Entertainment

The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked  

Ranker Film
9.6k votes 1.5k voters 37.4k views 65 items

List Rules Vote up your favorite action movies that have female characters in the lead.

This list contains information on the best female action movies, ranked from best to worst by user votes. The best female action films come in many forms. Some feature tough women trained in combat while other good female action films find everyday women fighting for their lives. A few of the best feminist action films even generated sequels.

What films will you find on this top female action movies list? Alien has to be at the top. Sigourney Weaver stars as Officer Ripley who comes face to face with a deadly extraterrestrial while traveling in space in this 1979 movie directed by Ridley Scott. Terminator 2: Judgment Day – featuring Linda Hamilton as Sarah Conner – is another good female driven action film.

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez released two of the all-time best female action films for their Grindhouse features Death Proof and Planet Terror. Other great feminist action movies include Hanna, Aeon Flux, and Wonder Woman.

 

Which female action film do you think deserves the top spot on this list? Give your favorites a vote up and please add any good movies we may have missed.

 

You might also like this list of the best female assassin movies.

list ordered by
1
Kill Bill Saga is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
The Kill Bill Saga consists of Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2 in which Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman) seeks revenge against Bill (David Carradine), her former lover and the leader of a group known as the ...more
2
Aliens is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Sigourney Weaver, Bill Paxton, Michael Biehn
Aliens is a 1986 American science-fiction action horror film written and directed by James Cameron, produced by his then-wife Gale Anne Hurd, and starring Sigourney Weaver, Carrie Henn, Michael ...more
3
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Edward Furlong, Linda Hamilton
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 American science fiction action thriller film written, produced and directed by James Cameron. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert ...more
4
Alien is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Ian Holm
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott. The crew of the commercial space tug Nostromo encounter the eponymous Alien, a deadly and aggressive extraterrestrial set ...more
5
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Alita Thornton added Ben Affleck, Hilary Swank, Donald Sutherland
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a 1992 American action/comedy horror film about a Valley girl cheerleader named Buffy who learns that it is her fate to hunt vampires. The film starred Kristy ...more
6
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Craig Austin added Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun-Fat
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2000 wuxia film. An American-Chinese-Hong Kong-Taiwanese co-production, the film was directed by Ang Lee and featured an international cast of Han actors, ...more
7
Wonder Woman is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright
Wonder Woman is a 2017 American superhero film directed by Patty Jenkins, based on the DC Comics character. When a pilot (Chris Pine) crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, Diana ...more
8
Mad Max: Fury Road is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Alita Thornton added Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Hugh Keays-Byrne
Mad Max: Fury Road is a 2015 action film directed by George Miller. In a post apocalyptic desert wasteland where gasoline and water are scarce commodities, Max Rockatansky (Max Hardy) joins ...more
9
Resident Evil: Extinction is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
fatcish added Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Ashanti
RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION is again based on the wildly popular video game series and picks up where the last film left off. Alice (Milla Jovovich), now in hiding in the Nevada desert, once again ...more
10
The Fifth Element is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Alita Thornton added Milla Jovovich, Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman
The Fifth Element is a 1997 English-language French science fiction action film directed and co-written by Luc Besson. It stars Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman and Milla Jovovich. Mostly set in the ...more
11
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Alita Thornton added Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed
This film is a 2016 American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards. The daughter (Felicity Jones) of an Imperial scientist joins the Rebel Alliance in a risky move to take the plans.
12
Resident Evil: Apocalypse is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
fatcish added Milla Jovovich, Iain Glen, Sienna Guillory
Resident Evil: Apocalypse is a 2004 British-Canadian apocalyptic fiction action horror film directed by Alexander Witt, from a screenplay written by producer Paul W. S. Anderson. It is the ...more
13
Hanna is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana, Saoirse Ronan
Hanna is a 2011 action thriller film that contains prominent fairy tale elements, directed by Joe Wright. The film stars Saoirse Ronan as the title character, a girl raised in the wilderness of ...more
14
The Long Kiss Goodnight is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
TimXeriland added Samuel L. Jackson, Geena Davis, Brian Cox
The Long Kiss Goodnight is a 1996 action film directed and produced by Renny Harlin, written and produced by Shane Black and starring Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson.
15
Spy is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
carlybobarly added Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne
Spy is a 2015 American action comedy spy film directed by Paul Feig. A desk-bound CIA analyst (Melissa McCarthy) is assigned her mission as a field agent to foil the sale of a suitcase nuke.
16
Salt is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Salt is a 2010 American action thriller spy film directed by Phillip Noyce, written by Kurt Wimmer, and starring Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Daniel Olbrychski, August Diehl and Chiwetel ...more
17
Atomic Blonde is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman
Atomic Blonde is a 2017 American action spy thriller film directed by David Leitch and written by Kurt Johnstad. It is based on Antony Johnston's 2012 graphic novel The Coldest City, which ...more
18
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The ... is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Alita Thornton added Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver
This film is a 2017 American epic space opera film written and directed by Rian Johnson. Having taken her first steps into the Jedi world, Rey (Daisy Ridley) joins Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) ...more
19
Anna is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Sasha Luss, Helen Mirren, Luke Evans
Anna is a 2019 English-language French crime thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson. Beneath Anna Poliatova's (Sasha Luss) striking beauty lies a secret that will unleash her indelible ...more
20
Underworld is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
John Johns added Kate Beckinsale, Michael Sheen, Wentworth Miller
Underworld is a 2003 action horror film directed by Len Wiseman about the secret history of Vampires and Lycans. It is the first installment in the Underworld series. The main plot revolves ...more
21
The Descent is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
MattGreene1 added Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid
The Descent is a 2005 British adventure horror film directed by Neil Marshall. Six women enter an unmapped cave system, become trapped, and are hunted by flesh-eating subterranean humanoids.
22
V for Vendetta is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Alita Thornton added Natalie Portman, John Hurt, Hugo Weaving
V for Vendetta is a 2006 American political thriller film directed by James McTeigue and written by the Wachowski Brothers, based on the 1988 Vertigo graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore ...more
23
Star Wars: Episode VII - The F... is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill
This film is a 2015 American epic space opera film directed by J. J. Abrams. Three decades after the Empire's defeat, a new threat arises in the militant First Order. Ex-stormtrooper Finn (John ...more
24
Close is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Noomi Rapace, Sophie Nélisse, Eoin Macken
Close is a 2019 British-American action thriller film directed by Vicky Jewson. To protect an heiress (Sophie Nélisse) from highly trained kidnappers, a lone security expert (Noomi ...more
25
Charlie's Angels is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list The Best Female Action Movies, Ranked
Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu
Charlie's Angels is a 2000 American action comedy film directed by McG, starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu as three women working for a private investigation agency. The film is ...more