The 1980s were all about BIG hair, BIG shoulder pads and BIG ACTION!
It was the decade that gave birth to the action hero and no one was bigger than Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Stallone, 77, is back as Barney Ross in ‘The Expendables 4’ and admitted during promotion for the film that he is “the last of the dinosaurs” from the the ’80s.
Although Sly is still a box office commodity what are the other action legends of the decade up to now?
Lights, camera, action!
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Since breaking into acting more than five decades ago, these Hollywood icons have dominated the action genre. Ahead of the release of ‘The Expendables 4’ on 22 September 2023, legendary actor Sylvester Stallone, 77 – who catapulted to fame as boxer Rocky Balboa in the Rocky film franchise – reflected on his decades spanning career calling himself “The Last of the Dinosaurs” amongst the action stars of the 80s. Find out what Hollywood’s biggest action stars of the 80s are up to…
Harrison Ford
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At 81 years old Ford is still going strong. He recently made his fifth and final appearance as daredevil archaeologist Indiana Jones in ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’. Ford, was 38 when he starred in the first Indiana Jones movie, ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ back in 1981. Ford also reprised his other most famous role as Han Solo in the ‘Star Wars’ sequel trilogy, after first playing the space smuggler in 1977.
Tom Cruise
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Tom Cruise established himself as major box office draw in the ’80s thanks to films like ‘Top Gun’, ‘Cocktail’ and ‘The Color of Money’. Since then, Cruise, 61, has become a major player in the action genre mostly due to the ‘Mission: Impossible’ franchise, for which he is famous for carrying out his own stunts as Ethan Hunt. Cruise is hoping to emulate Harrison Ford’s longevity and keeping acting until he is 80. He said: “Harrison Ford is a legend. I hope to be still going at that age, I’ve got 20 years to catch up with him. “I hope to keep making ‘Mission: Impossible’ films until I’m his age.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger
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Arnie said “I’ll be back” when starring as a killer cyborg in ‘The Terminator’ franchise. But the truth is Schwarzenegger has rarely been off our screens since his breakout role in 1982’s sword and sorcery movie ‘Conan the Barbarian’. And Arnie – who was the Governor of California between 2003 and 2011 – will soon be seen in action thriller ‘Breakout’. The Austrian native and world champion body builder migrated to America aged 21 in 1968. September 17, 2023 marked 40 years since Arnold became an American citizen.
Bruce Willis
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Since making his acting debut in the 1970s, Willis has appeared in over 70 films ranging from action to comedy. His most famous role is playing cop John McClane in the ‘Die Hard’ franchise. Willis was the eighth choice to play the now iconic part after it was turned down by numerous actors including Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. Despite his back catalogue of his impressive roles Bruce has never been nominated for an Oscar. In March 2022, the ‘Pulp Fiction’ star announced he was “stepping away” from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia, a form of dementia.
Antonio Banderas
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The Spanish born actor became an international star thanks to his sensual accent and rugged good looks. Banderas made his film debut in Pedro Almodóvar’s screwball comedy ‘Labyrinth of Passion’ in 1982. It wasn’t until Madonna introduced Banderas to Hollywood in 1991 that he became an international star. Antonio’s notable roles include; ‘The Mask of Zorro’ (1998), the ‘Spy Kids’ trilogy and ‘Once Upon a Time In Mexico’ (2003). He also voiced Puss In Boots in the ‘Shrek’ franchise.
Jean-Claude Van Damme
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The Belgian martial artist, who began training from the age of 10, worked as a security guard for action star Chuck Norris before landing his big break in 1988 martial arts film ‘Bloodsport’. Since then Van Damme has starred in more than 50 films with his upcoming neo-noir action movie ‘Darkness of Man’ in post-production. At 62, Jean-Claude remains the Muscles from Brussels with no plans of retiring anytime soon.
Jackie Chan
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Born Chan Kong-san, the Hong Kong native became a box office draw in the West thanks to his unique sense of humor and jaw-dropping stunts. Chan, who began acting in the 1960s, has gone on to star in more than 150 motion pictures making him one of the most popular action film stars. From Chinese cinema to American blockbuster, Chan has reached many milestones throughout his career and holds the Guinness World Records title for “Most Stunts by a Living Actor”. Chan’s most notable film roles include; ‘Police Story’ (1985), ‘Rush Hour’ (1998), ‘Shanghai Noon’ (2000), ‘The Medallion’ (2003) and ‘Around The World in 80 days’ (2004).
Kurt Russell
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Russell has been on screen since the age of 12 after staring in western series ‘ The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters from 1963-1964. During the ’80s, Russell emerged as a major player in the action and sci-fi genres thanks to roles in hits such as ‘Escape From New York’ (1981), ‘The Thing’ (1982), ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ (1986) and ‘Tango and Cash’ (1989). In recent years, the 72-year-old star has appeared in the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ (2017) and Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon a Time In Hollywood’ (2019).
Clint Eastwood
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The ‘Dirty Harry’ star has appeared in over 60 films, and enjoyed a Hollywood career that has spanned over 65 years. Famous for being ‘The Man with No Name’ in spaghetti westerns, the 93-year-old icon much prefers to be being the camera these days directing movies instead. Since helming ‘Gran Torino’ in 2008, Eastwood has gone on to direct exclusively for Warner Bros adding 10 more titles under his name such as; ‘American Snipper’, ‘Invictus’ and ‘Cry Macho’.
Sylvester Stallone
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Stallone became a household name after starred as underdog boxer Rocky Balboa in ‘Rocky’ in 1976, with the drama winning the Best Picture Oscar. From that point, Stallone became one of the biggest names in action in the 1980s, going on to star in a second major action franchise when he starred as Vietnam War veteran John J Rambo in 1982’s ‘First Blood’ with four more movies following. The ‘Rocky’ franchise spawned five sequels and the spin-off ‘Creed’ series. After the release of ‘The Expendables 4’, Stallone is handing over the reigns of the franchise to Jason Statham and has hinted that his time making movies could be done.
Originally published on celebretainment.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
