***The High Eighties (1986-1993)

The years of 1986-1993 are what I like to call the High Eighties. During these years there was an unusually high number of classic action films released. Previously, other than a select few films like the Star Wars films and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), you don't really see the level of polish in action films that you see during the High Eighties. I personally consider Aliens (1986) the film that officially jump-started the era. Schwarzenegger is in his prime, hitting three home runs within these eight years with Predator (1987), Total Recall (1990), and Terminator 2 (1991). Stallone had a milestone classic at the butt-end of the era with Cliffhanger (1993), as well as a couple minor hits with Over the Top (1987) (one of the few decent Cannon Films movies ever made if there is such a thing) and Tango & Cash (1989). You see the rise of Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Dolph Lundgren. I would argue that almost all of Seagal's "good" films are contained within the High Eighties starting with Above the Law (1988) and ending with Under Siege (1992). JCVD sees his career started in 1988 with Bloodsport, then he acts in a string of mediocre films until he stars with Dolph Lundgren in Roland Emmerich's awesome low-budget effort Universal Soldier (1992). Dolph Lundgren also stars in a little-known cult gem entitled Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991) which takes the energy of Commando (1985, same director, Mark L Lester) and combines it with the polish and style characteristic of the High Eighties. The High Eighties gave birth to the Paul Verhoeven/science fiction combination with Robocop (1987) and Total Recall (1990) (and later on Starship Troopers (1997)). Most importantly, the High Eighties showed that action movies could be elevated to an artform as is the case with Die Hard (1988), a masterpiece of action cinema, and arguably the greatest action film ever made.

I posit that the High Eighties was effectively ended by the beginning of 90s cinema (another great era in and of itself): Jurassic Park (1993).