Girls with guns

For the album by Tommy Shaw, see Girls with Guns (album).

Girls with guns is a sub-genre of films and animation, especially Hong Kong action films and anime, with a female protagonist in a strong lead role, set in a modern context. The genre involves gun-play, stunts and martial arts action. Some of the best known female fighters to Western audiences are Angela Mao Ying, Cheng Pei-pei, Moon Lee, Maggie Q, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and Cynthia Rothrock.

History

The genre started in the 1960s when then-unknown Cheng Pei-pei starred in the 1966 Shaw Brothers Studio film Come Drink with Me, the first film to combine Hong Kong action cinema with a female as the lead.^{[citation needed]} Cheng followed up her success in this film with Golden Swallow in 1968. Golden Harvest Studios had their own female fighter, Angela Mao Ying, best known to western audiences for playing the ill-fated sister of Bruce Lee's character in Enter the Dragon. She starred in such films as Hapkido, When Taekwondo Strikes and Lady Whirlwind.

In the early 1980s, there was a change in the Hong Kong film industry: movies had bigger budgets, new stars, and new stories.^{[citation needed]} Two new faces appeared around this time: Michelle Yeoh and martial artist Cynthia Rothrock. They starred in the Corey Yuen directed film Yes Madam, AKA In the Line of Duty 2. The movie was a box office hit making Yeoh and Rothrock stars and reviving the "girls with guns" genre. In the mid 1980s many martial arts movies featured a female either as the lead or as the co-star in action.^{[citation needed]}

Actresses Jade Leung, Yukari Oshima, Cynthia Khan and Joyce Godenzi would rise to prominence in similar roles.

American popular culture became fixated by girls with guns in the 1990s and they were seen in many media.^[1] The genre continued in the 2000s, with movies such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, So Close, Naked Weapon, Aeon Flux, and UltraViolet.

Anime and manga

The term "girls-with-guns" is also used in reference to anime series such as Bubblegum Crisis,^[2][3][4][5] Gall Force,^[5][6] Dirty Pair,^[4][5][6][7] Gunsmith Cats,^[6][8] Angel Heart,^[9] and Gunslinger Girl,^[6] as well as Kōichi Mashimo's trilogy of Noir, Madlax,^[10] and El Cazador,^[11] and works inspired or influenced by it. Yasuomi Umetsu's works such as Kite , Mezzo Forte, Mezzo DSA, and Kite: Liberator ^[12] have all been cited as being within the "girls with guns" subgenre. Rei Hiroe's Black Lagoon tends to supplement the "girl with guns" motif with other anime inspired motifs such as "maids with guns" and "nuns with guns" (the latter being a major theme in anime and manga such as Chrono Crusade and Trinity Blood).

Films

Come Drink with Me (1966) Hapkido aka He qi dao (1972) Ms. 45 (1981) Yes, Madam aka Huang gu shi jie (1985) Righting Wrongs aka Zhi fa xian feng (1986) Magnificent Warriors aka Zhong hua zhan shi (1987) Angel aka Tian shi xing dong (1987) In the Line of Duty 4: Witness aka Huang jia shi jie zhi IV: Zhi ji zheng ren (1989)       Angel Enforcers (1989) Nikita (1990) She Shoots Straight aka Huang jia nu jiang (1990) Dreaming of the Reality aka Dreaming the Reality 梦醒血未停 (1991) Naked Killer (1992) A Serious Shock! Yes Madam! aka "Mo lu kuang hua" (1992) Fit to Kill (1993) XX: Beautiful Hunter (1994) Ghost in the Shell (1995) Tank Girl (1995) XX: Beautiful Beast (1995) Beyond Hypothermia aka "Sip si 32 dou" (1996) Fudoh: The New Generation (1996) Mari's Prey aka マリ-の獲物 (1996) Rose: Predator Leopardess (1996) XX: Beautiful Prey (1996) Barb Wire (1996) The Black Angel Vol. 1 aka 黒の天使 Kuro no tenshi (1997) Exception to the Rule (1997) Miami (1997) Killing Time (1998) Judas Kiss (1998) The Black Angel Vol. 2 aka 黒の天使 Kuro no tenshi (1999) Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

