The1980sintroduced the world to all-ages classics likeRaiders of the Lost ArkandE.T., but the decade didn’t forget about the adult audience. The'70shad started a cinematic revolution that pushed boundaries, and the ’80s continued the efforts of directors likeJames CameronandJohn Carpenterperfecting their craft.
This led to exciting films that continue to be watched nearly 50 years later without losing any of their entertainment value. From modernactionclassics tocomediespacked with beloved stars, these are theR-rated'80s moviesthat were watched enough to wear out the VHS tape.
10’Escape From New York' (1981)
Directed by John Carpenter
When the President of the United States (Donald Pleasence) is forced to make an emergency landing in the futuristic prison city of New York, the government calls on prisoner Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) to save the day, whether he wants to or not. With a bomb in his neck and a brief window of time to stage a rescue,Snake has to infiltrate the dangerous world of a gutted Manhattanto find the President and secure his own freedom.
The collaboration between John Carpenter and Russellcreated pulpy magic in the ’80s, with Snake Plissken’s eye patch being the perfect fit to go over Russell’s scowl. After the two teamed up for anElvis PresleyTV movie biopic, Carpenter and Russell transitioned to the big screen withEscape From New York.It’s a movie that’s campy in all the right places, with a look and sound that screams the ’80s in the best possible way.
Escape From New York
9’Heathers' (1989)
Directed by Michael Lehmann
In the dark comedyHeathers, the teens at Westerburg High School fear pop quizzes, detention, and the wrath of the popular girls, known as the Heathers. Veronica (Winona Ryder) is a reluctant member of the Heathers, a feeling that grows when new kid J.D. (Christian Slater) strikes up a romance with her.When Veronica and J.D. play a mean prank on the Heathers’ leader that turns lethal, the duo’s actions will start a chain of events that could potentially lead to the deaths of the entire student body.
Movies likeMean Girlsstrive for similar messages aboutthe evils of an uneven high school social hierarchy, but none did so with the same pitch-black sense of humor asHeathers.As satire goes,Heathersis about as dark as it gets, but Ryder and Slater tackle the material in a way that somehow balances the idea they’re in on the joke while also facing the events with a seriousness to properly sell the stakes.
At Westerburg High where cliques rule, jocks dominate and all the popular girls are named Heather, it’s going to take a Veronica and mysterious new kid to give teen angst a body count.
8’Predator' (1987)
Directed by John McTiernan
Big muscles and even bigger guns won’t save soldiers of fortune from an invisible hunter in the sci-fi action favoritePredator. Dutch (Arnold Schwarzenegger) andhis crew of mercenaries are hired by an old friend to rescue a politician lost in a Central American jungle. The highly-trained squad doesn’t find their target, but they do end up in the crosshairsof an alien monsterwith weaponry that allows it to hunt its prey with ease.
Predatorpulls a clever trick on its audiences bysetting the familiar tone of a military action film before abruptly shifting into a science fiction battle for survival. The mixture of genres leads to a movie that’s loud, fun, and fast-paced entertainment that made it a favorite. The film would kick off aPredatorfranchise that includes multiple sequels, prequels, andbattle royales with Xenomorphsto see which alien menace was the deadliest.
7’Midnight Run' (1988)
Directed by Martin Brest
An easy job becomes a frustrating low point for a bounty hunter in the action comedyMidnight Run.Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro) makes a living catching dangerous criminals that skip out on bail, but when he’s offered a big payday to return an embezzling mob accountant named Jonathan Mardukas (Charles Grodin), the offer seems too good to be true. However, Jonathan turns out to be more of a handful than Walsh anticipated, andbetween the mob, rival bounty hunters, and federal agents on his tail, Walsh’s easy job has quickly become anything but.
By this point in De Niro’s career, no one was looking to theRaging Bullactor for his comedic prowess, but he’s relentlessly funny inMidnight Run.The film hinges on the odd-couple pairing of De Niro and Grodin, and their back-and-forths are comedic goldthat doesn’t require either actor to reach for jokes.Midnight Runis a gem where viewers can find something new every time they watch it, which makes it the perfect reason to watch it frequently.
Midnight Run
A bounty hunter pursues a former Mafia accountant who is also being chased by a rival bounty hunter, the F.B.I., and his old mob boss after jumping bail.
6’The Thing' (1982)
An alien that can mimic any living organism preys on a group of snowed-in researchers inThe Thing.A base of American researchers in Antarctica has a bizarre run-in with a helicopter that leads the men to unknowingly allow a dangerous alien into their quarters.Upon learning the alien can take the form of those around it, the men begin to treat those around them with suspicion, because too much trust can lead to a grisly demise from the monstrous threat.
Creature features rely on special effects, or lack thereof, to properly sell the audience on the big bad monster the brave heroes must overcome.The Thing’s use of practical effects, and the creatively grotesque applications of them, continue to make the sci-fi horror film special years later. Add to thata script that includes the audience in on the paranoia of whom to trust in the room, and the result is a film that captures how fun horror can be when done properly.
