For decades, when moviegoers sit down to watch an action flick, they usually get exactly what they expect: masculine men punching and kicking the sh*t out of one another. Unfortunately, the woman featured in those films rarely get a chance to flex their fighting chops.
Thankfully, in a few cases, the writers and directors behind Hollywood blockbusters manage to bring in a strong cast of female characters to duke it out on the silver screen. These scenes are entertaining as hell to watch and, in our opinion, movie producers don’t give women enough opportunities to show just how strong and fierce they can be.
So, we decided to make a list of badass heroines who don’t hesitate to showcase their mettle.
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Cindy takes on a crazy cat in ‘Scary Movie 2’
When you think about the best duels featuring a strong female combatant, you probably didn’t expect to see Scary Movie 2 make the list, did you? Fans of comedy laughed uncontrollably when Cindy Campbell got embroiled in a no-holds-barred fistfight against a cat in the 2001 comedy.
This epic duel contains deadly weapons, tricky moves, and some hilarious sh*t-talking.
Melina fist fights Lori in ‘Total Recall’
In 1990, Total Recall showed audiences why you should never push someone to their breaking point without expecting a fight. In this action-packed scene, two strong, female characters go head-to-head in a well-choreographed, sci-fi showdown.
Charlie’s Angels scrap Madison Lee in ‘Charlie’s Angels 2: Full Throttle’
In 2003’s Charlie’s Angels 2: Full Throttle, three beautiful private investigators do everything in their power to take down a rogue agent. This intense fight scene transitions between rooftop hand-to-hand combat and a crazy car chase without skipping a beat.
Letty battles Kara in ‘Furious 7’
What happens when you put an MMA fighter up against a tough-talking street racer? You get one of the most badass, all-female battles of the Fast and the Furious franchise. These on-screen fighters make battling it out in tailored dresses look easy.
Black Mamba battles Copperhead ‘Kill Bill: Volume 1’
In this famous scene, our heroine goes up against an old adversary. The two meet and immediately draw steel. Black Mamba (as played by Uma Thurman) and Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox) put on an incredible showcase of acrobatic stunts and precise choreography.
When moviegoers show up to watch a Tarantino film, they expect to get some vivid imagery and a whole lot of F-bombs, but they didn’t expect a duel to the death through a suburban home.
Ripley versus a freakin’ Alien in ‘Aliens’
If this list has you convinced that fighting a badass woman is tough, try fighting the queen of the xenomorphs. In 1986, director James Cameron brought this idea to the big screen as Ripley went toe-to-toe with a nasty, double-mouthed, overly-spitty alien in the climax of Aliens.