No decade of cinematic history goes undamaged by the ravages of time, and that certainly holds true for the great action movies of the 80s. Even today, many of the 80s’ best action films are fondly-remembered, with many kicking off massive franchises that have persisted well into the modern era of moviegoing. However, when revisiting these classic flicks, there’s almost assuredly bound to be a moment or two that reminds the viewer of the times the film was made in jarring fashion.
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There are a variety of ways these awkward scenes can age with all the grace of a carton of milk. In many cases, changing political and cultural values can make the sensibilities of certain sequences within the typically over-the-top masculinity of 80s action seem shocking to a modern audience. In other cases, poorly-aged special effects, pointless sequences, or frustratingly unbelievable action scenes can make-or-break the longevity of a given 80s action movie.
You are watching: 10 Classic 1980s Action Movie Moments That Aged Poorly
10 Blain’s Casual Slur Usage
Predator (1987): Directed by John McTiernan
Part of what made the original Predator work so well is the camaraderie and eccentricity of Dutch’s special ops unit. From the moment Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers flex their muscles in a powerful handshake, it’s clear that every member of the elite fireteam has a quirky personality.
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While thier banter is typically quite entertaining, there’s one particular exchange which definitely crosses the line of acceptable banter by modern standards. Jesse Ventura’s minigun-wielding Blaine is a particularly foul-mouthed soldier, perhaps owing to Ventura’s real-life past as Navy special forces.
Predator (1987) 1
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RActionAdventureHorror Sci-Fi
A team of elite commandos led by Major Dutch Schaefer is sent on a rescue mission deep in the Central American jungle. However, they soon find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior with advanced technology and a penchant for collecting human trophies. As the creature picks them off one by one, Dutch must rely on his wits and combat skills to survive the ultimate test of man versus alien.
Director John McTiernan Release Date June 12, 1987 Writers Jim Thomas , John Thomas Runtime 107 Minutes Main Genre Action
While waiting out a helicopter ride, Blaine casually tosses out a homophobic slur while bragging about his popularity with the ladies, which he apparently owes to chewing tobacco. It’s easy to miss this poorly-aged line considering how much it’s overshadowed by the next words out of Ventura’s mouth, “This stuff’ll make you a g**damn sexual tyrannosaurus, just like me.“
9 Maverick Follows Charlie Into The Ladies’ Room
Top Gun (1986): Directed by Tony Scott
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Within the world of Top Gun, the ace pilot Maverick owes his nickname ot his propensity for rule breaking. While it’s usually quite enjoyable to see him act outside the rigid chain of command only to get undeniable results anyway, there are some rules Maverick breaks that are quite eyebrow-raising through the sensibilities of the current age.
Within the world of
Top Gun,
the ace pilot Maverick owes his nickname ot his propensity for rule breaking.
In particular, his interactions with Top Gun instructor and love interest, Charlie Blackwood. After his romantic advances are politely rejected, Maverick decides to follow Charlie into the women’s restroom in an attempt to change her mind.
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PGDramaAction
Director Tony Scott Release Date May 16, 1986 Studio(s) Paramount Pictures Distributor(s) Paramount Pictures Runtime 110 minutes Budget $15 million Expand
Somehow, she reacts quite calmly to this, and seems almost receptive to his inappropriate advances, never mind the power dynamics at play considering Maverick is actively her student. It’s safe to say that this method of flirting should remain in the 80s.
8 James Bond Frees A Rebel Leader In Afghanistan
The Living Daylights (1987): Directed by John Glen
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There are a lot of things that have aged poorly in James Bond movies of all kinds, from rampant misogyny to uneven editing. But in one rare instance, a large swathe of an entire movie has been rendered into an unfortunate position by the passage of time, as is the case with the Timothy Dalton-led The Living Daylights. Here, James Bond helps repel the real-world Russian occupation of Afghanistan by enlisting the help of none other than the Mujahideen, rebels who would go on to form the Taliban.
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PGActionAdventureThriller
The Living Daylights is the fifteenth entry in the James Bond series and the first to feature Timothy Dalton as the iconic British spy. Released in 1987, the film follows Bond as he uncovers a complex arms deal while protecting a defecting Soviet general. Featuring Maryam d’Abo as his ally, the movie blends action, espionage, and intrigue in a Cold War setting.
