Science Fiction Film Babes Through Time
Flixster Presents: Science Fiction Film Babes Through Time
Sure there are a ton of lists of beautiful women out there, but as a site dedicated to movies, we really felt like we had to have our own. What’s so special about our list? Two things (no, not THOSE two things). One; we are spanning approximately five decades of Science-Fiction babes. Two; for this list, we are sticking only to Sci-Fi Babes from movies. That’s right. No TV hotties — check back later for that list. And just to make it interesting, no superheroes (okay, okay, we’ll keep superheroes, but only if they have a strong Sci-Fi element to their story).
Check the end of the list for our special lifetime achievement award winner.
So, here they are, placed in ascending order of babe-itude for their particular decade. (Note that the Flixster Babe Scale ranks not necessarily by physical hotness, but by overall sex appeal, as determined by a panel of experts.)
The '50s and '60’s
B-movies and D-cups powered the early days of Sci-Fi. (Honorable mention to the Attack of the 50 Foot Woman woman.)
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7. Faith Domergue, Dr. Ruth Adams in This Island Earth (1955)
Even in a jumpsuit that was probably borrowed from the local plumbers union, Faith looked pretty good. Special props for posing in all those photos with the giant-brained bug-eyed rubber mutant monster. -
6. Patricia Neal, Helen Benson in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
Helen Benson, a widow and single mom, is the human hero of this classic, rather than her headline-hunting jerk of a boyfriend. Sexy! -
5. Anne Francis, Alraira in The Forbidden Planet (1956)
A very hot Anne Francis and a super cool robot. What more could you ask from a movie based on a Shakespeare play? -
4. Dana Wynter, Becky Driscoll in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
So, all right, she gets taken over by the pod people, but we’d still want to spend some quality time with her. -
3. Linda Harrison, Nova in Planet of the Apes (1968)
Let’s get this straight. Charlie Heston could’ve settled down with this super hot, animal-skin wearing slave girl, and he decided to run off and find the Statue of Liberty? What a complete tool. -
2. Jane Fonda, Barbarella in Barbarella (1968)
Politics aside, you gotta love the zero G strip tease. -
1. Raquel Welch, Loana in One Million Years B.C. and Cora in The Fantastic Voyage (both in 1966)
Whether it’s Raquel in a bikini vs. a dinosaur, or Raquel in a skin-tight white scuba suit vs. white blood cells, you have to admit that ’66 was a very good year for her. And for the guys.
The 1970’s
The early part of this decade saw a bit of a dry spell for the Sci-Fi films and their hotties. Thank god for Carrie Fischer. Honorable mention goes to Maude Adams in Rollerball (better known as Bond-girl Octopussy).
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5. Susan Sarandon, Janet in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Before her career got all serious, Susan Sarandon was soaking wet, sexy, and could sing a pop tune. Dammit Janet, nice lingerie! -
4. Caroline Munro, Stella Star in Starcrash (1979)
All right, we freely admit that this movie is cringingly bad. But, even with some of the cheesiest outfits and worst special effects ever devised by bad filmmakers, Caroline Munro is a serious babe. -
3. Persis Khambatta, Lt. Ilia in Star Trek the Motion Picture (1979)
Before G.I. Jane, before V for Vendetta, Ilia was the original Hot Bald Chick. Wearing the shortest skirt in the Federation, she gave a whole new meaning to the phrase, “Where no man has gone before”. -
2. Jenny Agutter, Jessica in Logan’s Run (1976)
If being blasted out of the sky on our 30th birthday was the price we had to pay to spend some quality time with Jenny and her futuristic negligee, what the hell; we say it’s worth it. -
1. Carrie Fisher, Princess Lea Organa in Star Wars (1977)
We know legions of fans will argue than Ms. Fisher was at her hottest in that metal bikini, however, we really like the smart-mouthed young woman who took charge of the blaster when the boys didn’t know which end to use. Princess Leia not only paved the way for the Babes of future decades, but her name even sounds like an indecent act.
