40. Laurene Landon
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Laurene Landon was billed as the Female Conan the Barbarian. A bit of an awkward title, perhaps, but “Hundra” proves the point pretty well. In that flick, she looks good, fights great and is at her best when not doing much talking. Just like Arnold.
Laurene had a very promising start to her career and would’ve been a star if not for the lack of fighting-but-not-speaking roles available. She’s back in the business today after a long hiatus, so maybe times have changed.
39. Kristy Swanson
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Kristy has found herself in a couple of half-hearted sword fights. In “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, she spends most of her time fending off Rutger Hauer’s sword with a flag staff. In “The Phantom”, she gets in a few good licks but the bad guys are so bumbling that it’s almost laughable.
We’ll give her credit, however, as she carried “Buffy” — one of the better movies you’ll encounter on this list. It’s light fun and has a star-studded cast that includes Donald Sutherland, Pee Wee Herman, Hilary Swank, Rutger Hauer and Luke Perry. They’ve got nothing on Kristy, though.
38. Kate Beckinsale
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Kate would deserve another star for her swordplay if she had held a blade for more than about 30 seconds in “Underworld: Evolution”. Unfortunately, her enemy’s head slides off just moments before she’s about to get into it. “Van Helsing” is pretty much the same deal.
She’d also deserve another star for her acting if she could make me forget “Pearl Harbor”, but that will never happen.
No doubt she’s the real deal in the looks department, though. Hey, Kate, one out of three aint bad!
37. Natassia Malthe
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Natassia Malthe needs some career advice. As if starring in a movie based on a video game were not bad enough, she then accepted the leading role in “Blood Rayne II: Deliverance”.
Natassia, what were you thinking? Did you not see the original? Did you think that all it was missing was a half-vampire version of Billy the Kid?
Natassia’s best performance, of course, was in a sword fighting role. In “DOA: Dead or Alive”, she engaged in a sword fight tribute to “Crouching Tiger” and looked awfully good doing it.
36. Geena Davis
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I understand that Geena Davis trained for the Olympics in archery but didn’t quite make it. I thought that maybe she should try again in fencing until I saw her in “Cutthroat Island”. It’s a fun movie, but the sword fighting is highly choreographed and mostly unbelievable.
Maybe we shouldn’t blame Geena, though. Maybe we should blame Matthew Modine. Matt has ruined at least one other sword fighting flick: “The Gamble” with Faye Dunaway. There may be others, so beware.
Geena, of course, has had a stellar career as a first-rate actress in several other major Hollywood movies. Just stay away from Matthew, Geena, and you should be fine.
35. Kim Cattrall
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Long before “Sex and the City”, Kim Cattrall was one of the hottest rising young actresses in Hollywood. And what made her so hot? Sure, it may have been her role as Lassie in “Porky’s”, but at least part of it was her performance in “The Return of the Musketeers”.
Kim did some impressive sword work in the movie. It’s not a great movie, to be sure, but seeing Kim fight the Musketeers is almost worth the price of admission.
Kim plays the evil Justine, attempting to avenge her father’s death at the hands of the Musketeers twenty years ago.
Kim’s beauty has held up well over the years but this movie looks doomed to be forgotten. It’s not out on DVD, so you’ll have to haul out your old VCR if you want to see it.
34. Sylvia Kristel
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Sylvia never missed a chance to take her top off in her movies, and “Mata Hari” is no exception.
What is exceptional is the writers managed to come up with an excuse to have her half-naked during a sword fight. A little goofy and contrived, for sure, but it’s the only scene like it on this list.
Best known for her work in the “Emanuelle” movies, Sylvia also wrote a telling memoir just released about two years ago.
Sadly, “Mata Hari” is a stinker. Unless you’re dead set on seeing the naked sword fight, see the original with Greta Garbo instead.
33. Genevieve Bujold
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Though it’s certainly dated, “Swashbuckler” is really not bad. I kept waiting for James Earl Jones to launch into his Darth Vader voice or for Peter Boyle to go all “Young Frankenstein” on us, but instead I fell for Genevieve Bujold.
She makes a great rebellious noblewoman who can hold her own against or alongside a band of pirates. It features a star-studded cast that includes Beau Bridges and Anjelica Huston.
Bujold is a timeless French beauty who seemed like she might be ready to become an A-lister after her leading role in “Coma”. That didn’t happen, but you’ve seen her around in many other Hollywood movies.
32. Devon Aoki
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Devon Aoki must have gained such a reputation as a slasher in “Sin City” that she barely had to show her stuff in “DOA: Dead or Alive”. Too bad for us, since that movie’s fight scenes are quite entertaining.
Devon will be back, however, in an upcoming “Sin City” sequel, so there’s hope for us yet.
And while you’re waiting for “Sin City II”, here’s a fun fact about Devon: her daddy Rocky created “Benihana”. I guess the sword doesn’t fall too far from the rack.
31. Sienna Guillory
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Will Sienna Guillory ever be an A-lister?
She’s got the looks, that’s for sure. She’s British, so her acting skills can’t be that bad. And she kicks some serious butt in both “Eragon” and “Resident Evil: Apolcalypse”.
