RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Media Death of the 80's Action Hero

Back in the 1980s, they were the biggest stars in Hollywood, both in terms of box-office receipts and bicep circumference. But the glory days of the brawny action heroes -- Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Van Damme, and the like -- eventually faded. In their place, a new breed of '90s star took over: younger, leaner, and nowhere near as macho. By decade's end, Keanu Reeves was a huge action star (shudder to think).

Where did it all go wrong? According to an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Sylvester Stallone puts the blame squarely on the caped shoulders of one comic book hero.

"It was the first 'Batman' movie," Stallone told the Times, in reference to the 1989 movie adaptation starring Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader. He went on to say, "The action movies changed radically when it became possible to Velcro your muscles on," a clear dig at how the trim Keaton was encased in a sculpted Batsuit for the film. Stallone joked, "I wish I had thought of Velcro muscles myself... "I didn't have to go to the gym for all those years."

Stallone adds that the director Tim Burton's stylish take on the superhero story changed what audiences expected from an action flick: "It was the beginning of a new era. The visual took over. The special effects became more important than the single person. That was the beginning of the end."

It's ironic, then, that Stallone will be going to this year's San Diego Comic-Con -- the center for all things geeky -- to promote his upcoming movie, "The Expendables," which is a true throwback to the action hits of the '80s. In the film, Stallone (who also directed) leads a team of mercenaries to overthrow a corrupt South American dictator. It costars Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews, and even Stallone's "Rocky IV" nemesis, Dolph Lundgren.

"The Expendables" is also notable for being the first time Stallone has appeared on-screen with fellow '80s icons Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. Stallone told the Times that each of them had their own on-screen persona which made set them apart from one another: "Arnold was king of the one-liners. Bruce was witty and talkative... And I was pretty silent." He added that their differences made it impossible for him to see himself in his friend's signature roles. "Arnold was relentless, like this perfect machine. People asked if I could have played the Terminator. Are you kidding? Not a chance, I never could have played the Terminator."

As it happens, Bruce Willis will be at Comic-Con this weekend promoting his upcoming movie "Red," which also is an action flick about an aging team of experts. It stars Oscar-winners Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren.

Stallone will preview "The Expendables" at Comic-Con on Thursday, and the movie will muscle its way into movie theaters on August 13.

Willis is a good actor with a normal physique who does movies with action, not a musclebound action star.

heh. I liked Copland.

Anyway, action movies haven't really died as much as they've just had more suspense added to them, IMO.

No one said action movies died. It's about the change in action movies away from the 80's 'invincible hero' films that Stallone and Arnie cranked out.

I think the death of action hero movies was caused more by relentless sequels than the superhero movie.

But in some ways, Damon as Bourne is an example of what Stallobe eas talking about: younger "pretty boys". doing action roles.

You still didn't account for the action hero AIDS.

They have gay AIDS, it's a totally different strain.

That's ridiculous, there is no such thing. Black AIDS.

I thought Sly was complaining about small guys replacing buff guys in action roles since Batman (not pretty boys since Keaton wasn't a pretty boy), and Ford, Russell and Roger Moore weren't big buff guys.

Both the Weather Man and Lord of War came out in 2005 and since then it's been pretty much all action and genre stuff.
Granted, a few of the genre films were entertaining (Kick Ass being a prime example), but every year of the guy's career it seems that he moves further and further from "Oscar winning serious actor" into "washed up action star," at least from a perception standpoint.

Furthermore, during the past five years, Cage hasn't just done one or two action/genre films, the guy's cranked out (as a star or supporting player) ten movies (or two movies a year). And that doesn't even count when he does voice over work in kid movies like "G-force" and "Astro Boy"

Understand, I like Cage. I think the guy's a good actor. I just think he lets his fanboy love of action/genre films (and perhaps his financial woes) get in the way of making good choices for an actor of his caliber.

Yeah, and, beyond that, pretty boys like Keannu Reeves. Damon definitely fits in both the small guy AND pretty boy categories.

To bring this back around to Stallone, Cage's movies have often been hits or at least made respectable profits. At the end of the day acting is a job and I can't fault him for doing movies his kids (does he have kids?) might want to see. Stallone on the other hand seems desperate to hang onto his 80's glory.