The Modern Amazons

The Modern Amazons: Warrior Women On-Screen (ISBN ) by Dominique Mainon and James Ursini, published by Hal Leonard/Limelight Editions is a non-fiction book documenting the evolution of the female action hero in cinema, television and pop-culture. From Barbarella to Barb Wire, the book surveys the public's interest with the warrior-woman and amazon archetype in media. From the same authors who wrote Cinema of Obsession: Erotic Fixation and Love Gone Wrong in the Movies (book), this book also contains hundreds of illustrations, and a complete bibliography, an extensive 30 page filmography, as well as sidebars about trends, style, and trivia. The warrior-woman image throughout the past five decades is explored, from the iconic Raquel Welch in the prehistoric adventure fantasy One Million Years BC in the "fur bikinis and jungle love" chapter, to the blaxploitation films (Coffy, Foxy Brown, and Sheba, Baby) made famous by Pam Grier, the first African-American woman to play a warrior woman within the action movie genre . Included also is Lucy Lawless' six-season portrayal of Xena: Warrior Princess; Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft in two Tomb Raider movies; Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in the sci-fi Alien adventures, and all the various women who have played vampire slayers, superheroes (and villains), as well as assorted television, cartoon, comics, and video game fighter characters in the various movie action/adventure genres. In addition, the book highlights Hong Kong martials arts warriors such as Angela Mao (Enter the Dragon) and Zhang Ziyi (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and Cynthia Rothrock, and also sexploitation films, including the controversial Ilsa trilogy.