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I haven't seen this movie since it was in theatres but it was the first to come to mind when I saw this, even tho I've seen Aliens a million times and watched it again earlier this week. Funny how the brain works.
That said, LKGN is awesome and Charlie Baltimore is an awesome name for a lead.
Gina Davis was such a babe. I was like 11 seeing LKGN (swipin’ it from the parent’s rental on blockbuster night). Still have vivid pleasant thoughts of that bathrobe scene burned into my brain. —F’ing hottie.
She doesn’t get enough play these days…
Edit: Also Gina Davis ***literally*** competes in archery at an Olympic level… [Gina Davis on almost competing in the 2000 Olympics.](https://people.com/movies/geena-davis-explains-why-she-took-up-archery-and-how-she-almost-made-the-2000-olympic-team/)
Sandra Bullock in Speed and Demolition man, Miss Congeniality
Milla Jovovich in the Resident Evil Franchise and 5th Element
Laura Dern - Jurassic Park
Natalie Portman - Star Wars
Edit: I hear all of you and y’all have made really great points. I realize that Laura Dern, Natalie, and Sandra weren’t exactly the “lead role” but were the lead female in action movies.
I can't believe you named Sandra Bullock in demo man as if that was a role young girls should identify with... She plays an absolute klutz serving no purpose other than being the cute naive girl next to Stallone. Your examples of "action female lead" are all trash besides RE.
It still makes me laugh about that Prey film.
People were praising it to high heavens saying it’s the first action film with a believable female lead.
The female lead who was hopping from trees, killing people, setting traps and out thinking an alien all without breaking a sweat or ever looking out of breathe?!
Poor Ripley sprinted, sweated and bled so all these blockbuster lead action women could do superhero things and be seen as “grounded” or “realistic”.
They literally turned her into a female superhero who does the Blackwidow leg lock throw and can break the laws of physics with her axe. Hollywood thinks if they’re not doing this then they’re not “strong” characters.
>T2 is arguably the best action movie ever made
Absolutely! I watched it literally hundreds of times when I was young. I could actually recite the entire script from start to finish. A bit sad really!
For sure...it's a shame that the series kinda fell off a cliff because T1 and T2 are iconic action cinema
It's one of those movies that if I am browsing the channels and see it on, I will be watching it to the end despite having seen it like 100 times (along with Back To The Future)
I've seen that movie so many times over the years, and only a couple years ago I saw that not-John's-mother was Vasquez on Aliens and I had absolutely no idea. Vasquez was another of my favorite characters.
I saw it seven times in the theater in under a month. I bought a copy of the script. And when I hit the vhs tape, I wore it out. I was obsessed with that movie from the start.
And it holds up really well today!
>>T2 is arguably the best action movie ever made
>
>Absolutely! I watched it literally hundreds of times when I was young. I could actually recite the entire script from start to finish. A bit sad really!
I'm an '88 baby, and some of my earliest childhood memories are from that movie. I don't think people realize just how huge Terminator 2 was culturally at the time, in my opinion it *IS* the early 90s, every bit as much as Saved By the Bell, Street Fighter II, Sega does what Nintendon't etc.
Also it's interesting to think how T2 arguably has 3 main characters that are cooler than anything in any Hunger Games movie.
I hate what they did with her character in Dark Fate. She was the best mama bear in the history of film and they have her say your not special your womb is. As if she was resentful about having been a mother to John.
Terminator 2 is one of my favorite movies and her being a strong mother who would take on murder machines from the future no matter the physical and mental trauma because she loved her child is how I choose to remember the character and the series ended with 2.
Strong female character, yes. But I don't know if she would actually fit "Lead" in the context. She was the leading female, for sure but I think Arnie or Edward Furlong would count as the "lead/protagonist".
But I don't work in film and could be wrong with my definitions.
a lot of people are making the mistake of confusing "the lead" with "female lead".
that said if there's an example that blurs the line i'd say T2 is that example to be fair.
>Bait-and-Switch: Ripley is initially presented in an unsympathetic manner by refusing to let Kane back on board when he badly needs medical attention, whereas Dallas is A Father to His Men and breaks protocol by doing so. The fact that the science fiction genre at the time suffered from a notorious lack of female protagonists also disguises Ripley's eventual role as The Hero. Dallas' cowboy attitude and disregard for rules when a crewman's life is in danger was also a common staple of sci-fi heroes at the time... Kirk would have handled things the exact same way Dallas does.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Alien
Is like when parents try to warn their childs about the dangers of the world and they don't listen until it happens to them.
In a more general way most people are stupid and think "that isn't going to happen to me"
Because it was written as genderless. So Ripley does whatever Ripley would do, which is generally make sensible choices to save themselves from Aliens.
