The ’80s were a decade dominated by action movies that ushered in a new age of blockbusters.
While not every ’80s film rose to the level of greatness, the action heroes of the decade helped redefine the entire genre.
To celebrate the enduring appeal of these characters, Watch With Us has put together our list of the five best action heroes, ranked.
While every actor on this list went on to become a major star, there’s only room at the top for one No. 1 action hero.
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5. Alan “Dutch” Schaefer
You may not know Dutch by name, but you’ve undoubtedly seen his picture numerous times on the poster for Predator, a 1987 sci-fi action and horror flick. Arnold Schwarzenegger was still finding his way as an actor in the late ’80s, but if this were a list of the top action flicks of the decade or the best villains of the ’80s, then Schwarzenegger’s Terminator would have topped the lists.
Dutch, on the other hand, cracks the top 5 of this roundup by being the lone warrior that the Predator couldn’t defeat during this film. Even surrounded by fellow action stars like the late Carl Weathers, Dutch showed off the best aspects of humanity’s best qualities and served as a prototype for the kind of heroes that Schwarzenegger went on to play in the ’90s.
Predator is streaming on Hulu.
4. Snake Plissken
Between The Thing and Big Trouble in Little China, Kurt Russell could have found his way on this list through either of those films. But his character in Escape from New York, Snake Plissken, is kind of everything you could ask for from an action hero. He’s effortlessly cool, has an entertaining persona, and he has the ability to get into and out of trouble at a moment’s notice.
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In the then far-off future of 1997, Snake was blackmailed into going into the world’s most-deadly prison colony, New York City, to rescue the President of the United States. Snake not only succeeded in that mission, but he also returned during the ’90s in Escape from LA. It wasn’t as good as the original film, but Russell was still great in the role.
Escape from New York is streaming on Prime Video.
3. John McClane
Die Hard isn’t the middle name of Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis), but that would have gone a long way towards explaining the name of the movie. Before Die Hard, the ’80s action heroes were dominated by martial artists or overly muscular performers who were hypermasculine. John McClane was a refreshingly normal guy and the epitome of an everyman action hero.
When terrorists take over a skyscraper on Christmas Eve, John rises to the occasion to save the hostages and his wife while taking out the bad guys in any way that he can. Four sequels followed, but none of them ever fully recreated the thrills of the first Die Hard. Nearly four decades later, it’s still one of the best action movies ever made, and John McClane is one of the best action heroes to come out of the decade.
Die Hard is streaming on Prime Video.
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2. John Rambo
Some might argue that Sylvester Stallone‘s Marion “Cobra” Cobretti belongs on this list, but certainly not at a higher spot than John Rambo. Cobra was a one-off character for Stallone, while Rambo defined his action hero persona. The irony is that Rambo dies in the novel First Blood, but survives the events of the first film before going off to appear in four sequels.
Rambo became a more conventional action hero in the follow-up films, but First Blood features the Vietnam veteran as an emotionally scarred man who is pushed too far by the abuse of the local police. Once Rambo snaps, the police follow him at their own peril. As he says in the film, they drew “first blood,” and Rambo’s done holding back.
First Blood is streaming on Paramount+.
1. Indiana Jones
How could this list end with anyone other than Indiana Jones at the top? Harrison Ford‘s iconic archeologist debuted in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first collaboration between director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas. That film alone is arguably one of the greatest action movies ever made, and the trio reunited two more times in the ’80s for a prequel and a sequel.
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The two Indiana Jones films released in the 21st century couldn’t live up to the thrills of the original trilogy. But that can’t take away from Ford’s performance or the combined efforts of Lucas and Spielberg. Indiana Jones is simply the peak that most action heroes will never reach.
All of the Indiana Jones movies are streaming on Disney+.
