Five Faves: 80s Action Movies
Action movies! Yeah! I love them, and if you’re reading this, you probably have some vague interest in them, too. To continue my Five Faves trend, I decided to turn my eye to the almighty 1980s action movie. In my mind of anachronisms, the 80s were the decade that defined the classic action movie. They also were full of some of the most ridiculous nonsense one could dream up. Who thought 9,000 slow motion shots of Jean-Claude Van Damme screaming “eeyah” like an orgasmic donkey would be a good idea? The director of Bloodsport, that’s who. For this list, I’m making an arbitrary separation between “action” and “adventure.” While both usually contain action, the latter is focused on the journey to discovery; action movies, by contrast, are more focused on the spectacle of the action itself and are somewhat more contained. An alternative argument might hold that action is the big umbrella term, with different forms of action — i.e., adventure — underneath. I’m fine with that definition, too, but I desperately needed a way to put Indiana Jones in its own category for a different list. Like I said: arbitrary. So here goes — my Five Faves list of 1980s action movies: