Tuesday

Five Women in Film Who Saved the Day When Men Couldn't

  When I’m not working diligently for BK Publishers, I blog for a couple of film-related websites.  I’ve been given an opportunity to meld these separate worlds in a brief article for this month’s newsletter.  Since the theme of this issue is Women, I’ve decided to give a few examples of powerful, heroic women in Cinema.  These are characters that stood up and saved the day when their male counterparts fell short.  Enjoy!


1. Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) from the Alien Franchise

Ellen Ripley was the only crewmember of the Nostromo to survive an alien infiltration in 1979.  In 1986’s sequel Aliens, she nearly single-handedly saves the day when a squadron of Colonia Marines is decimated by an infestation of the creatures.  In 1992, Ripley saved a colony of prisoners on a desolate penal planet and successfully prevented the nefarious Weiland Corporation from using the alien as a biological weapon. 

2. Sarah Conner (played by Linda Hamilton) from the Terminator Franchise

While she might have seemed a bit weepy when she was first introduced in 1984, Sarah Conner nonetheless survived a mechanized Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ruthless attack.  In the sequel, 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Sarah does nothing less than save the entire world from potential nuclear annihilation.  

3. Buffy Summers (played by Kristy Swanson and Sarah Michelle Gellar) from the film and TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer

First in a 1992 movie and then in a television series that ran from 1997 until 2003, Buffy Summers juggles school and dating with exterminating all manner of otherworldly beasties in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  Gifted with strength and intelligence, she upends the stereotype of the dumb-blonde to save the world on numerous occasions.

4. Sidney Prescott (played by Neve Campbell) from the Scream Franchise

In 1996, Sidney Prescott completely shattered the “final girl” concept common to horror movies that sees female survivors as either victims or bimbos.  Sidney manages to summon strength and poise beyond her years as she dodges the knife-wielding Ghostface in Scream and three subsequent sequels. 

5. Alice (played by Milla Jovovich) from the Resident Evil Franchise

When the evil Umbrella Corporation doomed the planet by releasing a zombie-virus, they never considered that Alice would be their undoing.  Throughout Resident Evil and its four sequels (a 5th sequel, Part 6 in the franchise, is currently in development), Alice dispatches legions of undead and genetically modified creatures as she leads a rag-tag band of survivors on a quest for a fabled safe-zone.