by James Hamel

Created on: October 15, 2009   Last Updated: October 16, 2009

The 1980's was a golden age for the action movie. The explosions got bigger, girls got to be heroic butt-kickers and the plots got more and more complex. Unfortunately for every visually tactile and emotionally perfect piece of cinematic buttered popcorn like Die Hard there were legions of Last Action Heros and pretty much any film ever released by Jean Claude Van Damme. (Do you recall one Jean Claude film where he was playing twins (identical, natch) and the tag line was Double the Van Damm-age! Bad. Bad. Bad.)

To be honest there are also some silly action movies that are just wonderful to watch on TV. When I saw Roadhouse with Patrick Swayze in the theatres I thought it was awful. But after repeated late night viewings on TBS I have grown to enjoy with the same gusto I hold Patrick's other great war picture Red Dawn. Seriously, these would have probably been six and seven on a top ten list but everyone has to work through guidelines right?

Wrong. Not action stars from times like the 1980's. In these films we didn't need to know a complicated back-story with a botched eye surgery or some tragic end to a beloved family member. We just knew that these characters were fighting bad guys who were greedy, were defending someone out of maternal love while still others were just trying to save a pretty girl from some dude who is now the Governor of California.

Die Hard-I saw this in the theatre 13 times. I was a man obsessed with trying to find hidden meaning in the terrorist plot by learning the names of all the European terrorists. I succeeded only then to discover the beauty of this explosion/stunt/action/one liner fest is that it is all so refreshingly simple. Guy trapped in a building. Guy kills bad guys in building. Yippie-Kay-Yay

Aliens-A true Sci-Fi classic and one of the best performances from Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in any action film ever. While some questioned Ripley's annoying attachment to young Newt, a later Director's Cut showed that after Ripley was in space for 57 years she returned home to find her 8 year old had died at age 60. Hence the serious mommy issues and the inherent power of the final duel between the Alien Queen and Ms. Weaver in her Osh Kosh B'Gosh Suit Made of Metal.

Terminator-The Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger made his mark with this film as did Titanic director James Cameron. Really just an epic chase film there isn't much about The Terminator that is complex except for the special effects. It took later generations of sequels to muddy the waters of this film's classic chase theme.

Predator-This jungle war movie was filmed right after Arnold married Maria Shriver and boy was he still a hottie. What at first appears to be a rote monster in the jungle movie turns into a series of fabulous performances by the other army men working with Arnold. I swear Arnold cast the entire crew from the NFL, pro-wrestling, baseball (with one extra skinny guy from nowhere). While most sports starts can't really act Predator proved that not to be always true. And even with their loud voices, no one in the jungle could hear you scream.

Top Gun-Hey, there was all that action happening at the volleyball court remember? While Top Gun was a flimsily plotted excuse to have some of the hottest actors in Hollywood be shirtless, sweating and shirtless or playing volleyball and shirtless the actual scenes with the planes were breathtaking in the theatre. Without all the fun gay innuendo that is rife through this movie you have to wonder if this film would be more highly regarded without it? Nah, probably not. That's kind of like taking the cheese away from the Macaroni.

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