My pick is Ellen Ripley of the Alien franchise, especially Alien (1979) & Aliens (1986) because she's basically a regular human who makes good decisions, acts insanely brave in the face of extreme danger, takes heroic and self-sacrificial actions, is resourceful, assumes a leadership role, and learns as she goes.
Also, although female, it never really mattered. A man in her role in the original Alien movie would not have to be rewritten at all. She just happened to be a woman.
Other suggestions for female action hero in movies you might pick include:
- Uma Thurman as Beatrix "the Bride" Kiddo (codename: Black Mamba) from Kill Bill volumes 1 & 2
- Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) from the Terminator franchise
- Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) from The Matrix franchise
- Diana (Gal Gadot) in The Wonder Woman series (who I feel is diminished due to Wonder Woman 1984 being terrible)
- Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in The Hunger Games franchise
- Jackie Brown (Pam Grier)
- Anamaria (Zoe Saldana) from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise
- Nyah Hall (Thandiwe Newton) from the Mission Impossible franchise
- Natalie, Dylan and Alex (Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu) from the Charlie's Angels series
- Rey (Daisy Ridley) from the Star Wars series
- Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) from Such Fast 2 Much Furious Wow franchise
- The Women of Wakanda (Black Panther and other MCU entries)
- Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) from Avatar
- Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) from The Fifth Element
- Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) from her own self-titled (Black Widow) and several other MCU projects
- Yu Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) in The Star Wars Saga
- Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
- Lieutenant
Jada Pinkett SmithJordan O’Neil in G.I. Jane - Alice in the Resident Evil series
- Jane Smith in Mr. and Mrs. Smith
- Ellen in The Quick and the Dead, etc., etc.
I’m sure I missed plenty.
So weigh-in. Who is the single greatest female action hero in cinema history? Defend your answer!