No one type of movie better defines eighties cinema than that of the action movie. With their breathtaking practical effects, high-octane soundtracks and reassuringly predictable plotlines, the decade boasts some of the very best movies that the genre has to offer even to this day.
It was the era of the action hero, who, unlike modern protagonists, were defined not only by their bulging muscles and devastating combat skills, but also their obnoxious one-liners and cheesy catchphrases. It was these that made the characters so memorable and punctuated their respective movies in a way that CGI explosions and slow-motion gunplay simply never could.
10 “I’ll Give You A War You Won’t Believe” – John Rambo, First Blood (1982)
There are plenty of great one-liners in Sylvester Stallone’s debut outing as the one-man army that is John Rambo, but it’s hard to look past the one uttered during his tense encounter with Sheriff Teasle. While he’d later go on to bring the town of Hope to its knees, at this point in the story he’s done very little wrong and has been teased and tormented by the law for his troubles.
Having been hunted down into the woods like a prize buck, the grizzled war vet turns the tables on the helpless lawman and puts him firmly in his place with a not so thinly-veiled threat. Well, that and a very big knife. The tension in the scene is palpable and Stallone’s delivery perfectly captures the unhinged nature of the character and the danger that he poses to those who dare to push him over the edge.
9 “Dead Or Alive, You’re Coming With Me” – Alex Murphy, RoboCop (1987)
While Officer Murphy is undoubtedly a more badass character following his transformation into a cybernetic super cop, he does have one or two strong moments before the changes take place. One of these comes during his first encounter with Emil and, ultimately, is what leads to his death. This makes it a lot more powerful. Though, when he repeats the line a little later on while in his new metallic form.
RoboCop spots Emil holding up a gas station and drops the very same warning upon confronting him. This causes the criminal to freak out and ultimately leads to the gas station exploding and the killer being placed behind bars. Murphy does eventually get to pay Emil back in full, however, when he takes out all four of his killers in the movie’s bloody and brutal climax.
8 “I Ain’t Got Time To Bleed” – Blain Cooper, Predator (1987)
While Dutch’s infamous “Get to the chopper!” line is arguably more memorable, this one-liner from the mini-gun wielding Sergeant Blain Cooper is undoubtedly more badass. The former comes from a place of fear, but Jesse Ventura’s character brushes off a gunshot like it’s little more than a mosquito and remains firmly focused on the mission at hand.
Admittedly, the Predator is far more terrifying than the Vietcong forces, but even while being stalked by the trophy hunting humanoid a little later on in the movie, Blain still shows very little fear. Perhaps he should have been more afraid though, as it’s not too long after talking smack to the creature that he finds himself with a hole in his chest courtesy of its deadly Plasmacaster.
7 “I Eat Green Berets For Breakfast And Right Now I’m Very Hungry” – John Matrix, Commando (1985)
When former Green Beret turned mercenary ‘Cooke’ finally tracks down Colonel Matrix and attempts to use his military training to intimidate him, the Colonel has the perfect response. What’s more, he also has the skills to back it up, as evidenced by the resulting brawl.
Cindy might not be too impressed by the pair’s “macho bullsh*t”, but Arnie’s character does incredibly well to come out of the skirmish unharmed, especially considering he’s up against an armed man. Once all of his rounds have been spent though, Cook is simply no match for the mighty military man and soon finds himself impaled on a chair leg after being hurled across the room like an over-inflated basketball.
6 “You’re A Disease And I’m The Cure” – Marion Cobretti, Cobra (1986)
John “Cobra” Cobretti is a walking cliche, and the movie in which he features overuses classic action movie tropes to the point where it’s difficult to take it at all seriously. Even so, it does have one or two great lines peppered throughout it and was a huge box office hit in spite of its dull and uninspired script.
