The 1980s were an era of excess that saw the idea of a big-budget blockbuster grow more and more popular as the years went on. The box office saw countless films bring in millions and millions of dollars. This was the era that birthed film franchises on a larger scale. A decade that saw the Star Wars sequels and ended with a superhero film that set the model for how to make a movie about a comic book vigilante going forward. These are the action films that topped the box office every year in the 1980s.
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) – $401.5 Million
Some say it’s the best Star Wars film of the whole franchise. And the box office sure seemed to agree upon its release. Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back hit theaters on May 21st, 1980, and would go on to make 4.9 million dollars in its opening few days and then gross over 400 million at the box office in its initial theatrical run. And with an 85 million-dollar budget, the film made more than enough profit to keep things going for the greatest franchise of all time.
The Empire Strikes Back builds off the success of Episode IV from a few years earlier, and it does it quite well. George Lucas was able to fork up the cash for the film himself after securing merchandising rights from the previous film. It’s a bigger film than its predecessor, and a darker one too.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – $389.9 Million
George Lucas and Steven Spielberg made history here. Raiders of the Lost Ark launched one of the most iconic characters in cinema in Indiana Jones. Its domestic box office numbers were $225 million with an international gross of $144 million, thus having it make over a quarter of a billion dollars. Spielberg and Lucas were both icons of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Indiana Jones was just another prime example of their imagination and gambling at the box office. And boy, did this one launch Harrison Ford into the stratosphere.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) – $97 Million
Technically, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope earned more at the box office that year, with a re-release in 1982. But since that film had come out five years earlier, we have got to look past it. Right behind it, though, was what some Trekkies and cinephiles in general feel is the greatest installment in the Star Trek motion picture franchise: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was the number one action movie at the box office in 1982, grossing nearly 98 million dollars worldwide. Wrath of Khan has some iconic scenes in it, and one of the franchise’s best villain Ricardo Montalban, is in the title role. Wrath of Khan also breaks the rule of nobody being able to hear you scream in space, that is, of course, unless your William Shatner yelling KHAN!
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983) – $482 Million
With a worldwide box office release of $482 million, the final installment (at the time) of the Star Wars trilogy owned the whole year in terms of action adventure with Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. The sequel that picks up the pieces of The Empire Strikes Back and has Luke Skywalker confront his father, Darth Vader, in a highly emotional showdown is an event for the ages. Also, it’s nice to see Han Solo get thawed out of carbonite. The fact that mere months before the film was to be released, George Lucas changed the name from Revenge of the Jedi to its current title without making the audience sense that something bad was going on is a testament to Star Wars fandom.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) – $333 Million
With a whopping $333 million at the worldwide box office in 1984, Steven Spielberg’s follow-up to Raiders of the Lost Ark with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was a smash success. Indy films always walked the line with their violence and how far they wanted to go. Temple of Doom gets dark. You have a villain who rips hearts out of bodies and burns people alive. There are some deaths in this movie that are gruesome. A man is being crushed by a rock crusher. The film’s main villain is eaten by crocodiles.
A lot of people say this film was Spielberg’s divorce film, as he was going through some personal issues, and maybe he was working some negativity out of his system while he was making it.
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) – $300 Million
Three years after Stallone played a Vietnam vet who was pushed too far when he was just minding his own business in First Blood, he would return for its sequel, Rambo: First Blood Part II. A film that oozes Reagan-era action. Rambo is sprung from jail to go to Vietnam to help free some prisoners of war. But once a lover of his is killed by American forces, he takes matters into his own hands. At the box office, Rambo II killed it, earning $300 million worldwide. Enough to keep the franchise going for another sequel that would follow, and a few more in Stallone’s later years.
Top Gun (1986) – $357 Million
By 1986, Tom Cruise was a superstar and starring in films year after year that would define him as an icon of Hollywood. Top Gun was the film that would solidify him as a box office gold mine. It would earn $357 million globally. What more can you say about the film that hasn’t already been said? Tony Scott’s direction of the material is on point. All the beautiful sunset shots in the film are works of art. A lot of the supporting cast members were able to go on and have massive careers themselves. And an iconic Kenny Loggins song to go along with all of it. Top Gun is a generation-defining movie.
Beverley Hills Cop II (1987) – $276 Million
Although Beverly Hills Cop II is labeled as a comedy, it gets a pass due to its action film elements (sorry, Lethal Weapon). The film and the others in the franchise lean heavily into the comedic timing of Eddie Murphy. His performance as wise-cracking Detroit detective, Axel Foley, who returns to Los Angeles to help solve a string of murders by a gang of leather jacket thugs, is iconic. Let it also be mentioned that Tony Scott, who directed 1986’s highest-grossing action movie, also directed this sequel. Again, the beauty of the visuals in a Tony Scott movie is all over this film. It grossed $276 million globally on a budget of $20 million. Not bad for a sequel.
Die Hard (1988) – $139 Million
It’s hard to decide what the definitive action film of the 1980s is; there are plenty of options on this list. A lot of people would definitely have their hearts set on Die Hard. The film that made Bruce Willis a movie star and had your grandma saying “yippie kai-yay, mother fu**er”. Die Hard made only $139 million at the box office around the world and had a lot of comedies ahead of it in terms of ticket sales throughout the year. But most of us who tune into this film either whenever we come across it or on Christmas Eve all agree it’s a classic.
Batman (1989) – $411 Million
When Michael Keaton utters the words, “I’m Batman”, you had to know this is about to be something special. The decade capped off in a big way in 1989, with Batman, Tim Burton’s comic book adaptation, earning $411 million globally. It’s a film that still holds up to this day, even after all the reboots and extended universes of the Batman brand have come to the big screen. A fun fact about this movie revolves around Jack Nicholson and his performance as The Joker. Nicholson had a slew of great films under his belt and two Oscars to his name. Warner Bros. approached him prior to Keaton or Burton being attached to the project.
Warner Bros. seemed to want to build around him for this project. In the end, he lowered his rate from $10 million to $6 million for the picture, but he would take a back end on the profits and merchandising and also leverage his rate to get top-billing above Keaton. It is estimated that he walked away with somewhere between $60 and $90 million dollars from Batman. Adjusted for inflation, it is close to $200 million for one movie.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
