The Modern Amazons

Download or read book The Modern Amazons written by James Ursini and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2006-03-01 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ÊThe Modern Amazons: Warrior Women on ScreenÊ documents the public's seemingly insatiable fascination with the warrior woman archetype in film and on television. The book examines the cautious beginnings of new roles for women in the late fifties the rapid development of female action leads during the burgeoning second-wave feminist movement in the late sixties and seventies and the present-day onslaught of female action characters now leaping from page to screen. The book itself is organized into chapters that group women warriors into sub-genres e.g. classic Amazons like Xena Warrior Princess and the women of the ÊConanÊ films; superheroes and their archenemies such as Wonder Woman Batgirl and Catwoman; revenge films such as the ÊKill BillÊ movies; Sexploitation and Blaxploitation films such as ÊCoffyÊ and the ÊIlsaÊ trilogy; Hong Kong cinema and warriors like Angela Mao Cynthia Rothrock and Zhang Ziyi; sci-fi warriors from ÊStar TrekÊ ÊBlade RunnerÊ and ÊStar WarsÊ; supersleuths and spies like the Avengers and Charlie's Angels; and gothic warriors such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Kate Beckinsale in ÊUnderworldÊ and ÊVan HelsingÊ. In addition the book is lavishly illustrated with over 400 photos of these popular-culture icons in action interesting articles and sidebars about themes trends weapons style and trivia as well as a complete filmography of more than 150 titles.