After starring in a string of action films in the 1970s, the talented 1960s beauty pageant winner Pam Grier has proven to be much more than a pretty face. Her great work — often in the Blaxploitation genre where she frequently steps into the shoes of badass, powerful women — led Grier to quickly rise to fame and carve a legacy of her own. To this day, she remains a greatly respected and beloved actor.

Whether she was rocking her stunning afro or stepping into male-dominated roles (or doing both at the same time), the 1970s star is a true trailblazer, paving the way for women, especially Black women, in the industry by being regarded as the first female action hero. Grier's impact on the history of cinema is undeniable and certainly a big reason why she remains a timeless icon. From Sheba, Baby to Jackie Brown, we look back and rank the very best Pam Grier movies.

10 'Sheba, Baby' (1975)

Director: William Girdler

You've probably heard about the Rachel Sennott-led anxiety-inducing comedy drama Shiva Baby, but William Girdler's 1975 Sheba, Baby is an entirely different story. The action crime drama starring Pam Grier centers around a private detective who returns to Louisville, Kentucky to help her father (Rudy Challenger) fight mobsters after his business is trashed.

This PG film is not the best entry in Grier's filmography. However, Sheba, Baby is still an above-average film in the genre that provides audiences with an engaging performance by the iconic actor, who shines as bright as ever in Blaxploitation action heroine roles, even if Sheba, Baby is hardly the best in the category. For that alone, this Girdler feature is worth watching.

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9 'Friday Foster' (1975)

Director: Arthur Marks

The titular character heads to Los Angeles International Airport to capture the arrival of the richest black man in America, Blake Tarr (Thalmus Rasulala). Grier's on-screen counterpart, a magazine photographer, is swept into a web of conspiracy involving the murder of her best friend and a plan called "Black Widow" after three men attempt to assassinate Tarr and Friday captures the moment on camera.

Although not a bad movie per se, Friday Foster leaves out a bit to be desired when it comes to its script. However, it excels in other aspects, with Grier's performance easily being the highlight of the Arthur Marks film. It is a decent crime drama with a bunch of hilarious, at times even laugh-out-loud moments. Friday Foster's intriguing and suspenseful narrative also helps elevate it to higher grounds and Eartha Kitt occasionally steals the spotlight.

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8 'Mars Attacks!' (1996)

Director: Tim Burton

Tim Burton's PG-13 fantasy comedy sees a Martian spacecraft surrounding the major cities of the world. While the inhabitants attempt to see if extraterrestrial visitors have come in peace and President James Dale (Jack Nicholson) receives assurance from Professor Kessler (Pierce Brosnan) that they're a friendly species, complications soon arise.

Although hardly Tim Burton's masterpiece (it didn't do much on the box-office side of things, either), the animated Mars Attacks! is entertaining and funny, making for the perfect choice for alien invasion movie enthusiasts who are also looking to get into Grier's body of work. It is a goofy, engaging movie that benefits from a great cast featuring Grier, who brings to life Louise Williams, the ex-wife of a former boxing champ, played by Jim Brown.

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7 'The Big Bird Cage' (1972)

Director: Jack Hill

This engaging action crime drama by director Jack Hill follows a group of women — including Grier and Anitra Ford — who rebel against slave labor in a jungle prison where they feed sugar crane to a mechanical maw. Despite not being a groundbreaking film, The Big Bird Cage is still an entertaining watch that graces audiences with Grier's powerful screen presence.

Fit for mature audiences only, the sequel to The Big Doll House (which was released just one year before) is often said to be not as great as its predecessor. However, saying The Big Bird Cage isn't enjoyable would be a lie; while it does fall short in some aspects, Hill's feature is, for one, much more visually appealing than its predecessor.

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6 'Fort Apache, the Bronx' (1981)

Director: Daniel Petrie

Starring the iconic Paul Newman, Daniel Petrie's crime drama Fort Apache, the Bronx is set in New York City and depicts the South Bronx from the perspective of a police officer. Throughout this journey, viewers follow a lonely veteran cop who struggles to preserve a sense of moral decency alongside his partner, Corelli (Ken Wahl), as they navigate their professional and personal lives.

