8 Best Action Movies Of The 1980s

3. Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Most directors of summer blockbusters claim their film is a rollercoaster ride but Raiders Of The Lost Ark is the real deal, a near perfect fusion of action and humour that set the standard for action adventure movies for years. The pacing, dialogue, cast and especially the action scenes are all top notch, but in between the big scale, effects-heavy sequences are a series of smaller moments that audiences remember €“ the drinking game, the monkey that gives a Nazi salute and (of course) shooting the samurai. Alas, the blueprint wasn€™t perfect and even Spielberg struggled to match it in the sequels, but at least he performed better than his imitators. For an amusingly terrible facsimile of Raiders€™ truck chase, restaged at about 15 mph, check out Bruno Mattei€™s Strike Commando II (1988).