The Blues Brothers (1980)

In director John Landis' rock-filled, anarchic musical comedy and road film, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd starred as recently-released Joliet prison inmates named Elwood and Joliet "Jake" Blues, two loser musicians who resurrected their old blues band.

The ex-con renegades, wearing black suits, hats, and shades, were "on a mission" to go on tour to raise $5,000 to keep an orphanage open.

The crowd-pleasing farcical "guy" film told how the brothers were pursued in their Bluesmobile by state police squad cars as they sped 106 miles in their car toward downtown Chicago. There was an incredible jump over an open drawbridge and a spectacular chase through an entire indoor shopping mall in the Chicago area with dozens of crashes through store windows (J. C. Penney's, Toys R Us, etc.).

At the conclusion, the two - driving at 120 mph at times - plowed their vehicle through a flock of pigeons and a crowd of pedestrians and into the lobby of the Richard J. Daley Center municipal building at Daley Plaza. Once they reached their final destination, their car literally collapsed and completely fell apart after they stepped out of it.

"They're not gonna catch us. We're on a mission from God."

The tremendous number of noisy and wasteful multi-car crashes (the largest number in film history), pile-ups, carnage, destroyed buildings and malls.

Caddyshack (1980)

Harold Ramis' directorial-debut fim was a classic, golf-related comedy (with a free-living slobs vs. uptight snobs theme), with lots of adolescent-style jokes - poop in the pool, drugs, drinking, sex, and nudity.

Bill Murray starred as deranged and dim-witted golf-course groundskeeper Carl Spackler at the Bushwood Country Club, who tried to blow up a mischievous gopher enemy - an animatronic gopher named Chuck E. Rodent.

One of the country club's members was the loud-mouthed, uncouth, boorish, and wisecracking nouveau riche Al Czervik (comedian Rodney Dangerfield in his first major film) who continually insulted others with one-liners: "Oh, this your wife? Ooh, a lovely lady. Hey baby, you're all right. You must've been somethin' before electricity, huh?" and: "Hey, you wanna make fourteen dollars the hard way?"

Ted Knight portrayed snobby big-shot Judge Smails with his attractive and sexy niece Lacey Underall (Cindy Morgan), and Chevy Chase took the role of insane mysterious playboy golf-pro Ty who made Zen-like pronouncements: ("A flute without holes is not a flute. And a donut without a hole is a Danish" or "You're rather attractive for a beautiful girl with a great body").

"Be the ball."

"Hey, everybody. We're all gonna get laid!"

"You'll get nothing and like it."

"Uh, hello Mr. Gopher. Yeah, it's me, Mr. Squirrel. Yeah, hi, just a harmless squirrel, not a plastic explosive or anything, nothing to be worried about."

The Baby-Ruth candy bar in the swimming pool scene.

The Exterminator (1980)

Writer/producer/director James Glickenhaus' violent action exploitation film was the ultimate followup to the series of Death Wish (1974 and after) films with Charles Bronson, and to Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976). It was filled with non-stop graphic, gory violence and brutality, and had the tagline: "...The Man They Pushed Too Far."

Critic Roger Ebert was disturbed by the film: "One of the most cold-blooded and controversial revenge films ever made, this is a sick example of the almost unbelievable descent into gruesome savagery in American movies."

The cult film told of "an exterminator" - a vigilante named John Eastland (Robert Ginty) who was a veteran of the Vietnam War. He and his black vet buddy Michael Jefferson (Steve James) both worked packing crates into trucks. Eastland became angered when Michael was permanently paralyzed (inflicted with a metal garden-claw plunged into his spine) by the group of local street muggers and robbers (the Ghetto Ghouls).

Thereafter, Eastland went on a vengeful anti-crime crusade in NYC to weed out all evidences of corruption and lawlessness. In particular, he attacked the Ghetto Ghouls with a flamethrower and an assortment of guns, including an M-16, and then tortured the remaining gang-members.

He earned the nickname "The Exterminator" after writing a letter to the local papers. He took the law into his own hands, and often repeated his trademark line to lying criminals: "If you're lying, I'll be back." He also applied mercury to the tips of his bullets to make them more lethal. As a one-man crime squad, he retaliated against the Mafia, pimps, and other street criminals, including degenerate pedophiles. Witty Detective James Dalton (Christopher George) joined in the plot to defeat Eastland.

Examples of extreme gore (off-screen) in this grindhouse film included:

• the assault/torture of a nubile hooker by obese and perverted NJ State Senator (David Lipman) - she was tied to a bed; then a soldering iron was dipped into superheated vaseline and used to burn her breasts
• Gino Pontivini (Dick Boccelli), a Mafia member, was dangled above and then lowered slowly - fed into a meat grinder (the ground-up gory remains were seen coming out the other end)
• a teenaged pedophile pimp was tied down to a mattress, covered in gasoline, and set on fire

"If you're lying, I'll be back."

The prologue - in a Vietnamese POW camp, in which an American soldier was viciously beheaded (partially) with a machete (in slow-motion) - a tremendous Stan Winston special effect. US POW Michael Jefferson released himself, tore open the Vietcong's throat with a garrotte and helped the others break free.

