We’ve all been there. You’re scrolling through Netflix or Disney+, you see the poster for Predator or Lethal Weapon, and you get that hit of dopamine. You remember the one-liners, the epic music, and how "awesome" it was when you saw it at age nine on a grainy VHS tape.

But here is the no-BS truth: Our parents were wilding in the 80s.

We saw things we probably shouldn't have seen, and because we turned out "fine," we assume these movies are appropriate for our kids. They often aren't. Modern action—think Marvel movies or Star Wars—is sanitized. It’s "CGI violence" where robots explode or people disappear into dust.

80s and 90s action used "practical effects." That means blood squibs, prosthetic limbs flying off, and very realistic-looking agony. To a kid raised on Fortnite, the visceral, "wet" violence of a 1987 action flick can be genuinely jarring or even traumatic.

It’s not just about the gore. When we talk about the "violence question" in retro cinema, we’re looking at a cocktail of:

Learn more about how movie ratings have changed since the 1980s

If you want to start the retro education, these are your best bets. They have stakes and "scary" moments, but they don't cross the line into "why is there a brain on the floor?" territory.

This is the gold standard. It’s tight, it’s funny, and the "violence" is mostly Biff being a bully or some light 1955 fisticuffs. The biggest hurdle here isn't violence; it's explaining to your kids why Marty's mom is hitting on him. Awkward? Yes. Traumatizing? Probably not.

Spielberg is the master of the "safe scare." Yes, a guy gets eaten off a toilet, and there’s a severed arm at one point, but it’s handled with such cinematic craft that it feels like a thrill ride rather than a bloodbath. It’s the perfect "bridge" movie for kids moving from Bluey to more mature content.

The 90s at its peak. Keanu Reeves, a bus, and a bomb. It’s intense and there are some explosions, but it lacks the mean-spiritedness of other 90s thrillers. It’s a pure adrenaline rush that holds up surprisingly well.

These are the movies we think are fine for middle schoolers, but you might want to pre-watch (or at least sit with them) because the violence gets "heavy."

I love this movie. It’s arguably the best action sequel ever made. But parents often forget the mental hospital escape or the nuclear nightmare dream sequence where Sarah Connor is turned into a skeleton. It’s heavy stuff. If your kid is into Hades or more mature gaming, they can probably handle it, but it's a big step up.

The "lobby scene" is iconic, but it is essentially a five-minute high-octane mass shooting. In a post-1999 world, showing kids "cool" gunplay in a corporate lobby feels different than it did when we were teens. The philosophy is great, the "bullet time" is legendary, but the gun worship is high.

This is a "war movie" with monsters. It’s loud, it’s sweary (looking at you, Hudson), and it’s claustrophobic. It’s a masterpiece of tension, but for a 12-year-old, the "chest-burster" scene is still the stuff of nightmares.

Check out our guide on the best sci-fi movies for teens

These are the movies that are actually "unwatchable" with kids, despite how much we love them.

Look, RoboCop is a brilliant satire of American corporatism. It’s also one of the most violently disgusting movies ever made. The scene where Murphy is "disassembled" by shotguns is genuinely hard to watch as an adult. Unless your kid is a budding film scholar who understands irony, this is just a gore-fest.

Another Verhoeven "classic" that is just... messy. People getting their arms ripped off by elevators, holes being shot through heads—it’s cartoonish, but it’s vividly cartoonish. Save it for when they’re 17.

Is it a Christmas movie? Yes. Is it for your 11-year-old? No. Between the "yippee-ki-yay" language and the sheer amount of blood on John McClane’s feet by the end, it’s a hard R for a reason.

If you do decide to pull the trigger on a 1980s action night, here’s how to handle it:

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In the 80s and 90s, when someone got shot in a movie, the effects team used "squibs"—small explosives under the actor's clothes attached to a bag of fake blood. This created a "spray" effect that CGI simply doesn't replicate.

Why does this matter for your kid? Because it makes the violence feel personal and physical. Modern action feels like a video game. 80s action feels like an emergency room. If your child is sensitive to "body horror" or medical themes, retro action is going to be much harder for them to process than a modern PG-13 blockbuster.

Nostalgia is a powerful drug, but it shouldn't dictate your media boundaries. Just because you saw Terminator at age 8 doesn't mean your 8-year-old needs to see it.

Start slow. Use the "Gateway" movies like Back to the Future or The Goonies to test the waters. If they handle the "mild" peril of a boulder chasing Indiana Jones, maybe they're ready for the T-Rex in Jurassic Park.

But if you’re itching to show them Commando just so they can hear Arnold Schwarzenegger say "I lied," maybe just show them the YouTube clip and wait a few years for the full movie. Your kid’s "digital wellness" includes their mental image of what happens when a grenade goes off. Let's keep it "CGI-level" for as long as we can.

Check out our full guide on curated movie nights for every age group