Biggest Bad-Ass Action Heroes (80’s and 90’s)
Action heroes are few and far between. I know that statement sounds funny because there are hundreds of action movies. However, when it comes to true-blood action heroes, there is a very short list. Some of them are washed up by today’s standards….but they were gods in their prime.
What criteria did I use for this list?
- Time Frame: I picked actors who peaked in the 80’s and 90’s (when the action hero was HUGE)
- Kills: Has to have single handedly taken on some sort of mass army without enduring more then a “flesh wound”
- Get the Girl: Must have saved at least one super model
- Must be way strong or have some sort of martial art ability
- Must not be known as a comic book character with “super strength”
- Must be able to kick the shit out of anybody not on this list
Ok, the list is below: (in no particular order)
Chuck Norris
- Biggest Bad Ass Roles: Missing in Action, Delta Force, The Octagon, and most of the rest….
- Worst Movie: All TV movies that have to do with Walker Texas Ranger
- BAD ASS QUOTE: “Nikko was easy. Now it’s your turn. One night you’ll close your eyes, and when they open I’ll be there. It’ll be time to die.” – Invasion USA
Sylvester Stallone
- Biggest Bad Ass Roles: Rocky, Rambo, Cobra
- Worst Movie: Stop or My Mom Will Shoot
- BAD ASS QUOTE: “I don’t deal with psychos. I put ‘em away.” Cobra
Jean-Claude Van Damme
- Biggest Bad Ass Roles: Universal Soldier, Kickboxer, Bloodsport
- Worst Movie: Street Fighter The Movie
- BAD ASS QUOTE: [handing over a flask of his moonshine] “Here, drink. But do not spill. It kill de grass.” – Hard Target
Steven Segal
- Biggest Bad Ass Roles: Under Siege, Marked for Death, Hard to Kill
- Worst Movie: On Deadly Ground
- BAD ASS QUOTE: “Nah, I’m just a cook” – Under Siege
Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Biggest Bad Ass Roles In: Predator, Commando, Terminator, Conan
- Worst Movie: Batman and Robin as Mr. Freeze
- BAD ASS QUOTE: “I’ll Be Back” – Most of his movies
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June 4th, 2008 at 6:44 am
what a great post. You hit the nail on the head here. I love the Chuck Norris Quote! I remember watching like every movie Van Damme ever did as a kid because i thought he was so cool. Even that bad one where he played his own twin.
I would say that Arnold, Sylvester, and Chuck are like the holy trinity in this genre. Unless i’m forgeting one that was bigger. I mean if we just sent these guys over to the middle east as a special force they would dominate all the terrorist!
I guess today’s supposed action stars would be Vin Diseal and The Rock. Those are who it seems people try to push for the big action roles. I’m sure i’m missing someone for todays movies but I can’t think of them.
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June 4th, 2008 at 7:19 am
Good post….yep you got all of our generations action heroes covered here, to add to SoItGoes comment, the only other one I can think of is Jason Statham. He’s stared in:
Snatch
The One
The Transporter
The Transporter 2
The Transporter 3 (production)
The Italian Job
The Brazilian Job (production)
Crank
Crank 2 (production)
and many others…
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June 4th, 2008 at 7:56 am
Great Post! Yeah those 5 are pretty much the cream of the crop. Arnold being by far the best, followed by Stallone, then Van Damme, then Segal and finally Norris. I put Norris at the end of the list b/c his movies were the lowest quality, but he probably is first place in some people’s list depending on how you rate the 5.
Some honorable mentions:
- Dolph Lundgreen (Rocky IV, Scorpion, Universal Soldier, He Man)
- Jet Li (The One, Heroe, Once Upon a Time in China, Unleashed)
- Tom Berenger (Sniper, Substitute, Platoon)
- Hulk Hogan (The Nanny, Rocky 3, Suburban Comando)
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June 4th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Ok, so the million dollar question.
If you dropped all five of the a-listers into the jungle for a battle royal….who would win?
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June 4th, 2008 at 9:22 am
as their real personalities or in character?
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June 4th, 2008 at 9:25 am
I would say persona. Who they typically play, but more across all movies that they have been in.
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June 4th, 2008 at 9:52 am
In my opinion Arnold Schwarzenegger hands down. If you take common traits from all of his action characters he’s been a soldier, a cop, a robot, a undercover operative and most importantly a game show contestant. He’s battled aliens, robots and a lot of nasty bad guys, he even has a friendship with his clone!!
You can’t get much more bad ass than that…
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June 4th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Conan would win.
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June 4th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Okay i initially think that Arnold has it hands down, but Chuck Norris could probably beat them all literally hands down. He would sit on his hands and kick them because he is fucking chuck norris!
There was a time in the 80’s when Chuck Norris was way up there as action hero personality, but he waned more so then the others. Arnold had the most staying power as a Action hero probably followed by Sly. Van Damme and Segal I think both dropped off and never hit quite the popularity The original trio did early on.
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June 24th, 2008 at 11:19 am
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July 9th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
[...] Heroes 80??s and 90??sA look at the best action movie heroes. Can you guess who made the list?http://www.zombiechatter.com/2008/06/03/biggest-bad-ass-action-hero-of-all-time/Celebrity Asses – The best of the best at As Red As …May 12, 2007 … Celebrity asses – The best [...]
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