Perhaps no decade was kinder to the action genre than the 1980s. Any decade would be lucky to have just Die Hard, let alone Die Hard, The Terminator, Top Gun, Aliens, Predator, First Blood, Big Trouble in Little China, The Road Warrior, and Lethal Weapon. The list goes on and on, and that’s exactly the problem. With so many heavy-hitters stealing attention, there are quite a few 1980s action movies that have been completely forgotten.
Today we’ll be reintroducing you to 10 of those titles, including hidden gems, bad-good trashterpieces, international rip-offs, and everything in between.
10. The Highwayman (1987)
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This forgotten action feature, a near-future cop drama starring Flash Gordon’s Sam J. Jones, is technically a TV pilot. It kicked off the short-lived television series of the same name, which lasted for just nine further episodes on NBC. However, those episodes were heavily retooled and featured an entirely different supporting cast, so the pilot (which was later retitled Terror on the Blacktop when it was released as a standalone TV movie) still stands on its own as a separate feature. And man alive, is the original supporting cast something to behold. We’re talking Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes), Jimmy Smits (NYPD Blue), Wings Hauser (Vice Squad), Jennifer Runyon (Ghostbusters), and Rowdy Roddy Piper (They Live).
9. Killzone (1985)
Director David A. Prior (who is probably best known for helming the B-movie slashers Sledgehammer and Killer Workout) made many an action movie in the 1980s, but one of the standouts is Killzone, which stars his brother and frequent collaborator Ted Prior. This twisty action movie about a Vietnam veteran who goes off the deep end is a prime example of the campy Vietnam-themed action movies that cropped up in the wake of the success of 1982’s First Blood kicking off the Rambo franchise.
8. The Expendables (1988)
'The Expendables (1988)'Credit: Concorde Pictures
That title might ring a bell, thanks to First Blood star Sylvester Stallone using it for his star-studded 2010 action movie, which has an entirely different plot. However, the original The Expendables remains well and truly forgotten. It’s basically the 1980s version of Suicide Squad, following a motley crew of soldiers who band together to rescue American hostages in Cambodia.
7. The Phantom Killer (1981)
Unsurprisingly, given how unbelievably popular the slasher genre had become by the early 1980s, the horror subgenre began to infect many other genres, both in America and overseas. This Hong Kong movie was one of the first to jump on the bandwagon, pairing a slasher storyline (a killer with a skull mask murders women who have the audacity to flirt with a small village’s local hero) with kung fu movie stunts. It’s a truly wild exercise in genre cross-breeding.
6. 24 Hours to Midnight (1985)
‘24 Hours to Midnight’ (1985)Credit: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
In addition to boasting a deliciously nonsensical title (let us not forget that 24 hours before midnight is… also midnight), this wannabe cult classic features 1980s action icon Cynthia Rothrock (Yes, Madam). In an interesting gender-flipped take on a classic action trope, it stars Rothrock as a woman who seeks violent, martial-arts-based revenge when her husband is killed by gangsters.
5. Double Edge (1985)
‘Double Edge’ (1985)Credit: Delta Distribution
The only thing that is a more blatant ripoff of the Sylvester Stallone movie Cobra than the poster for Double Edge is Double Edge itself. This Filipino action movie follows, guess what, a loose cannon cop patrolling the streets with a certain callous disregard for the rulebook.
4. Killer Instinct (1987)
‘Killer Instinct’ (1988)Credit: Media Home Entertainment
Killer Instinct, which is also known as Behind Enemy Lines, is another Filipino entry in the genre, and it has even more to offer than a riff on a well-known American movie. This time, it includes a well-known American star, as well. While he wasn’t a big star at the time, Robert Patrick would eventually burst into global prominence as the menacing T-1000 in the 1991 sci-fi action epic Terminator 2: Judgment Day. This particular slice of Vietnamsploitation offers Patrick an early lead role as the heroic Johnny Ransom, who escapes from a POW camp and assembles a team to rescue his fellow prisoners.
3. Midnight Warrior (1989)
Midnight Warrior stars future screenwriter Kevin Bernhardt (The Immortals, Natural Enemy, Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying) as a news cameraman who gets some notoriety after pulling off a daring rescue and finds himself at the center of the news rather than only behind the camera, which puts him in increasingly dangerous situations. While this semi-meta premise feels like it would be perfect for a horror-comedy, because this is the 1980s, it is largely played straight. This makes it feel of a piece with the campy-but-serious work of some of the biggest action stars of the period, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had already developed a habit of having his characters deliver comic-relief one-liners in movies like 1985’s Commando.
2. Final Mission (1984)
Final Mission is like every trope of 1980s action cinema rolled up into one giant cheeseball. It stars Richard Young (Friday the 13th: A New Beginning) as a Vietnam veteran (surprise surprise) who is also a cop who also must seek revenge for the murders of his wife and child. Essentially, it delivers a primer on the best and worst of 1980s action cinema in one 101-minute package.
1. Ninja III: The Domination (1984)
Ninja III has developed a little bit of a cult following, especially after it was put out on Blu-Ray by Scream Factory in 2013. However, a little bit is hardly enough. It was a product of Cannon Films, the polyglots of 1980s exploitation filmmaking. During the decade, Cannon put out everything from slashers (New Year’s Evil, Schizoid, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2) to musicals and dance movies (The Apple, Breakin’) to comedies (Making the Grade, The Last American Virgin).
However, a lot of their most exciting output of the 1980s was in the action genre. Their notable action titles include Bloodsport, the aforementioned Cobra, Masters of the Universe, Over the Top, Death Wish 2, 3, and 4, and Kickboxer. One of their most robust action series at the time was the Ninja franchise, which was a collection of standalone ninja-themed stories that kicked off with 1981’s Enter the Ninja, which was followed by 1983’s Revenge of the Ninja.
Ninja III capped off the trilogy by telling the raucous tale of a young woman who becomes possessed by the spirit of an ancient Japanese ninja. This over-the-top tale is brought to life by a surprisingly stacked cast that includes Lucinda Dickey (Breakin’, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo), Sho Kosugi (Bruce Lee Fights Back from the Grave), John LaMotta (ALF), Dale Ishimoto (Beverly Hills Ninja), and James Hong (Chinatown).
So, have you seen any of the forgotten 1980s action movies on the list? If you have, share your thoughts in the comments below!