Director John Glen Release Date July 31, 1987 Cast Timothy Dalton , Maryam d’Abo , Jeroen Krabbé , Joe Don Baker , John Rhys-Davies , Art Malik , Andreas Wisniewski , Thomas Wheatley , Desmond Llewelyn , Robert Brown , Geoffrey Keen , Walter Gotell , Caroline Bliss , John Terry , Virginia Hey , John Bowe , Julie T. Wallace , Belle Avery , Catherine Rabett , Dulice Liecier , Nadim Sawalha , Alan Talbot , Carl Rigg Runtime 130 minutes Main Genre Action Expand
The cultural implications of Hollywood’s radical change in attitude towards Afghanistan’s guerrillas as the country’s occupying force shifted from the U.S.S.R. to the United States are quite cringeworthy. Throughout the film, the Mujahideen were lauded as plucky heroes, a painful depiction in light of their formation into one of the U.S.’s most infamous modern enemies. If there’s one moment in particular in The Living Daylights that stands out as particularly bad, it’s the scene in which Bond frees a Mujahideen leader from imprisonment.
7 Rambo III Dedicates Itself To The Mujahideen
Rambo III (1988): Directed by Peter MacDonald
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Amazingly, the James Bond franchise isn’t the only action movie series of the 80s to run into retrospective difficulty with a conflict taking place in Afghanistan. Even if it is still technically an 80s action movie classic, Rambo III was a low point in the franchise in more ways than one, with its very premise of Rambo helping the Mujahideen fight Soviet Soldiers in Afghanistan dating it rather egregiously.
Unlike The Living Daylights, the Afghanistan conflict makes up the majority of Rambo III’s plot. The film follows an attempt by Colonel Sam Trautman to pull his old friend, John Rambo, out of retirement for one last job on a C.I.A.-backed mission helping the Mujahideen fight against the U.S.S.R.’s forces.
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Director Peter MacDonald Release Date 1988/08/19 Cast Sylvester Stallone , Richard Crenna , Marc de Jonge , Kurtwood Smith
Though Rambo initially refuses, Trautman’s capture prompts him to put everything on the line in a bloody crusade against the Soviets, fighting alongside rebel soldiers who would, in all likelihood, go on to join the Taliban. The dedication to the “brave Mujahideen fighters of Afghanistan” in the credits is a particularly awkward encapsulation of the poorly-aged premise.
6 The Monkey Brains Dinner Scene
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984): Directed by Steven Spielberg
Even among die-hard Indiana Jones fans, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom has an infamous reputation as the darkest Indiana Jones movie. While the film’s frightening content for a PG-13 movie and gross-out humor haven’t aged particularly well, some of the racist undertones of the film’s otherism and mysticism of real Asian cultures is the most glaringly difficult to rewatch aspect of the entire series.
The monkey brains dinner scene combines all three elements, making for a decidedly skippable beat in an otherwise fun action adventure. The scene features the squeamish Willie being disgusted by the increasingly ghoulish courses of a meal courtesy her Indian hosts, including the decapitated head of a primate with its brain exposed, ready for consumption.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 
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pg-13ActionAdventure
Director Steven Spielberg Release Date May 8, 1984 Studio(s) Paramount Pictures Cast Harrison Ford , Kate Capshaw , Ke Huy Quan , Amrish Puri , Roshan Seth , Philip Stone , Roy Chiao Runtime 118 Minutes Franchise(s) Indiana Jones Expand
The so-called “chilled monkey brains” have no real cultural basis in Indian cuisine, and the cheap joke, punctuated with Willie fainting, comes across as mean-spirited and racist. Arguments can be made that the scene is actually Spielberg’s knowing parody of the West’s perception of India, but either way, the scene hasn’t aged well.
5 The Light Cycle Race
Tron (1982): Directed by Steven Lisberge
Sometimes, political affiliations, cultural values, or changes in history aren’t what ages a given 80s movie quickly. In many cases, painfully early special effects can make for almost as difficult a viewing experience on re-watches, as is certainly the case with 1982’s Tron.
Steven Lisberger was an executive creative consultant for
Tron: Ares,
which is set to be released in 2025
At the time of its release, Tron was considered a daring technical showcase for the transformative power of computer-generated effects, fittingly telling the story of a virtual world. By today’s standards, however, the primordial CGI of Tron is laughably bad, with many scenes looking straight-up unfinished.
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PGActionAdventureScience Fiction
Director Steven Lisberger Release Date July 9, 1982 Studio(s) Disney Distributor(s) Disney Runtime 96 minutes Sequel(s) TRON: Legacy Expand
The light cycle race is a particularly egregious example, with the stilted, instant 90-degree turns of the vehicles and the smooth, textureless shapes of their chassis marring the supposedly-exciting chase sequence. It’s all the more painful that the jarring scene feels forced within the film’s narrative, feeling like more of a tech demo than a sequence necessary for the plot to progress.
