Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Steven Seagal, Jean-Claude Van Damme (picture) and Co. – there was no way around them in the action cinema of the 80s. But what happened to the Haudrauf heroes of yore? The picture gallery shows it.
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Why do the balancing act? Because he can!
He started as a bouncer and became a figurehead of the martial arts action film: without Jean-Claude Van Damme, the cinema of the 80s would be inconceivable. Whether in “Karate Tiger”, as “Cyborg”, “Leon” or later as “Street Fighter” and “Timecop”: The Belgian always stood for action – and perfect balancing act and roundhouse kicks!
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Best friends
At the end of the 90s, his star slowly began to sink, but when he appeared in “Friends” he was still the object of desire: Van Damme played himself in a episode of the sitcom – and Monica (Courteney Cox, left) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) dredged for his attention.
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End of the dry spell
With the self-ironic and surprisingly serious “JVCD” (2009) he had a surprise success, in 2012 he competed against Sly Stallone’s action pensioners team: In “The Expendables 2” (picture) Van Damme gave a picture-perfect villain.
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Van Damme
Most recently, Van Damme caused a sensation with an Amazon series. In it he played “Jean-Claude Van Johnson” and as a badly in love actor / superhero swayed between self-irony and monument protection. There was no second season – the gag was through.
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A weapon with and without a ratchet
“Hard to Kill”, “Red Alert”, “On Burning Ice” – films with Steven Seagal (here in “Attack Force”), who made his breakthrough in 1988 as “Nico”, always stood for action, action, action. The pose with a petrified expression and a weapon ready to fire has been a standard repertoire for the Hollywood granite rock for years.
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Buddhist, vegetarian, action hero
Did you know? Steven Seagal is a Buddhist, ordained priest of Ömoto, vegetarian, police officer, recognized blues musician and multiple martial arts champion. He lived in Japan for 15 years and has been a Russian citizen since 2016. In Hollywood, however, he ended up on the siding at the end of the 90s …
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Have training grinded?
In the meantime, Seagal can only be found in B-Movies, which rarely find their way to the cinema. His last major appearance was in 2010 in “Machete”.
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Yippi Ya Yei pork cheek!
If you think of the action cinema of the 80s, you also think of Bruce Willis and “Die slowly”. How he took the law as New York fine rib cop John McClane into his own hands and became a great savior again and again – fabulous! A total of five times Willis slipped into his prime role …
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Versatile
Bruce Willis was not reduced to McClane. The 64-year-old showed the full range of his skills in completely different productions like “The Sixth Sense”, “Keine halben Dinge” or the agent comedy “R.E.D.” With. He also showed plenty of strange talent in Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom” (picture, front).
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Repeat offender!
Willis also manages (so far) to age with dignity: with a gray beard, the eternal bald man was last seen in “Glass” (picture), a mystery thriller in which he again took on the role of David Dunn, which he already did had played in “Unbreakable”.
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One against all
Another one-on-one icon: Sylvester Stallone’s “Rambo” films decisively defined the action film of the 80s. Sly, who also created a second larger-than-life movie character with Rocky Balboa, has already played the legendary war veteran five times.
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Tops and flops
The 73-year-old Stallone is still in demand in Hollywood. In recent years he has appeared in “Creed 2” and a small but fine supporting role in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”. But of course he is not immune to flops either: John Rambo’s return in “Rambo: Last Blood” (picture) did not convince fans or critics.
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Skin still firm
Stallone did better in “Escape Plan”. There he met Arnold Schwarzenegger (right), who for a long time was Stallone’s biggest muscle competitor.
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The Styrian barbarian
Speaking of Arnie: Even 38 years after the release of “Conan the Barbarian” you are impressed when you see Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first major role. However, the Styrian oak did not reach Hollywood’s first league until two years later.
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The T-800 among the action heroes
He comes from the future to kill: the “Terminator” (1984). There is hardly a role you associate with Arnie as much as that of the relentless T-800 killer machine. Most recently Schwarzenegger returned (again) as the one in “Terminator: Dark Fate”.
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And he’s a human!
After the terminator went into politics in the meantime and became the California governor, he returned to the camera – and surprised with unexpected qualities. As the father of a girl who turned into a zombie, Schwarzenegger played his most sensitive role in “Maggie”.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger
In recent years, Schwarzenegger has caused a sensation primarily with his sometimes statesmanlike, sometimes self-ironic tips against Donald Trump. Preliminary high point: Schwarzenegger called the incumbent US President a “small cooked noodle” after he met Putin.
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The Holy Grail of action adventure
Harrison Ford was never an action hero in the classic sense, but unquestionably left his mark on this field. What he experienced especially in the first three “Indiana Jones” films made action fans’ hearts beat faster. This is how archeology is really fun!
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The Eternal Han
As one of the few action heroes of the 80s, Harrison Ford, now 77 years old, is still one of the superstars in Hollywood. In 2015 he played Han Solo again (“Star Wars: The Force Awakens”). In 2017 he was seen in “Blade Runner 2049”. And in 2021 he is actually supposed to wave the whip again as Indiana Jones …
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Out of the way, you old sacks!
