Who is the greatest FEMALE movie star of 1980 to the present

[moreorless87]

I'd give it to Streep overall. She's prolific, has good acting chops, and is still going even now. I think she's a bit overrated, but she is a pretty solid package all around

The problem for me though is that too often she gets drafted in to chew the scenery as some female authority figure in mediocre films, performances that tend to get praised way more than the male equivalents from the likes of say Jeremy Irons despite rarely showing much of interest.

Really the "film star" idea seems quite a subjective judgement to me as how much we weight this different areas is impossible to tie down. Personally I would say that actually you likely need to look at the modern era in terms of pure box office draw as actresses have tended to get starting blockbusters roles more often in recent years so the likes of Jolie, Johansson, Theron and Lawrence have become bigger draws than any actress in the US in the 80's or 90's managed.

If you bias it more towards acting talent and consistent quality of films whilst still generally being very well known then I would say the same as the other thread, Juliette Binoche who's been consistently excellent since the mid 80's not falling back into cheaper "elder stateswoman" roles.

 

[Guestx]

And to be honest, if we're going back through the '80s that list is severely lacking.

The problem with a lot of the girls who got big in the 80s is that they did not continue to stay big.

Where is Meg Ryan today? Where is Sharon Stone? Where is Glenn Close?

They may still continue to act, but their stars have long since waned.

 

[ehtheist]

The problem for me though is that too often she gets drafted in to chew the scenery as some female authority figure in mediocre films, performances that tend to get praised way more than the male equivalents from the likes of say Jeremy Irons despite rarely showing much of interest.

Really the "film star" idea seems quite a subjective judgement to me as how much we weight this different areas is impossible to tie down. Personally I would say that actually you likely need to look at the modern era in terms of pure box office draw as actresses have tended to get starting blockbusters roles more often in recent years so the likes of Jolie, Johansson, Theron and Lawrence have become bigger stars than any actress in the US in the 80's or 90's managed.

If you bias it more towards acting talent and consistent quality of films whilst still generally being very well known then I would say the same as the other thread, Juliette Binoche who's been consistently excellent since the mid 80's.

Reasonable post. My only problem with this type of standard:

"Personally I would say that actually you likely need to look at the modern era in terms of pure box office draw as actresses have tended to get starting blockbusters roles more often in recent years so the likes of Jolie, Johansson, Theron and Lawrence have become bigger stars than any actress in the US in the 80's or 90's managed."

Is that if you applied this type of standard to male actors, you'd get some really head turning results that would leave people saying "Dude... What the hell?" The actress field, oddly, seems to have a *bit* more of a level playing field when it comes to ability as a thespian VS box office draw, so maybe that's appropriate, but I'd like to judge "greatest star" by a rubric which works for both men and women, and which weighs a variety of factors more evenly. Why I privilege Streep is mainly because she's been in her fair share of big movies, even if she hasn't been the blockbuster star that others have, while she also has a huge range of other movies, and her performances span a lot of genres, styles, and have great variance in her performance. Yes she favours certain types of roles, but she breaks beyond them more than most on the list.

But yeah, I can see where you're coming from. I'm just loath to sign on to a rubric which, when applied to men, might have me saying "Well, it's a tough call between Stallone and Schwarzenegger" - however much I love the guys.

 

[TidWell]

Its between Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman,Julia Roberts and Jodie Foster

Streep has the most accolades

 

[ConnorMacGregod]

The problem with a lot of the girls who got big in the 80s is that they did not continue to stay big.

Where is Meg Ryan today? Where is Sharon Stone? Where is Glenn Close?

They may still continue to act, but their stars have long since waned.

Aw man, Meg Ryan was a beaut and so was Sharon, now they both look busted. Well they are both old has hell though, LOL, so it might be due to that. Megs 55 and Sharon is 59. Surprised at how old they are.

 

[The Diplomat]

Since it's about being a "movie star" and not about acting ability, I'd say Sigourney Weaver. Alien franchise, Ghostbusters, Dave, Galaxy Quest, Avatar, etc. She was like the female equivalent to Bruce or Arnold back in the day.

 

[Guestx]

I considered Bullock but counted her out because of lack of dramatic range - but then again, I still haven't seen either Blind Side or Gravity. I guess I should get on that. Without those, I see her as being in Roberts' shadow - two women gobbling up big roles, but Roberts grabbing the bigger. I guess I should give Bullock another chance since I haven't been following her for a number of years... Without seeing more of Bullocks' range though, I just see her as being one of the women in Roberts' shadows when they were both riding high in the 90's.

Go watch The Blind Side. I think it's one of the best performances of the last 10 years. It's also a pretty heartwarming movie, if you're into that kind of thing.

Gravity was also a great performance, especially considering that the vast majority of the movie she's working solo against a green screen.

 

[mjmj]

The problem with a lot of the girls who got big in the 80s is that they did not continue to stay big.

Where is Meg Ryan today? Where is Sharon Stone? Where is Glenn Close?

They may still continue to act, but their stars have long since waned.

Sure, I don't disagree. But their body of work would be no smaller than many of the younger actresses.

