8 Best Action Movies Of The 1980s

1. Die Hard

Unlike most 80s action films, Die Hard isn€™t a glorified exploitation movie with a muscleman in the lead, it€™s not a fast-and-cheap knock-off from a shady distributor and it doesn€™t have a B-movie feel. It€™s the big, slick, well-shot (by Jan De Bont, who directed Speed) Hollywood film that set Bruce Willis€™ career on a new course after a string of clunky comedies. This is the action movie that every other action movie wants to be, and they usually fail because they don€™t have the chemistry between the leads, the zingers or the dynamite action sequences. The rooftop explosion, which wipes out an FBI helicopter, is still impressive, but if you remember Die Hard for one thing, it€™s probably for the banter between Bruce and Alan Rickman. Moments like that set the standard for action films for years afterwards, and you can see movies like Under Siege, Sudden Death and 12 Rounds trying (and failing) to recapture its spirit.