish-illuminated by the performances of Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn. Most remember the classic lines, Brad Fiedel’s awesome score, and the police station shootout.
When viewed through that lens, the film is elevated to one of the decade’s very best, regardless of its genre. The thing about The Terminator is that it’s not just a great action movie and a great sci-fi movie-it’s also a great monster movie. Writers: James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd, William Wisher (additional dialogue)Ĭast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Michael Biehn, Paul Winfield, Lance Henriksen, Earl Boen RELATED: The Best Action Movies on Netflix Right Now And no, Over the Top did not make the cut. These are the most over the top 80s action movies.
While Steven Spielberg was creating timeless art that would endure for future generations, guys like John McTiernan and Paul Verhoeven were marinating in the decade’s pungent juices, bringing to life material in such a way as had never been seen before. The 80s was a time of indulgence, of mullets, of slo-mo. We got one-liners, synth scores, mustachioed heroes in ill-fitting denim, and visions of dystopian futures often replete with suspicious robotics. The best 80s action movies saw musclebound men with unceasing firepower blowing bad guys to Kingdom Come. As the cinematic landscape evolved, aging out of the grim, nihilistic stories from ‘70s filmmakers impacted by Vietnam’s toll like Alan Arkin, Roman Polanski and Stanley Kubrick, the 80s brought forth hope, prosperity, and lots and lots of explosions. Among the many gifts the 1980s gave to western civilization was the 80s action movie.
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