Yippie-Ki-Yay, I’ll Be Back, E.T. Phone Home and the 100 Most 80s Movies of the 80s: The Legacy of the 100 Films That Shaped the Greatest Decade of All Time

By Dr. Robbie King

The Terminator. E.T. Back to the Future. Die Hard. These are just some of the films that shaped the 1980s, one of the most famous eras of all time. Within the pages of this book, 80s historian and film critic Dr. Robbie King takes us by the hands deep into the world of the 1980s, showcasing not only the best movies of the period, but also the influence they had on every day life during the epoch and how they shaped the way life was lived.

In here you will see the exact influence that some of the classics of the 1980s had not only on cinema, but in the world in general as well as the context upon which they were created in and why that was the case.

This book is the first of its kind in the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jul 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667846835

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Copyright © 2022 by Dr. Robbie King and RK Enterprises Publishing, LLC.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other, non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

For permission, requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator at the address below: RK Enterprises Publishing, 2900 Parkway Boulevard, Kissimmee, FL 34747, United States of America.

Ordering Information: Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address above.

ISBN: 978-1-66784-682-8 (print)

ISBN: 978-1-66784-683-5 (eBook)

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 1-6292299201

First Edition, First Printing.

Printed in the United States of America

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Table of Contents

An 80s Intro! What is this Book About?

List of the 100 Most 80s Movies of the 80s

1. 48 Hours

2. A Nightmare on Elm Street

3. Above the Law

4. Aliens

5. An Officer and a Gentleman

6. Back to School

7. Back to the Future

8. Back to the Future II

9. Back to the Future III

10. Batman

11. Batman Returns

12. Beetlejuice

13. Best of the Best

14. Beverly Hills Cop

15. The Breakfast Club

16. Bloodsport

17. Caddyshack

18. Child’s Play

19. Clue

20. Cobra

21. Coming to America

22. Commando

23. Conan the Barbarian

24. Crocodile Dundee

25. Delirious

26. Demolition Man

27. Die Hard

28. Die Hard 2

29. Dirty Dancing

30. Dirty Harry

31. Double Impact

32. E.T. the Extraterrestrial

33. Falling Down

34. Fast Times at Ridgemont High

35. Fatal Attraction

36. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

37. First Blood

38. Flashdance

39. Friday the 13th

40. Ghost

41. Ghostbusters

42. The Goonies

43. The Great Outdoors

44. Gremlins

45. Groundhog Day

46. Halloween

47. Hard To Kill

48. Home Alone

49. The Hunt for Red October

50. Jaws

51. The Karate Kid

52. Kickboxer

53. Killer Klowns from Outer Space

54. Kindergarten Cop

55. The Last Boy Scout

56. Lethal Weapon

57. Lionheart

58. The Little Mermaid

59. Major League

60. Mr. Mom

61. The Naked Gun

62. National Lampoon’s Vacation

63. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

64. Necessary Roughness

65. Out for Justice

66. The Outsiders

67. Over The Top

68. Planes, Trains and Automobiles

69. Police Academy

70. Poltergeist

71. Predator

72. Pretty in Pink

73. Pretty Woman

74. The Program

75. Raiders of the Lost Ark

76. Revenge of the Nerds

77. Risky Business

78. Roadhouse

79. Robocop

80. Rocky III

81. Rocky IV

82. The Russia House

83. The Shining

84. Showdown in Little Tokyo

85. Sixteen Candles

86. Star Wars

87. Stop, or my Mom Will Shoot!

88. Summer Rental

89. Tango and Cash

90. The Terminator

91. Terminator 2: Judgement Day

92. The Thing

93. Top Gun

94. Total Recall

95. Twins

96. Uncle Buck

97. Under Siege

98. Wall Street

99. Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

100. Who’s Harry Crumb?

The 1980s: Not a time period, but a state of mind.

—Carrie Vaughn, American Writer

This book is dedicated to those of us who, despite residing in the 21st century, still live, at heart, deep within the 1980s.

An 80s Intro!

What is this Book About?

1980-1989. Four simple numbers and a hyphen that do nothing but signify a very definite set of dates: January 1st, 1980, to December 31st, 1989, or to put it simply, the 80s; one of the most significant and distinguishable eras and decades in history.

Perhaps no other period, or span of time shorter than a historical era, be it the bronze age, the American old west, the age of exploration, the Victorian era, the medieval times, the Renaissance etc., is held so close in the hearts of quotidian culture or been the subject of so much fad or idealism in our contemporary world than the 1980s.

Moreso than the 1960s or 50s during their nostalgia in the decades that followed those time spans, (when there was a certain passion for those years but not an entire movement to bring a decade back, as is happening today), the 80s were, even as early as the 90s, filled with wonderful remembrance and a desire to return to that time. Incredibly, this feeling has perpetuated fully, and hence, it is clear that the 80s will forever remain a subject of reverence, remembrance as well as a robust memory in the minds of mankind.

As to why that is the case, it ranges from a variety of situations, such as the beginning of contemporary times in the sense of modern-style movies, music, general entertainment and quality of life, to the end of communism and the birth of a modern democratic and capitalistic centric society, as well as a change in the general way life was and is still lived, to a massive economic boom, to consumerism, to the generalization of environmental friendliness, to the planting of the seeds of the technology of the future, to the segmentation of advertising and much more.

In short, the 80s were the decade where the modern lifestyle began, and due to their uniqueness in aesthetics, pop culture icons, depth of technological achievement as well as big growth in entertainment, birthrates, and economic development, they have not only remained at the foreground of our current society and everyday life, but have been the subject of massive nostalgia that has boiled over into what we see today: a rebirth of the 1980s to the point where people who never even lived the decade are mega fans of it.

Film in the 80s

The 80s were a decade characterized by a variety of different phenomena, and in a future book I will explore each in detail, but for the current one I will focus on what is perhaps the most definitive, everlasting and roundly defining aspect of the decade, which is film.

Many amazing, award winning, life changing, world critiquing, intensely analyzing and profoundly deep pictures were filmed in the 1980s. Films like Scarface, Once Upon a Time in America, Mississippi Burning and many more were true masterpieces of cinematic genius that have aesthetically and emotionally moved us in ways we could have never imagined.

However, just as is obvious, works of high value, in any area of life, are more the exception rather than the rule. As a consequence, works that are more down-to-Earth, less aesthetic, although not necessarily of lesser importance or even lesser quality, (though certainly more appealing to the masses and more accessible to the general population), are much more abundant, and 80s movies were no different under any extent of the word.

Like I said, there were true masterpieces of cinematic quality in the 80s, but the majority of movies produced during this era (like in any era), were more for the commoner, and it is these more popular and commonplace pictures which not only carried the essence of the 80s from an aesthetic, and quotidian point of view, but in many ways actually defined them.

Hence, it can be said, that it is these much more popular flicks, in contrast to the more high-art style films, which defined and were defined by the era, and it is exactly these motion pictures which will be the focus of this book. In short. This is not a book about the best movies of the 80s, but about a different type of 80s movie.

What this Book is About

This is a book about the pop movie of the 80s; basically, the films that were famous and dictated the way the era was lived but are not necessarily highly revered by the critics nor remembered for their achievements in cinematic history.

This is a book about movies of the 80s. It is not about the greatest movies of the 80s, but about the films that best represented the era (the most 80s movies of the 80s) although at times they may intersect.

You will find pictures in here that were incredibly famous or influential, but you will also find movies that either you have never heard of, or that you considered terrible, or that were severely criticized. Still, they all played a role in the decade, and this is why I have included them here.

The films are, of course, rated according to their quality, both in aesthetic and general cinematic terms, but also according to their story, creativity, cast, direction, score, cinematography and, most importantly, for the role they played in the 1980s and the 80s legacy that they have.

