The Best '80s Biker Movies
This list of 1980s biker movies proves that in the '80s, biker movies still had some gas left in the tank. Popular in every decade dating at least back to the 1950s, biker movies managed to capture both the desire to live life as an outsider and the fear of outsiders in one genre. Below you’ll find a 1980s biker film list full of two-wheeled gems that beat Sons of Anarchy to the punch by decades.
If you're riding with the top '80s biker movies, then you're definitely riding with Any Which Way You Can starring Clint Eastwood in one of his few action-comedies. Also on the road are Chopper Chicks in Zombietown starring Billy Bob Thornton, and Knightriders in which horror maestro George Romero tries his hand and something a little less gory. And don’t miss Francis Ford Coppola’s Rumble Fish, in which Matt Dillon lives in the shadow of his older brother Motorcycle Boy.
So, which of the films on this list of the best 1980s biker films really rev your engine? Vote up the movies that are fully loaded road hogs and downvote the films that should've stayed in the '80s. Add any great movies we may have missed. If you're a biker and a cinephile, rerank to create your own '80s biker movie list!
- Rocky Dennis (Eric Stoltz) is an intelligent, outgoing and humorous teenager who suffers from a facial deformity called "lionitis" and has now outlived his life expectancy. While his mother, Rusty ...more
- New York City policemen Nick (Michael Douglas) and Charlie (Andy Garcia) witness a murder in a bar and quickly apprehend the assailant. The killer, named Sato (Yusaku Matsuda), is a member of Japan's ...more
- Just as underground bare-knuckle fighter Philo Beddoe (Clint Eastwood) is about to retire, he is asked by the Mafia to fight East Coast champion Jack Wilson (William Smith), who has been crippling ...more
- The Dirt Bike Kid is a 1985 film directed by Hoite Caston, produced by Julie Corman, starring Peter Billingsley and Stuart Pankin, about a boy who discovers a magic dirt bike that has a mind of its ...more
- The Dark Side of the Sun is a 1988 American - Yugoslavian drama film starring a young Brad Pitt about a young man in search of a cure for a dreaded skin disease. It is directed by Božidar ...more
- Disaffected and restless, Rusty James (Matt Dillon) is spoiling for a fight. Abandoned by his mother and living with his alcoholic father (Dennis Hopper), he hangs out with his girlfriend, Patty ...more
- Billy (Ed Harris) is the undisputed leader of a roving band of hardened bikers who support themselves by jousting at medieval fairs and selling their intricately designed wares. As their fearsome ...more
- Savage Dawn is a 1985 action and drama film. The film was directed by Simon Nuchtern, the film stars Lance Henriksen, George Kennedy, Karen Black, and William Forsythe
- Clifford Peache (Chris Makepeace) is a sensitive, well-to-do teen who becomes the target of bully Melvin Moody (Matt Dillon) after he starts attending a new school. Tired of being picked on, Clifford ...more
- Chopper Chicks In Zombietown is a 1989 comedy horror film written and directed by Dan Hoskins. It was released by Troma and features early roles by Billy Bob Thornton and Hal Sparks before they ...more
- Thrill to the pulsating sound of high powered motorcycles in the desert, on the road, and tracks around the world. On Any Sunday II features interviews and championship races with Brad Lackey, Bob ...more
- Yakuza brothers are forced to alter their bodies and break into the underground J-pop idol scene.
- 1990: The Bronx Warriors is a 1982 Italian action-science fiction film directed by action director Enzo G. Castellari. It was the second to last film for American actor Vic Morrow.
- Restless Natives is a 1985 comedy film directed by Michael Hoffman and starring Vincent Friell, Joe Mullaney, and Ned Beatty. Filmed in Scotland, the story follows the adventures of two young men who ...more
- A victim of his own anger, the Kid (Prince) is a Minneapolis musician on the rise with his band, the Revolution, escaping a tumultuous home life through music. While trying to avoid making the same ...more
- Survival Run is a 1979 action crime drama film written by Larry Spiegel, G.M. Cahill, and Frederic Shore and directed by Larry Spiegel.
- Escape from the Bronx is a 1983 Italian action film directed by Enzo G. Castellari. Also known as Bronx Warriors 2 and Escape 2000 it was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 under the Escape ...more
- Graverobbers (also known as Dead Mate) is a 1988 American black comedy horror film written and directed by Straw Weisman, and starring Elizabeth Mannino, David Gregory, Lawrence Bockius, Jerry ...more
- Land of Doom is a 1986 American film set in the 21st Century after what was known as the "Final War" leaves the world in a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with disease and pollution, unfit for ...more
- After avenging the death of his wife and young son at the hands of a vicious gang leader, Max (Mel Gibson) drives the post-apocalyptic highways of the Australian outback, fending off attacks from ...more
- In the third of the "Mad Max" movies, Max (Mel Gibson) drifts into an evil town ruled by Turner. There he becomes a gladiator and gets dumped in the desert where he is rescued by a band of feral ...more
- Meek flower shop assistant Seymour (Rick Moranis) pines for co-worker Audrey (Ellen Greene). During a total eclipse, he discovers an unusual plant he names Audrey II, which feeds only on human flesh ...more
- All About Ah-Long is a 1989 Hong Kong drama film directed by Johnnie To and starring Chow Yun-fat, Sylvia Chang and Ng Man-Tat.
- Akira is a 1988 Japanese animated cyberpunk action film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, written by Otomo and Izo Hashimoto, and featuring the voices of Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, and Taro ...more
