50 Pure Action movies from 1980-1999 that should be experienced.
Maybe not the best but these are the 50 pure action movies that should be watched. List doesn't include the more sci-fi/drama movies like T2 or Matrix. Simply put these are true action movies of that area and if you don't have time to go through all the 1000s of movies that came out in that time, these are the main ones you should watch. Tried to make the list a combination of different actors and settings to make it more interesting.
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- DirectorMark L. LesterStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerRae Dawn ChongDan HedayaA retired Special Forces colonel tries to save his daughter, who was abducted by his former subordinate.Doesn't get more badass than this. From the first shot of Arnold carrying a whole tree trunk you know you are in for a cinematic masterpiece.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsPatrick SwayzeKeanu ReevesGary BuseyAn F.B.I. Agent goes undercover to catch a gang of surfers who may be bank robbers.The only time any man is allowed to shed a tear is during the ending of this movie.
- DirectorJohn WooStarsJohn TravoltaNicolas CageJoan AllenTo foil a terrorist plot, an FBI agent assumes the identity of the criminal who murdered his son via facial transplant surgery, but the crook wakes up prematurely and vows revenge.John Travolta is playing Nic Cage and Nic Cage is playing Jon Travolta. Oscar worthy stuff from both thespians.
- DirectorPaul Michael GlaserStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerMaria Conchita AlonsoYaphet KottoIn a future dystopian America, a wrongfully accused and convicted policeman gets his shot at freedom when he's forced to participate in a TV game show where convicts called Runners must battle killers for their freedom.Best Stephen King adaptation.
- DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerCarl WeathersKevin Peter HallA team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.This movie will make a man out of you.
- DirectorSimon WestStarsNicolas CageJohn CusackJohn MalkovichFormer US Amy Ranger, Cameron Poe, has just been paroled for manslaughter, but must stop a group of violent and deadly criminals from escaping the country after they seize control of the prison transport plane he is on.When Nic Cage tells you to put the bunny down you do it.
- DirectorJohn WooStarsJean-Claude Van DammeLance HenriksenYancy ButlerA woman hires a drifter as her guide through New Orleans in search of her missing father. In the process, they discover a deadly game of cat and mouse behind his disappearance.Van Damme rocks one of the best mullets of all time.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerJamie Lee CurtisTom ArnoldA fearless, globe-trotting, terrorist-battling secret agent has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife might be having an affair with a used-car salesman while terrorists smuggle nuclear war heads into the United States.Arnold's version of James Bond.
- DirectorRowdy HerringtonStarsPatrick SwayzeKelly LynchSam ElliottA legendary bouncer comes to restore order at a notorious bar but runs afoul of a ruthless crime boss who controls the town.Pain don't hurt.
- DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerF. Murray AbrahamArt CarneyWith the help of a magic ticket, a young movie fan is transported into the fictional world of his favorite action movie character.Arnold lights a cigar using a lit dynamite stick.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellSteve BuscemiStacy KeachSnake Plissken is once again called in by the United States government to do a dirty job. This time to recover a potential doomsday device from Los Angeles, now an autonomous island where undesirables are exiled.I wish I was Snake Plissken.
- DirectorMenahem GolanStarsSylvester StalloneRobert LoggiaSusan BlakelyTough trucker Lincoln Hawk is determined to win back his son and triumph at the world arm wrestling championships.Sly has to win an arm wrestling tournament for truck drivers to win the love of his son.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsPeter WellerNancy AllenDan O'HerlihyIn a violent future in Old Detroit, murdered police officer Alex Murphy is resurrected as RoboCop, a powerful cyborg law enforcer. As he fights crime, he begins to recover memories of his past and seeks revenge on the gang who killed him.Remaking this movie was a sin.
- DirectorMichael WinnerStarsCharles BronsonDeborah RaffinEd LauterArchitect/vigilante Paul Kersey arrives back in New York City and is forcibly recruited by a crooked police chief to fight street crime caused by a large gang terrorizing the neighborhoods.The best Death Wish movie by far and an all-around cinematic masterpiece.
- DirectorNewt ArnoldStarsJean-Claude Van DammeDonald GibbLeah Ayres"Bloodsport" follows Frank Dux, an American martial artist serving in the military, who decides to leave the army to compete in a martial arts tournament in Hong Kong where fights to the death can occur.This is the one that started it all for Van Damme.
- DirectorCraig R. BaxleyStarsDolph LundgrenBrian BenbenBetsy BrantleyA renegade cop is forced to work with an FBI agent in order to bring down a group of drug dealers with sinister plans.Dolph and his partner have to stop a drug dealing alien.
- DirectorAndrei KonchalovskyStarsSylvester StalloneKurt RussellTeri HatcherFramed by their ruthless arch-nemesis, a pair of mismatched LAPD officers must put their differences aside to get even with the brutal crime baron who sent them to rot in a maximum-security prison.Sly & Kurt Russell, one of the best team ups of all time.
- DirectorRoland EmmerichStarsJean-Claude Van DammeDolph LundgrenAlly WalkerSoldiers who were killed in action are brought back to life in a top secret military experiment that creates superhuman warriors.Dolph overshadows JCVD in one of the best sci-fi movies ever made.
- DirectorMark L. LesterStarsDolph LundgrenBrandon LeeCary-Hiroyuki TagawaTwo L.A. cops with opposing views on what is the best way to uphold the law have to work together to bring down the Yakuza, while trying to protect a beautiful woman.It has the best scene in the history of cinema. Seriously. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DX3R7fVVU-g&ab_channel=citizendrewski
- DirectorRenny HarlinStarsSylvester StalloneJohn LithgowMichael RookerFormer mountain rescuer, Gabe Walker, must rescue a group of plane crash survivors in the Rocky Mountains. However they are actually a group of violent criminals who need help to locate their missing loot from a US Treasury plane.A damn good solid Sly action film.
- DirectorTony ScottStarsBruce WillisDamon WayansChelsea FieldA private detective's protected female witness is murdered, prompting him and the victim's boyfriend to investigate the crime that leads to a corrupt politician and a crooked football team owner.Underrated.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellKim CattrallDennis DunA rough-and-tumble trucker and his sidekick face off with an ancient sorcerer in a supernatural battle beneath Chinatown.Pure awesomeness.
- DirectorJohn WooStarsJohn TravoltaChristian SlaterSamantha MathisTerrorists steal nuclear warheads from the U.S. military but don't count on a pilot and park ranger spoiling their plans.Slater was always bland but John Travolta owns the movie.
- DirectorGeorge P. CosmatosStarsSylvester StalloneBrigitte NielsenReni SantoniA tough-on-crime street cop must protect the only surviving witness to a strange murderous cult with far-reaching plans.A movie that makes everyone reconsider their life decisions.
- DirectorKevin HooksStarsWesley SnipesBruce PayneTom SizemoreAirline security specialist John Cutter, finally returning to the job after his wife's death, finds himself in the middle of a hijacking by terrorists led by notorious international criminal Charles Rane.Always bet on black.
