Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis were among the biggest movie stars of the 1980s, but which action icon most dominated the decade? The '80s was a period filled with fame and excess, which translated into astronomical box office totals largely tied to an actor's star power. However, only one star would rise to the very top of Hollywood to define the rapidly evolving action genre. These three giants of the film industry made a stronger impact than their competition thanks to the glut of big-budget action movies produced during this extravagantly lucrative time period.
With so many different action franchises in the ‘80s, household names arose that were both permanent and legendary. Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis starred in roles that solidified their place within the action genre. Philadelphia's blue-collar icon Stallone revisited the titular boxer Rocky in the same year he proudly introduced another larger-than-life hero in John Rambo. Concurrently, the infamous Terminator villain Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in multiple properties like the crowd-pleasing Commando and the fantastical Dino De Laurentiis Conan series. The boyish and charismatic television actor Bruce Willis began his Die Hard film franchise, imbued with a clear sense of humor towards the end of the 1980s. Though the decade was littered with dozens of unforgettable action titles, a simple Google search of the biggest action stars of the decade will turn up these three names over and over again.
Overwhelmingly, the biggest '80s action star of the trio was the inimitable Sylvester Stallone. This New York City legend had the advantage over Willis and Schwarzenegger as a result of his stellar track record in theaters. Subsequent to his fame, Stallone’s characters were much more iconic than his Hollywood brethren. Rambo and Rocky are iconic pieces of Americana in their own right, arguably beyond that of Schwarzenegger’s steely-voiced T-800 and Willis’ affable John McClane. Armed with more than an attractive movie star appearance, Stallone was the king of the '80s action stars because of his consistent bankability as a reliable hero archetype. From the working man to the war hero, Stallone appealed to much wider audiences.
Cruising into the eighties with 1982’s Rocky III and First Blood, Stallone proved that he could carry on a series for MGM Studios and debut a new Rambo franchise. Thanks to high-profile red carpet events and the increased popularity of the action genre in this era, Stallone championed his peers in star power and recognition. Stallone's three Rambo installments in the 80s alone generated more than $600 million worldwide, with Rocky III and Rocky IV combining for another $425 million worldwide. And while they didn't produce massive film franchises, Stallone's presence in the 1986 cult classic Cobra and the 1989 buddy cop action comedy Tango & Cash was enough to make both films hits at the box office and on home video.
Schwarzenegger undoubtedly found success throughout the 80s thanks to his breakout performance in Conan the Barbarian and The Terminator two years later, but middling numbers for Conan the Destroyer and films like Raw Deal and Red Heat show that his staying power as a box office draw didn't solidify itself until the early 90s, with the expansion of the Terminator franchise and Arnold's dive into more intentionally comedic roles. Notably, Bruce Willis found the most success in the '90s as well, by continuing the Die Hard franchise and taking chances with Pulp Fiction and The Fifth Element, to name a few. While Willis is often thought of as one of the 80s greatest action stars because of Die Hard's status as a lasting genre icon, his place among these names is something of an anomaly, as the film came at the very end of the decade.
Undoubtedly, all three actors are icons and have contributed immensely to the action genre as a whole. However, Sylvester Stallone cemented his status as the biggest and best of an important era for the action genre. His unique look and sound became quintessential. Stallone influenced the recognizable Rocky and Rambo-esque action movie tropes still seen today. As he directed Schwarzenegger and Willis in cameos for The Expendables trilogy, it is quite evident who was the biggest action star of the ‘80s. With a robust, built-in fanbase, Sylvester Stallone’s action movies have not stopped yet and show no signs of slowing down.