“Eragon” is more of a kid’s movie but it’s fun nonetheless, especially if you can forgive the talking dragon.
Sienna’s got some good movies in the works, so keep an eye on her. I know I will.
July 30th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Uma Thurman was way too high on the list. She has giant man-hands.
July 30th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
[...] 50 hottest celebrity females that know how to handle a sword. (Only [...]
July 30th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Where’s Lucy Lawless, one of the sexiest sword fighters on TV, ever.
July 30th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Movies only for now. TV swordswomen coming soon. The intro mentions that, but it’s not in bold or anything
Update: now it is in bold. Sorry it wasn’t clearer earlier!
July 30th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Meiko Kaji, star of Lady Snowblood. Noteworthy for doing her own swordwork plus starring in two sequels, but also famous as the character the world’s highest paid plagerist, Quentin Whatanassho, stole when he “made” Kill Bill.
July 31st, 2008 at 12:51 am
I prefer Uma Thurman to the rest! Beautiful but great in action (using swords).
July 31st, 2008 at 1:11 am
[...] Die 50 Hottest Women Sword Fighters auf Only Knives. Viele bekannte Gesichter, aber auch Filme von denen ich noch nie gehört habe (was vielleicht auch [...]
July 31st, 2008 at 2:20 am
Well done list, mate. Now go over it and give us the best swordfighting scene of each girl as a Youtube vid…
(Thanks for the great work)
July 31st, 2008 at 4:52 am
Where’s Maureen O’Hara? (At Sword’s Point - 1951)
July 31st, 2008 at 5:12 am
Where’s Summer Glau?
She was crazy-hot in Serenity.
July 31st, 2008 at 6:22 am
You Kate Beckinsale ranked lower than some absolute mongrels. Should be at least top 20. Some of them have faces like a bag of hammers.
July 31st, 2008 at 6:36 am
Kate Beckinsale should be way higher. She’s hotter than Uma by far.
July 31st, 2008 at 6:57 am
Maybe because it was a show it wasnt considered, but Xena Maybe?
July 31st, 2008 at 8:03 am
lucy lawless…as xena?
July 31st, 2008 at 8:26 am
Having Kate Beckinsale #38 is a crime. Way too low.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:25 am
LUCY LAWLESS?! PSSH! You suck for not including her in the list.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:42 am
[...] we are filthy minded, we though this list of the 50 hottest women sword fighters was referring to … uh, something else; turns out that it’s just a list of fifty hot [...]
July 31st, 2008 at 11:13 am
regarding Shu qi: The picture in the middle is actually Vicky Zhao Wei holding the sword, not Shu Qi
Shu Qi didnt do any swordfighting in So Close, for reasons i wont spoil here.
Zhao Wei did all of it, and shes way hotter. So maybe she should be number 22 instead :<
Author’s Note: Great catch, Danny, thanks! And nice call on Vicky. I’ve updated number 22.
July 31st, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Elizabeth Gracen, from Highlander the series (for your TV list, of course).
July 31st, 2008 at 6:05 pm
When you compiled this list and proclaimed that these were the top 50 hottest women sword fighters, I assumed you would have sword fighters. A sai is not a sword, so say goodbye to Rachael Weiss and Jennifer Garner, both of whom are using sais. And where the hell is Cynthia Rothrock, Cat Sasoon, and Karen Sheperd ??
July 31st, 2008 at 6:22 pm
This list is a rip-off. This is the 50 hottest actresses who happen to have held a sword in a movie once…this has nothing to do with being a hot sword-fighting female character. Blech.
1) It should have been by character, not by actress.
2) If you held a sword for less then ten seconds of film time, IT DOESN’T COUNT!
August 1st, 2008 at 2:28 am
I have nothing but scorn for this obvious “I-love-somewhat-ugly-brunettes-only” list. I mean really. Every good-looking blond or brunette is rated lower than those actresses who are generally acknowledged to be “okay-looking”.
Since the author is obviously playing extreme favorites within his/her narrow experience, the list is a waste of time for all those people who really wanted to see a good, definitive list.
August 1st, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Thanks for the tip
But according to Google I’m more of a Slayer not a sword woman!!!
http://totally-pissed-off.blogspot.com/2008/08/dawn-needs-miracle.html
August 1st, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Aya Ueto as the title character in Azumi. Amazing sword fighting by a super-hottie. How did you miss this one?
August 1st, 2008 at 7:41 pm
[...] 1, 2008 · No Comments Courtesy “Only Knives,” here’s a list (with copious pics) of the 50 hottest female sword-swingers from movie history. Let’s make [...]
August 1st, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Where’s Kelly Hu??? She’s hotter than at least 45 gals on this list and is quite skilled with a sword…
August 1st, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Great list. You’re not going to EVER please everyone, though.
Gotta throw another vote for Summer Glau in Serenity, though. Now THAT was an awesome scene…
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:42 am
You have done a good job in making a list of something that was very hard to do.
No doubt you will have others complaining about who they want on the list but if they were to really think about their choice and place them against the ones on your list. They should realize their choice was a bad one.