This book is the first of its kind, and I hope that it will shed some light into the power that the lesser known, less popular, and less widely regarded films had upon the life that was lived in the 1980s.

My Definition of the 80s

Chronologically speaking, the 80s began on January 1st, 1980 and ended on December 31st, 1989. However, this definition, especially when it comes to pop culture and the formation of a cultural identity in that decade (and any other decade and era, for that matter), is quite erroneous, as a new cultural phenomenon is not bound to specific dates in terms of cultural spontaneous creation.

Although the chronological 80s began in 1980, the true identity of what the 80s were all about did not begin to develop until 1982 and did not become fully realized until 1984 and 1985, and did not die off until 1994, with 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 being very much in the 80 style, just like 1980, 81 part of 82 and even to some extent, 83, were part of the 70s.

Hence, for the purposes of this book, we will not utilize the chronological 80s, but the cultural 80s, and for that we will begin in 1982 and end by the end of 1993. All of the movies cited in this book are from that era specifically (save for a few examples that will be thoroughly explained).

Who Am I?

Before you continue, let me tell you a little bit about myself and why I am qualified to write a book on this subject. Although I have no formal training in film, I have studied films and the film industry from an academic, critical and entertainment point of view for many years. I have been watching at least one movie a day (some days as much as 4-5) every single day for what is now nearly 40 years.

I have also read thousands of film reviews, dozens of books on general film, studied general film theory and have written no less than nine full-length screenplays, 23 short film screenplays, have either sold or optioned four of my feature length screenplays, and I have produced over a dozen short films and videoclips. I am, by no means, a world-class film critic, but I certainly know what I am talking about.

I am also a student and historian of the 80s as well as an avid collector of all things 80s, and I consider myself an expert in said era. Hence, I hope that you find me as qualified on the subject as I find myself.

Now, without further ado, let the movie begin.

Note: The ratings of the films in this book are on the scale of 1-10, with 1 being the worst, and 10 being the best. It is important to note that the scale is weighted according to each movie. A 10 on a genuine cinematic masterpiece does not equate a 10 on a generic action or comedy film. It just means that within its own world and genre, said film would be ranked on a certain grade, not within the scope of all of cinema. For example, if I rank a Steven Seagal movie as 10 out of 10, it does not mean that it is of the same quality as Back to the Future, also rated as a 10. The two do not compare. It just means that when linked to similar films of a similar genre, the flick is ranked as a 10, whereas if it were compared to Back to the Future, it would likely be ranked as a 6, but this would complicate the grading way too much, so I decided to classify each film in accordance to their own genre and style.

List of the 100

Most 80s Movies

of the 80s

(In Alphabetical Order)

Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads.

—Doc Emmet L. Brown.

48 Hours (1982)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Above the Law (1987)

Aliens (1986)

An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)

Back to School (1986)

Back to the Future (1985)

Back to the Future, Part II (1989)

Back to the Future, Part III (1990)

Batman (1989)

Batman Returns (1992)

Beetlejuice (1988)

Best of the Best (1989)

Beverly Hills Cop (1984)

Bloodsport (1987)

The Breakfast Club (1985)

Caddyshack (1980)

Child’s Play (1988)

Clue (1985)

Cobra (1986)

Coming to America (1987)

Commando (1985)

Conan the Barbarian (1982)

Crocodile Dundee (1986)

Delirious (1991)

Demolition Man (1993)

Die Hard (1988)

Die Hard 2 (1990)

Dirty Dancing (1987)

Dirty Harry (1971)

Double Impact (1991)

E.T. the Extraterrestrial (1982)

Falling Down (1993)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Fatal Attraction (1987)

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

First Blood (1982)

Flashdance (1983)

Friday the 13th (1980)

Ghost (1990)

Ghostbusters (1984)

The Goonies (1985)

The Great Outdoors (1988)

Gremlins (1984)

Groundhog Day (1993)

Halloween (1978)

Hard to Kill (1990)

