# Ass-kicking women in film **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 3, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483 "2005-08-03T22:09:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/1 "2005-08-03T22:09:49Z")
This is a tough OP; first I’ll state the purpose of this thread, which is to list all the action/adventure, _and_ from what I can think of right now horror and drama movies we can that have contained what we know as ‘ass-kicking women’- by this, I’ll make clear that I’m not including the femme fatales; but this too requires explanation. 😛 I just read the Wiki page on [femme fatales](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femme_Fatale), which points out > [@Wikipedia](#): > > A femme fatale is a stock character, a villainous woman who uses the malign power of sexuality in order to ensnare the hapless hero… She has existed, in one form or another, in folklore and myth in nearly all cultures… During the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the femme fatale became ubiquitous in Western culture and can be found in the works of Oscar Wilde, Edvard Munch, Gustav Klimt, among others. This is likely to have been a reaction to women’s movements and the changing role of women at the time. With the introduction of film noir in the 1940s, the femme fatale began to flourish in pop culture. And they name some of these films Femme Fatale - (2003) Basic Instinct Body Heat Double Indemnity The Last Seduction The Blue Angel (1930) It’s a fascinating cultural/mythological concept and I will learn more deeply of it later; however, for this thread, let’s **exclude** femme fatales, only naming films containing these ‘ass-kicking’ women which have become so common in the last few decades of film. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/2 "2005-08-03T22:13:20Z")
One of my favorite ass-kicking women of all time is Ellen Ripley, from the **Alien** series. Sigourney Weaver was the perfect choice for the role. She’s tough without being totally butch. Yay Ripley! ---
**Author:** ![parthenokinesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/cc9497/32.png) [@parthenokinesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parthenokinesis)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/3 "2005-08-03T22:30:53Z")
Linda Hamilton from T2 Geena Davis in Long Kiss Goodnight Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider Oh and all three Charlie’s Angles ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/4 "2005-08-03T22:35:34Z")
There’s a difficulty here b/c there are many films that obviously contain powerful and able female characters who hold their own in battle and participate in the adventure as much as the male characters, ie the Star Wars films or kids movies that contain mothers and daughters and young girls who fight well. However, let’s keep the list to just the more notable characters who stand out in some way. Also, a critical look at the proliferation of these characters in movies belongs in another thread. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/5 "2005-08-03T22:36:53Z")
**The Heroic Trio** with [Maggie Cheung](http://www.brns.com/picts2b/zmaggie1.jpg), [Michelle Yeoh](http://www.joenolan.com/img/yeoh.jpg), and [Anita Mui](http://hongkongstar.tripod.com/am/am05.jpg) in the title ass-kicking roles. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/6 "2005-08-03T22:56:46Z")
Uma in \*\*Kill Bill \*\* 1+2 ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/7 "2005-08-03T23:11:18Z")
Although the _Modesty Blaise_ movie was an unmitigated disaster, Modesty herself surely rates a mention in a thread like this … ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/8 "2005-08-03T23:12:31Z")
Zhang Ziyi in **Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon** and **Hero** Maggie Cheung again in **Hero** Lucy Liu in **Kill Bill 1** (more for her mouth than for what she did) Thandie Newton in **Mission Impossible 2** ---
**Author:** ![rayh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@rayh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayh)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/9 "2005-08-03T23:13:50Z")
Gena Rowlands in **Gloria**. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/10 "2005-08-03T23:18:15Z")
Carey Lowell deserves mention, I believe, for her role in _License to Kill_. When her character, CIA operative Pam Bouvier first meets James Bond in a seedy Florida waterfront dive, she askes him if he’s armed. He leans forward slightly to let his jacket open a little, letting her see his shoulder holster and Walther PPK. She rolls her eyes and pushes back in her chair slightly, letting him see the shotgun across her lap. Priceless. Honor Blackman’s Pussy Galore got to kick soe Bond-butt in _Goldfinger_, too. Both women succumbed quickly enough to his charms, though. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/11 "2005-08-03T23:24:43Z")
Both Sharon Stone and Rachel Ticotin in **Total Recall** Rene Russo in **Lethal Weapon 3** Gogo Yubari from **Kill Bill** Tons from Bond movies: Pussy Galore from **Goldfinger** Aki from **You Only Live Twice** Bambi and Thumper from **Diamonds Are Forever** The schoolgirl twins from **The Man With the Golden Gun** That female circus squad from **Ocyopussy** Grace Jones in **A View to a Kill** The Chinese spies, Carey Lowell in **License to Kill** Xenia Onatop (Famke Janseen) in **Goldeneye** Michelle Yeoh in **Tomorrow Never Dies** Halle Berry in **Die Another Day** Excuse me, I need some alone time. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/12 "2005-08-03T23:33:31Z")
Jane Fonda was a very cute butt-kickin’ gal in **Cat Ballou**. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/13 "2005-08-03T23:34:11Z")
Patricia Arquette in " True Romance", specifically the fight with James Gandolfini. The female lead in " Natural Born Killers", specifically when she gets into a fistfight with the guy in the bar. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/14 "2005-08-03T23:38:02Z")
By female lead ( in NBK ) I of course meant Julliet Lewis. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/15 "2005-08-03T23:43:23Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > Excuse me, I need some alone time. In your bunk? (throw in _Firefly_’s Gina Torres and Summer Glau) ---
**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/16 "2005-08-03T23:46:54Z")
Going through my list of movies as I currently am, I came across something I should point out: in a horror movie or drama, if the killer is a woman (ie the first Friday the 13th or Fatal Attraction or Scream 2 for that matter 😃 ) she is a femme fatale, but if there is a good woman fighting against the killer (ie **Neve Campbell** in the Scream films or **Jamie Lee Curtis** in Halloween H20) they can count. The previous two certainly do in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/17 "2005-08-03T23:52:06Z")
The B movie king (ha!) of ass-kicking females: [Cynthia Rothrock.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001686/) ---
**Author:** ![lhovis73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecd19e/32.png) [@lhovis73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lhovis73)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/18 "2005-08-03T23:52:20Z")
> [@brickbacon](#): > > Uma in \*\*Kill Bill \*\* 1+2 Based (kinda sorta) on Lady Snowblood (heroine of film of same name), who’s definitely an ass-kickin’ woman in film. Pam Grier has kicked all sorts of ass over the years in her women-in-prison and blaxploitation flicks. This page contains a list of more B-movies with ferocious (mostly half-naked) women (I haven’t seen any of these flicks, but they all look great, don’t they?): > **[Review: Women Who Kick Butt box-set - Girls With Guns](https://girlswithguns.org/women-who-kick-butt-box-set/)** > > ★★½ Ten movies in a box for $17.99 – how can you possibly go wrong? And yet…I have this nagging feeling that there’s a reason you’re paying $1.80 per flick. But, hey: if there are two good films in the set, I’ll have got my money’s worth. Any more,... ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/19 "2005-08-03T23:58:04Z")
Deborra-Lee Furness in [_Shame_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093952/), an Australian movie. And I guess we should give Demi Moore credit for _G.I. Jane_. ---
**Author:** ![greenlady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@greenlady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greenlady)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483/20 "2005-08-03T23:59:46Z")
I vote for **Sigourney Weaver** in the Alien movies as well as **Linda Hamilton** in Terminator 2. Both of them seemed like real women who were believably tough. In my opinion. Angelina Jolie was more like a cartoon character in **Lara Croft**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ass-kicking-women-in-film/315483.md?page=2)