10. Ellen Ripley - Alien 3 (1992)
Sigourney Weaver always was a bad ass in the 'Alien' franchise, but in the third instalment she took being butch to a whole new level. Shaved heads and camo vests were the order of the day as Ripley once again takes on the Xenomorphs, this time locked up in an all male, weapon less prison facility...cue an all you can eat man meat buffet. 'Alien 3' could have shown so much promise on paper, continuing from the superb 'Aliens' and even carrying the surviving characters over. 'Aliens' set Ripley up with a sort of family unit and even possible love interest in Hicks, sadly the directors ignored this direction and killed everyone bar Ripley in the opening scene. There was an odd mix of a penal colony with subtle undertones of a religious monastery, plus the lack of weapons made it blatantly obvious there wasn't going to be much of a fight coming from the human side. Shooting began on 'Alien 3' before the script had even been finalised and this is clear throughout, 'Alien 3' is the weak link in the franchise and plods along with an uninteresting premise and location. The redeeming feature comes in the death of titular character Lt. Ellen Ripley. After being impregnated with a tiny alien tot Ripley realises that the Weyland-Yutani corporation plan to use her alien embryo for evil. She takes a noble leap into the furnace, taking the baby Xenomorph now sprouting from her chest with her. The best way to add new life to an ageing horror franchise is to kill off the main protagonist, however Ripley's death had little effect. Weaver grew back her hair and popped up five years later in 'Alien: Resurrection'; just like the franchise Ellen Ripley seemingly refuses to die!