From Hard Rain to Darkman, here are 30 retro action movies that you MUST watch this year. Number 17 is our special recommendation.
1. Knightriders (1981)
Knightriders is a tonal departure from George A. Romero’s brilliant horror work and an underappreciated addition to his impressive filmography. Billy, played by Ed Harris, is the head of a motorcycle-riding troop of medieval reenactors. It’s hilarious to see and a loving parody of Renaissance Fair characters and culture.
2. Drop Zone (1994)
This fast-paced film is perfect for those who have already seen movies like Con Air and Air Force One and are looking for some airborne thrills. After his brother is slain in a midair attack by rogue skydivers who intend to give the names of undercover DEA agents to drug cartels around the world, Wesley Snipes plays U.S. Marshal Pete Nessip, who must learn how to skydive.
3. Destroy All Monsters (1968)
Among the many iconic Japanese monsters featured in this timeless Toho Kaiju movie is the unique Godzilla. On Monster Island, the United Nations Science Committee is studying them all, but when they are taken over by aliens called Kilaaks, they start wreaking havoc on cities all across the world once more. There is a ton of sci-fi eye candy here, including amazing human costume design, colorful studio staging, and interesting tiny sets.
4. Short Time (1990)
In this police action-comedy, Dabney Coleman plays a detective who has been misdiagnosed with a deadly blood disorder and is attempting to be killed while on duty in order to increase the amount of money his wife and son will receive from their life insurance. It’s simple but unexpectedly entertaining, and the cinematography is still relevant twenty years later.
5. Juggernaut (1974)
The crime thriller Juggernaut, which stars Richard Harris, Omar Sharif, and Anthony Hopkins, is a classic nail-biter that defuses bombs. An anonymous caller demands a ransom in exchange for instructions on disarming a bomb that has been planted aboard a luxury cruise liner.
6. Cyborg (1989)
This ferocious cyberpunk slugfest, directed by Albert Pyun, one of the greats of low-budget filmmaking, stars Van Damme. In a post-apocalyptic future, Van Damme portrays a mercenary who battles a vicious gang while attempting to save a cyborg who is in possession of information essential to treating a plague that has crippled human society.
7. Ronin (1998)
Shootouts, double-crosses, ambushes, and vehicular madness abound in this De Niro-led heist thriller set in France, which is another display of superb car chases that pays homage to the genre’s greats like The French Connection and Bulitt.
8. Streets of Fire (1984)
Described as a “rock and roll fable” and inspired by 1950s greaser culture, this neo-noir crime thriller was directed by Walter Hill, a talented director known for films such as The Warriors and 48 Hours. Huge motorcycles and punk clothing from the 1980s combine to create a distinctive scene that seems to be its own chaotic action sequence.
9. Cannonball (1976)
The real-life “Cannonball Run challenges,” a series of unofficial cross-country road races in the United States that reached their height of popularity in the 1970s, served as the inspiration for this vehicle chase thriller, just as the similarly called Cannonball Run.
10. Hard Rain (1998)
From beginning to end, Hard Rain is an exciting journey that follows two armored truck drivers (Christian Slater and Morgan Freeman) as they evacuate cash from banks in a town that is drowning. They are trapped in the middle of a fight between National Guard deputies who believe they are stealing and a gang that is after the money.
11. Timecop (1994)
Jean-Claude Van Damme’s star power could enhance nearly any film in the 1990s. Although Timecop was condemned by some for being a copy, it’s nevertheless entertaining to watch because of Van Damme’s performance and director Peter Hyams’s idea of a high-tech future in 2004.
12. Trois Hommes à Abattre (1984)
In the gritty French thriller Trois Hommes à Abattre, or Three Men To Kill, Alain Delon plays a professional card player who, after witnessing the murder of a whistleblower, becomes the target of powerful arms dealers.
13. Moonraker (1979)
Although the plot is a little ridiculous compared to other Bond films, the laser battles and rocket shuttle stunts make this an incredibly entertaining film to watch. Based solely on his bizarreness, metal-mouthed assassin Jaws is also a top-tier villain from Bond films.
14. Darkman (1990)
Liam Neeson played Darkman, a scarred scientist on a brutal quest for vengeance, many years before he rose to fame as an action hero owing to the Taken trilogy. The antihero of this ’90s thriller was, shockingly, not drawn from a comic book but developed by the film’s director Sam Raimi, who was inspired by the Phantom of the Opera and Elephant Man.
15. Barb Wire (1996)
If you are looking for a gripping plot with memorable character arcs and unexpected turns. Then, that’s not this. However, this is the ideal movie night choice if you like to watch Pamela Anderson pop wheelies on a motorcycle and shoot dual handguns.
