Most Awesomely Bad Action Movies of All Time
by YawkeyJay | created - 23 Feb 2011 | updated - 23 Feb 2011 | PublicThis list is a remarkable collection of films, particularly from the 80's and 90's, that were so awesome and so cheesy, that they have achieved cult like status and are mainstays in a lot of DVD collections.
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1. Cobra (1986)
R | 87 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A tough-on-crime street cop must protect the only surviving witness to a strange murderous cult with far-reaching plans.
Director: George P. Cosmatos | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Brigitte Nielsen, Reni Santoni, Andrew Robinson
Votes: 79,614 | Gross: $49.04M
2. Commando (1985)
R | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A retired Special Forces colonel tries to save his daughter, who was abducted by his former subordinate.
Director: Mark L. Lester | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Dan Hedaya, Vernon Wells
Votes: 174,846 | Gross: $35.10M
3. RoboCop 2 (1990)
R | 117 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
RoboCop returns to protect the citizens of old Detroit but faces a deadly challenge when a rogue OCP member secretly creates a new, evil RoboCop 2.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Belinda Bauer, Dan O'Herlihy
Votes: 93,156 | Gross: $45.68M
4. Tango & Cash (1989)
R | 104 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Framed by their ruthless arch-nemesis, a pair of mismatched LAPD officers must put their differences aside to get even with the brutal crime baron who sent them to rot in a maximum-security prison.
Directors: Andrey Konchalovskiy, Albert Magnoli | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Teri Hatcher, Jack Palance
Votes: 113,560 | Gross: $63.41M
5. Road House (1989)
R | 114 min | Action, Thriller
A bouncer hired to clean up the baddest honkytonk in a Missouri town. Armed with a black belt in karate and a degree in philosophy, Patrick Swayze sets out to tame the Double Deuce for its owner.
Director: Rowdy Herrington | Stars: Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch, Sam Elliott, Ben Gazzara
Votes: 100,589 | Gross: $30.05M
6. Over the Top (1987)
PG | 93 min | Action, Drama, Sport
Tough trucker Lincoln Hawk is determined to win back his son and triumph at the world arm wrestling championships.
Director: Menahem Golan | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Robert Loggia, Susan Blakely, Rick Zumwalt
Votes: 59,367 | Gross: $16.06M
7. The Running Man (1987)
R | 101 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In a dystopian America, a falsely convicted policeman gets his shot at freedom when he must forcibly participate in a TV game show where convicts, runners, must battle killers for their freedom.
Director: Paul Michael Glaser | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown
Votes: 167,653 | Gross: $38.12M
8. Street Fighter (1994)
PG-13 | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
In the midst of a civil war in South East Asia, a general intensifies the climate of violence by kidnapping 63 UN delegates. To free the hostages, a colonel leads a group of fighters, who will have to use all their skills to be successful.
Director: Steven E. de Souza | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Raul Julia, Ming-Na Wen, Damian Chapa
Votes: 75,293 | Gross: $33.42M
9. Universal Soldier (1992)
R | 102 min | Action, Sci-Fi
Soldiers who were killed in action are brought back to life in a top secret military experiment that creates superhuman warriors.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Ally Walker, Ed O'Ross
Votes: 96,209 | Gross: $36.30M
10. Action Jackson (1988)
R | 96 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Vengeance drives a tough Detroit cop to stay on the trail of a power-hungry auto magnate who is systematically eliminating his competition.
Director: Craig R. Baxley | Stars: Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone
Votes: 12,604 | Gross: $20.26M
11. Death Wish II (1982)
R | 89 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Architect Paul Kersey once again becomes a vigilante when he tries to find the five street punks who murdered his daughter and housekeeper, this time on the dark streets of Los Angeles.
Director: Michael Winner | Stars: Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Vincent Gardenia, J.D. Cannon
Votes: 18,130 | Gross: $16.10M
12. Death Wish 3 (1985)
R | 90 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Architect/vigilante Paul Kersey arrives back in New York City and is forcibly recruited by a crooked police chief to fight street crime caused by a large gang terrorizing the neighborhoods.