The 1980s
With the success of Star Wars, science fiction films came back with a vengeance. And so did the women in them.
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12. Kelly LeBrock, Lisa in Weird Science (1985)
As the personification of the ultimate geek fantasy of making your own girlfriend, Kelly and her midriff blew the doors off of this movie. Literally. -
11. Ally Sheedy, Stephanie in Short Circuit (1987)
We had to include Ally for that whole girl-next-door thing she has. (She was actually hotter in The Breakfast Club, but we couldn’t include that one on this list.) -
10. Kirstie Alley, Saavik in Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Oddly enough, Kirstie was hotter with the Vulcan ears than without. Go figure. -
9. Daryl Hannah, Pris in Blade Runner (1982)
Even with the raccoon eyes and one of the worst wigs of this bad-hair decade, Daryl was pretty sexy. Can you say “attack of the clones”? -
8. Virginia Hey, The Warrior Woman in Mad Maxx 2 (1981)
In a post-apocalyptic wasteland, where (we assume) there was no shampoo or Oil of Olay, how did the Warrior Woman maintain that great hair and skin and still have time to become an expert with a compound bow? Even Mel Gibson doesn’t know. -
7. Kim Basinger, Celeste Martin in My Stepmother is an Alien (1988)
We haven’t actually even seen this one, but it’s Kim Basinger right? -
6. Sybil Danning, Saint Exmin in Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
Another painfully bad movie. However, Sybil looked great in that Valkyrie outfit. -
5. Cindy Morgan, Lora/Yori in Tron (1982)
Even with the dorky helmet, Cindy was awesome to behold in the world’s first movie/videogame tie-in. -
4. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Lindsey Brigman in The Abyss (1989)
Because we like women that are smart, strong, and come back from the dead after being drowned. That’s hot. -
3. Natalie Wood, Karen Brace in Brainstorm (1983)
A classic beauty in a forgotten classic. -
2. Ornella Muti, Princess Aura in Flash Gordon (1980)
Proving pretty definitively that bad is almost always hotter than good. We would’ve let Ming blow the earth to little bits for a little bit of his daughter Aura. -
1. Mathilda May, naked space vampire in Lifeforce (1985)
Death by hot naked woman? Bring it! Especially if it’s the gorgeous and completely buck-naked Mathilda May that’s sucking our…lifeforce. You may need to watch this more than once, to, you know, pick up all of the subtle acting and stuff.
The 1990s
In the 90s, we finally started to see lots of women who were smart, totally hot, and kicked major ass, all at the same time.
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10. Naomi Watts, Jet Girl in Tank Girl (1995)
There’s just something about a girl in glasses. We think they should have called the movie Jet Girl. -
9. Madeleine Stowe, Kathryn Railly in 12 Monkeys, (1995)
We love Madeleine Stowe because she’s not only stunning, but she’s a real woman that has something about her that makes us believe, just for a moment, that we could have a chance with her. -
8. Natasha Henstridge, Sil in Species (1995)
Death by Hot Naked Woman, part II. Makes a horrible, spiky, slimy death seem like something to aim for. -
7. Denise Richards, Carmen Ibanez in Starship Troopers (1997)
We are fairly certain that if you look up the words “smoking hot” in most dictionaries, you will find a likeness Ms. Richards. -
6. Dina Meyer, Dizzy Flores in Starship Troopers (1997)
That’s right, call us crazy but we think Dizzy was even more of a babe than Carmen. If we were to be speared through the chest by a giant arachnid, there is no place we’d rather cough our last bloody breath but in the arms of this redhead. We also liked her as Keanu’s bodyguard in Johnny Mnemonic. -
5. Linda Hamilton, Sara Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Sara Connor was kind of whiny in the original Terminator, but boy did she come back strong in T2. For sexy, bare-footed ass kicking, it just doesn’t’ get much better than the escape from the crazy house scene. -
4. Gillian Anderson, Agent Scully in X-Files (1998)
Just in case you ever needed proof that smart is sexy. -
3. Jennifer Connelly, Anna/Emma in Dark City (1998)
Rufus Sewell defeats a race of freakish mind controlling aliens just to get a date with Jennifer Connelly. We only wish it was that easy. -
2. Carrie Anne Moss, Trinity in The Matrix (1999)
Trinity’s hotness comes almost completely from her confidence and grace under pressure. That, and the head-to-foot skin tight black vinyl thing. And the guns, oh yeah, the guns. Oh, and the kung fu.... -
1. Milla Jovovich, Leeloo in The 5th Element (1997)
Sure, she’s a lethal weapon wearing nothing but a couple of strategically-placed bandages. But is Leeloo hot because of, or in spite of, her babbling in an incomprehensible alien language?
