Don’t Forget: ‘Aliens’
"Colombiana" comes out this weekend, Zoe Saldana's bid to be the next action heroine in the mold of Milla Jovovich, Kate Beckinsale or Angelina Jolie. It's funny how it's still sort of novel when an action movie stars a woman -- one of "Colombiana's" running jokes is that the man chasing her refuses to believe the mysterious assassin isn't a guy -- but at least you have several examples of butt-kicking actresses in modern times. Thirty years ago, it was simply unheard of -- until Sigourney Weaver came along. She was part of an ensemble for 1979's "Alien," but seven years later her character was calling the shots in the sequel.
"Aliens" starred Weaver again as Ripley, the only survivor from the previous alien attack. When she's thawed out after tumbling through space for more than 50 years, the last thing she wants to think about are aliens, but after learning that humans have colonized the planet where the creatures originated, she's the only person who understands the extent of their menace. A woman's work is never done.
Ridley Scott directed the original, but for the sequel James Cameron came aboard. Scott has since gone on to feature women protagonists in "Thelma and Louise" and "G.I. Jane," but if there's one action director with an even higher concentration of female heroes it's Cameron. (For those who might throw "The Professional" and "Le Femme Nikita" director Luc Besson into the conversation, he's one of the producers and writers of "Colombiana.")
Cameron had just come off "The Terminator," where Linda Hamilton had to mix it up with Arnold Schwarzenegger, but with "Aliens" he fashioned an action/horror/sci-fi movie with a strong maternal angle. Ripley doesn't just have to mother her team of male soldiers (including a hilariously over-the-top Bill "Game over, man!" Paxton), but she also has to protect Newt (Carrie Henn), a young girl who, like, Ripley, had been the lone survivor of an alien attack. That fierce mama bear energy made "Aliens" unique among action films. Usually, the guy's trying to save his girlfriend; here, the woman's saving her surrogate daughter.
"Aliens" went on to grab seven Academy Award nominations, mostly in technical categories, but amazingly Weaver snagged a Best Actress nomination. That's pretty exceptional in several ways. For one, action movies tend not to get much Oscar attention for their performances. The same thing is true for sci-fi films. But, even more impressive, this was a nomination for a woman whose most memorable line might very well be "Get away from her, you bitch!" Action heroes (male or female) tend not to be Oscar-bait, but the Academy clearly responded to Weaver's urgency and ferocity. Since then, women have been the stars of hit action movies, particularly Jolie with the "Tomb Raider" films and "Wanted." But Weaver got that ball rolling, which makes it sorta perfect that she starred in "Avatar" with Saldana. A passing of the torch -- though they'd both probably prefer a more awesome weapon than that.