Director: Michael Winner | Stars: Charles Bronson, Deborah Raffin, Ed Lauter, Martin Balsam
Votes: 17,374 | Gross: $16.12M
13. RoboCop 3 (1993)
PG-13 | 104 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
Robocop saves the day once more. This time the half man/half robot takes on ruthless developers who want to evict some people on "their" land.
Director: Fred Dekker | Stars: Robert John Burke, Nancy Allen, Mario Machado, Remy Ryan
Votes: 54,367 | Gross: $10.70M
14. Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987)
R | 99 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Architect/vigilante Paul Kersey takes on the members of a vicious Los Angeles drug cartel to stop the flow of drugs after his girlfriend's daughter dies from an overdose.
Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: Charles Bronson, Kay Lenz, John P. Ryan, Perry Lopez
Votes: 11,112 | Gross: $6.88M
15. Cliffhanger (1993)
R | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A botched mid-air heist results in suitcases full of cash being searched for by various groups throughout the Rocky Mountains.
Director: Renny Harlin | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Michael Rooker, Janine Turner
Votes: 139,945 | Gross: $84.05M
16. Death Wish: The Face of Death (1994)
R | 95 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Paul Kersey is back at working vigilante justice when his fiancée, Olivia, has her business threatened by mobsters.
Director: Allan A. Goldstein | Stars: Charles Bronson, Lesley-Anne Down, Michael Parks, Chuck Shamata
Votes: 8,778 | Gross: $1.70M
17. Demolition Man (1993)
R | 115 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A police officer is brought out of suspended animation in prison to pursue an old ultra-violent nemesis who is loose in a non-violent future society.
Director: Marco Brambilla | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, Nigel Hawthorne
Votes: 193,332 | Gross: $58.06M
18. Stone Cold (1991)
R | 92 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A tough Alabama cop is blackmailed by the FBI into going undercover in a violent Mississippi biker gang.
Director: Craig R. Baxley | Stars: Brian Bosworth, Lance Henriksen, William Forsythe, Arabella Holzbog
Votes: 10,030 | Gross: $9.29M
19. Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection (1990)
R | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
When DEA agents are taken captive by a ruthless South American kingpin, the Delta Force is reunited to rescue them in this sequel to the 1986 film.
Director: Aaron Norris | Stars: Chuck Norris, John P. Ryan, Billy Drago, Richard Jaeckel
Votes: 8,121 | Gross: $6.70M
20. Batman & Robin (1997)
PG-13 | 125 min | Action, Sci-Fi
Batman and Robin try to keep their relationship together even as they must stop Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from freezing Gotham City.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Uma Thurman
Votes: 268,105 | Gross: $107.33M
21. Red Dawn (1984)
PG-13 | 114 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
It is the dawn of World War III. In the west mountains of America, a group of teenagers band together to defend their town, and their country, from invading Soviet forces.
Director: John Milius | Stars: Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen
Votes: 63,071 | Gross: $38.38M
22. Double Impact (1991)
R | 110 min | Action, Crime
Twin brothers are separated when their parents are murdered but 25 years later they re-unite in order to avenge their parents' death.
Director: Sheldon Lettich | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Geoffrey Lewis, Alonna Shaw, Corinna Everson
Votes: 44,050 | Gross: $30.10M
23. Red Heat (1988)
R | 104 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
A tough Russian policeman is forced to partner up with a cocky Chicago police detective when he is sent to Chicago to apprehend a Georgian drug lord who killed his partner and fled the country.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Belushi, Peter Boyle, Ed O'Ross
Votes: 76,046 | Gross: $34.99M
24. True Lies (1994)
R | 141 min | Action, Comedy, Thriller
A fearless, globe-trotting, terrorist-battling secret agent has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife might be having an affair with a used-car salesman while terrorists smuggle nuclear war heads into the United States.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxton
Votes: 280,911 | Gross: $146.28M
25. Bloodsport (1988)
R | 92 min | Action, Biography, Drama
"Bloodsport" follows Frank Dux, an American martial artist serving in the military, who decides to leave the army to compete in a martial arts tournament in Hong Kong where fights to the death can occur.
Director: Newt Arnold | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Donald Gibb, Leah Ayres, Norman Burton
Votes: 93,993 | Gross: $11.81M
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