4 The Museum Dance Scene
Batman (1989): Directed by Tim Burton
The modern superhero film owes much of its existence to 1989’s Batman, which proved that comic book characters could tell gritty, poignant stories if allowed to take themselves seriously. Still considered to be one of the best Batman films by today’s standards, there are still a few moments of Tim Burton’s masterpiece that stand out as aged. In particular, the not one, not two, but three dancing sequences feel quite shoehorned in and out-of-place, utterly breaking the viewer’s immersion.
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PG-13ActionAdventureSuperhero
Director Tim Burton Release Date June 23, 1989 Studio(s) Warner Bros. Pictures Runtime 126 Minutes
Of these dance scenes, Joker’s rampage throughout a classy museum alongside his boom-box-carrying goons is a particularly dated sequence. The Prince soundtrack is quite indicative of what was popular at the time of the film’s release, and the goofy outfits and stilted choreography of the sequence makes for an awkward experience through a modern lens. After seeing different cinematic versions of the Joker do much worse over the years, it’s hard to get excited about Jack Nicholson’s incarnation breaking a priceless vase.
3 Venkman Flirts With A Student
Ghostbusters (1984): Directed by Ivan Reitman
In truth, there’s a lot that has aged less-than-gracefully about the original Ghostbusters film. From Ray’s spectral sexual encounter to the overt conservative anti-environmental regulations messaging, the revered action comedy has quite a bit of content that keeps it squarely stuck in the past. If there’s one moment that stands out for its disturbing indication of 80s cultural values, however, it’s the brief aside in which Dr. Peter Venkman, played by Bill Murray, flirts with one of his students.
The revered action comedy has quite a bit of content that keeps it squarely stuck in the past.
While conducting “research” meant to test the phenomena of psychic ability, Venkman performs a simple test in which he asks two participants to guess the shape on the face of a card he’s holding, with incorrect guesses being rewarded with a mild electric shock.
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PGActionComedyFantasy
Director Ivan Reitman Release Date June 8, 1984 Distributor(s) Columbia Pictures Writers Dan Aykroyd , Harold Ramis , Rick Moranis Runtime 105 Minutes
While the nerdy male student is buzzed with impunity, Venkman flirtatiously lies about his young female student’s ability to read his mind. In the 80s, this beat made Venkman a crude, but still lovable sleazeball, but by today’s standards, it makes rooting for him difficult.
2 John Matrix Strolls Through An Enemy Garden Without Getting Shot
Commando (1985): Directed by Mark L. Lester
One of the crowning jewels of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s run of 80s action movies, Commando has a case for being the definitive 80s action movie. From the bulging muscles of Schwarzenegger’s iconic physique as John Matrix to the effortless delivery of his deliciously cheesy one-liners, it’s hard to find things to dislike about the undoubtedly fun romp, even now.
That being said, while the film’s up-close-and-personal fight scenes were second to none, the shootouts often left something to be desired. Schwarzenegger’s John Matrix makes his way through a particularly unbelievable firefight in the climax of the film. Wading through a scene rose garden while shirtless and firing off a massive M60 light machine gun, Matrix slaughters scores of enemy soldiers as easily as picking flowers.
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RActionAdventureThriller
Director Mark L. Lester Release Date October 4, 1985 Studio(s) 20th Century Distributor(s) 20th Century Runtime 90 minutes
Despite Matrix making no attempt to find cover or even break line of sight, none of the scores of enemies are capable of landing a shot on him, making the ending to the film a disappointingly silly final exchange of gunfire by modern action sequence standards.
1 Sgt. Al Powell Learns To Be A Trigger-Happy Cop Again
Die Hard (1988): Directed by John McTiernan
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Speaking of shooting sequences, the handling of Sergeant Al Powell’s character in Die Hard makes for an awkward lesson in heroics by today’s standards. Earlier in the film, Sgt. Powell explains to John McClane, a fellow police officer, how he’s been unable to draw (let alone fire) his service weapon ever since he panicked and killed an innocent kid playing with a toy gun while on the job. The movie portrays this as a character flaw, one which Sgt. Powell overcomes at the end of the film when he drops one of the Nakatomi plaza terrorists.
In the modern day and age, conversations of police over-use of deadly force have become all the more prevalent, and there are a tragically high number of real-life cases similar to Sgt. Powell’s fictional one, only with the offending parties showing far less remorse.
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With this in mind, the final shot of Sgt. Powell with his smoking gun drawn is downright ominous. Even if the intention may not have been to glorify police brutality, this moment is a relic of a particular brand of action movie that likely wouldn’t fly today.
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Category: Entertainment