The massacre of the Ghetto Ghouls, including having the faces of two of the gang-members eaten by rats.

An attack by the mobster's vicious Doberman, which Eastland killed with an electric carving knife.

The chase between gangbanging muggers (after assaulting an elderly woman) in a yellow-red sports-car and Eastland riding a stolen motorcycle.

Raging Bull (1980)

Director Martin Scorsese's unrelenting, searing biopic and dramatic tragedy was based on the real-life story of an unlovable, stubborn middle-weight boxing champion Jake La Motta (Robert DeNiro) as he struggled to be champion. It chronicled the boxer's own rise and tragic, self-destructive, violent fall.

The 1940s boxing champion/bum blindly, obtusely, and stupidly inflicted wounds upon himself (mostly outside the ring in his personal and marital life with sibling rivalry toward his brother/manager Joey (Joe Pesci), obsessive and irrational jealousy, and domestic abuse toward his wife Vickie (Cathy Moriarty)) while he also legally brutalized opponents in the ring.

The dramatic sports film was peppered with colloquial, blasphemous language, four letter words and cursing. Boxing ring scenes were some of the most realistic, visceral, bloody, and brutal yet stylized boxing scenes ever filmed - with sweat and blood spraying out of the ring, devastating blows, and flashing - actually exploding - camera bulbs.

The sounds of squashing melons and tomatoes were used for landed punches, along with animal growling and bird shrieks during various violent scenes. Dark Hershey's chocolate was used for blood to heighten the effects.

"Did you f--k my wife?"

"You punch like you take it up the ass."

The visceral fight scenes, both in the ring and domestically.

The Road Warrior (1982) (aka Mad Max 2 (1981, Australia))

Writer/director George Miller's imaginative, post-apocalyptic action sci-fi (western) film told about a burned-out, ex-cop named "Mad" Max (Mel Gibson in a star-making role). It was known its stark, naturalistic depiction of a post-apocalyptic future that nearly every film has imitated ever since.

The entire film had the same formula as The Magnificent Seven (1960) or a Sergio Leone 'spaghetti western', with Gibson providing the Clint Eastwood "Man With No Name" legendary hero - or anti-hero role.

In this comic book-styled B-film, the road warrior wandered the barren, lawless highways of an Australian outback wasteland in his black interceptor along with his dog. Living only to survive while dealing with anarchic crazies and violent road gangs, his main mission in life was to acquire enough precious petrol to keep nomadic.

He agreed to help save a besieged, remote oil-producing colony (established as a small fuel depot at a refinery) of decent-living survivors from a crazed, marauding wasteland warlord, the evil Humungus (Kjell Nilsson) and his maniacal mohawk-wearing chief enforcer Wez (Vernon Wells), by promising to help the refugee community with a breakout drive in a big-rig truck (pulling a fuel tanker) in exchange for gas.

In the film's exhilarating chase finale, it was revealed that the tanker truck allegedly filled with refined petroleum fuel ("precious juice") that was driven by Max's MACK truck had been a decoy as a diversionary tactic - it was filled with red sand.

"You want to get out of here, you talk to me."

The non-stop, high-speed chase scene in the film's dazzling climax, with amazing stuntwork pitting Mad Max against punk-rock attackers.

Stripes (1981)

This ribald, satirical, un-PC military comedy about the buffoonish armed services by director Ivan Reitman was a cross between Animal House (1978) and Buck Privates (1941) - a male version of Private Benjamin (1980) with Goldie Hawn, featuring slapstick comedy, crude jokes, and gratuitous nudity.

Bill Murray starred as unemployed misfit recruit John Winger, who volunteered for the Army with ESL teacher/buddy Russell Ziskey (Harold Ramis) after losing his apartment, automobile and girlfriend.

He endured tough drill sergeant Sgt. Hulka (Warren Oates) in basic training at "Fort Arnold" (along with other recruits including John Candy as corpulent Dewey "Ox" Auchsburgher, and Judge Reinhold as drugged-out Elmo) and stuffy commandant Capt. Stillman (John Larroquette), while M.P. love interests were played by P.J. Soles (as Stella Hansen) and Sean Young (as Louise Cooper).

"Any of you guys call me Francis, and I'll kill ya."

"Chicks dig me because I rarely wear underwear and when I do, it's usually something unusual."

"I'm gonna teach every last one of you how to eat, sleep, walk, talk, shoot, s--t like a United States soldier!"

"Do Wah Diddy Diddy" marching cadence.

The scene of the recruits introducing themselves to their drill sergeant, the mud-wrestling scene with John Candy and six bikini-clad females, the scene of Stillman spying on the WACs shower room, the scene in which Harold Ramis' ESL class was taught English ("Do any of you know any English?" "Son of beach. Sheet") and to sing "Da Doo Run Run", and the improvised kitchen gadget flirtation scene ('the Aunt Jemima treatment") between Murray and P.J. Soles in the base commander's house.