The 1980s were a golden era for action cinema, with giant blockbusters and innovative low-budget films alike, many of them changing the way audiences looked at the genre. With the innovation of crazier stunts and more exhilarating effects and a sudden shift in the industry towards movies that appealed to younger demographics (thanks, in large part, to Star Wars), filmmakers were pushing the limits of the medium left and right with more exciting and imaginative thrill rides than ever before. So coming up with a list of the very best action movies of the 1980s is, unsurprisingly, ridiculously difficult.