Home Alone (1990)

The Hunt for Red October (1990)

Jaws (1975)

The Karate Kid (1984)

Kickboxer (1989)

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)

Kindergarten Cop (1990)

The Last Boy Scout (1991)

Lethal Weapon (1987)

Lionheart (1990)

The Little Mermaid (1989)

Major League (1989)

Mr. Mom (1982)

The Naked Gun (1988)

National Lampoon’s Vacation (1982)

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

Necessary Roughness (1991)

Out For Justice (1991)

The Outsiders (1982)

Over the Top (1987)

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

Police Academy (1984)

Poltergeist (1982)

Predator (1987)

Pretty in Pink (1986)

Pretty Woman (1990)

The Program (1993)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Revenge of the Nerds (1984)

Risky Business (1983)

Roadhouse (1989)

Robocop (1987)

Rocky III (1982)

Rocky IV (1985)

The Russia House (1990)

The Shining (1980)

Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991)

Sixteen Candles (1984)

Star Wars (1977)

Stop, or My Mom Will Shoot! (1992)

Summer Rental (1985)

Tango and Cash (1989)

The Terminator (1984)

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

The Thing (1982)

Top Gun (1986)

Total Recall (1990)

Twins (1988)

Uncle Buck (1989)

Under Siege (1992)

Wall Street (1987)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)

Who’s Harry Crumb? (1989)

48 Hours

Genre: Action Comedy

Premise: A tough cop and a convict have 48 hours to solve a double murder.

Year Released: 1982

Rating: 9.5 out of 10.

80s Importance Rating: 10 out of 10

Out of all the collection of 80s action movies in existence, whether they be in the buddy cop comedy sub-genre or not, 48 Hours is and will forever be near the top in almost every single category.

The brain product of Walter Hill, who was attempting to make an action film in the vein of Dirty Harry, complete with Clint Eastwood himself in the main role, this movie was so good and so innovative that it resulted in a vital step in the creation of the 80s action picture in the process and the buddy cop genre as a side effect.

The movie, which stars Nick Nolte in an iconic role as a tough-as-nails no-nonsense cop with troubles with his superiors in the department (which would later become an archetype of the action film hero of the 80s era), tells us a straightforward story of how the Nick Nolte character must recruit a convict from prison (Eddie Murphy) for 48 hours to solve the double homicide of two police officers at the hands of a recently escaped criminal and his accomplice, as Murphy was their former accessory (and they both betrayed him).

The narrative is pretty simple, but that’s not what makes the motion picture formidable. What makes the movie extraordinary is the fact that a combination of factors converges to give us a vastly entertaining and comical feature. Said aspects are the following:

First of all, we have beyond brilliant acting from both Nolte and Murphy. They carry the movie from start to finish, and they live it up to the limit. Nolte’s role as a tough troubled take-no-crap detective is so perfect it seems as genuine as can be. Murphy, on the other hand, plays a smart-ass convict with street-smart skills and relentless attitude, and he does so to perfection. His role is even more impressive considering that it was his first, and it is easy to see why he became such a Hollywood superstar after this character.

Individually, both actors are masterful in their roles, but their chemistry together is simply outstanding. It is so wonderful that it makes the movie, and in the process, it laid the foundation for the buddy cop genre. Initially the two despise each other but have to work together and are generally agreeable. One is a wild card, and the other is more tough and ruthless, and this clash provides plenty of disagreements, humor and fights.

Eventually, however, they warm to each other and come to respect and trust the other, becoming true friends. This is a formula, of course, that we have heard many times before, but it works marvels in this picture, and it was quite original at the time, as this film began that trend.

The second factor that provides the perfection of this flick is how well shot and directed it is. The action is fast paced, with intense cuts, and wonderful action sequences that we would later come to see regularly in many 80s classics that came after.

Another factor that contributes to the quality of this movie is the story itself, which, although not perfect, truly has many twists and turns that keep us guessing and make the film quite fast paced and never boring.

