Best Underrated Eighties Action Movies – Part 1

The eighties were full of incredible action movies, but while a lot of them are considered classics now, some of the best movies (you never saw) routinely get underrated, so here on JoBlo we’re celebrating Veteran’s Day with three of the best – Black Rain (1989), Streets of Fire (1984) and Blue Thunder (1983).

Black Rain (1989) – In director Ridley Scott’s neo noir masterpiece, Michael Douglas plays a rebellious cop extraditing a killer to Japan who gets wrapped up in the Yakuza underworld. Co-starring Andy Garcia, Kate Capshaw and Ken Takakura, with music by Hans Zimmer. This film was a financial success but is often left out when discussing the careers of its stars and director.

Streets of Fire (1984) – Michael Pare, Diane Lane and Willem Dafoe star in Walter Hill’s rock-n-roll fable. The movie was a notorious box office flop but has slowly but surely grown into a cult hit over the decades.

Blue Thunder (1983) Roy Scheider, Warren Oates, and Malcolm McDowell star in this prescient techno-thriller directed by John Badham. This was a pretty big hit in 1983, even spawning a short-lived TV series, but it was quickly overshadowed by Badham’s even more successful follow-up later that year, WarGames.

What are your favorite underrated eighties action movies? Let us know in the comments!

About the Author

Chris Bumbray began his career with JoBlo as the resident film critic (and James Bond expert) way back in 2007, and he has stuck around ever since, being named editor-in-chief in 2021. A voting member of the CCA and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, you can also catch Chris discussing pop culture regularly on CTV News Channel.

Logo

Looks like your ad blocker is on.

×

We rely on ads to keep creating quality content for you to enjoy for free.

Please support our site by disabling your ad blocker.

Continue Without Making Any Changes

Choose your Ad Blocker

  • Adblock Plus
  • Adblock
  • Adguard
  • Ad Remover
  • Brave
  • Ghostery
  • uBlock Origin
  • uBlock
  • UltraBlock
  • Other
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock Plus icon
  2. Click the large blue toggle for this website
  3. Click refresh
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock icon
  2. Under "Pause on this site" click "Always"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Adguard icon
  2. Click on the large green toggle for this website
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ad Remover icon
  2. Click "Disable on This Website"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the orange lion icon
  2. Click the toggle on the top right, shifting from "Up" to "Down"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ghostery icon
  2. Click the "Anti-Tracking" shield so it says "Off"
  3. Click the "Ad-Blocking" stop sign so it says "Off"
  4. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock Origin icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the UltraBlock icon
  2. Check the "Disable UltraBlock" checkbox
  3. Marque la casilla de verificación "Desactivar UltraBlock"
  1. Please disable your Ad Blocker

If the prompt is still appearing, please disable any tools or services you are using that block internet ads (e.g. DNS Servers).