Around the World in 80s Movies

Set in 1930s Chicago, Jackie stars as Jerry Kwan, the son of a struggling grocer who has been feeling the squeeze from the local mob to pay “protection” money.  Although Jerry’s first inclination is to fight back, his father disapproves of these tactics, so the pressure only continues.  During a scuffle with some mob henchmen, Jerry catches the eye of the mob boss, Domenici (Jose...

Tl;dr: Vince started a funk-based internet radio station called Funk the Planet. | Check it out at https://funkthepla.net

Cobra Kai’s sinister karate master, John Kreese (Martin Kove), is seething with vengeance after the humiliating defeat dealt to him by Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and the legendary Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita). Determined to make them pay, Kreese teams up with his treacherous partner, Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), to orchestrate a diabolical scheme that will crush...

Daniel (Ralph Macchio) travels with Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) to his childhood home in Okinawa when he discovers his father is on his deathbed. Miyagi’s presence rekindles a feud with his former best friend Sato (Danny Kamekona), whose arranged marriage was ruined by Miyagi’s love for his betrothed, Yukie (Nobu McCarthy). Daniel also finds new love in Yukie’s niece, Kumiko (Tanlyn...

Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and his mother (Randee Heller ) move from New Jersey to Reseda, CA , to start a new life.  It seems promising at first, but soon Daniel hates his new environs, thanks to a few run-ins at school with a group of karate-trained bullies.  He does manage to irk the leader of the bullies, Johnny (William Zabka), when he starts seeing his ex-girlfriend, Ali (Elisabeth Shue...

Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) is the latest Russian creation — a tall, strong, crushing bruiser that packs more strength in one of his punches than any three regular boxers combined.  Although his handlers insist that Drago is the product of extensive genetics testing and advanced training techniques, they do deny the use of strength-enhancing steroids even though their fighter boasts unheard-...

With  Rocky III , director-screenwriter-star Stallone takes the film series into a new direction, although the underdog formula still stays intact.  Stallone realizes that it’s hard to be the underdog when you’re the champion, so to knock Rocky down a few notches, he creates the most terrifying challenger he never faced, the bruising #1 contender, Clubber Lang (Mr. T).   Lang has been...

After a replay of the climax of  Rocky ,  Rocky II  picks up exactly where the first film leaves off, with Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone)   and Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers)   taken to a nearby hospital after suffering serious injuries caused by the pummeling each fighter took in their 15-round contest.  Creed won the bout by a split decision, but the victory isn’t so sweet, as many fans a...

The film tells the tale of Rocky Balboa (Sylverster Stallone), a washed-up Philadelphia boxer who just barely scrapes by, fighting in small clubs for meager pay, while supplementing his income as a thuggish debt collector for a local loan shark.  He doesn’t have many ambitions; his only real goal is to get to go out with the shy, mousy pet store clerk named Adrian (Talia Shire ), sister to h...

Sylvester Stallone plays Ray Tango, a flashy narco cop in the LAPD who is all business and efficient. Kurt Russell plays Gabriel Cash, more of a devil-may-care type who just so happens to get the big bust whenever he needs it. Drug kingpin Yves Perret (Jack Palance)   wants the two biggest obstacles out of his way, and hatches a plan that will do it: have Tango and Cash brought up on a bogus murde...

Set in the post-world financial demise of the year 2019,  The Running Man stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as law enforcement officer and helicopter pilot Ben Richards, who ends up getting framed for instigating the murder of a crowd of innocent civilians engaging in a protest for food in Bakersfield. Richards and a couple of benevolent jail mates spring out of prison and go on the run, only to be capt...

Carl Weathers stars as Detroit cop Jericho “Action” Jackson, who earned his nickname due to putting his body on the line time and again in the line of duty in roughhousing and apprehending perps.  Unfortunately for Jackson, the police captain (Duke)    demotes him to the role of desk-jockey due to his dangerous reputation that has given the force a black eye by going too far in trying...

This follow-up to the mega-smash  Beverly Hills Cop sees the Beverly Hills police department stymied by the so-called Alphabet Robberies, whereby stores with monographed goods are hit by a gang of highly skilled thieves. One of these armed thieves is a statuesque blonde named Karla Fry (Brigitte Nielsen), who becomes a prime suspect when she attempts to murder Capt. Bogomil (Ronny Cox), shooting h...

