8 Female Action Films You Probably Haven't Seen

Pam Grier was at one point one of the most bankable female stars in Hollywood, just behind Barbara Streisand and Liza Minnelli. Unlike those performers, though, she rose to prominence not in comedies and musicals but in a series of “chicks in chains” movies (Women In Cages, The Big Doll House etc) before appearing in her two most iconic pictures, Coffy and Foxy Brown.

Endorsed by Quentin Tarantino, who borrowed the protagonist’s surname for Grier’s character in Jackie Brown (1997), Foxy Brown tells the story of a young woman who seeks revenge against the (white) gangsters that killed her boyfriend. It’s the kind of action film you don’t see anymore: a movie loaded with attitude, full of indignation at an African American’s lot, with a gun-wielding heroine who (according to the tagline) will put you on ice if you don’t treat her nice.

Brimming with observations about the lack of opportunities available to minorities in 70s America and crammed with hip dialogue (“That’s my sister, baby, and she’s a whole lot of woman!”), Foxy Brown stands up well enough to make you reflect on contemporary action roles for women. Neither Grier nor the movie really has a modern equivalent, and the world’s a poorer place for it.