Full Disclosure (2001) Farewell, My Love (2001) Pistol Opera (2001) Swindle (2002) So Close (2002) Naked Weapon (2002) Resident Evil (2002) Gun Crazy: A Woman from Nowhere (2002) Gun Crazy 2: Beyond the Law (2002) Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002) Underworld (2003) Gun Crazy 3: The Big Gundown (2003) Betrayal (2003) Kill Bill (2003/2004) Aeon Flux (2005) Lethal Angels (2006) UltraViolet (2006) Underworld: Evolution (2006) Yo-Yo Girl Cop (2006) Planet Terror (2007) Tokyo Gore Police (2008) Wanted (2008) The Machine Girl (2008) The Gene Generation (2008) Bitch Slap (2009) Map of the Sounds of Tokyo (2009) Stiletto (2009) The Tournament (film) (2009) Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009) Salt (2010) Kick-Ass (2010) Saturday Killer (2010) Sucker Punch (2011) Colombiana (2011)

Television

• Playgirl (プレイガール)
• The Avengers
• Supergirl
• Alias
• La Femme Nikita
• Angel of Death (web series)
• Little Girl K (소녀K) - 2011

See also

Andy Sidaris Bad girl movies Bond girl Feminist film theory Femme fatale Gun fu

Heroic bloodshed Hong Kong action cinema List of female action heroes The 10th Victim Yukari Oshima Zero Woman

References

1. ^ Diane Waldman, Janet Walker (1999). Feminism and Documentary. Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press. pp. 109. ISBN 0816630070. http://books.google.com/?id=kYFY9Yg_bXYC&pg=PA109. 
2. ^ "Girls With Guns: Bubblegum Crisis". Girls With Guns. http://www.girlswithguns.org/short/short0021.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-06. 
3. ^ "AnimeInfo.org - Reviews - Bubblegum Crisis 2032 by Shouryu". AnimeInfo.org. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927194724/http://www.animeinfo.org/reviews/bgc2032/shour-sor.html. Retrieved 2007-09-06. 
4. ^ ^{a b} Smits, Alex. "Girls With Guns: Animation Hot Picks". Alex-in-Wonderland. http://www.alex-in-wonderland.com/GirlsWithGuns/Recommendations/Animation.html. Retrieved 2007-09-06. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} Bruce Carlson & Steve Pearl. "The Anime Primer". rec.arts.anime gestalt. http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~anime/FAQ/anime.primer.txt. Retrieved 2007-09-06. 
6. ^ ^{a b c d} "How Many Girls with Guns Anime are There?". AnimeNation. 2003-10-23. http://www.animenation.net/blog/2003/10/23/ask-john-how-many-girls-with-guns-anime-are-there/. Retrieved 2008-09-15. 
7. ^ "Girls With Guns: Dirty Pair". Girls With Guns. http://www.girlswithguns.org/long/dp.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-06. 
8. ^ "Girls With Guns: Gunsmith Cats - Bulletproof". Girls With Guns. http://www.girlswithguns.org/short/short0051.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-06. 
9. ^ "Angel Heart on Tv.com". Tv.com. http://www.tv.com/angel-heart/show/74722/summary.html?q=angel%20heart&tag=search_results;title;1. Retrieved 2009-05-17. 
10. ^ Wong, A. (March 2005). "Inside Bee Train". Newtype USA: 8–15. 
11. ^ "January 3–10 News". Anime News Service. 2007-01-06. http://www.animenewsservice.com/archives/janx.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-19. "Following Noir and Madlax, this El Cazador will be the third installment in a series of what Director Koichi Mashimo has referred to as his girls-with-guns genre trilogy." 
12. ^ "Justin Sevakis's Review on Kite Liberator". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/kite-liberator/dvd. Retrieved 2010-01-15. 

External links

• Action Flick Chick
• Gunchicks.com
• Girls with Guns
• Hong Kong Girls with Guns
• Sex & Guns & Oriental Babes
• Thoughts and Observations on "Girls With Guns" Films