One of the more memorable exchanges comes right at the beginning of the movie when Lieutenant Cobretti apprehends a radical supremacist who has taken several people hostage in a local supermarket. After the criminal claims to be a hero of The New World, Cobretti offers a somewhat different interpretation of the man’s status before sticking him with a throwing knife and then pumping him full of lead.
5 “I’ll Be Back” – The T-800, The Terminator (1984)
Although it lost a lot of its effect after the T-800 adopted the line as one of his many catchphrases, the original use of “I’ll be back” could hardly have been any more badass. This was no reassuring promise as was the case in later movies, but instead a rather blunt statement of intent.
When a duty officer tells him that he’ll need to wait before he can see Sarah Connor, the android assassin decides that he’d rather leave and return, and that is exactly what he does. Rather than reentering the police station on foot, however, he drives a Plymouth Gran Fury through the building’s façade and then proceeds to murder or incapacitate every single officer in sight.
4 “I Have Come Here To Chew Bubblegum And Kick Ass… And I’m All Out Of Bubblegum” – John Nada, They Live (1988)
While current and former WWE wrestlers might not seem too out of place in Hollywood movies in this day and age, they were a fairly rare sight back in the eighties. Hulk Hogan did appear in a few though, as too did the late, great Roderick Toombs or “Rowdy” Roddy Piper as he’s better known by many.
Much like his character in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, John Nada has a lot in common with Toombs’ in-ring persona and it leads to some wonderful moments throughout the movie. As well as some fantastic fight scenes, audiences were treated to this memorable line after he enters a bank full of aliens incognito. The delivery isn’t perfect, but with writing this good, it really doesn’t need to be.
3 “Go Ahead… Make My Day” – Harry Callahan, Sudden Impact (1983)
Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry character is perhaps best known for his ruthless approach to apprehending the scum of society, but he also had his fair share of memorable lines throughout his five theatrical appearances. While the well-known yet oft misquoted “Do I feel lucky?” speech came in the character’s 1971 debut, he still had a few more gems hidden up his sleeves for eighties audiences.
Trouble seems to stick to Harry like flies to a horse’s ass and this is no more evident than in Sudden Impact when his favorite coffee shop gets held up by armed robbers. He quickly dispatches three of the four gunmen before finding himself in a tense standoff with the last. As the would-be thief considers his options, the icy inspector makes it clear that he’s not only prepared to shoot, but would derive great pleasure from doing so. Wisely, the criminal decides that he’d rather go to jail than the morgue and promptly lowers his weapon.
2 “I Don’t Step On Toes… I Step On Necks” – James Braddock, Braddock: Missing In Action III (1988)
Chuck Norris is one of the biggest badasses to have ever graced the silver screen and this is something that a lot of his movies have leaned into quite heavily throughout his acting career. The Missing in Action trilogy are three such movies with his James Braddock character taking neither prisoners nor the slightest bit of nonsense.
His third and final outing sees Braddock discover that the Vietnamese wife who he’d kind of just assumed was dead is actually still alive and also that the pair have a twelve-year-old son together. After his CIA contact, Littlejohn, confirms the information and warns him not to step on any toes, Braddock makes his true intentions crystal clear before returning to the jungles of Vietnam and raising some hell.
1 “Yippee Ki-Yay, Motherf***er” – John McClane, Die Hard (1989)
Part of what makes Die Hard such an entertaining movie is the fantastic back and forth between John McClane and the criminal mastermind Hans Gruber. Not only does it make the characters far more compelling in their respective roles, but these exchanges also give birth to one of the very best movie one-liners of all time.
Gruber is under the illusion that he’s dealing with just another have a go hero, but as he soon learns, this couldn’t be further from the truth. His condescending cowboy comparison doesn’t phase John in the slightest and this is apparent by the latter’s ensuing remarks. Much like Arnie’s infamous “I’ll be back” line, “Yippee Ki-Yay” may have lost a lot of its impact in subsequent movies, but the original delivery just might be the very epitome of badassery.
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