Onslaught Pays Tribute To The Most Underrated '80s Action Movie Icon

Contains spoilers for "Onslaught"

When most people think of the best sci-fi and action movies of the '80s, they come with a handful of specific names: Stallone and Schwarzenegger at the top, Harrison Ford at the same level but in a slightly different space, then Kurt Russell, and a little further down, names like Dolph Lundgren or Jean-Claude Van Damme. But that list skips a key player of the era — one who never quite got top billing, but who deserves a lot more credit for his contributions. That actor is Michael Biehn, best known as Kyle Reese in "The Terminator" and Corporal Dwayne Hicks in "Aliens," who's now back in a film designed to evoke both: Adam Wingard's '80s action-horror throwback, "Onslaught."

Biehn plays Baylor, the overseer of the secret military facility where Dr. Kammler (Dan Stevens) is building his supersoldiers. Baylor reports to a mysterious "board" regarding the program's success, but he doesn't last long, expiring alongside Kammler during the soldiers' escape. But in his brief time, he does get to deliver a handful of classic Michael Biehn lines, bringing the gravitas and pedigree of a true '80s sci-fi action vet.

For director Adam Wingard, Biehn was an absolute must-get for exactly that reason. "In sixth grade, my friends and I created a Michael Biehn fan club," Wingard revealed in the film's press materials. "We just thought he was the absolute coolest actor, and he was what we all wanted to look like. I used to slick my hair back to resemble his hair in 'Aliens.'"

Many people forget that it's Michael Biehn, not Arnold Schwarzenegger, who first says "Come with me if you want to live" in the original "The Terminator," with the more famous Arnie version being a callback in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." But beyond his iconic roles with James Cameron (which also include a great performance in 1989's "The Abyss"), Biehn accrued an impressive supporting resume through the '90s, co-starring or starring in films like "The Rock," "Tombstone," "Navy SEALS," and "K2."

Biehn hasn't had as many major big screen credits recently, but he's stayed active with a wide range of action movies or thrillers, including Robert Rodriguez's "Planet Terror" in 2007, and just last year, a voice role in "Predator: Killer of Killers." He's had a few high-profile guest turns on TV in the 2020s, appearing as mercenary Lang in "The Mandalorian" and survivor leader Ian in "The Walking Dead," the latter of which earned him a Saturn Award nomination (Biehn won a Life Career Award from the same institution in 2011).

His character in "Onslaught" is classic Biehn — the scowl, the swagger, and the one-liners. The actor has featured in a number of explicitly '80s-inspired projects over the years, like when he voiced the main character in the 2013 sci-fi video game "Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon." And yet, he still rarely gets the credit of his contemporaries in the genre. Given how explicitly "Onslaught" shows love to "The Terminator" and "Aliens," his inclusion is a well-deserved nod.

Michael Biehn isn't the only element of James Cameron's '80s oeuvre that can be seen in "Onslaught." Everything from the synth-heavy soundtrack, to specific bits of cinematography, to the high-caliber slasher horror/action genre blend point back to Cameron and other superstar filmmakers of the era. It even has the protective mother-daughter framing that emerges midway through "Aliens."

In the official press notes for "Onslaught," Adam Wingard says that his goal was to create "a really crazy, violent action-slasher film that's paying homage to John Carpenter and James Cameron." Even if you didn't know that going in, it's pretty clear from the jump. There was an era when shooting a semi-truck full of gun-toting baddies blasting down a desert highway at night was a sort of genre unto itself, and "Onslaught" believes, correctly, that we still need that vibe every once in a while.