The dialogue too, is amazing, with great punch lines, insults, and genuine street talk. This, in many ways, is what differentiates this picture from many more that would come later. The language is crude and dark, and does not hold back, which is why perhaps so many people were impressed by it.

The climax is satisfying and there are really no holes in the story. A little more character development would have been better, as well as an elaboration of Nolte’s girlfriend, who is flat and really has no reason for being in the film (aside from simply showing the audience that Nolte is troubled). Aside from that, a more intense final fight with the two villains, rather than a direct execution, would have heightened the plot more, and interestingly, this is something that future action films were adamant on doing.

Other than that, the movie works great, and it is one of the finest action films ever made.

80s Legacy Factor

The 80s legacy of 48 Hours is absolute, and it stems from three separate factors, which are the emergence of the action film genre of the 80s (particularly the buddy cop sub-genre), the rise of Eddie Murphy, and the rise of screenwriter Stephen E De Souza. Let’s start with Mr. De Souza.

When we talk about staples of the 80s action film genres, complete with bombastic storylines, a larger-than-life hero, quirky one-liners, and a blend of action comedy, in terms of screenwriters, there are only two options: Shane Black and Stephen E. De Souza. Both were so influential and so incredibly successful at their craft that, in a way, we owe the 80s action film genre to them as much as we do to the big actors that characterized the films. And while Shane Black got started with the masterpiece that was Lethal Weapon, Stephen De Souza, who would write classics like Commando, Die Hard, Die Hard 2, The Running Man and others, started with 48 Hours.

The film, of course, does not portray the comical Souza that we would later see in Commando and in the original Die Hard, but it did start the seeds of what would come next and solidified him as a screenwriter, prompting him to becoming one of the top men of the time and setting him up for the incredible career he had in the 80s and the massive influence to the era.

The next 80s legacy factor stems from Eddie Murphy. As we will establish in other chapters of this book, one of the biggest names in the 80s, with masterpieces like Beverly Hills Cop, Beverly Hills Cop 2, as well as Coming to America, Trading Places, The Golden Child and regular appearances on Saturday Night Live, was Eddie Murphy.

In many ways, the premier comedian of the era (which was full of humorists, which says a lot) was Eddie murphy. 48 Hours was Eddie Murphy’s film debut and his career launch. Without it, it is likely we never get to see the amazing Murphy of later, which is why this is such a significant 80s legacy factor.

The third 80s legacy factor is by far the strongest and most important, and this is the rise of the action film genre and buddy cop genre thanks to 48 hours.

The modern action film, in the sense of Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Van Damme, Seagal, Norris and alike, traces its beginnings to the western film genre, and subsequently, the 1970s films of Clint Eastwood and Charles Bronson, which were sort of action-drama features. From then, the genre slowly made an evolution into more larger-than-life films with a tint of comedy or over-the-top antics until we reached the films of the aforementioned stars. 1982 was the year when the modern 80s action film began, with two films that broke ground: First Blood and 48 Hours.

48 Hours, while not so much a pure action film, did set the standards of many action films in the years to come, particularly those that were police oriented and included a chase to solve something, like Beverly Hills Cop, Lethal Weapon, Above the Law, Raw Deal, Cobra, and many more. Furthermore, it includes comedic undertones mixed with the serious (like many other action films), in addition to a strict police captain, which became the core of similar movies in the years to cone.

In these factors, 48 Hours was highly influential towards the action film genre of the 80s, but in that which it was most influential was in the buddy cop genre of the time and onward, which it pretty much started.

Most of all the stipulations of that genre began with 48 Hours, and many of the beloved buddy cop action films of the 80s, including the Lethal Weapon franchise, Red Heat, the Beverly Hills Cop movies, Midnight Run, Tango and Cash, Turner and Hooch, K-9, The Last Boy Scout, Running Scared, Robocop, The Naked Gun and even Die Hard owe their existence to 48 Hours. Without it, the enormous buddy cop category of pictures of the 1980s would have never existed. As such, the 80s legacy factor of this film is more than absolute.

