The 1980s were a great time for amazing high-octane action movies that featured some of the decade’s biggest stars. From bad-ass cops to traumatized veterans of the Vietnam War, the 1980s were a decade filled with adrenaline-fueled adventures, breathtaking scenery, and served as the starting point for many of our current favorite franchises. The success of action films in the 1980s was inextricably linked to their stars, as the presence of a big name at the top of the box office was a decisive factor in whether the audience would come to the cinema.
Action stars of the 1980s relied on their strength and fighting skills to defeat any type of villain imaginable. In the 1980s, there were so many main action stars that it is interesting to think who among them came out on top.
10. Chuck Norris
While younger audiences today may think of Chuck Norris as a hilarious meme, older viewers will remember him as one of the biggest action stars of the 1980s. A formidable martial artist, Norris got his start in Hollywood training celebrities before breaking into movies himself with a role opposite Bruce Lee in The Way of the Dragon in 1972. By the time the 1980s rolled around, Norris was firmly established as an action star with starring roles in action movies like Missing in Action, The Delta Force, and Firewalker.
9. Mel Gibson
Controversial Hollywood star Mel Gibson found major success as a director in 1990s for movies like Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ, and Hacksaw Ridge, but before this was known as one of the biggest action stars of the 1980s. Gibson first came to prominence through his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the Australian post-apocalyptic Mad Max and solidified his reputation as a star with the Lethal Weapon series. A major figure that decade, Gibson was even named the first-ever Sexiest Man Alive (via Today) by People Magazine in 1985.RELATED:
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8. Jean-Claude Van Damme
Belgian actor Jean-Claude Van Damme studied martial arts from a young age and earned a black belt in karate while still a teenager before moving to the United States to pursue acting. Van Damme began his career as a stuntman in Chuck Norris films. film “The Missing” in 1984, and then had his breakout role as the lead in the martial arts action film “Bloodsport.” The role established Van Damme as a major action star, and he went on to star in action films Black Eagle, Cyborg and Kickboxer before continuing that success into the 1990s.
7. Kurt Russell
Although Kurt Russell began his career in the 1960s as the unlikely partner of Elvis Presley, it wasn’t until the 1980s that he truly came into his own and became known as a major action star. Working closely with director John Carpenter, Russell starred in the horror film The Thing and then took on the role of Snake Pilssken in Carpenter’s Escape from New York, which he would reprise in 1996’s Escape from L.A. Russell’s other major action role in the 1980s was as Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China, again opposite Carpenter.
6. Sigourney Weaver
While the film industry was predominantly dominated by men in the 1980s, one woman, Sigourney Weaver, managed to break the mold and become a major action star. As Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott’s 1979 film Alien, Weaver entered the 1980s with enormous star potential and soon found herself landing leading roles in the decade’s hits, Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II. Weaver further demonstrated her fighting skills when she reprized the role of Ripley in Aliens in 1986, cementing the character as one of the best action heroes in all of science fiction.
5. Steven Segal
Action star and martial artist Steven Seagal achieved success in the late 1980s and used this newfound popularity to maintain a successful action film career throughout the 1990s. With his starring role in 1988’s Above the Law, Seagal proved he had what it took to hold his own against the top action stars of the 1980s, playing Sergeant Nico Toscani, a Vietnam Special Forces veteran who uncovered a CIA secret. CONSPIRACY. This prominent role allowed Seagal to star in major action films such as Under Siege in the 1990s.
4. Harrison Ford
In terms of franchise success and iconic characters in does not get any bigger than Harrison Ford during the 1980s. After Ford’s breakout success as Han Solo in Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977, he would return as the character for the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, as well as portraying the iconic adventurer Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark and two sequels throughout the decade. To make things even more impressive, Ford also starred Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, meaning he absolutely dominated blockbuster movies as an action star in the 1980s.
3. Bruce Willis
In just one role, Bruce Willis established himself as one of the biggest action stars of the 1980s. As police detective John McClane in Die Hard, Willis starred in the surprise summer blockbuster that went on to be recognized as one of the greatest action films of all time. Launching the entire franchise, Die Hard established Willis as a major star, and McClane’s initial presentation of a vulnerable and flawed hero stood in stark contrast to the overwrought, muscle-bound heroes of the time. Willis would continue this success and play McClane in many sequels over the coming decades.
2. Sylvester Stallone
After already dominating the sports action genre in the 1980s as Rocky Balboa in the Rocky series, Sylvester Stallone starred as one of the most compelling action heroes of that decade, traumatized Vietnam War veteran, John Rambo in the Rambo franchise. An absolute juggernaut of the action genre throughout the entire 1980s, outside these series, Stallone also played the lead in Cobra, Over the Top, Lock Up, and Tango & Cash, acting as one of the most consistent names in action movies for that entire decade and beyond.RELATED:
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