80s Action Movies on the Cheap

May 15, 2017
The 1980s, Budnik argues, marked the true birth of the action film as we know it today. The themes and action set pieces we see today in big-budget, star-powered, CGI-laced extravaganzas were born in movies made on shoestring budgets with B-grade (or lower) starsmovies like The Exterminator (a low-rent Death Wish), Ator the Fighting Eagle (starring '80s action-movie go-to guy Miles O'Keefe), Metalstorm (directed by the B-movie king Charles Band), and Cocaine Wars (headlined by The Dukes of Hazzard's John Schneider and produced by the legendary Roger Corman). The book is organized chronologically, year by year, with each film's plot briefly summarized and then reviewed. The reviews focus on how well the action scenes are handled; how good (or bad) the acting is; and, in the case of movies that are clearly drawing their inspiration (to be polite) from better-known movies, how this flick stacks up against the original. The book is similar to numerous movie-review compilations, but its focus makes it the perfect companion to Michael Weldon's classic The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film (1983). A treat for cult-movie fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)