Despite not being fit to everyone's taste, this powerful slice-of-life drama provides audiences with a raw and sincere look inside the streets of South Bronx. While often underappreciated, Fort Apache, the Bronx is the perfect pick for those into buddy cop movies (specifically those that aren't comedies) — it is gritty, well-performed, and features great direction from Daniel Petrie. Furthermore, Grier effectively brings the drug-addicted sex worker Charlotte to life.

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5 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' (1983)

Director: Ray Bradbury

Jack Clayton's mystery thriller set in a small American town named Green Town in Illinois introduces audiences to a diabolical circus and its demonic proprietor (Jonathan Pryce), who grants wishes at a price, as they all prey on the inhabitants when two boys, played by Shawn Carson and Vidal Peterson, attempt to uncover the secrets of the carnival.

Even though she doesn't have that much screen time, Grier puts on a convincing mask as she plays a temptress — an alluring character named Dust Witch in Clayton's fantasy film, which has later become one of the most interesting roles in Grier's works (especially considering that she is a somewhat different character from the others Pam played throughout her career). The well-acted Something Wicked Comes This Way is based on the book by Ray Bradbury.

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4 'Beyond the Valley of the Dolls' (1970)

Director: Russ Meyer

While originally intended to be a sequel to Sharon Tate's film Valley of the Dolls, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls ended up being a parody of the high-grossing film. Set in the 1960s, the movie centers around three young rockers who attempt to make it big in Hollywood. Although they do find success eventually, they also realize that Hollywood isn't entirely what they anticipated.

The psychedelic and campy Beyond the Valley of the Dolls thrives in its own chaos, making for a great cinematic achievement in its category. Even if Grier plays a background extra in this satire written by Russ Meyer in partnership with the renowned film critic Roger Egbert, it is arguably among the actor's most solid projects. Her scenes as a partygoer touted Pam Grier's film debut, as the star received her first on-screen credit.

Rent on Apple TV

3 'Foxy Brown' (1974)

Director: Jack Hill

In one of the Blackxploitation greats, Jack Hill's action crime thriller Foxy Brown, Grier fiercely steps into the shoes of yet another kick-ass protagonist — a vigilante who takes a job as a sex worker to get revenge on a gang of drug dealers who murdered her boyfriend.

As always, the movie star stuns and charms in her performance in this cult classic, proving herself to be one of the best action heroines out there and a seminal actor who paved the way for women in the genre. Although Hill's stylish movie is far from perfect, it is still stimulating and worth watching, even if only for Grier's on-screen presence that carries the movie effortlessly just as it did in the filmmaker's previous effort, Coffy.

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2 'Coffy' (1973)

Director: Jack Hill

Starring Grier at only 24 years of age, the highly entertaining Coffy is an overall better film than the previously mentioned Foxy Brown, which was a rewritten sequel adapted for a supposedly original character. Hill's 1973 movie sees a young nurse who goes on a killing rampage after seeing her little sister addicted to heroin. She goes after drug dealers and works her way up to kingpins.

With an interesting twist and all-around engaging narrative, the transgressive Coffy is among Grier's most memorable films. If viewers are looking to witness the actor at her peak, this is certainly the right choice. Blending pulp fantasy and Blaxploitation, Hill's movie is all about female empowerment. However, some audience members may want to avoid watching it with their family, as it is an R-rated film.

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1 'Jackie Brown' (1997)

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino's homage to earlier films in the genre stands tall among the best Pam Grier films. The star steps into the shoes of a middle-aged flight attendant with a criminal past — considered Tarantino's most important character — who gets arrested for smuggling money from Mexico to Los Angeles by order of dealer Ordell Robbie. However, she gets a chance at freedom by helping the police arrest the mind behind it all.

Although the renowned filmmaker is known for films like Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, and Kill Bill, Jackie Brown is assuredly one of his best and coolest features so far (though, unfortunately, vastly underrated). Much of that is thanks to Grier's impeccable performance as the heroine — Jackie Brown revitalized her career, earned her a Golden Globe nomination, and proved that Grier was indeed born for this type of role. It is hard not to be intrigued by Tarantino's enthralling film, especially considering that it just gets better with every viewing.

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NEXT: The 10 Best Cult Classics of the 1970s, Ranked