After last week's Bad Movie Squad versus The Last Action Heroes movie marathon (of which you will be able to hear the podcast and read the report soon), we were driving home and the discussion turned to 80's stars you don't really see in big movies anymore. There are so many great actors, or at least people we liked to see on the screen, that have more or less dissapeared, and who now seem to be stuck in direct-to-DVD hell. This top 10 showcases some of the stars we would like to see make a glorious return to the big screen.
10. Kelly LeBrock
When the name Kelly LeBrock came up, I seriously thought she had made a ton of movies, back in the 80's, but when you check her filmography on IMDB, it turns out that the only big movies she has ever been in were Weird Science and Woman in Red. Apart from that, she has been in a Steven Seagal movie (Hard to Kill), a bad Leslie Nielsen comedy (Wrongfully Accused) and some things that you couldn't find in theaters anywhere, no matter how hard you looked. I guess the memory of her was so strong, because when Weird Science came out, all me and my friends used to talk about was either the movie or her. Some of my friends went as far as putting up her posters in their room. We thought she would be a big star, and play in tons of other great movies, but instead she married Steven Seagal and dissapeared into near obscurity. And looking at recent pictures of her, maybe that's for the best, though recently she has worked hard on losing all her extra weight again, most notably during VH-1's Celebrity Fit Club.
9. Melanie Griffith
There was a time when I kept mistaking Melanie Griffith for Meg Ryan. They were both up and coming young stars in the 80's, and while Ryan was mostly known from the comedies she made, Griffith was showing up in everything, from Brian de Palma thrillers to dramas (The Milagro Beanfield War) and romantic comedies (Working Girl). But while Ryan was able to maintain a high profile in movies, thanks to smartly choosing good roles and not taking just anything in order to be able to work, the movies in which Melanie Griffith starred slowly started getting worse. The last notable thing she has done is to star in Cecil B. Demented for John Waters, but lately she has had to contend herself with the role of mother in TV-series Twins.
8. Patrick Swayze
I know that you can still see Patrick Swayze in a movie here and there, but when was the last time you really saw him as the star of something big? Honestly, for that we would have to go back to 1995, when he starred in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, which was hardly the type of movie Swayze was known for. For his last box office smash, we would even have to go all the way back to 1991, when he starred in the brilliant Point Break. And this for a man who could do no wrong in the 80's, his movies Ghost and Dirty Dancing breaking records worldwide. Sadly, it's a new case of an actor who signed on for the wrong projects, but whose career could have a John Travolta style revival if only he finds the right project. And I'm not talking about that rap-album he's making.
7. Emilio Estevez
According to a different movie website (whose name I sadly cannot remember), Emilio Estevez is supposed to be one of the comeback kids for 2007. And he starred in critical darling Bobby, which should more or less disqualify him from this list, right? Wrong! Because back in the days Estevez was one of the most popular young actors out there, starring in hit after hit. The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo's Fire, StakeOut and Young Guns made him a big star, while Repo Man showed that he also wasn't afraid to star in something a bit different. The 90's were also still good for him, with movies like Mighty Ducks and Loaded Weapon, but his star was already waning. It's high time for another big leading role for Estevez.
6. Christopher Lloyd
Okay, I know that Christopher Lloyd has mainly been a supporting actor in his big movies, never carrying a big flick by himself, but if you have starred in pictures like Back to the Future, The Addams Family and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but there was a time when seeing him in a movie would almost automatically add half a star to my rating. I thought Lloyd was always really funny, and many people seemed to agree. That is, until he started to appear in more and more dumb comedies, ruining his chances at new blockbuster success. Since the turn of the new millennium, Lloyd has been involved with a jaw-dropping 38 projects, but can you, off the top of your head, name any of those?
5. Steven Seagal
And there's Steven again. I know I have been talking about him quite a bit recently, but I just still have trouble with the fact that this former action hero now has to mug his way through countless awful C-movies. Well, I guess that's the consequence when you are only able to make one type of movie, and never try anything different. Not mentioning his music, of course...
4. Jean Claude VanDamme
And here is that other action hero that deserves better than to be stuck with the same type of C-movie as Seagal is. And it does not help to keep mentioning in interviews that you have been asked for certain big parts if that later turns out to not be true! Still, can't anybody give this amiable muscle man a big role in some movie that's bigger than Narco, Derailed and Wake of Death?
3. Kathleen Turner
Yes, I know Kathleen Turner is still doing well on the stage, and that she pops up in small critical darlings like The Virgin Suicides, but where are the times of movies like War of the Roses and Romancing the Stone? There was no better screen couple in the 80's than Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas (with Danny DeVito thrown in for good measure), and surely there must still be a new script that these two (three) can put on fire?
2. Rick Moranis
The story of Rick Moranis is actually a quite sad one. Moranis, like Christopher Lloyd, was a much loved supporting actor in big hits like Ghost Busters, Little Shop of Horrors and Spaceballs, who later on even went on to star in big (pun intended) hits like Honey I Shrunk the Kids and Honey I Blew Up The Kid. His newly minted star status was not really put to good use however, as Moranis chose lame comedies like Splitting Heirs and Little Giants to star in. But before he could bounce back in better movies, his wife died and Moranis stepped back from movies so he could take care of his children. After a period, he went back to acting, but couldn't find any projects he loved, and decided to more or less quit altogether. Nowadays, he mostly does voice work, but let's hope one day he finds a new project that showcases his great comic talent again.
1. Chevy Chase
Okay, I'm pretty sure I'm going to catch a lot of slack for my choice at number one. But there was a time when just looking at Chevy Chase's face could make me and my friends crack up laughing. Chase was brilliant in movies like the National Lampoon's Vacation series, Caddyshack, Three Amigos and Spies Like Us, and even though he was the Steven Seagal of comedy (he mainly used his face muscles for two different expressions: mildly amused and mildly not amused), he deserves much better than having to star in movies like Goose on the Loose.
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