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Next Level 80's Action Movies

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  • Next Level 80's Action Movies

    Meaning next level down and rolling on into the 90's with two 70's bookmarks:

    Death Has Blue Eyes (1976)
    Seven (1979)
    Siege (1983)
    Deadly Force (1983)
    The Panther Squad (1984)
    Malibu Express (1985)
    Savage Dawn (1985)
    Out Of Bounds (1986)
    Never Too Young To Die (1986)
    The Zero Boys (1986)
    Miami Connection (1987)
    Nightmare At Noon (1988)
    L.A. Bounty (1989)
    Best Of The Best (1989)
    Action U.S.A. (1989)
    Blood Games (1990)
    Hired To Kill (1990)
    The Ambulance (1990)
    Showdown In Little Tokyo (1991)
    Men Of War (1994)
    Bridge Of Dragons (1999)

    ...Basically a Wings Hauser, Sybil Danning, Eric Roberts, Dolph Lundgren sort of thing as opposed to Stallone, Bronson, Norris, Van Damme or even Siegal...

    Anyway, which titles on this list (if any) are misbegotten classics-- or at least are entertaining, which ones suck, and which ones are missing?

  • #2
    Men Of War (1994) was a solid DTV action movie. Seek out the uncut version

    Siege (1983) enjoyable & worth a watch. If you like down & dirty '80s NYC, check out Tenement(1985) it's another apartment siege movie that's a nice little slice of sleaze

    Miami Connection (1987) is "so bad it's good/funny".

    Did not care for Never Too Young To Die (1986), The Zero Boys (1986) or Malibu Express (1985)



    Disclaimer: My tastes run "serious" goofy action(Death Wish 3 & 4) as opposed to just plain goofy (Andy Sidaris movies). Recommendations are for a watch, not buy

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    • #3
      Since you asked, here's a one liner on each of films listed above which I've seen:

      Deadly Force (1983)
      - this isn't as good as it should've been, but definitely worth a watch as probably Wings' biggest attempt to break out as a leading man/action star?

      The Panther Squad (1984)
      - typical cynical, barrel-scraping, thrown together Eurocine nonsense. So a MUST-SEE on some weird level, naturally.

      Malibu Express (1985)
      - I'm not exactly a Sidaris expert, but when I drunkenly ploughed through all his movies way-back-when, I thought this was by far the best one? Kind of has all the good stuff you'd expect from his movies, but less overtly cheap/jokey/stupid perhaps?

      Savage Dawn (1985)
      - Another one which looks great on paper, but didn't quite hit the level of awesomeness I'd hoped for. Plays like an old school biker movie for much of the run-time, but... Hendriksen is rad in the lead, there's loads of crazy shit with tanks knocking down all the sets, and... Karen Black as some kind of foul-mouthed harlot character swinging from a gun barrel?! Maybe I need to watch it again.

      Never Too Young To Die (1986)
      - Absolutely goofy, LOL-packed ultra-'80s trash. Loved it when I watched it as a VHS-rip a few years back... not sure it would stand up to repeat viewing though? We'll see.

      Miami Connection (1987)
      - A thing of beauty and a joy forever.

      Nightmare At Noon (1988)
      - Pretty great fun. By far the best Nico Mastorakis film I've seen. The combo of Wings, Bo Hopkins and George Kennedy going at it 'Rio Bravo' style against a town full of zombies controlled by Brion James playing a kind of Satanic John Carpenter is hard to beat.

      Action U.S.A. (1989)
      - Absolutely fucking brilliant. Imagine a film put together by a bunch of stunt guys in order to allow them to do all the crazy, potentially lethal stuff they're not allowed to do on regular American film sets (and to film it in all ways they're presumably not usually allowed to take the time to set up), stiched together into a goofy-ass, weirdly charming buddy cop/chase movie, and... here ya go. Big Jackie Chan influence going on here I suspect, but actually has the chops to rival him to some extent, which is quite an achievement.

      Hired To Kill (1990)
      - Stoopid, clunky, generally bloody awful, but somehow weirdly enjoyable and very satisfying Mastorakis guff.