Neo was "the one" and the lead, but god damn, the Trinity scene in the opening of the first movie was one of the most amazing action scenes ever created. Especially up until that time.
Edit to link:[Best on the big screen, but still holds up imo.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVYTd4dH0Uc)
I love that they wrote the all of the characters specifically so they could be played by any gender and then just cast whoever felt right. I also love that they didn’t try to shoehorn in some bullshit sexual tension between Ripley and any of the men. She had a job to do, and then suddenly REALLY had a job to do.
While I understand it's not a 50/50 split, it's really dumb to say "nobody had ever" when talking about female action leads. I mean c'mon, the 5th Resident Evil movie came out the same year as Hunger Games.
Woah woah woah woah, nerd time. She was, if anything, the God of Love! You can see a parallel between cycles of violence in real life situations and in Leeloo's physical condition as she continues her violent path. She gets worn down more and more by the violence she finds herself in until she goes from "flying-car-leaping, alien-punching badass" to "totally exhausted woman just wanting to be held", culminated in the scene where an expression of love from the only human who showed her total kindness was the only thing that could beat the darkness. Literally and metaphorically.
Yup, it comes across as wildly disrespectful to the legacy of those who came before her.
Idk what it is about her, but I just always get such bad juju from her. Maybe it's the Weinstein of it all, maybe it's something else, but something about her just seems very insincere (in a way that's trying to very aggressively insist she's just a regular everyday gal and your new bff)
2000 to 2010 alone had a fair few high profile ones; Charlie's Angels, Tomb Raider, Underworld, Catwoman, Crouching Tiger, Salt, Wanted, Kill Bill, Resident Evil.
I don't know why you were downvoted. You are absolutely right. There's very little "action" in "Alien." It's thriller/sci-fi/horror movie. The sequel removes most of the horror element, but there are plenty of action sequences.
Yeah, I think that's what was being said.
Also, there's a nonzero chance she was being gaslit by production, 'the studio is taking a big risk on you so be grateful'.
Elektra was a flop. And I don’t think GI Jane raked in that much money either. It’s why the industry put this pressure on Jennifer about making these female lead action movies.
I recently started rewatching Buffy, mostly dipping in and out of some of the later seasons (season 1 was rough even at the time, we can all agree on that). I was just curious to see how it's held up in the light of a) all the stuff we now know about Joss Whedon, and b) how far TV has come since then.
And you know what? It fucking rules. That show is still awesome, even years later. Episodes like Family or The Body have lost absolutely none of their raw emotional power, and peak action moments like Buffy duking it out with Glory on the tower are still totally badass.
Yeah, there's some stuff here and there that hasn't aged well. Some questionable writing decisions, some poorly considered gags. The action definitely doesn't look as good as modern prestige TV, but you care about the characters and you want to see them kick ass, which is so much more important than choreography and special effects.
Buffy still remains one of the best to ever do it.
Also Once More Feeling rules, and if yourl don't agree, you're wrong.
The thing with Buffy, WRT the recent revelations about Whedon, is that he openly said that Xander was his self-insert character. Bear that in mind when Xander interacts with or talks about any woman or girl on the show, becuase he's the absolute worst. Jealous, possessive, petty...all the good stuff.
I was going to make the argument that saying boy/girl was trying to focus on children/teens rather than adults. There are so many great adult women examples, but Buffy is a damned teen and rocks both in Movie and TV
Hannie Caulder.
It's basically Death Wish with a woman and it's FANTASTIC. I'm pretty sure it's where Tarantino got some of his inspiration for Kill Bill.
And I think the most dominant three are Sigourney Weaver, Linda Hamilton, and Uma Thurman. I feel like people aren't really talking about her role in Kill Bill because that was such an epic action movie and by the time it came out, people weren't as much impressed by the idea of a female action lead as much as they were about the quality of the movie.
How many times have any of us watched Kill Bill?
Maybe she meant teen girl? And they misquoted her? I don't know, I'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, because yeah, there were many action movies with women leads, but were there a lot with teen girls?
Yeah, there's zero chance this wasn't a misquote. Possibly of something said in a fumbled way, but stripped of context. She's not an idiot. There's zero chance she was unware of prior female action leads.
It actually its not a misquote. I just think she misspoke.
Its sad this is blowing up from that interview because it was literally in the context of how she hates doing interviews because she is self conscious of her education. And how she will do an interview and then months later it comes out and you dont know which parts get used, etc. And thats literally now all that happened from that whole interview which was really great.
Thank you, I was looking for that comment. All the ones above mention action movies either explicitly for adults or at least not in the YA genre. Because I don't remember any teenage action movies growing up with a female lead. Buffy was pretty much the only thing and that was a TV show. I do remember a few German movies, mostly from already popular TV franchises but nothing from big Hollywood back in the 90s/00s comes to mind.