A Nightmare

on Elm Street

Genre: Horror

Premise: An intelligent and resilient teen faces off against a serial killer who haunts her dreams.

Year Released: 1984

Rating: 9 out of 10.

80s Importance Rating: 9 out of 10

Upon reviewing this film, it is important to take into consideration the context upon which this movie was created. The year was 1984, and slasher films had been made continuously and nearly to death (pun intended) ever since John Carpenter released his masterpiece Halloween in 1978. Good films in that genre were far in between, with Friday the 13th and the Halloween II being possibly the two sole examples. This, did not, however, stop filmmakers from creating their own rehashing of the genre in order to exploit its monetary possibilities. The formula of nearly no budget and high profits was enticing to everyone, but by 1984, it has been so overexploited that coming up with something remotely original or different was near impossible.

In came Wes Craven, with limited experience as a filmmaker but with tons of ideas and quite the dynamic way of creating movies. In his efforts he takes the entire genre by storm with a whole new type of slasher film that is both scary, intense, and wildly entertaining.

Everything about the movie is original. The main character, (a normal High School girl turned a relentless and cunning survivalist) becomes the perfectly formidable and invincible foe against Freddy Krueger, a serial killer who haunts dreams, not reality. Krueger has already killed her best friend and the best friend’s boyfriend and has haunted her repeatedly, but Nancy Thompson fears nothing, and she knows she can defeat him by bringing him into the world of reality and killing him there.

Yet, despite her incredible tactics and intelligence, Krueger is hard to beat, as he too seems invincible and much more intelligent and eviler than the apparently dumb brutes we see in other films of the era. But our heroine succeeds and manages to subdue him, despite an open ending that leaves everyone with questions.

This is the main strength of the film. We have a bold and strong female character that is not a victim final girl, but a fighting final girl that is as much a threat to the killer as the killer is to everyone else. On the other side we also have a murderous villain that is as strong as he is smart and ruthless, and together, it’s a no-holds-barred match to the end.

The storyline of the movie is well constructed, and the film is incredibly well-paced, building up gradually to a bombastic climax, with intensely scary scenes in between that seem to mimic and at times be as scary as films like The Exorcist. The scene of the final showdown between Krueger and Nancy is simply superb, and I would rank it as one of the best in horror film history.

The music score enhances the narrative quite nicely, and Craven’s dynamic takes and shots work really, really well in making the film interesting and fast paced despite it being a suspenseful horror flick.

The acting, especially on the part of Heather Langenkamp as Nancy Thompson, Robert Englund as Krueger and Johnny Depp as the boyfriend, is superb, with Englund and Langenkamp being absolutely fantastic, especially her, considering she was only 19 years old at the time of filming.

In terms of production design, the movie is flawless, with visual effects in terms of the murders and gore that are incredible even for today’s standards, and even more so considering the low, low budget of the movie. Krueger’s makeup in itself, is worth the entire movie’s budget in contemporary high-budget movies.

This was the magic of Craven: being able to create and produce a wonderful piece of cinema, with intensity, horror, and suspense with a brilliant script with such a low budget.

Of course, the movie is not without its flaws, such as bad acting from a few secondary characters and a few plot holes concerning the main character’s mother, but they are not important considering the incredible quality of this film.

It is, without a doubt, one of the best horror films ever, and I would rank it up there next to the original Halloween, and certainly better than any other slasher.

80s Legacy Factor

Despite being a memorable film and the start of one of the most notorious franchises in horror history (one of the big three, next to Halloween and Friday the 13th), the legacy factor of this film is not as strong as the other two franchises and initial films, and let me explain why.

