Anytime my mom and I used to watch an action film together, she’d say, “Heroes these days don’t even look like heroes.” As a '90s kid, I raised myself on the likes of Casey Ryback, John McClane, and Jason Bourne on one hand, and Iron Man, Dominic Toretto, and Batman on the other. By the time I was a teenager, John Wick had become the action hero legend, and Keanu Reeves, the king of our hearts. So naturally, I thought, what does she know! That was until she forced me to watch one of her favorite action movies, First Blood (1982), starring the legendary Sylvester Stallone. One watch, and I realized, while I will probably always prefer John Wick over Rambo, my mom was not wrong in missing the “Schwarzenegger and Stallone” era of action films. Over four decades, the action genre has undergone a drastic shift, especially in terms of how we project our action heroes. In this article, we’re looking back at my mom’s favorite era of action movies: the muscle-packed ‘80s. An Overview of the ‘80s Action MoviesUp until the ‘80s, action movies weren’t about spectacle and were majorly centered on gritty crime dramas, with sleek heroes and stories that explored various issues of society. The ‘80s hit the film industry like a meteor and changed everything. Sylvester Stallone began an era of action films with First Blood in 1982. A psychologically intense action hero who is a physical embodiment of brute strength with an emotional cause,...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Yesterday