20 Movies That Made 1991 Totally Rad

Did you know that 1991 was a totally awesome year for action movies? The late 80’s were so incredible that I’m actually a little surprised that they didn’t just stop making motion pictures after Predator hit the screens in 87. It would have been the cinematic equivalent of John Elway winning two Super Bowls and retiring. Luckily, they didn’t stop making movies and we were awarded with one of the greatest years in the history of the action genre.

T2: Terminator 2: If I have to tell you why T2 is incredible then I will probably lose your attention about four movies into this list. I would say it’s arguably the greatest action film ever made.

Lionheart: Van Damme realized the secret to his success early on; fighting dudes in parking lots and swimming pools, punching guys straight in the nads, and showing his bare ass at least once in every movie. Lionheart also gives him a reason to beat up Abdel Qissi in the name of love!

Point Break: Keanu Reeves is an FBI who goes undercover to catch a bunch of bank robbing surfers. Whoever thought of this idea deserves a massive pat on the back and probably some royalties from the Fast and the Furious series. Shout out to Swayze and how legitimately crazy he was for some of the stunts.

Out For Justice: Steven Seagal may be old and oddly shaped now but back in 91 he was just hitting his stride in the “beating the living hell out of bad guys” phase. Extra points for this one since Seagal’s name is Gino Felino.

The Perfect Weapon: Jeff Speakman’s magnum opus about ass-kicking. The Perfect Weapon is a near-perfect movie that, sadly, Speakman was never able to replicate.

Stone Cold: Who would have thought that NFL player Brian Bosworth would make such a great undercover cop? He wasn’t the most polished star but he had some of the most incredible villains to act against in Lance Henriksen and William Forsythe.

Backdraft: Being a firefighter is super dangerous. That should go without saying. But did you know that fire makes crazy noises and Ron Howard got together one of the most incredible casts in fire-movie history?

Toy Soldiers: Rudy/Samwise Gamgee was just a teenager when terrorists took over his private school but it doesn’t mean he is just gonna sit around and take it.

The Last Boy Scout: Shane Black wrote it, Tony Scott directed it, and Bruce Willis was still the man. Get into it.

Bloodmatch: Albert Pyun really loved making movies with kickboxers and Benny Urquidez is something of a fighting god. Plus, that is just an excellent title for a fighting movie.

Harley Davidson and The Marlboro Man: On the surface, this movie doesn’t make any freaking sense. But, the two main characters are named for a couple of America’s greatest creations and robbing an armored car might just be the American Dream. Or something like that…

Once Upon a Time in China: Holy crap…Jet Li was phenomenal! Here he gets the ongoing story of folk hero Wong Fei Hung going in the right direction by kicking the shit out of half of China.

Double Impact: Two Van Damme movies deserves a double dose of Van Damme. The “Muscles from Brussels” plays twins who are hellbent on avenging the death of their parents.

Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves: Kevin Costner is so damned likable that he could make a movie about pretty much anything and I would watch the hell out of it. I’m just glad that he didn’t try an English accent.

Showdown in Little Tokyo: Dolph Lundgren and Brandon Lee go up against the Yakuza. It’s like they ripped this one straight from one of my dream sequences only I should have been the one having sex with Tia Carrere in the hot tub.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze: These movies formed the foundation of my life. Was it great? Not really. But it introduced me to Ernie Reyes Jr. and brought back the Shredder for one more battle.

The Hitman: Not Chuck Norris’ best outing but probably one of his last good ones before Walker: Texas Ranger took over his life for the next decade.

Operation Condor: You can’t go wrong with any Jackie Chan movie but this one will scratch about every action itch in your body.

Riki-Oh: Two words: pure insanity…

The Rocketeer: Joe Johnston was making this amazing piece of work years before Captain America was even a thought in his little brain. I thought for sure that Billy Campbell would be a megastar after this and Jennifer Connelly was the hottest chick on earth at the time.

Kickboxer 2: The Road Back: What is that, Albert? You really love kickboxers, don’t ya? Pyun returns to the kickboxing world with Sasha Mitchell as the brother of the now dead Kurt Sloan. This one is much better than you probably remember.