Middle of the Road 80s Films

[checkoutgirl]

Buster (1988)

Not sure about this one. Competently enough made but the script is drab and repetitive. "It's not abaaht the money". Costa del crime family drama that starts and then ends. Was expecting more Phil Collins tunes but only one or two in there.

[checkoutgirl]

The Octagon (1980) now. Christ. What am I doing with my life?

[Sebastian Cobb]

The Octagon (1980) now. Christ. What am I doing with my life?

I watched it in the Christmas lull.

[checkoutgirl]

I watched it in the Christmas lull.

40 minutes in and that's plenty. Quite a poor film. Chase scene and fight scene happen arbitrarily. There's a rich woman for some reason. There's a ninja commune somewhere in America involved in the plot somehow.

Absolute nonsense and Chuck Norris is charisma free and can't act at all. There's also a weird whispered voice over when Norris is thinking about stuff. Very clunky plot device and very annoying.

2/10, not even middling.

[jamiefairlie]

Not sure about this one. Competently enough made but the script is drab and repetitive. "It's not abaaht the money". Costa del crime family drama that starts and then ends. Was expecting more Phil Collins tunes but only one or two in there.

Does he even play the drums in it?

[Sebastian Cobb]

40 minutes in and that's plenty. Quite a poor film. Chase scene and fight scene happen arbitrarily. There's a rich woman for some reason. There's a ninja commune somewhere in America involved in the plot somehow.

Absolute nonsense and Chuck Norris is charisma free and can't act at all. There's also a weird whispered voice over when Norris is thinking about stuff. Very clunky plot device and very annoying.

2/10, not even middling.

Yeah i was confused and underwhelmed. There's a weird bit where he calls the posh woman a whore in a weirdly moralistic way.

And yeah Norris is terrible. I dunno why he was so bad in this. Have you seen Lone Wolf McQuade? I like that one.

[checkoutgirl]

Haven't seen any Norris except Enter the Dragon where I don't remember him speaking at all. A wise choice. Still keen to not throw Norris on the trash heap just yet. Still haven't seen A-Team-Strike Force or whatever it's called. With a name like that it's gotta be good.

[Famous Mortimer]

Talking of Chucks from Cannon Films, every Charles Bronson movie from the 80s that wasn't a Death Wish would qualify for this thread. And they all have very middle-of-the-road names, too, like "Messenger Of Death", "Assassination", "Act of Vengeance" and "Murphy's Law".

[Sebastian Cobb]

10 to Midnight for Sure.

The Mechanic is probably one of my favourites, albeit too early for this thread.

[kalowski]

Haven't seen any Norris except Enter the Dragon where I don't remember him speaking at all. A wise choice. Still keen to not throw Norris on the trash heap just yet. Still haven't seen A-Team-Strike Force or whatever it's called. With a name like that it's gotta be good.

"I haven't seen him fight Chuck Norris in Enter The Dragon, I've seen him fight Chuck Norris in Way of the Dragon."

[Grassygnome]

Condorman

Come on, that's still not being recognised as below middling.

[Grassygnome]

Gremlins is very middling, at least for a Spielberg-related film.

[Famous Mortimer]

Come on, that's still not being recognised as below middling.

Agreed.

Gremlins is very middling, at least for a Spielberg-related film.

Absolute nonsense, sorry. Even if you don't love it, it doesn't come close to fulfilling the criteria of the first post:

On a quest for middling films from the eighties. Maybe a bit less known, filler for TV stations in the late eighties or early nineties. For example I recently watched Running Scared (1986) with Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal. An almost entirely big standard buddy cop film about undercover cops doing drug busts.

Elevated slightly by a bit of chemistry between the leads, a decent cast and a car chase on a monorail line. The plot is well worn, saying the least. Perfect.

Anyone got any more? Not too well known or popular please. Run of the mill eighties schedule padding.

[Grassygnome]

You like the female Gremlins, right?

But I see now that the OP didn't want too well known films. I fell into the trap of not reading that and seeing some well known films being cited in various posts ("Big" was certainly well known at the time, as was "Beaches").

As I like sci-fi I am opting for "From Beyond" which is an okay Lovecraftian film with meh acting and sfx which are gross but not award winning.

