Female main character is a tough-as-hell badass

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nauru
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Female main character is a tough-as-hell badass

Post by nauru »

I'm looking for films with a female central character who is a total f*cking badass. I'm not talking about cheesy Tomb Raider bimbos running around looking pretty and having guys fawn over her while she never gets a scratch on her makeup.

I'm thinking Sarah Connor in Terminator 2. Ellen Ripley in Aliens. Women who not only kick ass, but actually have the physique, character and demeanor to make it believable. And rather than wasting time playing out some hackneyed love story, they're like 'I don't have time for that shit' and actually spend their time doing what is necessary to survive. Somewhat decent examples (though not as good as the above) would be Trinity in the Matrix and Selene in Underworld. But I don't like the emphasis on their love interests.

Angelina Jolie kicking anyone's ass is not believable; not only because of her physique but also because the characters she portrays in movies with fighting are ridiculous and trite IMO. Same with Uma Thurman, Cameron Diaz, Michelle Pfeiffer, Lucy Liu, Pam Grier, etc

Here is an image of what I have in mind, hopefully worth a thousand words.

Image

Fighting a super-strong shape-shifting robot from the future is a crazy plot, yet Sarah Connor is one of the most believable and memorable characters in sci fi film (the T2 version of Sarah Connor, not the T1 version). It's not just the appearance; the character, the actions and reactions, the demeanor--together they make a convincing impression that if I met this character in real life she could and would --if she felt it necessary-- surely beat nearly any man unconscious, using her combination of physical toughness, pirate-like resourcefulness, and willpower bordering on pyschotic. She even looks like some people I've seen in documentaries about the FARC, not some former runway model who decided to take up a career in film running around in skimpy outfits and bending down to distract the bad guys.

Any other ideas for female characters who are actually believable as total badasses?
Last edited by nauru on Wed Mar 30, 2016 3:28 am, edited 1 time in total.

edkrak
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Re: Female main character is a tough-as-hell badass

Post by edkrak »

Maybe try some films with Cynthia Rothrock?

You can also check my collection for Pinky Violence. It's a Japanese action/crime subgenre with very strong female leads. Female Scorpion trilogy by Shunya Ito is probably the best of the bunch.

Spunkie
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Re: Female main character is a tough-as-hell badass

Post by Spunkie »

Major Kusanagi from GITS is a major badass.

ShogunRua
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Re: Female main character is a tough-as-hell badass

Post by ShogunRua »

edkrak wrote:Maybe try some films with Cynthia Rothrock?


They fit the criteria, but the films tend to be atrocious ("Undefeatable", one of the worst flicks ever, isn't that much worse than other Rothrock vehicles), and Rothrock herself is an abysmal actress with lousy martial arts skills.

Anywho, I would go with the Lady Snowblood films.

TheDenizen
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Re: Female main character is a tough-as-hell badass

Post by TheDenizen »

You are clearly hankering for some Japanese Girl Boss films. Look up Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto, anything either one of them starred in is worth a look. I also second the mention of the Lady Snowblood films, the Female Scorpion series and the rest of the Pinky Violence stuff (the Girl Boss films are kinda a subset of the Pinky Violence genre).

If you enjoy kung fu at all, ignore Cynthia Rothrock and go right for the Yukari Ôshima flicks. She's tougher than Rothrock and has WAY better skills. She starred in a bunch of "girls with guns" movies in the late 80's/early 90's (often playing a heavy opposite the cute and perky Moon Lee).

As for North American actresses/films...um. I dunno. Ellen Ripley from Aliens and Sarah Connor from Terminator are probably the best two examples. I haven't seen it yet, but that new movie Haywire starring Gina Carano looks decent, and she is legit tough. Also, Alice Braga was pretty believable as a badass mercenary soldier in the Predators film.

ShogunRua
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Re: Female main character is a tough-as-hell badass

Post by ShogunRua »

TheDenizen wrote: I haven't seen it yet, but that new movie Haywire starring Gina Carano looks decent, and she is legit tough.


Heh, kind of?

I mean yeah, she can beat up an untrained male. But I personally know some of the people she has sparred and rolled with. These guys are amateurs, but fairly decent, serious ones who love either Muy Thai or BJJ. They had to go relatively easy on her...

Really, the main thing about Gina Carano is that she's ridiculously hot.

More importantly, it's a film by Steven Soderbergh, and he's an uberpretentious, shitty fucking hack.

TheDenizen
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Re: Female main character is a tough-as-hell badass

Post by TheDenizen »

re: Carano Yeah she's hot. I'm not saying she's an awesome MMA fighter or anything, but she's certainly believable as a tough chick in a movie.

re: Soderberg I liked Waking Life (mostly for the animation) and The Limey, but that's about it.

nauru
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Re: Female main character is a tough-as-hell badass

Post by nauru »

I am looking forward to Haywire coming out on DVD. Looks very close to what I have in mind.

I don't expect actors to be genuinely excellent at martial arts, and I really couldn't care less whether they won or lost against someone off-screen or who they trained with or whether some faceless trainer thought they were "good". I only expect them to create a convincing portrayal of their character on the screen, and to put in the amount of work that it takes to get to a level where the film has the level of intensity and immersiveness that I'm looking for. There are plenty of people who are apparently talented at martial arts off-screen or in a past career and won this tournament and that contest and blah blah blah, but lack the acting ability and/or screen presence to carry a feature film in the lead role (or even in a supporting role).

Seems to me it's much easier to teach an actor how to make it look like they can fight, than to teach a fighter how to make it look like they can act.

Zozan
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Re: Female main character is a tough-as-hell badass

Post by Zozan »

Many would disagree and I wouldnt blame them for doing so, but Milla Yovovich in The Fifth Element, or Resident Evil, especially in Resident Evil: Apocalypse.. worked for me. There was also another chick in Resident Evil II
who could make believe in the stuff she was delivering but being genetically evolved and such, Milla had a game of another dimension and I bought it.

There was also some tough girl in La Femme Nikita. She was such a badass for the majority of the movie and it suited her. Tho she softened up a bit towards the end and I remember cutting points for that.

And probably the girl with the dragon tattoo also fits your description?

Hyomil
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Re: Female main character is a tough-as-hell badass

Post by Hyomil »

TheDenizen wrote:If you enjoy kung fu at all, ignore Cynthia Rothrock and go right for the Yukari Ôshima flicks. She's tougher than Rothrock and has WAY better skills. She starred in a bunch of "girls with guns" movies in the late 80's/early 90's (often playing a heavy opposite the cute and perky Moon Lee).

+1

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