Lights! Camera! Action! Action! Action! (Mindless mayhem to dynamite the brain)...
by azathothpwiggins | created - 19 May 2021 | updated - 12 Jun 2022 | PublicEveryone remembers those big action films from the 1980's. You know, DIE HARD, COMMANDO, MISSING IN ACTION, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, THE ROAD WARRIOR, THE TERMINATOR, etc. Well, here are their imitators, wannabes, and others, presented in no particular order. Though some are soul-destroying in their dullness, others are magnificent in their non-stop hilarity! There are even some decent movies among the dross! If you haven't heard of some, or any of these, by all means watch them...
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1. Raw Justice (1994)
R | 92 min | Action, Thriller
Mayor Stiles' daughter Donna is killed the night after a lousy date with the shy Mitch. Of course this makes him the main suspect. When Mitch gets free on bail, Styles hires ex-cop Mace to follow him.
Director: David A. Prior | Stars: David Keith, Robert Hays, Pamela Anderson, Leo Rossi
Votes: 1,452
2. The Wild Team (1985)
90 min | Action, Drama, War
A South American rebel leader in exile in Miami is given one last chance to overthrow his successor, a brutal dictator, by a multi-national mining group out to exploit his countries' mineral resources.
Director: Umberto Lenzi | Stars: Antonio Sabato, Ivan Rassimov, Werner Pochath, Julia Kent
Votes: 126
3. Fatal Skies (1990 Video)
R | 88 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A ruthless businessman plots to dump toxic waste into the water supply of a small town. It's up to a small group of innocent sky-diving teenagers who accidentally land inside the walls of his industrial center to try to stop him.
Director: Thomas E. Dugan | Stars: Timothy Leary, Tim Burke, J. Michael Esposito, Veronica Carothers
Votes: 47
4. White Fury (1989)
R | 84 min | Action, Drama
Two ruthless criminals take two teenage couples hostage at a remote mountain cabin in Colorado following a botched bank robbery.
Director: David A. Prior | Stars: Deke Anderson, Sean Holton, Douglas Harter, Christine Shinn
Votes: 79
5. Dead End City (1988)
R | 85 min | Action, Thriller
The government's new urban renewal policy results in street gangs fighting for control of the inner cities. While most of the residents flee, one factory owner determines to fight the gangs for his property.
Director: Peter Yuval | Stars: Dennis Cole, Gregory Scott Cummins, Christine Lunde, Robert Z'Dar
Votes: 163
6. Lock 'n' Load (1990)
R | 86 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A Vietnam vet has nightmares about murder and zombies, and then discovers that he and other vets have been programmed to commit crimes and then kill themselves afterwards so they can't be ... See full summary »
Director: David A. Prior | Stars: Jack Forcinito, Renée Cline, Jeffrey Judson Smith, William Hathaway-Clark
Votes: 62
7. Fireback (1983)
90 min | Action
A weapons expert is sent to Vietnam to demonstrate a new weapon he has just invented, but he is captured during a Viet Cong attack and imprisoned in a POW camp. He is rescued not long ... See full summary »
Director: Teddy Page | Stars: Richard Harrison, Bruce Baron, Gwendolyn Hung, Ann Milhench
Votes: 156
8. Escape from the Bronx (1983)
R | 89 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A rag-tag group of people must fight extermination squads amid their ruined city.
Director: Enzo G. Castellari | Stars: Mark Gregory, Henry Silva, Valeria D'Obici, Giancarlo Prete
Votes: 3,038 | Gross: $1.41M
9. Born Killer (1989)
R | 90 min | Action, Thriller
Two deranged and homicidal escaped convicts terrorize a group of survivalists engaged in a paint-ball war.
Director: Kimberley Casey | Stars: Ty Hardin, Ted Prior, Fritz Matthews, Durrell Nelson
Votes: 135
10. Space Mutiny (1988)
Not Rated | 91 min | Action, Adventure, Romance
A pilot is the only hope to stop the mutiny of a spacecraft by its security crew, who plot to sell the crew of the ship into slavery.
Directors: David Winters, Neal Sundstrom | Stars: Reb Brown, John Phillip Law, James Ryan, Cameron Mitchell
Votes: 7,395
11. Invasion Force (1990)
R | 83 min | Action
A film crew shooting a movie finds itself battling against terrorists trying to take over a city.
Director: David A. Prior | Stars: Renée Cline, Walter Cox, Douglas Harter, Richard Lynch
Votes: 135
12. Warriors of the Wasteland (1983)
R | 91 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Two mercenaries help wandering caravans fight off an evil and aimless band of white-clad bikers after the nuclear holocaust.
Director: Enzo G. Castellari | Stars: Giancarlo Prete, Fred Williamson, George Eastman, Anna Kanakis
Votes: 3,094
13. Phoenix the Warrior (1988)
Not Rated | 89 min | Action, Sci-Fi
In a post-apocalyptic world, women warriors battle each other from junkyards to gravel pits as they determine the fate of the entire world.