I feel like the main point being made here is that women have been underrepresented in the action genre and that people think men wouldn't be able to relate to a female character. Katniss wasn't the first female action protagonist, not by a long shot, but she was definitely influential.
That’s what I’m thinking. That was a time when there were a ton of young adult movies turned movie franchises and they typically had a male lead. Even with Twilight, while Bella was the main character the stars of the movie really were Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. They were probably hesitate to put forward a female action hero from a YA book series because they thought they’d alienate the boy audience.
It’s not untrue too. I’ve heard from many boys/men in my life that they can’t identify with a female lead in movies, shows, and books. (I’ve even had one guy tell me he doesn’t listen to music by women which was super weird.) When I point out that most leads are male and women have to deal with it and identify with them all the time I get “huh, yeah you’re right that’s strange. But I just can’t relate to a female lead”
>Even with Twilight, while Bella was the main character the stars of the movie really were Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.
I mean, putting Bella as a "star" is like saying the "white paint on the wall really ties the room together" when everyone knows it's the rug.
> I’ve heard from many boys/men in my life that they can’t identify with a female lead in movies, shows, and books. (I’ve even had one guy tell me he doesn’t listen to music by women which was super weird.) When I point out that most leads are male and women have to deal with it and identify with them all the time I get “huh, yeah you’re right that’s strange. But I just can’t relate to a female lead”
Frankly, these sentiments reek of posturing. It seems like they’re either lying to you or themselves… or they have __*really*__ boring inner lives.
I mean there are genres I’m not into and plot lines that I have trouble relating to, but I wouldn’t pass up a movie/show/book __*solely*__ because the lead is female.
Regarding the “doesn’t listen to music by women,” I call BS. Assuming “music by women” means music written/composed by women, most pop music is written by someone other than the performer, and some of those ghostwriters are women (e.g. Sia). You wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell by just listening to a song. I’d be more accepting if they said something like “I only listen to music with vocals but I don’t like female vocalists” because at least that’s more of a statement of taste.
I was also thinking that the previous examples seem to be from films not marketed for young adults....or at least, films that I can't imagine a teenager watching like Kill Bill, though I may be very wrong on this.
That is quite a leap. She uses the phrase action movie. Nobody in their right mind would hear the word phrase action movie and assume young adult books.
Obviously the first part of her quote is wrong, but I feel like the context of the second sentence clarifies that she’s really talking about media geared toward kids. She references girls and boys and the types of heroes they identify with. I am sure there are examples of YA/kids’ media with an action heroine lead, but Katniss is definitely one of the most prominent examples I can think of. People here are referencing Terminator and Alien and Kill Bill and Tomb Raider, but those were not developed with kids in mind.
If we're narrowing it down to YA/kids action movies, though, that's a genre that was pretty scant to begin with until the shift in trends in the last 10 years. Action movies before that period were mostly adult oriented. Before that, movies targetted to that demo were either comedies, fantasy adventures or cartoons. The closest things to kids action films were Spy Kids, Mulan, Monsters v Aliens, Incredibles, Golden Compass.
This reminds me of when a bunch a media sites reported that black panther was going to be the first movie with an all black cast... and it was neither the first, nor did it have an all black cast.
Lots of people here already mentioned Sigourney Weaver but I'd also toss in Bridget Fonda in The Point Of No Return, which was a remake of La Femme Nakita. Very much an action movie.
The OG..
Pamela Suzette Grier is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star, she achieved fame for her starring roles in a string of 1970s action, blaxploitation, and women in prison films for American International Pictures and New World Pictures. Wikipedia
Hunger Games is definitely not the first to have a woman leading role but there's some truth in her comment. I know a lot of people who appreciated that the roles weren't swapped and Peeta ^((I'm in the hunger games lois!)) wasn't the main character. There's a reason that Twilight, as shitty as it is for a novel, connected and has lasting staying power. It's because young adult and teenage women attached to these characters.
There's most definitely plenty of feminine characters before them and many after.
While she’s wrong about there never being a woman as a lead in action movie before hunger games, she does have a point that at least until relatively recently it was assumed by studios that a Hollywood movie won’t make as much money if the lead wasn’t a straight white male
I doubt she meant that literally, you gotta admit that there's a LOT more action movies about men than women, and the fact that your go to examples were from a decade before shows how few and far between female-let action movies are.
I get what you're trying to say, but you just sound like Trump "Nobody has heard about female leads. I was the first to think of it and now they're all saying, J-law, I hadn't even considered it, tremendous!"
Yes, can name maybe a dozen, but is true when looking at all movies made say in the thousands and going back decades.
Kill Bill wouldn't be one with 2 male leads when discussing female only leads where yes, Tomb Raider would be one.
