The Most Surprising Statistic About '80s Movies
It makes sense once you think about it, but this is still a pretty shocking statistic about the entire decade of '80s film.
I guess I never noticed this before, but now that I have the true numbers in front of me in the cold light of day, it makes perfect sense.
According to an extensive recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center, did you know that 76% of all ‘80s movies end with a major shootout at a drug lord or dictator’s sprawling estate?
Think about it: Beverly Hills Cop, Commando, Scarface… the list just goes on and on. You might not have realized it before, but essentially every single one of your favorite ‘80s movies, no matter the genre, features one of these massive climactic shootouts. And usually, these shootouts are marked by hundreds of nameless, faceless henchmen being mowed down in a hail of unrelenting gunfire as only the 1980s could produce.
In most cases, you probably forgot entirely about that climactic shootout that capped off your favorite 80s movies - there were so many they started to blend together. But if you go back and revisit most of them - 76% to be exact - they’ll be there. The 1980s was a time of true American excess; macho action reached its zenith around this time, because there was nothing bigger or better in Ronald Reagan’s America than to be the baddest dude on the block, blowing bad guys away with the biggest guns possible. Whether or not you met your downfall in this manner - like, say, Tony Montana - didn’t matter; he achieved the American Dream after all, didn’t he?
If you were lucky, you even got your ‘80s hero to unleash a few quips in-between the bloodshed. The Pew study found that funny one-liners accompanied 98% of those climactic shootout scenes.
Perhaps it was all a bit formulaic in the end. But it’s hard to argue with the sheer entertainment of it all. Watching a hero blast his way to a satisfying conclusion, or to see a villain finally get theirs in a final confrontation within his palatial estate - perhaps falling off a balcony into a pool or something - well, there just isn’t much better in the world of film.