Help me plan my 80(90)s action movie-a-thon!

Title says it all! What movies would you want out of an 80s action movie-a-thon?

We're talking films like Demolition Man, Escape from New York, Cobra... you get the idea!

EDIT: Sounds like a lot of 90's are getting included.. I'm totally okay with that :D

Predator is a NECESSITY.

Lethal Weapon 1-2,Beverly Hills Cop 1-2, gotta have some buddy cop movies in there.

Demolition Man is from the '90's. So is Total Recall. But if you're going to include those anyway, then True Lies and Terminator 2 should be in there.

Aliens and Terminator are necessary. Is Commando any good?

@believer258: Commando is, in the words of a certain motherfucker, not optional. You'd better have the unrated cut of Robocop in there, as well.

Demolition man was 90s.

Anyway, ya you need Predator. I recommend The Mad Max films (including the first one; everyone always ignores the first one for some reason). True Lies. Total Recall. Payback. The Running Man. The original Teenage mutant ninja turtles movie. The Terminator and Terminator 2 Judgement day, Cyborg (just kidding, no but seriously Cyborg), The Legend of Drunken Master, Young Guns, Johnny Mnemonic, Virtuosity, Kickboxer...

I have a lot of 90s in my list.

I could go on but you know what... I wont.

Robocop. I don't care what else you do, but include Robocop. You have 20 seconds to comply.

If you like Escape From New York, be sure to check out "Big Trouble in Little China" and "They Live."

Here's a few that come to mind:

• Commando
• Die Hard
• Bloodsport
• Big Trouble In Little China
• Roadhouse
• Jackie Chan movie of your choice from the 1980s
• Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
• Conan the Barbarian
• Aliens

Here's a full list if you're interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_action_films_of_the_1980s

Rocky IV

Sure there are better Rocky movies, but that one is the most 80s of them all.

oh man.. I love all of you guys! Keep em coming! This is fantastic!

Begin with Arnold, continue with more Arnold, and finish up with Arnold!

I'd throw in Miami Connection for the 80's portion. Some of the best martial arts and acting you'll ever see. It was just added to Netflix a few weeks back.

@fredchuckdave: Its like an Arnold sandwich! Every time I flex its like an orgasm!

Only by eliminating violence can world peace be achieved.

@cornbredx: I recently rewatched the first one.. I think the reason people dump on it is because its starts VERY slow, without a lot of action. And the world isn't very well defined it feels. The second one gets you moving really quicky, and says "this is the fucked up world". I like it, but when compared to the other two, its a bit lacking :(

Universal Soldier is awesome and a classic of this genre.

Soldier with Kurt Russell is pretty funny in an ironic action-y way, I enjoyed it.

Also, no love for Rambo? Come on...

A few that I haven't seen mentioned yet:

• The Rock
• Con Air
• Bad Boys
• Red Dawn

If you want a fun flick from the 90s that isn't all that well known, I'd suggest The Long Kiss Goodnight. Geena Davis and Samuel L Jackson.

The Killer!

Also, some more Keanu: Point Break and Speed.

I vote JCVD's The Quest, Running Man, They Live, and Tango and Cash. Warning - watching all of these will cause chest hair.

I would also like to add Hard Boiled. Some of the best shootouts ever filmed.

You pretty much need:

The Terminator

Conan the Barbarian

Commando

Predator

The Running Man

Total Recall

Terminator 2

True Lies

Demolition Man

Rambo 2

Rocky 4

BloodSport

Kickboxer

Universal Soldier

Bad Boys

Die Hard Trilogy

Speed

Beverly Hills Cop 1 and 2

Lethal Weapon

RoboCop

Hot Shots Part Deux

@thehbk: A definitive list! Truly my beard shall be mighty and my chest hair the envy of many men!

If you're down for some Jackie Chan, Police Story and Rumble in the Bronx are essential viewing.

The Big Brawl is also a lot of fun. It was his first attempt at making a successful American crossover.

Wait are we just counting 80s ass 80s action films? Because Raiders of the Lost Ark came out in 81.

And with that in mind:

Top Gun

"Wait!" you say. "Top Gun is barely even an action mov--"

"Shutup because Top Gun," I reply.

Also might I suggest Drive as the movie-a-thon after-party movie?

Lastly, call me crazy but I think License to Kill was the only good 80s Bond movie and should totally be part of your movie-a-thon.

BEST OF THE BEST

BEST OF THE BEST 2.

Karate Kid ain't got shit on these movies.

Drive. Speaking of barely an action movie. Still a good movie, though. Brian Cranston needs to get a lot more film work after Breaking Bad. He's awesome.

Missing in Action or Invasion USA. You need a little Chuck Norris in your action movie-a-thon.