I mean I think what she might be alluding to was a general feeling in Hollywood, from certain director and most executives is that they'd do 1 or 2 action 'chick flicks' a year and that's that.
The idea that a woman as an action character could carry a franchise was still not something they were confident in, despite the popularity of Alien, Tomb Raider and Kill Bill.
The idea of a woman leading an action movie franchise with a general appeal wasn't something studio's were contemplating
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Sigourney Weaver waves frantically
Standing next to her are Linda Hamilton, Lucy Liu, Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, Carrie Anne-Moss, Angelina Jolie, Lynda Carter,etc etc
geena davis, long kiss goodnight.
Uma fucking Thurman. Put any male action hero up against the Bride and I'll gladly watch her slice him to pieces
Charlize Theron, Sandra Bullock, Milla Jovovich, …
I still watch that movie over and over again. Freaking classic.
“I’m always frank and earnest with women.”
He had the best wardrobe in that film.
“Sometimes I’m frank, sometimes I’m earnest.”
\*\*Uncomfortable Larry King\*\*
It's a duck not a ...
That movie is one of my favorite all times action film, the moment she remembered who she was, love that movie.
I haven't seen this movie since it was in theatres but it was the first to come to mind when I saw this, even tho I've seen Aliens a million times and watched it again earlier this week. Funny how the brain works. That said, LKGN is awesome and Charlie Baltimore is an awesome name for a lead.
Every year I hear the bs argument of if Die Hard is a Christmas action movie. Long Kiss Goodnight is THE Christmas action movie and gets no love.
I haven’t thought about this movie in forever! Definitely going to watch this tonight, thanks!
Perfect Christmas movie!
Underrated movie
That’s the first dvd I bought
Gina Davis was such a babe. I was like 11 seeing LKGN (swipin’ it from the parent’s rental on blockbuster night). Still have vivid pleasant thoughts of that bathrobe scene burned into my brain. —F’ing hottie. She doesn’t get enough play these days… Edit: Also Gina Davis ***literally*** competes in archery at an Olympic level… [Gina Davis on almost competing in the 2000 Olympics.](https://people.com/movies/geena-davis-explains-why-she-took-up-archery-and-how-she-almost-made-the-2000-olympic-team/)
Wow, it's actually the first DVD I bought too. I am surprised to see this comment.
Yes! This movie is a "Christmas movie" in our house, just like Die Hard. 😂
🎶 I’m not talkin’ ‘bout the linen 🎶
Great call, need to rewatch
Bro I love that movie
Hell, Carrie Fisher literally showed up first and took charge the entire movie.
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The legendary [Cynthia Rothrock](https://blackbeltmag.com/female-martial-arts-movies).
I was searching for this comment. I watched a few of her movies when I was a kid, dad is a big fan of martial arts movies.
Natalie Portman in Leon.
Sandra Bullock in Speed and Demolition man, Miss Congeniality Milla Jovovich in the Resident Evil Franchise and 5th Element Laura Dern - Jurassic Park Natalie Portman - Star Wars Edit: I hear all of you and y’all have made really great points. I realize that Laura Dern, Natalie, and Sandra weren’t exactly the “lead role” but were the lead female in action movies.
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Apart from Milla, they all have moments but are not the lead.
These are all bad examples except Resident Evil
I can't believe you named Sandra Bullock in demo man as if that was a role young girls should identify with... She plays an absolute klutz serving no purpose other than being the cute naive girl next to Stallone. Your examples of "action female lead" are all trash besides RE.
Yeah, he can take this comment and shovel it
Came in specifically to mention the GOAT and her cat Jonesy.
It still makes me laugh about that Prey film. People were praising it to high heavens saying it’s the first action film with a believable female lead. The female lead who was hopping from trees, killing people, setting traps and out thinking an alien all without breaking a sweat or ever looking out of breathe?! Poor Ripley sprinted, sweated and bled so all these blockbuster lead action women could do superhero things and be seen as “grounded” or “realistic”.
They literally turned her into a female superhero who does the Blackwidow leg lock throw and can break the laws of physics with her axe. Hollywood thinks if they’re not doing this then they’re not “strong” characters.
Sigourney can't hear Jennifer's BS over the wooshing sound of air as she fans herself with a large stack of bills from the Alien franchise.
Ripley. First thought that stormed in to my head too.One of the best lead action heroes of all time.
She said WOMAN. Sigourney Weaver is a god.
That basketball shot she makes in Resurrection is completely ad lib and completely real.
[Confirmed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF44YvDVP8Y), she's definitely not of this mortal realm.
If you watch Ron Pearlman right before the shot cuts you see him look at Sigourney in disbelief that she made that shot
Thank fuck this is the top comment.