      The Ambulance (1990)
      - Typically eccentric, flawed and intermittently inspired late period Larry Cohen movie. Not exactly 'action' as such (though there is some), more... well, whatever genre you'd put Larry Cohen movies into. The 'Larry Cohen' genre, I suppose.
      BW Haggar
      Senior Member
      Last edited by BW Haggar; 05-19-2023, 07:01 AM.
      https://breakfastintheruins.blogspot.com/
      http://stereosanctity.blogspot.com/

      Comment


      • #4
        SEVEN - Sidaris' best film.

        SIEGE - Not bad, but I was bored the last time I watched it.

        DEADLY FORCE - Wings has some great lines and line readings, of course.

        SAVAGE DAWN - Love it. So badass.

        OUT OF BOUNDS - Wasn't good or bad enough, just sort of '80s bland. Jenny Wright is always fantastic and easy on the eyes.

        L.A. BOUNTY - Is this the one where Wings systematically kills his own crew for fucking up? If so, that stuff is priceless. Sybil Danning is like a zombie in the lead - she sucks in it.

        BEST OF THE BEST - I need to watch this again.

        ACTION U.S.A. - The really quiet audio on the VS disc kind of ruined this one for me. It seems rad and the female lead is charming, but I was distracted because of the audio.

        BLOOD GAMES - First 25 minutes are brilliant, but it unfortunately turns into a cheap "running around in the woods" movie and quickly becomes tedious. I do need to watch it again.

        THE AMBULANCE - I really like this one, but I like all of Larry Cohen's movies.

        SHOWDOWN IN LITTLE TOKYO - It's too short and I want to see it uncut, but it's another classic in the magical year of action that was 1991.
        Why would anybody watch a scum show like Videodrome? Why did you watch it, Max?

        Comment


        • #5
          Cool, thanks! Much appreciated.

          Any key titles or recommendations I don't have listed that fit this vibe?

          Comment


          • #6
            I recently watched a good one, NUMBER ONE WITH A BULLET (1987). It's similar to LETHAL WEAPON, about two mismatched cops played by Robert Carradine (loose cannon) and Billy Dee Williams (sensible). It's a Cannon production, has lots of good, OTT action and lots of laughs, both intentional and unintentional. It's pretty much what you'd expect but with all of the odd flourishes that you can't predict.
            Why would anybody watch a scum show like Videodrome? Why did you watch it, Max?

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by ChicGandil View Post
              Cool, thanks! Much appreciated.

              Any key titles or recommendations I don't have listed that fit this vibe?
              Well, the parameters are a little vague, but in terms of vibe, I'd definitely say 'Eye of the Tiger' (1986) belongs on this list.

              Sure there are many more, but I'll have to rack my long-suffering brains to come up with 'em...
              https://breakfastintheruins.blogspot.com/
              http://stereosanctity.blogspot.com/

              Comment


              • #8
                Eye Of The Tiger fits in about as well as anything could. Never seen Number One With A Bullet, but I'll check it out. It was actually a recent Cannon binge that sent me down this path.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by ChicGandil View Post
                  Meaning next level down and rolling on into the 90's with two 70's bookmarks:

                  Death Has Blue Eyes (1976)
                  Seven (1979)
                  Siege (1983)
                  Deadly Force (1983)
                  The Panther Squad (1984)
                  Malibu Express (1985)
                  Savage Dawn (1985)
                  Out Of Bounds (1986)
                  Never Too Young To Die (1986)
                  The Zero Boys (1986)
                  Miami Connection (1987)
                  Nightmare At Noon (1988)
                  L.A. Bounty (1989)
                  Best Of The Best (1989)
                  Action U.S.A. (1989)
                  Blood Games (1990)
                  Hired To Kill (1990)
                  The Ambulance (1990)
                  Showdown In Little Tokyo (1991)
                  Men Of War (1994)
                  Bridge Of Dragons (1999)

                  ...Basically a Wings Hauser, Sybil Danning, Eric Roberts, Dolph Lundgren sort of thing as opposed to Stallone, Bronson, Norris, Van Damme or even Siegal...

                  Anyway, which titles on this list (if any) are misbegotten classics-- or at least are entertaining, which ones suck, and which ones are missing?
                  Have seen few of them but all are great will watch all of these

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Unfortunately, Deadly Force was pretty weak in every way other than Hauser and some of the locations. Why make an R-rated film of this nature then mute the violence? Just not good in almost every way and not bad in enough good ways.

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