The 2000s
Continuing the trends of the 90’s, with possibly even better-looking women. Also, we have to give Monica Belluci from the two Matrix sequels an honorable mention here. Even though she’s barely in the films, she is one of most beautiful women ever. Period.
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12. Natalie Portman, Padme Amidalla in Star Wars I-III (1999-2005)
Try as they might, even the galaxy’s worst hair dressers and fashion designers can’t spoil Natalie’s awesome looks. -
11. Natascha McElhone, Rheya in Solaris (2002)
Go ahead, look into Natascha’s dreamy eyes and just try not to throw your life (and a multi-billion dollar spacecraft) to the mercy of a planet-sized alien presence. George Clooney couldn’t do it, and neither could you. -
10. Elizabeth Peña, voice of Mirage in The Incredibles (2004)
Superhero villains are almost always sexier that the good guys (as Ornella Muti proved in 1980), but with Ms. Peña’s buttery smooth voice, it’s a slam dunk. We’d be happy to listen to Elizabeth read the HTML code for the entire Flixster site to us. -
9. Scarlett Johansson, Jordan Two Delta in The Island (2005)
We heard that Scarlett actually wanted to appear topless in this movie, but director Michael Bay said, “No.” What? What?!! You’re killing us here, Michael! -
8. Angelina Jolie, Frankie in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
The looks, the strength, the athleticism, the uh... um... did we mention the looks?
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7. Halle Berry, Storm/Ororo Munroe
6. Famke Janssen, Jean Grey
5. Rebecca Romijn, Mystique/Grace
7 - 5. The X Women: Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, and Rebecca Romijn in X2: X-Men United (2003)
It hurt our brains too much trying to decide which of these women were hotter. We really don’t need to say anything about any of them though, do we?
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4. Jessica Alba, Sue Storm in The Fantastic Four I and II (2005, 2007)
Jessica has said that she’ll never do nudity, but we just keep hoping all the same. -
3. Megan Fox, Mikaela Banes in Transformers (2007)
Seriously. So hot that we almost stopped caring how freakin’ cool giant transforming robots are. -
2. Claudia Black, Sharon in Pitch Black (2000)
Yes, we love women who know what they want... and know how to use a gun to get it. Claudia’s allure transcends her fantastic looks; she's just flat out awesome. And the accent doesn’t hurt either. -
1. The Women of Firefly: Gina Torres, Morena Baccarin, Jewel Staite, and Summer Glau in Serenity (2005)
Looks, brains, personality, butt-kicking hotness. Why decide when you can have it all? Whoever Joss Whedon got to cast his original series and the movie based on it, they knew what they were doing. Whether you’re looking for the girl next door, a slightly loopy waif, a woman that takes no prisoners, or one that’s just a stone-cold fox, you’ll find her onboard the Firefly.
The Lifetime Achievement Award
Drumroll please… The Flixster Lifetime achievement in the category of Science Fiction film babe goes to none other than Sigourney Weaver.
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Sigourney Weaver
Whether she was taking out aliens, being possessed by a horny deity in two Ghostbusters films, or sporting the best cleavage in the universe in Galaxy Quest, there is no denying the impact Sigourney has had on Science Fiction filmdom. She’s also on a very short list (along with Carrie Anne Moss and Mary Elizabeth Monstrontonio) of Sci-Fi babes who came back from the dead. Nice!
