Pop Culture | Movies | 90s | 80s

10 Dolph Lundgren Movies That Prove Yesterday's Action Stars Were So Much Better

With gigantic muscles and an IQ to match (seriously, the man's a certified genius and nuclear physicist), Dolph Lundgren has been a real force in action movies since the 80s. To honor the man, here are 10 movies of his that, even if not all of them are great, you're guaranteed to have fun.

Men of War (1994)

This one drags in the middle, but the shoot 'em up action at the end more than makes up for it, trust me.

Dark Angel (1990)

Dolph's going to solve the drug trade problem... with BULLETS!

Masters of the Universe (1987)

Fresh off his debut as Ivan Drago (who we'll see later on this list), Lundgren was cast as everyone's favorite galactic warrior prince, He-Man. The movie doesn't hold up the best today, but for the time it was pretty great.

Red Scorpion (1988)

A Cold War shoot 'em up from some of the peak periods of it, this one's just a lot of fun to watch.

These next few movies are some of the man's best awesome...

Showdown In Little Tokyo (1991)

With a name like that, how could this not be awesome? This movie also features Brandon Lee, best-known for his defining (and unfortunately, final) role in The Crow.

Army of One/Joshua Tree (1993)

Framed for a crime he didn't commit, Dolph breaks out of prison to take on the corrupt cop that put him behind bars. Doesn't get much more 90s action than that.

Johnny Mnemonic (1995)

In this sci-fi romp based on a William Gibson short story and starring Keanu Reeves, Lundgren plays a weird street preacher in the dystopian cyberpunk future, and that's one of the LEAST weird parts of this movie.

The Punisher (1989)

Let's be real for a second here, this is probably the worst Punisher movie ever released, but for some reason Lundgren just makes it work anyway.

Universal Soldier (1992)

Lundgren faces off against Jean-Claude "The Muscles From Brussels" Van Damme, and the results are some of the most fun you can have watching a movie.

Rocky IV (1985)

It's the cheesiest and most over-the-top of the Rocky movies gets the cheesiest, most over-the-top villain in the form of Russian super boxer Ivan Drago, played to perfection by Lundgren. It doesn't get better than this.