For several years now, Ford has also made a name for itself as an environmental activist. In 2019 he was invited as a guest speaker at the climate summits in New York and Madrid (photo). There he appealed to the world to support young climate activists like Greta Thnuberg: “Hell the best we can do is not to stand in their way,” said Ford.
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Michael Dudikoff
Michael Dudikoff (left) is almost completely forgotten today. During the 80s he played in “Night Hunter”, “Platoon Leader” and “River of Death”, but his most famous film series was “American Fighter” (picture).
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Michael Dudikoff
Dudikoff was allowed to play ninja lone Joe Armstrong four times. In 2002 he then completely retired from the film business for ten years, since then the now 65-year-old …
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Only supporting roles
… only sporadically appeared in minor supporting roles – as in “Stranded – Operation Weltraum” (picture) or most recently in the trash pearl “Navy Seals vs. Zombies” (2015).
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This is how heroes look!
It was the ideal cast: who could have given muscle man He-Man better than Dolph Lundgren? “Masters of the Universe” opened many doors for the Swede, who had previously appeared in “Rocky IV” and “James Bond 007”. He subsequently took on leading roles in “The Punisher” and “Universal Soldier”.
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Return to the ring
Most recently, the 62-year-old worked hard on a movie comeback: For the boxing spectacle “Creed II” he returned to the big screen when he turned Ivan Drago – once a Soviet wrecking ball in human form, now his son’s trainer. And also in the comic spectacle “Aquaman” he appeared as King Nereus once more in the cinema.
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Role model for all loners
The 80s were also the time when Kurt Russell became a star. In particular for his appearance as Snake Plissken in “The Rattlesnake” he is still worshiped by many fans.
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He’s back again
After the turn of the millennium Kurt Russell, who spends a lot of time in his vineyards, grew quieter. Most recently, however, the film icon celebrated something of a mini comeback in elaborate productions such as “Fast & Furious 7”, “The Hateful Eight” and “Deepwater Horizon” (image). Russell also took over …
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Father of new heroes
… a role in the Marvel blockbuster “Guardians of the Galaxy – Vol. 2” (2017). Goldie Hawn’s life partner plays the father of main character Star-Lord Peter Quill – and announces this in the charming Darth Vader style: “I am your Dad, Peter.”
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Now it’s getting really hairy
“Chuck Norris is so male that even his chest hair has chest hair.” – Chuck Norris, also a specialist for roundhouse kicks, is a real cult figure. Pictured: Norris in “McQuade, the Wolf”, one of his hairiest and most popular films.
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Cult in all media!
After making a comeback in the late 1990s as “Walker, Texas Ranger” (image), Chuck Norris largely disappeared from the scene. For this he became cult on the Internet: The so-called “Chuck Norris Facts” (“Chuck Norris needs a stunt double – but only in scenes in which he should cry!”) Were at times more popular than cat videos.
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Love of animals!
And what is he doing today? Well, since the turn of the millennium, he has only made a handful of films. Chuck Norris was last seen in cinema in 2012 in “Expendables 2”. At the end of 2019, the warhorse, who celebrated his 80th birthday on March 10, came to Gut Aiderbichl to cuddle animals (photo).
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Mel Gibson
Max Rockatansky for Mel Gibson is what Snake Plissken for Kurt Russell and the terminator for Arnold Schwarzenegger is: Mel Gibson became immortal with the visionary, dystopian “Mad Max” films.
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Mel Gibson in “Braveheart”
Until well into the 90s, Mel Gibson was very popular in Hollywood. “Braveheart” (picture), for example, became a huge success in 1995. At some point he then focused more on his work as a director (“The Passion of Christ”) and was rarely in front of the camera. Gibson repeatedly made headlines for this with striking statements.
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Throttle again
Now that he almost only made a name for himself through his escapades, Mel Gibson is now concentrating more and more on filmmaking with considerable success. In 2016 he received a lot of praise for his role in “Blood Father” (photo) and even an Oscar nomination for his directorial work “Hacksaw Ridge – The Decision” in the same year.
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Masters of all classes
Okay, the apparently indestructible action movie dino Jackie Chan has actually been around since the 1960s. But just because he was running like a machine for a long time, the martial arts champion also left his mark on the 80s. Pictured: Jackie Chan (left) with a pretty chic hairstyle in “Masters of All Classes”.
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Fallen in the fountain of youth?
He turns and turns and turns … Even after more than 50 years in the film business, Chan still seems to enjoy action and martial arts. The 65-year-old is still busy in front of the camera in Asia. Respect!
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Action heroes among themselves
Almost like a class reunion: In order to let your old days crash again – and certainly also to celebrate yourself – various action heroes of the 80s have teamed up again in recent years to knock together. There have already been three films about the “Expendables”. Will there be a fourth? The signs are good.
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But still no retirement for the heroic group that had been shut down
Withdrawal from withdrawal: After initiator, screenwriter, director and leading actor Sylvester Stallone meanwhile no longer wanted to have anything to do with “The Expendables 4”, he now wants to devote himself to the project, as he announced in an Instagram post in July 2019.
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