Director: Robert Hayes | Stars: Persis Khambatta, Kathleen Kinmont, Peggy McIntaggart, James Emery
Votes: 1,099
14. Night Trap (1993)
R | 93 min | Horror, Thriller
A New Orleans cop tries to track down and stop a vicious and demonic killer who has sold his soul to the devil for invulnerability and immortality.
Director: David A. Prior | Stars: Robert Davi, Michael Ironside, Lesley-Anne Down, Lydie Denier
Votes: 436
15. Maximum Breakout (1991)
Unrated | 96 min | Action, Drama
Vacationing lovers Travis and Bobbi encounter an unexpected nightmare on a lonely country road. Two strangers kidnap Bobbi, and brutally beat Travis. Six months later, though Bobbi's family... See full summary »
Director: Tracy Lynch Britton | Stars: Bobby Johnston, Eddie Hopper, Carrie Murray, Sydney Coale
Votes: 60
16. Deadly Prey (1987)
R | 88 min | Action, Thriller
A group of sadistic mercenaries kidnap people off the streets and set them loose on the grounds of their secret camp, so the "students" at the camp can learn how to track down and kill their prey.
Director: David A. Prior | Stars: Cameron Mitchell, Troy Donahue, Ted Prior, Fritz Matthews
Votes: 3,467
17. Mankillers (1987)
R | 88 min | Action
A female CIA agent is assigned to train and lead an all-female squad to Colombia to stop a renegade agent who has hired himself out to a drug cartel.
Director: David A. Prior | Stars: Edd Byrnes, Gail Fisher, Edy Williams, Lynda Aldon
Votes: 471
18. The Killers Edge (1991 Video)
R | 90 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A cop teams up with an FBI agent to track down a counterfeiter.
Director: Joseph Merhi | Stars: Wings Hauser, Karen Black, Robert Z'Dar, Joe Palese
Votes: 153
19. Shotgun (1989)
Not Rated | 84 min | Action, Thriller
Detective Ian 'Shotgun' Jones hunts a sadistic misogynistic maniac.
Director: Addison Randall | Stars: Stuart Chapin, Rif Hutton, David Marriott, Metanel Ryan
Votes: 330
20. Missione finale (1988)
TV-14 | 84 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Terrorists are making genetic experiments on kidnapped girls. Professor Larson, dreams of creating a master race to rule the world. Scientific organizations in Asia and Europe hire a group of mercenaries who are tasked to kill them.
Director: Ferdinando Baldi | Stars: Frank Zagarino, Mark Gregory, Romano Kristoff, Jinny Rockers
Votes: 141
21. Scorpion Thunderbolt (1988)
85 min | Action, Fantasy, Horror
An evil witch seeks a magic ring which is currently in the possession of a mustachieod disciple of black magic. Meanwhile a snake monster terrorizes the city of Hong Kong.
Director: Godfrey Ho | Stars: Richard Harrison, Li-Yun Chen, Shou-Ping Tsui, Nancy Lim
Votes: 233
22. Future Force (1989)
R | 84 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
In the future, a cop protects a reporter from crooked, renegade cops who think she knows too much about them.
Director: David A. Prior | Stars: David Carradine, Robert Tessier, Anna Rapagna, William Zipp
Votes: 1,181
23. Future Zone (1990)
R | 82 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Sequel to 'Future Force' has John Tucker's son traveling back in time 30 years to save his father from being killed by thugs he is currently pursuing back in 1990.
Director: David A. Prior | Stars: David Carradine, Ted Prior, Patrick Culliton, Gail Jensen
Votes: 713
24. Firehead (1991)
R | 88 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
When a Russian cyborg with telekinetic powers terrorizes a city, an elite government agency intervenes. A chemist teams up with a special agent to capture the menace but they find out that the true villain isn't who they expected.
Director: Peter Yuval | Stars: Christopher Plummer, Chris Lemmon, Brett Porter, Gretchen Becker
Votes: 511 | Gross: $0.06M
25. Hands of Steel (1986)
R | 94 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A cyborg is programmed to kill a scientist who holds the fate of mankind in his hands. He fails and hides in a diner in a desert run by a woman who likes him. The people who sent him are after him and so is the local arm wrestling champ.
Director: Sergio Martino | Stars: Daniel Greene, Janet Agren, Claudio Cassinelli, George Eastman
Votes: 2,879
26. Endgame - Bronx lotta finale (1983)
TV-14 | 98 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A telepathic mutant recruits a post-World War III TV game-show warrior to lead her band of mutants to safety.
Director: Joe D'Amato | Stars: Al Cliver, Laura Gemser, George Eastman, Dino Conti
Votes: 1,400
27. Robowar (1988)
TV-14 | 92 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A clone/mix of PREDATOR, RAMBO, and ROBOCOP gone nuts jungle flick with an international cast, exotic locale and fantastic electronic music.
