15 Best Movie Thrillers From The 1980s
7. To Live And Die In L.A.
Directed by William Friedkin (whose The French Connection is one of the greatest thrillers ever made), this is pure kinetic energy in cinema form. To Live And Die In L.A is one of the most breathless films ever made, taking barely a moment’s pause, hurtling forward ever faster for two hours before crashing to a stop.
Starring William Petersen and Willem Dafoe (in one of his breakout roles), To Live And Die In L.A is a classic cat and mouse tale: Petersen, a risk taking cop, must bring down Dafoe, a deliciously evil counterfeiter. The task becomes personal when Dafoe murders Petersen’s partner (in what may be a trope originator, the partner was three days from retirement).
Friedkin may be the greatest ever director of chase sequences, and the film is replete with them - sprints through airports, dangerous car stunts, everything you could want. Every performer gives it their all, and the end result is dialled up madness in the best possible way.
To Live And Die In L.A is a lesson in thriller plotting. As a cop vs crook tale, there’s nothing amazingly fresh, but the story is told with such verve, panache, and ruthless pace that it stands up to scrutiny as a great piece of work.