With Uma and Catherine, I would move them further down the list and move Ziyi,Yeoh, Cheung and the others further up the list. Mind you Ziyi is beautiful but her swordplay would put her below Yeoh.
Otherwise you did a kick ass job with a very hard subject.
P.S. Rai is hot as hell, no wonder she won the Miss World contest at the age of 19 back in 1994.
August 2nd, 2008 at 7:31 am
Hatge to diappoint the creator of this list, but Kate Garner did NOT weild a bladed weapon in Daredevil or Elektra. They were sai. Sai are daggers, not swords, plus they don’t have an edge for cutting, they’re for stabbing. She did look hot in Daredevil, though, I will agree.
August 2nd, 2008 at 7:37 am
Oops, I should have read the whole list first. Those weapons in Rachel Weisz’s hands in The Mummy Returns? They look an awflu lot like sai daggers like the ones Kate Garner weilded. And, as I satated before, sai daggers are thrusting weapons,not blades.
August 2nd, 2008 at 4:01 pm
[...] The 50 Hottest Women Sword Fighters - [...]
August 3rd, 2008 at 1:21 pm
[...] about women of the world. With swords. Keira Knightly finishes [...]
August 3rd, 2008 at 3:30 pm
[...] Read it. [...]
August 3rd, 2008 at 4:01 pm
[...] The 50 Hottest Women Sword Fighters - [...]
August 3rd, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Asummpta Serna (”Wild Orchid”; Theresa in BBC “Sharpe” series; a ton of Spanish stuff) stared in the 1992 Spanish film “The Fencing Master” (”El Maestro De Esgrima”); her sword work was incredible and she is stunning;
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:43 pm
michelle yeoh is the best swords performer, if we observe in crouching tiger and hidden dragon she plays with every kind of sword and instrument. that proves her skill in swords play
August 4th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Where’s Lucy Lawless?
August 4th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
[...] The 50 Hottest Women Sword Fighters - [...]
August 6th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Sarah Carter is very underrated in this list. Probably not so much with the acting, but her cuteness deserves her 5 stars in looks, and her moves in DOA is 5 stars in swords or all around fighting
August 7th, 2008 at 3:07 am
Where is Tessie Santiago? She is the best!
August 7th, 2008 at 6:28 am
[...] list of hot sword fighting movie actresses. The women are ranked by three factors: looks, acting ability and, most [...]
August 8th, 2008 at 6:43 am
[...] 50 Hottest Women Sword Fighters The 50 Hottest Women Sword Fighters The women are ranked by three factors: looks, acting ability and, most importantly, their skill [...]
August 8th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Great list but need an update. There are some girls on this list who just touch a sword for a moment. I missed some really sword role women. What about Elizabeth Gracen? Amanda from Highlander.
August 9th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
soooo, where’s Aya Ueto .. After two great Azumi pictures she should be in!
August 10th, 2008 at 5:06 am
Aya Ueto really should be on this list.
August 11th, 2008 at 3:15 am
[...] The 50 hottest women sword fighters. [...]
August 12th, 2008 at 8:33 am
why are they all white and blonde?
this list sucks.
August 13th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Sarah Carter was hotter than most of the girls on that list… why such a low rank?
August 16th, 2008 at 6:10 am
Geena Davis above Kate Beckinsale!!!!? Are you NUTS??
August 16th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
@ jill
Aishwarya Rai is not white
9/50 Asians are not white
18/50 blondes is not “all” (and most of them are dyed)
sorry to be picky
this is a good list
August 18th, 2008 at 7:24 am
[...] dan maak ik er een post van, zodat jullie er ook van mee kunnen genieten. Wat dacht je van The 50 hottest women sword Fighters? Speciaal voor mensen die graag naar mooie vrouwen kijken. Op ons plaatje zie je trouwens Brigitte [...]
August 23rd, 2008 at 2:06 pm
No Lucy Lawless/Xena? I don’t care if she wasn’t in a film, she still has to be on the list!
And Jennifer Garner/Elektra uses sais, not a sword.
September 3rd, 2008 at 6:14 am
Hi…
im new at this
anybody from mexico??
Uma Thurman is the best with her yellow outfitt
September 27th, 2008 at 11:37 am
No way did you leave out Xena! Lucy Lawless is the sexiest sword-wielding, scantily-dressed woman out there. I expected her to be in the Top 10.
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Cool collection of top 50 women sword fighters…
October 9th, 2008 at 11:14 am
[...] off a LOT of women fighters, so please comment and add your own! I also found this amazing list of 50 swordfighting women in movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, [...]
October 13th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
[...] didn’t make our list of The 50 Hottest Women Sword Fighters, but it wasn’t for her lack of wielding sharp-edged weapons. No, in fact Angelina’s [...]
November 22nd, 2008 at 5:15 am
Kate Beckinsale should be much higher, and the actress from Azumi should definately be on the list.
Likewise I think you missed Kristanna Loken in “Curse of the Ring: Ring of the Nibelungs” where she plays the Warrior Queen Brunnhilde (although she doesn’t fight that much). In that movie she’s good enough to earn one more star for her acting, and move into the top 10.
But it was still a great list, and I’ve found many movies that I want to see =)