Director: Bruno Mattei | Stars: Reb Brown, Catherine Hickland, Massimo Vanni, Romano Puppo
Votes: 1,370
28. To the Limit (1995)
R | 98 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
An ex-CIA agent sets out for cold, hard revenge against the ruthless villain and his group of trained assassins who murdered her husband.
Director: Raymond Martino | Stars: Anna Nicole Smith, Joey Travolta, John Aprea, David Proval
Votes: 1,134
29. Skyscraper (1996 Video)
R | 96 min | Action, Thriller
A helicopter charter soon turns deadly when the female pilot finds that she is on a building held by terrorists. It is up to her and her husband to save the hostages.
Director: Raymond Martino | Stars: Anna Nicole Smith, Richard Steinmetz, Branimir Cikatiæ, Calvin Levels
Votes: 2,767
30. Cybernator (1991)
R | 85 min | Action, Sci-Fi
In the future, an L.A. cop whose girlfriend is a stripper uncovers a conspiracy concerning killer cyborgs.
Director: Robert Rundle | Stars: Lonnie Schuyler, Jeff Jenkins, Christina Lucia Peralta-Ramos, Jack Senior
Votes: 416
31. Samurai Cop (1991)
Unrated | 96 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Joe Marshall and Frank Washington are two tenacious police detectives who seek at all costs to stop the Katana, a renegade Yakuza gang composed of violent and sadistic killers who want to lead the drug trade in Los Angeles.
Director: Amir Shervan | Stars: Robert Z'Dar, Mathew Karedas, Janis Farley, Mark Frazer
Votes: 10,119
32. The Bronx Executioner (1989)
R | 92 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
In a futuristic New York City, a cyborg goes on a killing spree.
Director: Vanio Amici | Stars: Gabriele Gori, Margie Newton, Chuck Valenti, Rod Robinson
Votes: 279
33. Top of the World (II) (1997)
R | 99 min | Action, Thriller
A just-paroled ex-cop and his soon-to-be-ex-wife wander into a Las Vegas casino, become suspects in a robbery, and take a gamble with their lives.
Director: Sidney J. Furie | Stars: Peter Weller, Dennis Hopper, Tia Carrere, David Alan Grier
Votes: 955
34. Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying (1999)
R | 101 min | Action, Thriller
A passenger of a hijacked airliner who happens to be an airplane engineer works to deactivate a chemical weapons bomb after the hijackers kill the pilot and threaten to kill all the passengers on the plane.
Director: David Mackay | Stars: Craig Sheffer, Tom Berenger, Jennifer Beals, Jeffrey Nordling
Votes: 2,368
35. Interceptor (1992)
R | 92 min | Action, Sci-Fi
A U.S. Air Force officer tries to stop a murderous group of terrorists who are trying to steal two top secret F-117A Stealth Fighters from the cargo hold of a gigantic C-5 Galaxy Transport flying at 30,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean.
Director: Michael Cohn | Stars: Jürgen Prochnow, Andrew Divoff, Elizabeth Morehead, J. Kenneth Campbell
Votes: 737
36. No More Dirty Deals (1993)
Not Rated | 91 min | Action
A mechanic runs afoul of a group of modern day pirates when he falls for a female member of a water based criminal gang.
Director: David J. Schweitzer | Stars: Taimak, Von B. von Lindenberg, Lola Fulin, Lawrence Cook
Votes: 68
37. Prototype (1992)
R | 98 min | Action, Sci-Fi
In a post-apocalyptic future, a wheelchair-bound veteran volunteers for an experimental cybernetic program that will allow him to walk again, only to find that it turns him into a lethal ... See full summary »
Director: Phillip J. Roth | Stars: Lane Lenhart, Robert Tossberg, Brenda Swanson, Paul Coulj
Votes: 688
38. South Beach (1993)
R | 93 min | Thriller, Action, Crime
A tough former cop and football star finds himself in trouble, and gets his old teammates to jump in.
Directors: Fred Williamson, Alain Zaloum | Stars: Fred Williamson, Peter Fonda, Gary Busey, Robert Forster
Votes: 353
39. No Contest II (1995)
R | 86 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Sharon Bell is back, this time she must stop a terrorist plot to smuggle Nazi nerve gas.
Director: Paul Lynch | Stars: Lance Henriksen, Shannon Tweed, Bruce Payne, Jayne Heitmeyer
Votes: 408
40. The Firing Line (1988)
Not Rated | 90 min | Action
An American military advisor becomes disillusioned by the brutality and corruption of the Central American government which hired him. When his shift in sympathies becomes known, he's ... See full summary »
Director: Jun Gallardo | Stars: Reb Brown, Shannon Tweed, Kahlena Marie, Mel Davidson
Votes: 388
41. Laser Mission (1989)
R | 84 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
Action superstar Brandon Lee portrays rebellious government agent Michael Gold who is sent on a desperate mission to a Soviet-controlled African nation in order to uncover a top-secret laser weapons operation and destroy it.
Director: BJ Davis | Stars: Brandon Lee, Debi A. Monahan, Ernest Borgnine, Richard Cox
Votes: 2,617
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