Aliens (1986)

James Cameron's Aliens earned $183 million against an $18 million budget, won 2 Academy Awards (Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing), and is consistently ranked among the greatest sequels and action films ever made. Sigourney Weaver's portrayal of Ellen Ripley earned an Oscar nomination — unprecedented for an action role — establishing the template for the female action hero. The climactic battle in which Ripley fights the Alien Queen in a power loader remains one of cinema's most celebrated action set pieces.