16. Shoot to Kill (1988)
Known as Deadly Pursuit outside of North America, this action movie is a brutal thriller with lots of awesome combat scenes. Even though it was released after the buddy cop genre peaked in the 1970s, it’s a good film that marks the late, great Sidney Poitier’s comeback to acting after a long break.
17. Drunken Master (1978)
If you’ve only watched Jackie Chan’s high-profile Hollywood productions, you should definitely check out this early Jackie Chan martial arts comedy, which was one of the actor’s first hits. With its unrivaled master-and-pupil relationship between Chan’s Wong Fei-hung (Freddie Wong) and his co-star Yuen Siu-Tin as his uncle Beggar So, it is renowned for having had a significant impact on the kung fu genre.
18. Tank Girl (1995)
Adapted from a comic series, this post-apocalyptic sci-fi action movie gives the desert-wasteland setting a more humorous twist. Tank Girl, played by Lori Petty, joins forces with Jet Girl (Naomi Watts) and a group of super troops who are kangaroo-human hybrids to defeat a malicious company that is storing water. Malcolm McDowell even appears as the brutal CEO of Water & Power Corporation.
19. Black Rain (1989)
This masterpiece, one of the first works by the renowned director Ridley Scott, stars Michael Douglas as Andy Garcia and two NYPD officers who, on instructions from the Japanese consulate, must escort a yakuza member (played by Yusaku Matsuda) back to Osaka. However, the investigators are swiftly drawn into a strange criminal underworld after their ward escapes.
20. The Heroic Trio (1997)
You need to go no further than The Heroic Trio for spectacularly ridiculous wire-hanging feats and strangely amazing fight choreography. Michelle Yeoh, Anita Mui, and Maggie Cheung play three women who work together to confront a mystery monster who lives underground and abducts infants in this Hong Kong action movie.
21. Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985)
After a bizarre accident, a New York police officer awakens with a new identity. He works with a covert unit that was established to look into a dangerous businessman whose company has won multiple government contracts for weapons, including a top-secret strategic defense system.
22. King Solomon’s Mines (1986)
This action-adventure movie is a film adaptation of H. Rider Haggard’s 1885 book of the same name. John Rhys-Davies, Herbert Lom, Sharon Stone, and Richard Chamberlain are among its stars. Rhys-Davies had also starred in the Indiana Jones film series, which was purposefully referenced and parodied in this lighthearted and humorous retelling of the plot.
23. No Escape (1994)
This film is about a former Reconnaissance Marine (Ray Liotta) who is imprisoned for life in a dystopian future on an island full of barbaric and cannibalistic inmates.
24. To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
With his cat-and-mouse movie To Live and Die in L. A. Fresh soundtrack, William Friedkin demonstrates why he was one of the greatest action directors. Although there isn’t a lot of substance in this movie, it looks amazing and features an amazing automobile chase.
25. Tango & Cash (1989)
In order to apprehend Yves Perret (Jack Palance), police detectives Ray Tango (Sylvester Stallone) and Gabe Cash (Kurt Russell) are experts in drugs. Perret arranges for Tango and Cash to appear as though they had killed an FBI agent in an effort to thwart their attempts. After being arrested and imprisoned, the two police officers devise a plot of escape.
26. The Replacement Killers (1998)
Stars Chow Yin-Fat and Mira Sorvino deserve better work, but this movie might be the ultimate temp job. According to Cinephiles, although it isn’t dull, it might have been much more, especially given how vicious and exciting the final confrontation is.
27. John Carpenter’s They Live (1988)
Some say this movie is one of the most inventive and underappreciated science fiction action films ever. They Live is one of the most exciting films ever made, despite the lackluster acting and the film’s eventual transformation into a downright urban action film.
28. The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson give endearing performances in The Long Kiss Goodnight, which is quite captivating. The content fell apart. Geena Davis’s ability to switch between roles is simply amazing.
29. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)
Here, Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) is a contract killer who can flit through this world like a phantom and spin a gun at warp speed. He has sworn allegiance to Louie (John Tormey), a small-time mobster who saved his life many years ago, in keeping with the samurai spirit.
30. Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
Jack Burton, portrayed by Kurt Russell, is a hard-boiled truck driver who becomes entangled in a strange struggle both inside and outside of San Francisco’s Chinatown. A stunning green-eyed woman who is engaged to Jack’s closest buddy has been abducted by a Chinatown crime boss and an old Chinese prince. Jack has to assist his friend in saving the girl before the malevolent Lo Pan uses her to lift the long-standing curse that renders him an immortal and fleshless ghost.