Two more that I just thought of that nobody has mentioned:

• Sniper
• Navy Seals

American Ninja

First Blood

Death Wish 3

Hard Boiled

The Killer

Hard To Kill

Marked For Death

Out For Justice

Eastern Condors

A Better Tomorrow 2

John Woo pre Hollywood stuff like:

- A Better Tomorrow 1 & 2

- The Killer

- Bullet in the Head

- Hard Boiled

Con Air, The Rock, Lethal Weapon 1&2, Speed, Hard Boiled, Cliffhanger, The long kiss goodnight, Rambo 1&2, Total Recall, Commando, Predator,Face/Off, Top Gun, Die hard 1-3, Bloodsport, Cobra, Universal Solder annnnd The Last Action Hero.

Con Air
The Rock
Lethal Weapon 1&2

demolition man
Hard Boiled
Cliffhanger

The long kiss goodnight

Rambo 1&2

judge dredd

Total Recall

time cop

double team

Commando

Predator

Face/Off

Top Gun

Die hard 1-3

Bloodsport

Cobra

Universal Soldier

that movie with jean-claude van damme is on a island paradise prison thing where he need to escape and is doing the split in doorway, but cant remember the name of the movie

cop land

code of silence

FUCKING ROBOCOP

invasion U.S.A

American ninja

the crow

point break

blade

ronin

eraser.

and your gonna see conan the barberian you might as well pop in red sonja afterwards since they kinda goes together

Red Heat and Heat (for a '90s flick).

Conan the Barbarian (the first one. Give Conan the Destroyer a pass. The first one is rated R, Destroyer is rated PG. You do the math)

Red Dawn ( WOLVERINES!!!!!)

Big Trouble in Little China (This movie deserves way more love than it gets. Its amazing)

Here's one I haven't seen mentioned:

Only the Strong (Watch Iron Chef's Marc Dacascos teach troubled teens Capoeria, then fight to the death with a Capoeria street gang!)

Few that I did not spot at glance:

• Under Siege
• Starship Troopers
• The Thing
• Drop Zone
• Highlander

Totally essential top 5:

• Robocop
• Predator
• Roadhouse
• Die Hard
• Mad Max 2

Good bad movies:

• Samurai Cop
• Hard Ticket To Hawaii
• Deathstalker 1 and 2
• Gymkata
• The Beastmaster

Total Recall

Starship Troopers

A Terminator Movie

Those three are required, anything else is just gravy.

CTRL+F: "The last boy scout"

No hits found.

Man, I thought this was a thread about action movies. I guess I was mistaken.

Willow!

Independence Day.

American ninja 1 and 2, revenge of the ninja......actually any of the canon movies

Big trouble in little china.

Maybe some andy sidaris (terrible 80s action movies)

Cherry 2000

Missing in action 1and2.

The first two Die Hards. Anything beyond that in the same series is not a good idea.

I've always believed in order to be considered an action film, there must be a higher ratio of action to story and violence (blood and gore). Films like Violent Cop (89) or Full Metal Yakuza (97), Reservoir Dogs (92) missout because they're more graphic in their portrayal of blood and gore borderlining on torture as opposed to light hearted guys dumping ammo and dudes fly back in slo-mo or cars blowing up because one bullet hit it in the sweet spot. Film's like Heat (95) or Fallen Angels (95), Léon: The Professional (94), The Jackal (96), Mr Canton & Lady Rose (89) Highlander (86), Plunkett & Macleane (99), Beast Cop (98), miss out because these are intense story driven thrillers or character driven films that build up to action as opposed to a film where there's action every 5-10 minutes because of short attention spans and itchy trigger fingers. One could try to argue Grosse Point Blank (97) to be a action film, despite my love for that film, I wouldn't.

Stuff not mentioned yet;

The Punisher (89)

Dark Angel aka I Come In Peace (90)

Predator 2 (90) If you don't like Predator 2 FUCK YOU!

Gunmen (94) Its got Mario Van Peebles in it

Assassins (95) written by Wachowski Bros.

Double Impact (91)

Hard Target (94)

Broken Arrow (96)

Crying Freeman (95)

Showdown in Little Tokyo (91)

The Replacement Killers (98) AKA Chow Yun Fat comes to America

The Boondock Saints (99)

The Matrix (99) what a way to end the 90s

The Way of the Gun (00) just misses out.

Reading maybe required when viewing these. Never watch any miramax versions of foreign films.

Yes Madam (85)

Project A 1-2

Armor of God (87)

Curry & Pepper (90)

Iceman Cometh (89)

Tiger on the Beat (88)

Full Contact (92)

Once Upon a Time in China 1-2 maybe 3?

Fudoh: the Next Generation (96)

The Blade (95) period martial art. Tsui Hark's remake of one armed swordsman

Bangkok Dangerous (99)