Yes, A Nightmare on Elm Street is a good picture. It is quite scary, and it spawned an incredibly successful horror franchise and one of the most iconic characters in cinema history in Freddy Krueger, but the reality is that it came out in 1984, six years after Halloween and four after Friday the 13th. As such, many of its themes and styles are merely recycled versions of these other two pictures, and as such, the movie is generic, although it managed to stand out due to Wes Craven’s genius and its great quality when compared to the many other slasher and horror films that emerged after Halloween and Friday the 13th.

So yes, its 80s legacy cannot be as strong as the other two, but it is still certainly robust, and it sums up to the popularity of the movie, the franchise it spawned, the continuous popularity of horror, and Freddy Krueger as a character. These can all be piled up to a single big 80s legacy factor.

A Nightmare on Elm Street was produced on a modest budget of 1 million dollars and garnered in 57 million at the box office, giving us a massively successful picture and one of the proportionately most successful movies of the era. To that lets add that it launched a full empire of sequels and spinoffs that included eight big-screen sequels, a TV series, two video games, comic books, documentaries, endless novelizations, a multi-million dollar merchandising line that included Freddy costumes and much more.

The flick was so popular that it became a staple not only of horror, a genre which continued at full steam partly thanks to it, but of the 80s. One of the biggest icons, in fact, of 80s cinema and of cinema in general is the character of Freddy Krueger and his trademark knife claws, which have permeated into the cultural zeitgeist to become an almost universally known phenomenon. In fact, one could argue that aside from Michael Myers and maybe Jason, Freddy Krueger is the most famous horror character ever made and will forever be a staple and symbol of the 1980s.

Above the Law

Genre: Action

Premise: A former CIA operative and current police officer faces off against a group of war criminals who are above the law.

Year Released: 1988

Rating: 8 out of 10.

80s Importance Rating: 9 out of 10

Above the Law marked the feature film debut of martial arts expert and celebrity bodyguard Steven Seagal at age 36. The film, despite not being perfect under any extent of the word, is much more famous for its legacy and for establishing a new trend in the action film genre than for its actual plot. Nevertheless, the movie is still quite good due to a variety of characteristics. While the plot is thin, and there are inconsistencies, holes, and conveniences throughout the movie, the storyline is good enough, (with a satisfying climax that answers all questions and closes the book on an interesting storyline) that, when united with Seagal’s new input on the action film genre, turn out a well-made, entertaining picture that deserves more credit than people give it.

The film tells us the story of Nico, an Italian immigrant to the United States with ties to the mafia, who served in the CIA and in Vietnam, who lived in the far east and became an expert in martial arts, who holds himself to high moral standards, and who works for the Chicago Police Department.

After rescuing a cousin of his from having sex with a drug dealer, Nico gets a tip about a local Mob getting involved in drug deals as well as the purchase of C-4 explosives and makes every attempt to bring them down. The problem is that the mob is involved with current CIA operatives in a plot to kill a senator and run a crime syndicate of drug trafficking from Southeast Asia to America.

After urgence from the FBI to stay away from the case as well as threats to his family, Seagal finds himself waging a one-man war against this crime outfit but manages to come out on top.

Yes, the plot may seem generic and very much in the vein of traditional action films of the era, but this movie is much more than that.

The martial arts sequences are simply superb, (showcasing Seagal’s impressive ability to fight as well as his incredible athleticism), as are Seagal’s acting skills, showing us a full-fledged human who suffers, who aches, who grieves, and who actually cares (unlike many of the action heroes of the time, who were a bit more one-dimensional). This, when tied to Seagal’s message of truly wanting to save the world by showing us that no one is above the law and that everyone should be held responsible for their actions, as well as a well-made film score, and fantastic action sequences that could rival any other film of the era, in addition to the aspects of the storyline that we have already mentioned, make Above the Law a genuinely good picture of high quality, high entertainment value, interesting characters, and a breath of fresh air in an otherwise generic film genre.

In short, while the film’s storyline may be a bit stale, the presence of Steven Seagal and his antics more than make up for it and turn an average movie into a great one.

80s Legacy Factor

The 80s legacy factor of this film is