The 19 Best Action Movies Of The 1980s

The 1980s was a unique time for movies. Theaters were huge, but home video was growing rapidly in popularity. Movies had a first life at the box office and a second one on home video. We knew enough about computers to know they would eventually assist moviemakers with VFX, but they weren’t ready to do more than draw a few lines at a time. It was also the heyday of bombastic action movies starring muscle-bound heroes chomping on cigars and one-liners.

The decade belonged to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kurt Russell, John Carpenter, and James Cameron. Some of our favorite fictional worlds came to life, including Aliens, The Terminator, and Indiana Jones. It’s hard to narrow this list down to just 19 items, but these movies are our favorite action flicks of the 1980s.