Eddie Murphy’s superstar-making role has him playing crafty Detroit cop Axel Foley, who travels to Beverly Hills in order to try to uncover the reasons behind the professional hit placed on an old friend (James Russo ).  His investigative tactics immediately draw the attention of the local law enforcement there, who put a tail on Foley to make sure that his story of being on vacation there h...

New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) flies to Los Angeles to attend the swanky party of his separated wife Holly’s (Bonnie Bedelia )   company on an upper floor of their high-rise corporate building.  However, the company didn’t intend to have party crashers, particularly gun-toting German terrorists who want to rob the big boss blind while holding the employees hostage.  The terro...

Dr. Richard Walker (Harrison Ford) and his loving wife (Betty Buckley)   travel to Paris where he is to speak at a medical convention. In their hotel room, they discover that his wife has picked up the wrong suitcase at the airport, and they report this to TWA. While Dr. Walker is in the shower, his wife gets a phone call and is soon out of the room, and out of sight altogether as she is now missi...

Steve Guttenberg stars as Terry Lambert, a businessman who is having an affair with his boss’s alluring French wife, Sylvia Wentworth (Isabelle Huppert).  After their latest coupling, they are startled by a scream coming from the courtyard outside.  Rushing to the window, Sylvia shrieks as she sees an assault on a woman at the hands of a redhead male with pasty white skin.  However, she can&...

Roy Scheider plays a newly divorced New York psychiatrist named Sam Rice, who discovers that George Bynum (Josef Sommer), one of his prominent patients, has been murdered. Bynum was the curator of antiquities for Crispin’s, a high-scale auction house, who engaged in a sexual affair with Brooke Reynolds (Meryl Streep), a younger woman who worked with him. During his counseling sessions, Bynum...

A struggling actor (Craig Wasson)   finds a job housesitting for a rich friend of another actor (Gregg Henry). While there he spies on a neighbor (Melanie Griffith)   who has a naughty habit of doing a striptease every night. He becomes infatuated with the woman and decides he wants to meet her, taking to following her around wherever she goes. He begins to suspect she is in trouble when a suspici...

John Travolta stars as Jack Terry, a sound effects engineer for cheapie horror exploitation flicks. When a producer deems the victim’s screams and wind effects used in their slasher film as substandard, Jack determines to capture new recordings. While outdoors, his tape captures audio from a nearby car careening off of a bridge and into a river after its tire blows out. Jack jumps to action...

Angie Dickinson stars as Kate Miller, a housewife so unsatisfied sexually that she often finds herself having vivid and wild sexual fantasies, with violent overtones.  She has been seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Elliott (Michael Caine), about her marital problems, and even makes a pass at him, although nothing comes to pass.  Unable to resist the temptation, Kate has an afternoon fling with a complete...

The events of 1987’s Bates Motel take place 27 years after schizophrenic serial killer Norman Bates is arrested and found guilty by reason of insanity for his crimes.  While in the institution, Norman is introduced to a troubled young boy named Alex West (Bud Cort), who murdered his abusive stepfather in a giant tumble dryer and ends up staying in the same institution.  Norman takes the lad...

Psycho IV: The Beginning  is the fourth and final film in Universal’s  Psycho   franchise, and the last to portray Anthony Perkins in his most famous of roles.  It’s the first of the series not to be released theatrically , debuting on the premium cable channel Showtime in 1990.  This film is a sequel in theory, as it does take a step forward in showing Norman Bates trying to live the...

The events of  Psycho III  take place not long after  P sycho II , as Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), still the sole caretaker of the Bates Motel, ends up hiring a temporary new assistant in the wily rogue musician who goes by the name of Duane Duke (Jeff Fahey). He also has a new patron staying in cabin #1, a spiritually faltering (and suicidal) former nun with an uncanny resemblance, not to ment...

Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) finally gets his release from a California mental institution after he is found guilty by reason of insanity for the heinous murders he committed over 22 years prior. Lila Loomis (Vera Miles), sister of one of Bates’ victims, has her pleas for a non-release fall on deaf ears. Having been declared of ‘sound mind’ again, Norman returns to his gothic c...