[checkoutgirl]

From Beyond is a good film in my book. Wasn't it that guy who did the Reanimator?

[Grassygnome]

From Beyond is a good film in my book. Wasn't it that guy who did the Reanimator?

Yes, Director Stuart Gordon had previously worked with actors Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton on Re-Animator
(I'm quoting Wiki here but those two actors were in both films).

[Blumf]

On TPTV currently, Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981) is pushing the low end of middling, but has Christopher Lloyd in it.

[A Hat Like That]

Iron Eagle II

At least 20% of this was mocked - and improved in turn - by Hot Shots!

[curiousoranges]

Cannonball Run 2 was always a good one. I never rewatch it as an adult though. Thanks bye.

[magister]

Blind Fury?

Rutger Hauer plays a blind swordsman, Randall "Tex" Cobb plays a villain called Slag, Terry O'Quinn is in it somewhere and one of Slag's henchmen looks like Rattle & Hum era Bono. Slag's boss is played by Noble Willingham, whose career would reach a peak with 155 episodes of Walker - Texas Ranger.

And while I think of it, Young Guns. The Brat Pack, plus Terence Stamp and Jack Palance to add a much-needed bit of class.

[Famous Mortimer]

Blind Fury?

Rutger Hauer plays a blind swordsman, Randall "Tex" Cobb plays a villain called Slag, Terry O'Quinn is in it somewhere and one of Slag's henchmen looks like Rattle & Hum era Bono. Slag's boss is played by Noble Willingham, whose career would reach a peak with 155 episodes of Walker - Texas Ranger.

And while I think of it, Young Guns. The Brat Pack, plus Terence Stamp and Jack Palance to add a much-needed bit of class.

They're both quite good, though. I wouldn't call either schedule-filler.

[Virgo76]

Against All Odds.
BMX Bandits.
Red Dawn.

I wanted to say Prayer for the Rollerboys but apparently that was 1990.

[phantom_power]

As I like sci-fi I am opting for "From Beyond" which is an okay Lovecraftian film with meh acting and sfx which are gross but not award winning.

From Beyond is definitely not MoR. S&M, distended pineal glands, heads being bitten off, and so much goo. Very not middle of the road

Is middle of the road an indicator of quality or type of content? I would think you could have really good MoR films (like Stakeout) and shit ones (like Another Stakeout)

[checkoutgirl]

Cannonball Run 2 was always a good one. I never rewatch it as an adult though. Thanks bye.

Wasn't there a craze/fashion in the 70s/80s for screwball films where groups of people are driving around in vehicles chasing after something? Cannonball Run, Scavenger Hunt, Convoy, Gumball Rally, Grand Theft Auto.

These films were literally and metaphorically middle of the road. Except Scavenger Hunt which was absolutely brutal.

[checkoutgirl]

BMX Bandits.

As well as being a VHS rented for my tenth birthday, this was Nicole Kidman's feature film debut. Admittedly I was distracted by a birthday party but there is no discernible plot to this. As long as BMX bikes are whizzing around.

This is one of the first times I can remember peers buzzing about a film that did not live up to the hype and disappointed.

[checkoutgirl]

Is middle of the road an indicator of quality or type of content?

Either but slanted towards quality. Stakeout can't qualify for instance because it's well made, engaging with a great cast. Crossing Delancy isn't as good so qualifies.

[phantom_power]

But I would argue Stakeout is a very middle of the road film. It isn't shocking or outré but also not bland or boring. It is pretty conventional but well-made

It is confused by the OP also talking about "middling" films which aren't the same as middle of the road. I think

[curiousoranges]

These films were literally and metaphorically middle of the road.

Mad Max 2

[Virgo76]

But I would argue Stakeout is a very middle of the road film. It isn't shocking or outré but also not bland or boring. It is pretty conventional but well-made

It is confused by the OP also talking about "middling" films which aren't the same as middle of the road. I think

Road worrier.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Loads of good people - Curtis Armstrong is in it too, off the top of my head. All the early Savage Steve Holland films are worth a shuftie, I reckon.

I know this post is from a while back but I'd echo it, Better Off Dead is a given but both One Crazy Summer and How I Got Into College are really fun as well. After that it seems like he got in to directing kids tv though he did make his own animated series Eek The Cat which seems highly regarded online, but I've never seen it myself.