Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu may kick ass in "Charlie's Angels", but they're by no means the first women in Hollywood to be deadlier than the male.
In the 1970s, Pam Grier broke the mould with ball-busting performances in 'blaxploitation' classics like "Coffy", "Foxy Brown", and "The Big Doll House". It was these that persuaded Quentin Tarantino to offer her the title role in "Jackie Brown", although sadly it did little to rejuvenate her faltering career.
In Hong Kong, Michelle Yeoh is a martial arts superstar so skilled Jackie Chan lets her do all her own stunts - including riding a motorbike onto the roof of a moving train in "Supercop"! Her appearance in "Tomorrow Never Dies" was so successful there are rumours she will return in the next 007 film. In the meantime, look forward to her in Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".
Linda Hamilton transformed herself from damsel in distress in "The Terminator" to pumped-up supermom in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day"; while Geena Davis was equally formidable as the amnesiac secret agent in "The Long Kiss Goodnight". But neither actress can truly claim to be the toughest chick on the block.
That honour must surely go to Sigourney Weaver, whose iconic performance as Ripley in the "Alien" films made her a feminist role model - not to mention a lesbian pin-up! She was also pretty fearsome in "Gorillas in the Mist"... though if she's so hard, how come she's terrified of riding in elevators?
Read about some more tough women in some weird sports movies.
