15 Action Films From The 1980s You Must Watch

Seven years prior to They Live, John Carpenter earned huge influence in Hollywood after the success of Halloween in 1978. So he used his new influence to get a bigger budget together in order to bring his next film to life - Escape From New York.

Set in 1997, the United States has been consumed with skyrocketing crime rates and the island of Manhattan has been transformed into one big maximum-security prison. Air Force One has been hijacked by terrorists and the President is captured by a local crime lord. That’s when we meet our eye-patched inmate, Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell.

Snake is told that if he does not save the President in twenty-four hours, the explosives implanted in his neck will go off. If he succeeds, the explosives will be disarmed and he will be given a Presidential Pardon for his past crimes. With the stakes set, Snake races against the clock to locate and rescue the President while fighting off the crime ridden streets of New York all by himself.

The film wastes no time in giving you epic gun fights, explosions, brutal fights to the death in front of bloodthirsty crowds and exceptional performances from the whole cast.