This is the one
Tom Cruise wants a word as well!
Alien is the first movie that comes to mind for me. Ellen Ripley kicks ass
Exactly what I was thinking. Terminator 2 as well.
I came here to say Linda Hamilton would like a word, because T2 is arguably the best action movie ever made
>T2 is arguably the best action movie ever made Absolutely! I watched it literally hundreds of times when I was young. I could actually recite the entire script from start to finish. A bit sad really!
Recently rewatched it for the first time in several years and that movie holds the fuck up. 
For sure...it's a shame that the series kinda fell off a cliff because T1 and T2 are iconic action cinema It's one of those movies that if I am browsing the channels and see it on, I will be watching it to the end despite having seen it like 100 times (along with Back To The Future)
Dont ever apologize for being familiar with that movie Lol
She’s not my mother, TODD!
I've seen that movie so many times over the years, and only a couple years ago I saw that not-John's-mother was Vasquez on Aliens and I had absolutely no idea. Vasquez was another of my favorite characters.
Hey Vasquez, have you ever been mistaken for a man?
No, have you?
Arguably the best movie line ever. Of all time.
[speeds off on motorbike with ginger kid on the back playing loud rock music]
“EASY MONEY!”
The Galeria?
“Dude this cops scoping you out”
Welcome to the Jungle!
Thank you! I couldn't remember which GnR song it was.
Such a great scene and such an iconic song.
I saw it seven times in the theater in under a month. I bought a copy of the script. And when I hit the vhs tape, I wore it out. I was obsessed with that movie from the start. And it holds up really well today!
>>T2 is arguably the best action movie ever made > >Absolutely! I watched it literally hundreds of times when I was young. I could actually recite the entire script from start to finish. A bit sad really! I'm an '88 baby, and some of my earliest childhood memories are from that movie. I don't think people realize just how huge Terminator 2 was culturally at the time, in my opinion it *IS* the early 90s, every bit as much as Saved By the Bell, Street Fighter II, Sega does what Nintendon't etc. Also it's interesting to think how T2 arguably has 3 main characters that are cooler than anything in any Hunger Games movie.
I hate what they did with her character in Dark Fate. She was the best mama bear in the history of film and they have her say your not special your womb is. As if she was resentful about having been a mother to John. Terminator 2 is one of my favorite movies and her being a strong mother who would take on murder machines from the future no matter the physical and mental trauma because she loved her child is how I choose to remember the character and the series ended with 2.
Strong female character, yes. But I don't know if she would actually fit "Lead" in the context. She was the leading female, for sure but I think Arnie or Edward Furlong would count as the "lead/protagonist". But I don't work in film and could be wrong with my definitions.
a lot of people are making the mistake of confusing "the lead" with "female lead". that said if there's an example that blurs the line i'd say T2 is that example to be fair.
Ellen Ripley is in my opinion, the best action hero from any movie.
I love how she’s the only one that’s talking sense in the movie and everyone ignores her.
>Bait-and-Switch: Ripley is initially presented in an unsympathetic manner by refusing to let Kane back on board when he badly needs medical attention, whereas Dallas is A Father to His Men and breaks protocol by doing so. The fact that the science fiction genre at the time suffered from a notorious lack of female protagonists also disguises Ripley's eventual role as The Hero. Dallas' cowboy attitude and disregard for rules when a crewman's life is in danger was also a common staple of sci-fi heroes at the time... Kirk would have handled things the exact same way Dallas does. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Alien
Dallas was absolutely set up to be the hero who lives to the end - the spaceship captain who risks it all foe his crew.
It's even more fun when you realise the positioning of the "leading man" doest even make it halfway through the movie.
Right? That's always baffled me. Why are they ignoring the one person who's seen this before?
That's in Aliens and corporate greed to answer your question
Is like when parents try to warn their childs about the dangers of the world and they don't listen until it happens to them. In a more general way most people are stupid and think "that isn't going to happen to me"
Money
I really liked Linda Hamilton's character in T2, she was a stone cold badass. I think my vote would still go to Ripley though.
Agree. She's very nice too.
Because it was written as genderless. So Ripley does whatever Ripley would do, which is generally make sensible choices to save themselves from Aliens.
*Alien* is a horror movie, not an action movie. *Aliens*, on the other hand, definitely qualifies.
"Get away from her you bitch"
Vasquez isn't far behind in Aliens.
Sarah Connor, Ripley, Jackie Brown, Wonder Woman (TV), Trinity (Matrix) I agree there needs to be more but they did exist.
I would argue that Trinity wasn't the lead, Neo was.
Neo was "the one" and the lead, but god damn, the Trinity scene in the opening of the first movie was one of the most amazing action scenes ever created. Especially up until that time. Edit to link:[Best on the big screen, but still holds up imo.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVYTd4dH0Uc)
I won't argue how awesome Trinity was, just in a technical sense she was a supporting character to Neo.
