The action genre has lost its way. Though one could argue it’s been an ever-evolving organism, beginning life with the westerns of Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah, before transforming into the guy-in-the-suit-with-a-gun romps of the 1970s, before transforming again to what would eventually define it, the action genre reached the height of its namesake during the 1980s and partially into the ’90s – a time for which legions of real action-loving audiences will forever yearn. Seemingly, those fleeting, near-forgotten days of the one-man army with bulging muscles and bottomless archive of terrible one-liners have become written off and lost, disregarded as byproducts of an era where excess was celebrated instead of condemned.
The action genre as it was then barely exists today: modern fare consists of people putting on capes and buzzing around a greenscreen, or stealing cars and racing through Brazil, or running around talking to tennis balls on boom-mic poles that will eventually become gigantic robots in post-production. If you want action stars, you’ll have to delve past the Vin Diesels and the "The" Rocks and even the Tom Cruises and go beyond into the domain of Weta Workshop or ILM or whatever CGI house is picking up the slack where those guys have left off. Except for the rarity of the John Wick franchise, no one just picks up a gun to exert justice anymore; everything now depends on lasers and horse power and masks that conceal nothing but fool everyone. Perhaps one day this legendarily ridiculous era of action will return when this neutered fad of comic books and toy-based properties mercifully wear out their welcome. Until then, let’s remember that, at one time, there was real danger in action films. Lives were lost by the dozens in brutal and bloody ways, and the good guys showed no mercy. More importantly, let’s remember that in spite of all the death and carnage, the films that showcased all that were harmless and fun and not so fucking serious.
To follow are ten old-school actions films from the ‘80s and ‘90s that uphold the tenets of Top Ten Murdered Men. The blood will splash, the quips will flow, the bullets will fire, and so will our smiles.
Let’s remember the good old days.
[The following series has been reprinted from the now-defunct CutPrintFilm.com.]
