Sigourney Weaver can do it all. She’s tugged on heart strings in dramas like The Year of Living Dangerously, Gorillas in the Mist, and The Ice Storm. She’s proved herself a master of comedy in Working Girl, Dave, and Cedar Rapids. And as far as female actors who the industry has felt comfortable making the hero in action-driven films, she’s always been a number one pick. But if Weaver is comfortable in any genre, it’s undoubtedly science fiction. In fact, there’s a very strong argument that she is the definitive sci-fi genre movie star, even over Will Smith, Keanu Reeves, and Zoe Saldaña.
It says a lot that we’re about to go through her 10 best sci-fi movies and there were still seven remaining. Specifically, Alien: Resurrection, Paul, Chappie, Ghostbusters (2016), The Gorge, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Avatar: Fire and Ash. One gets the feeling she’s still not done with the genre, so who’s to say this list will stay as it is forever?
10) Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Like most of the other vets of the first two Ghostbusters movies, Weaver popped up in Paul Feig’s 2016 reboot but played a different character. It wasn’t until Ghostbusters: Afterlife that she came back as Dana Barrett. And, while she wasn’t given quite as much to do as Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Dan Aykroyd, or the CGI recreation of Harold Ramis, it was still nice to see her pop up in a sweet tag scene that references the first time we meet Murray’s Dr. Venkman in the 1984 classic.
Afterlife is a fine return to form for the franchise, but it doesn’t really deserve to rank any higher than it does here. That’s doubly true when you consider that Weaver was better utilized in all the other entries. Then there’s the fact this cameo didn’t really go anywhere. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire brought back everybody except for Weaver and Rick Moranis, who didn’t come out of retirement until very recently for Spaceballs 2.
Stream Ghostbusters: Afterlife on Starz.
9) Alien 3
It may not be perfect, and it may have been a living hell for director David Fincher, but Alien 3 is actually pretty great once you can get past how it unceremoniously kills off Newt and Hicks. And given how much of a pain it was to make, it’s impressive that it manages to be coherent at all much less a suitably tense and claustrophobic monster movie.
Weaver continues to be in top form as Ripley and she’s ably supported by an underrated cast including legends Charles Dance (whose death midway through is every ounce as devastating as it’s trying to be), Pete Postlethwaite, Charles S. Dutton, and Holt McCallany. But it’s Ripley’s sacrifice that allows Alien 3 its placement here on its list. It’s the true end of her arc, and Alien: Resurrection was nothing more than a bland mistake.
Stream Alien 3 on Hulu.
8) Avatar
There’s an argument to be made that all three of the Avatar movies are just about equal. And, while it initially looked like Weaver was going to be out after one round, it turns out she’s even more important in the sequels now that her Dr. Grace Augustine has effectively been reincarnated as Kiri (Kiri is more the child of Eywa that came from Augustine’s body, but you get the point).
So, why did the first film nab the top spot if they’re essentially equal and Weaver is better utilized in the sequels? Because the first one was such a visual revelation, though if you’d prefer The Way of Water or Fire and Ash to be here, that’s perfectly understandable.
Stream Avatar on Disney+.
7) Ghostbusters II
It’s not on par with the original, and often seems comfortable repeating beats from that classic, but Ghostbusters II is still a hugely underrated delight. It also continues to find some great use for Weaver’s Dana Barrett.
Watching Barrett try to be polite to Peter MacNicol’s Dr. Janosz Poha is hilarious, but it does ring back to her deflecting Moranis’ Louis Tully to a degree. Instead, what works best for Barrett here is her maternal sensibility, which helps her make the true heart of the sequel.
Stream Ghostbusters II on AMC.
6) The Cabin in the Woods
One of the great post-’80s horror comedies, The Cabin in the Woods made for a hugely impressive directorial debut for Drew Goddard. It was and remains one of the best theater experience movies.
But, as inventive and entertaining as it is, it doesn’t exactly soar as a Weaver sci-fi movie given her limited screentime. She doesn’t show up as the director until the final few minutes, explaining the film’s hard left turn from straightforward small-scale slasher to an epically scoped sci-fi flick concerning human sacrifice to keep the Earth spinning.
Stream The Cabin in the Woods on Hulu.
5) Galaxy Quest
Star Trek fans are serious about their beloved property, which makes the hat trick that is Galaxy Quest all the more impressive. It pokes fun at Trek without alienating the IP’s fans. In fact, it basically serves as an episode of the classic series.
For that matter, it does a wonderful job appealing to those who don’t consider themselves Trek fans. Galaxy Quest is just a fun, funny, well-acted, and often quite heartfelt adventure that appeals to younger audience members just as much as it appeals to those who were alive when Star Trek: The Next Generation or even Star Trek: The Original Series were on the air.
Stream Galaxy Quest for free on Kanopy.
4) WALL-E
In Pixar’s WALL-E, Weaver plays the soothingly voiced computer of the starliner Axiom, whose residents are, shall we say, heavyset. It’s not the meatiest role in the world, but WALL-E is such a lovely, thought-provoking, and deep movie (still one of Pixar’s best nearly 20 years later) that it would rank fairly high regardless of how much we get to hear her.
Then there’s the fact that Weaver’s casting as a computer’s voice feels like coming full circle since the days where she was contending with the Nostromo‘s AI: MU/TH/UR. In fact, director Andrew Stanton made a joke to Weaver about this when she was cast.
Stream WALL-E on Disney+.
3) Aliens
Were we just ranking these movies based purely on how well Weaver’s characters were utilized by the screenplay, Aliens would be a clear number one. But it’s more of a combination of that and overall quality and we still give the edge of Ridley Scott’s original movie, not James Cameron’s sequel.
Even still, this is one of the ultimate movie sequels. It’s almost of an entirely different genre from its predecessor. What was initially a dark and claustrophobic haunted house in space movie is now a slam-bang actioner and it couldn’t work any better.
Stream Aliens on Hulu.
2) Ghostbusters
In Ghostbusters, Weaver’s Barrett gets to undergo one of the strangest transformations in cinema history. Is she essentially a vessel to keep the plot going? Sure. She’s there to get Dr. Venkman’s interest, then to experience paranormal events, and then those two things essentially merge to get to the third act. But she still gets to turn into a devil dog after getting her own Linda Blair in The Exorcist moment, and that’s more than enough to make this one of the top Weaver sci-fi movies.
This was a cinematic event, one where all the pieces lined up perfectly. That included Weaver, whose chemistry with the rest of the cast, especially Bill Murray, is sterling. It may mostly be about the Ghostbusters themselves, but Ghostbusters wouldn’t be what it is without Dana.
Stream Ghostbusters on MGM+.
1) Alien
Tightly paced, genuinely frightening, and endearingly restrained, Alien is a perfect movie. It was also Weaver’s breakthrough. In fact, it was basically her first movie outside a tiny role in Annie Hall and a lead role in the forgotten drama Madman.
As Ellen Ripley Weaver commands the screen. We fully believe that she’s the one who could best the Xenomorph and exit the Nostromo with a pulse. This is one of the ultimate star-making performances. It shows range, it shows charisma, and it shows the first hints of an actor who could handle complicated action sequences without breaking a sweat.
Stream Alien on Hulu.