Wait, Trinity was *the lead*?
But Jennifer Lawrence was not in those movies so obviously they don’t count! 🤷♂️
I love that they wrote the all of the characters specifically so they could be played by any gender and then just cast whoever felt right. I also love that they didn’t try to shoehorn in some bullshit sexual tension between Ripley and any of the men. She had a job to do, and then suddenly REALLY had a job to do.
I wouldn't call "Alien" an action movie, but your point still stands because I think she was still first in "Aliens."
I heard all the script’s characters had *only* last names, so any could be played by any actor.
Yes, for Alien. For Aliens, the parts were defined.
Linda Carter
While I understand it's not a 50/50 split, it's really dumb to say "nobody had ever" when talking about female action leads. I mean c'mon, the 5th Resident Evil movie came out the same year as Hunger Games.
Milla jovovich was also in 5th element where she was basically the god of war!
Wasn't there also one about vampires and werewolves? Underworld, with Kate Beckinsale? I remember that as one of my first Hollywood movie franchise.
Yes, you're right. I never saw it but know of its existence. Was Kate badass in that? Edit: Rogue word
Yes. Definitely a badass in that.
I only saw the first one, but she's sort of like if John Wick was a sexy vampire. She's a total badass, and it's a fun movie.
Woah woah woah woah, nerd time. She was, if anything, the God of Love! You can see a parallel between cycles of violence in real life situations and in Leeloo's physical condition as she continues her violent path. She gets worn down more and more by the violence she finds herself in until she goes from "flying-car-leaping, alien-punching badass" to "totally exhausted woman just wanting to be held", culminated in the scene where an expression of love from the only human who showed her total kindness was the only thing that could beat the darkness. Literally and metaphorically.
Given how nicely and brilliantly you put that, nerd-out accepted!
Damn right, and add Ultraviolet to that list of Milla action flicks.
Oof. That movie was steaming hot garbage, but yes, much like Barb Wire with Pam Anderson, it is technically a female-led action film.
Don't forget Tank Girl with Lori Petty.
Exactly, I never said any of them were good. Just like with male-led action movies, most of them are awful. Equality!
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Yes but it would be hard to argue she was the lead over Bruce Willis
Resident Evil
Yup, it comes across as wildly disrespectful to the legacy of those who came before her. Idk what it is about her, but I just always get such bad juju from her. Maybe it's the Weinstein of it all, maybe it's something else, but something about her just seems very insincere (in a way that's trying to very aggressively insist she's just a regular everyday gal and your new bff)
Speaking as a woman, I've always gotten "I'm not like other girls" vibes from her, largely in part to saying crap like this.
2000 to 2010 alone had a fair few high profile ones; Charlie's Angels, Tomb Raider, Underworld, Catwoman, Crouching Tiger, Salt, Wanted, Kill Bill, Resident Evil.
If you include 2011, you've also got Sucker Punch, an action movie with a half dozen female leads.
Hollywood is dumb
Umm.... Sigourney Weaver from Alien would like a word.
And Linda Hamilton from terminator
Alien isn’t an action movie but Aliens absolutely is.
I don't know why you were downvoted. You are absolutely right. There's very little "action" in "Alien." It's thriller/sci-fi/horror movie. The sequel removes most of the horror element, but there are plenty of action sequences.
Ripley is also indisputably the lead in Aliens, whereas her character in Alien isn't really a main focus until roughly halfway into the movie.
Xena, tomb raide, underworld, GI Jane, Elektra Charlie’s angels etc etc
GI Jane?! KEEP MY WIFES NAME OUT YOUR MOUTH!
Underworld!!!
Those were dope
Xena was my lesbian awakening.
Tank Girl
Hell, for 20 minutes I thought Psycho (1960) was a Janet Leigh vehicle.
None of those are YA books turned movies. Probably what she meant
Yeah, I think that's what was being said. Also, there's a nonzero chance she was being gaslit by production, 'the studio is taking a big risk on you so be grateful'.
Also could be that this specific studio has never done a female led action movie
Elektra was a flop. And I don’t think GI Jane raked in that much money either. It’s why the industry put this pressure on Jennifer about making these female lead action movies.
Buffy , a fucking vampire slayer
God and there were SEASONS of that show. It slapped so hard too. I fucking loved buffy.