A team of researchers set out to study an alien spacecraft found in Antarctica, where they also discover an alien body on the site. The alien buried in ice is actually alive and has the ability to imitate human form. The group must find a way to distinguish who the real person is from The Thing and stay alive. John Carpenter’s 1982 film is a remake of 1951’s The Thing from Another World and stars Kurt Russel as the hero RJ MacReady.
5’Trading Places' (1983)
Directed by John Landis
Two wealthy business tycoons make a wager that threatens to destroy two innocent livesin the comedyTrading Places.When Randolph and Mortimer Duke (Ralph BellamyandDon Ameche) wager whether nature or nurture influences the behavior of an individual, they orchestrate a plan to replace their cultured and snobby employee, Louis Winthorpe III (Dan Aykroyd), with a street hustler named Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy). As the two men play out their roles in the social experiment, they soon learn the value of working on the same team.
Between starring inSaturday Night Liveand48 Hours, Murphy had become a bonafide star that audiences wanted to see more of on the big screen. The comedian would have a string of hits in the 80s, butTrading Placeshas aged well, as a movie that shows Murphy’s range as an actor while also telling a solid story. Aykroyd and Murphy worked so well together it’s surprising there weren’t more movies made with the foundation of their chemistry to rely on.
Trading Places
4’RoboCop' (1987)
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
A murdered cop gets a second chance at serving justice in the brutally violent action satireRoboCop. Officer Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) is gunned down in the line of duty, buta corporation turns his body into a cyborg instrument of crime fighting called RoboCop. As RoboCop becomes a public figure known for upholding the law, memories of Murphy’s previous life begin to interfere with his directive and complicate the plans of those who made him.
On the surface,Robocopmay seem like a hastily planned exploitation action flick, but there’s a surprising amount of depth at the heart of its cybernetic soul. Much like directorPaul Verhoeven’s later work withStarship Troopers, the director usesthe crowd-pleasing action genre to explore themes of greed, political agenda, and the nature of violence in a civilized society.RoboCopwould go on to become a franchise that included multiple sequels, a reboot of the same name in 2014, and a cartoon series.
In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.
3’Caddyshack' (1980)
Directed by Harold Ramis
The peace of a putting green is shredded by the rambunctious behavior ofRodney Dangerfield,Bill Murray, and one pesky gopher inCaddyshack. The Bushwood country club is the backdrop to multiple stories that span from caddy Danny’s (Michael O’Keefe) unsure plans for his future to groundskeeper Carl’s (Murray) one-man war against a Gopher. Much like any quintessential ’80s comedy,all storylines converge on one game of golf that will settle all scores.
After the success ofNational Lampoon’s Animal House, writerDoug Kenneyfollowed up with another tale of class warfare, this time on the greens of an uptight country club.Caddyshackwasn’t well-received initially, but it has gone on to be considered a cherishedand often quoted comedy. The loose, improvisational style of the production may have been a headache to complete, but the talented cast makes everything look effortless on screen.
Caddyshack
2’Aliens' (1986)
Directed by James Cameron
57 years after the events of the filmAlien, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), still in stasis sleep, is picked up by a ship that brings her home. While dealing with the trauma of her near-death experience and the adjustment to a world she’s unfamiliar with,Ripley is asked to join a Marine-led expedition to a colony that settled on the same spot where the original Xenomorph eggs were found. Reluctant to go but determined to kill any remnants of the species, Ripley is thrust into another nightmarish battle with the deadly creatures.
Director James Cameron had already shown his technical mastery withThe Terminator, but his work onAliensis astounding. Sequels are usually burdened with the need to go bigger, whichCameron does both in terms of brilliantly staged action and monsters on screen, but it’s contextualized in a way that makes sense. The film traded claustrophobic terror for all-out war, but it only bolsters Ripley’s reputation as one of thebest on-screen heroes of all time.
Decades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.
1’Die Hard' (1988)
A planned Christmas for a fractured family gets hijacked, literally, inDie Hard.Bruce Willisstars as John McClane, an off-duty New York City police detective who visits his estranged wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) in Los Angeles to spend time with their kids on Christmas. When terrorists led by the calculating Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) storm her office building, John is forced to put a stop to their plans.Between the terrorists inside the building and the meddling police outside, John has no one to rely on but himself.
Action movies would be forever changed afterDie Hardbecame a rousing success, creating multiple imitators to trap their heroes with as many bad guys as the runtime would allow. Action movie stars no longer needed bulging muscles, they just needed the willingness to do what’s right at the worst possible time.Die Hardmade a star out of Willis, gave Rickman his big break, and redefinedwhat counts as a Christmas movie.
New York City policeman John McClane (Bruce Willis) is visiting his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia) and two daughters on Christmas Eve. He joins her at a holiday party in the headquarters of the Japanese-owned business she works for. But the festivities are interrupted by a group of terrorists who take over the exclusive high-rise, and everyone in it. Very soon McClane realizes that there’s no one to save the hostages – but him.