But honestly, I don't know that most of the people here are old enough to know much about some of them.,

 

[Guestx]

Jodie foster

One of my favorites. There's definitely no shame in that game.

Contact is one of my favorite sci-fi films of all time. Top 5 easily.

 

[Adamant]

Bullock is a phenomenal actress and probably the best pure actress on that list. She consistently blows me away with how great she is.

 

[Guestx]

Aw man, Meg Ryan was a beaut and so was Sharon, now they both look busted. Well they are both old has hell though, LOL, so it might be due to that. Megs 55 and Sharon is 59. Surprised at how old they are.

Meg Ryan clearly went on a plastic surgery shopping spree. She noticed she was getting older and panicked, I think.

It's a shame.

 

[moreorless87]

Reasonable post. My only problem with this type of standard:

"Personally I would say that actually you likely need to look at the modern era in terms of pure box office draw as actresses have tended to get starting blockbusters roles more often in recent years so the likes of Jolie, Johansson, Theron and Lawrence have become bigger stars than any actress in the US in the 80's or 90's managed."

Is that if you applied this type of standard to male actors, you'd get some really head turning results that would leave people saying "Dude... What the hell?" The actress field, oddly, seems to have a *bit* more of a level playing field when it comes to ability as a thespian VS box office draw, so maybe that's appropriate, but I'd like to judge "greatest star" by a rubric which works for both men and women, and which weighs a variety of factors more evenly. Why I privilege Streep is mainly because she's been in her fair share of big movies, even if she hasn't been the blockbuster star that others have, while she also has a huge range of other movies, and her performances span a lot of genres, styles, and have great variance in her performance. Yes she favours certain types of roles, but she breaks beyond them more than most on the list.

But yeah, I can see where you're coming from. I'm just loath to sign on to a rubric which, when applied to men, might have me saying "Well, it's a tough call between Stallone and Schwarzenegger" - however much I love the guys.

The big difference for me though is that back in the days of Arnie and Sly you didn't tend to get actresses pushed as the main star of blockbusters nearly as often, basically limited to romcoms. Women being one of the main draws for big action blockbusters is a fairly recent event starting to pickup in the late 90's.

 

[Guestx]

The big difference for me though is that back in the days of Arnie and Sly you didn't tend to get actresses pushed as the main star of blockbusters nearly as often, basically limited to romcoms. Women being one of the main draws for big action blockbusters is a fairly recent event starting to pickup in the late 90's.

Yeah, the obvious exception there is Sigourney Weaver with the Alien franchise.

And Linda Hamilton got her turn to be an action hero with T2.

 

[Fox by the Sea]

voting for anybody but streep crew

 

[Guestx]

She's gonna get overlooked, but I really feel like Reese has proven herself over the years.

From starting out doing movies like Cruel Intentions to proving herself in comedy with films like Legally Blonde to doing mature dramatic works in material like Big Little Lies, she's demonstrate her range and talent and continues to be a factor in the industry.

 

[ookii]

No actress can beat Sigourney's resume of work. Plus she is the first female action hero

 

[John Wang]

I cant wait for the next thread

Who is the greatest midget actor from 1980 to the present
Who is the greatest midget actress from 1980 to the present
who is the greatest black actor from 1980 to the present
who is the greatest black actress from 1980 to the present
who is the greatest actor over 6 feet tall from 1980 to the present
who is the greatest child actor from 1980 to the present

Don't be mean to OP!! At least he's coming up with some threads!! Try contributing for once!!

If you have contributed, my apologies, I have no clue who you are.

 

[sickc0d3r]

Ok, I'm taking this one seriously because this is a harder choice than the actor one, and of course, I am a feminist.

For me it came down to Foster, Streep, Bullock, Jolie, and my outside longshot-just-because-I-love-so-many-of-her-movies, Portman.

I took Foster based on longevity, variety, and the sheer awesomeness Taxi Driver, Contact, and Silence of the Lambs.





Also, she reminds me of DDL the most.

 

[ookii]

The problem for me though is that too often she gets drafted in to chew the scenery as some female authority figure in mediocre films, performances that tend to get praised way more than the male equivalents from the likes of say Jeremy Irons despite rarely showing much of interest.

Really the "film star" idea seems quite a subjective judgement to me as how much we weight this different areas is impossible to tie down. Personally I would say that actually you likely need to look at the modern era in terms of pure box office draw as actresses have tended to get starting blockbusters roles more often in recent years so the likes of Jolie, Johansson, Theron and Lawrence have become bigger draws than any actress in the US in the 80's or 90's managed.

If you bias it more towards acting talent and consistent quality of films whilst still generally being very well known then I would say the same as the other thread, Juliette Binoche who's been consistently excellent since the mid 80's not falling back into cheaper "elder stateswoman" roles.

Are you saying that Johansson whose only hit that depended solely on her name Lucy was a bigger star than Julie Roberts and Mrg Ryan ever were?

 

[Guestx]

No actress can beat Sigourney's resume of work. Plus she is the first female action hero

I definitely give her credit.

Unlike a lot of other actresses from her era, she's still hanging in there and appearing in notable projects.