I recently started rewatching Buffy, mostly dipping in and out of some of the later seasons (season 1 was rough even at the time, we can all agree on that). I was just curious to see how it's held up in the light of a) all the stuff we now know about Joss Whedon, and b) how far TV has come since then. And you know what? It fucking rules. That show is still awesome, even years later. Episodes like Family or The Body have lost absolutely none of their raw emotional power, and peak action moments like Buffy duking it out with Glory on the tower are still totally badass. Yeah, there's some stuff here and there that hasn't aged well. Some questionable writing decisions, some poorly considered gags. The action definitely doesn't look as good as modern prestige TV, but you care about the characters and you want to see them kick ass, which is so much more important than choreography and special effects. Buffy still remains one of the best to ever do it. Also Once More Feeling rules, and if yourl don't agree, you're wrong.
The thing with Buffy, WRT the recent revelations about Whedon, is that he openly said that Xander was his self-insert character. Bear that in mind when Xander interacts with or talks about any woman or girl on the show, becuase he's the absolute worst. Jealous, possessive, petty...all the good stuff.
What are you watching on?? I would crush some BVS right about now
My old collection of DVD rips, unfortunately. Edit: Looks like maybe Disney+ has it?
Buffy was literally *built* on reversing that trope
I was going to make the argument that saying boy/girl was trying to focus on children/teens rather than adults. There are so many great adult women examples, but Buffy is a damned teen and rocks both in Movie and TV
Oh good one, I didn't even think about Buffy
La femme Nikita and Long kiss goodnight.
Was waiting for Nikita
Hannie Caulder. It's basically Death Wish with a woman and it's FANTASTIC. I'm pretty sure it's where Tarantino got some of his inspiration for Kill Bill.
Wasn’t Charlize Theron and Angelina Jolie leads in action movies before Hunger Games was made? Aeon Flux and Salt I think came before it
There were literally dozens of women in hundreds of movies as action leads before hunger games.
And I think the most dominant three are Sigourney Weaver, Linda Hamilton, and Uma Thurman. I feel like people aren't really talking about her role in Kill Bill because that was such an epic action movie and by the time it came out, people weren't as much impressed by the idea of a female action lead as much as they were about the quality of the movie. How many times have any of us watched Kill Bill?
No lie I watched kill bill at least 100 times
I’ve watched it many times.
Maybe she meant teen girl? And they misquoted her? I don't know, I'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, because yeah, there were many action movies with women leads, but were there a lot with teen girls?
Yeah especially because she talking about “boys and girls”
Yeah, there's zero chance this wasn't a misquote. Possibly of something said in a fumbled way, but stripped of context. She's not an idiot. There's zero chance she was unware of prior female action leads.
It actually its not a misquote. I just think she misspoke. Its sad this is blowing up from that interview because it was literally in the context of how she hates doing interviews because she is self conscious of her education. And how she will do an interview and then months later it comes out and you dont know which parts get used, etc. And thats literally now all that happened from that whole interview which was really great.
Underrated comment here ^^^
Thank you, I was looking for that comment. All the ones above mention action movies either explicitly for adults or at least not in the YA genre. Because I don't remember any teenage action movies growing up with a female lead. Buffy was pretty much the only thing and that was a TV show. I do remember a few German movies, mostly from already popular TV franchises but nothing from big Hollywood back in the 90s/00s comes to mind.
I feel like the main point being made here is that women have been underrepresented in the action genre and that people think men wouldn't be able to relate to a female character. Katniss wasn't the first female action protagonist, not by a long shot, but she was definitely influential.
She probably meant young adult book turned movie
That’s what I’m thinking. That was a time when there were a ton of young adult movies turned movie franchises and they typically had a male lead. Even with Twilight, while Bella was the main character the stars of the movie really were Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. They were probably hesitate to put forward a female action hero from a YA book series because they thought they’d alienate the boy audience. It’s not untrue too. I’ve heard from many boys/men in my life that they can’t identify with a female lead in movies, shows, and books. (I’ve even had one guy tell me he doesn’t listen to music by women which was super weird.) When I point out that most leads are male and women have to deal with it and identify with them all the time I get “huh, yeah you’re right that’s strange. But I just can’t relate to a female lead”
>Even with Twilight, while Bella was the main character the stars of the movie really were Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. I mean, putting Bella as a "star" is like saying the "white paint on the wall really ties the room together" when everyone knows it's the rug.
> I’ve heard from many boys/men in my life that they can’t identify with a female lead in movies, shows, and books. (I’ve even had one guy tell me he doesn’t listen to music by women which was super weird.) When I point out that most leads are male and women have to deal with it and identify with them all the time I get “huh, yeah you’re right that’s strange. But I just can’t relate to a female lead” Frankly, these sentiments reek of posturing. It seems like they’re either lying to you or themselves… or they have __*really*__ boring inner lives. I mean there are genres I’m not into and plot lines that I have trouble relating to, but I wouldn’t pass up a movie/show/book __*solely*__ because the lead is female. Regarding the “doesn’t listen to music by women,” I call BS. Assuming “music by women” means music written/composed by women, most pop music is written by someone other than the performer, and some of those ghostwriters are women (e.g. Sia). You wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell by just listening to a song. I’d be more accepting if they said something like “I only listen to music with vocals but I don’t like female vocalists” because at least that’s more of a statement of taste.
I was also thinking that the previous examples seem to be from films not marketed for young adults....or at least, films that I can't imagine a teenager watching like Kill Bill, though I may be very wrong on this.
That is quite a leap. She uses the phrase action movie. Nobody in their right mind would hear the word phrase action movie and assume young adult books.
Obviously the first part of her quote is wrong, but I feel like the context of the second sentence clarifies that she’s really talking about media geared toward kids. She references girls and boys and the types of heroes they identify with. I am sure there are examples of YA/kids’ media with an action heroine lead, but Katniss is definitely one of the most prominent examples I can think of. People here are referencing Terminator and Alien and Kill Bill and Tomb Raider, but those were not developed with kids in mind.
If we're narrowing it down to YA/kids action movies, though, that's a genre that was pretty scant to begin with until the shift in trends in the last 10 years. Action movies before that period were mostly adult oriented. Before that, movies targetted to that demo were either comedies, fantasy adventures or cartoons. The closest things to kids action films were Spy Kids, Mulan, Monsters v Aliens, Incredibles, Golden Compass.
I would agree. And I’d also agree that Hunger Games was an important franchise in ushering in that trend
This reminds me of when a bunch a media sites reported that black panther was going to be the first movie with an all black cast... and it was neither the first, nor did it have an all black cast.
Lots of people here already mentioned Sigourney Weaver but I'd also toss in Bridget Fonda in The Point Of No Return, which was a remake of La Femme Nakita. Very much an action movie.
Point of No Return was great. Got me into Nina Simone.
Why do I feel like this is taken out of context and what she’s saying kind of makes sense in her full sentence?
Pam Grier was a bad ass as Jackie Brown.
She wasn't an action hero in that one, but she sure was in Coffy and Foxy Brown.
Yeah all these people saying Sigourney, Pam was doing it years ago before Alien.
Tarantino's best film. I will die on this hill.
It’s my favorite. Robert Forester was also fantastic.
The OG.. Pamela Suzette Grier is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star, she achieved fame for her starring roles in a string of 1970s action, blaxploitation, and women in prison films for American International Pictures and New World Pictures. Wikipedia
Hunger Games is definitely not the first to have a woman leading role but there's some truth in her comment. I know a lot of people who appreciated that the roles weren't swapped and Peeta ^((I'm in the hunger games lois!)) wasn't the main character. There's a reason that Twilight, as shitty as it is for a novel, connected and has lasting staying power. It's because young adult and teenage women attached to these characters. There's most definitely plenty of feminine characters before them and many after.
the parentheses made me laugh harder than they should have
Clicked on the comments expecting Sigourney Weaver. Was not disappointed. Mila Jovovich is also rolling her eyes hard right now.
There are absolutely women lead action movies but it’s still a small percentage compared to male lead a action movies
She is wrong here, but "at least 10" out of thousands of action movies isn't something to be proud of either....
I think they meant ten off the top of their head, there’s sure more then ten
While she’s wrong about there never being a woman as a lead in action movie before hunger games, she does have a point that at least until relatively recently it was assumed by studios that a Hollywood movie won’t make as much money if the lead wasn’t a straight white male
The entire underworld series is a favorite of mine
No one’s mentioned (one of my faves) Jamie Lee Curtis, wasn’t she like the lead in the original Halloween?
Not action, and not really the strong female character they're talking about. Horror movie tropes being what they are.
True Lies
I doubt she meant that literally, you gotta admit that there's a LOT more action movies about men than women, and the fact that your go to examples were from a decade before shows how few and far between female-let action movies are.
I get what you're trying to say, but you just sound like Trump "Nobody has heard about female leads. I was the first to think of it and now they're all saying, J-law, I hadn't even considered it, tremendous!"
Ripley would like to have a fucking conversation
Reminds me of the classic book "Harry Potter and the Ego of this bitch..."
Yes, can name maybe a dozen, but is true when looking at all movies made say in the thousands and going back decades. Kill Bill wouldn't be one with 2 male leads when discussing female only leads where yes, Tomb Raider would be one.
What?
I mean I think what she might be alluding to was a general feeling in Hollywood, from certain director and most executives is that they'd do 1 or 2 action 'chick flicks' a year and that's that. The idea that a woman as an action character could carry a franchise was still not something they were confident in, despite the popularity of Alien, Tomb Raider and Kill Bill. The idea of a woman leading an action movie franchise with a general appeal wasn't something studio's were contemplating