Back in 1979,there was a legendary trailer, aneerie and unusual poster, a memorable tagline, and a simple title for a movie that all worked in tandem to promise something intriguing and horrifying. The film in question wasAlien, and it was a landmark piece of science fiction and horror filmmaking, not to mention a movie that ended up kicking off a series that’s still going relatively strong 45 years later.
You don’t get anAlienmovie all too often, but there’s been at least one released in every decade since the 1970s, which might speak to how timeless and interesting the idea of humanity battling something deadly and extraterrestrial is. TheAlienmoviesvary in the genres they focus on, with some being more action-heavy, and others being mostly horror-focused, and they differ a bit in terms of quality, too. All nine of these films (including, yes, a couple of vs. movies) are ranked below from worst to best.
9’Aliens vs Predator: Requiem' (2007)
Directors: Colin Strause, Greg Strause
Thom Yorkewould be happy to findno alarms and no surpriseswith the placement ofAliens vs Predator: Requiemhere, because it’s just about everyone’s pick for the worstAlienmovie. It’s one of those that you may kind of leave out of the series, if you really want to, andfans of thePredatorseriesmight want to leave it out of that one, too.
It’s stranded in a bit of a no man’s land cinematically, pitting the two title characters against each other for the second time, but doing it considerably worse than the already not-good first match-up they had.It’s notoriously a mess visually, with much of the film being too dark to make out, and not even the inclusion of R-rated violence (which its predecessor lacked) can redeem it.Aliens vs Predator: Requiemis the easiest to avoidAlienand/orPredatormovie, and there’s a reason it’s been largely forgotten about.
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
8’AVP: Alien vs. Predator' (2004)
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
To get the obvious out of the way first,AVP: Alien vs. Predatorhas absolutely no business being rated PG-13, given the franchises crossing over here had both had nothing but R-rated installments previously. Itends up being a disappointingly tame movie overall, lacking much by way of violence and intensity in an attempt to appeal to a much wider audience, in turn disappointing older viewers.
IfAVP: Alien vs. Predatorhad been a bloodbath, it still wouldn’t have been good necessarily, but that might’ve been something. Otherwise, it’s all just a little less offensive than its follow-up, the particularly tedious and lazily-madeAliens vs Predator: Requiem.AVP: Alien vs. Predatorstill feels like a cash grab and very rarely satisfies on any level, butbecause of that 2007 sequel, it can’t technically be considered the worst theAlienseries has to offer. If there was a way to make this praise fainter, it would be done.
Alien vs. Predator
7’Alien Resurrection’ (1997)
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Aftera death-filled and rather grim third film, the fourthAlienmovie,Alien Resurrection, got kind of literal and effectively resurrected Ripley (well, a clone was made of her, butSigourney Weavercame back and stuff). IfAlien Resurrectionwas also trying to resurrect the series as a whole after a divisive movie, it didn’t quite succeed, though, because this is one of the iffier and least memorable films in the series.
That’s not to say it’s terrible. It is a good deal better on a technical front than the twoAlien vs. Predatormovies, andJean-Pierre Jeunetbrings a certain unusual visual flairto the whole thing. Yet it was also a movie that felt like it wasextending things a bit artificially and haphazardly, with the resurrection of Ripley feeling kind of cheap and uninspired. It’s kind of telling, then, thatAlien-related movies released post-Resurrectionfocused on different characters.
Alien Resurrection
6’Alien 3' (1992)
Director: David Fincher
Visually striking but understandably divisive,Alien 3is perhaps the most difficultAlienmovie to talk about. It followed on from two critically acclaimed films that were both praised for different reasons, which might’ve necessitated a certain risk-taking attitude toward the whole movie. Whether those behindAlien 3went too far there, or whether the gamble paid off and the whole thing’s underrated… there’s no easy consensus.
If you’re in the camp of people who don’t likeAlien 3, you’ll probably be joined bythe film’s director,David Fincher, but there’s something admirable about how jittery, gruesome, and bleak this whole film manages to be, too. Again, it’s a tough one.There are things that work here and some missteps that are questionable, but unlike the three previously mentioned – and more skippable – movies, it’s quite easy to say thatAlien 3should be experienced at least once.
Returning from LV-426, Ellen Ripley crash-lands on the maximum-security prison Fiorina 161, where she discovers that she has unwittingly brought along an unwelcome visitor.
5’Alien: Covenant' (2017)
Director: Ridley Scott
The divisiveness continues withAlien: Covenant, a sometimes-derided film that has its strengths and weaknesses, and varying opinions on whether or not the latter outweighs the former. It is, notably, one of the threeAlienmovies directed byRidley Scott, and saw him directing something thatleaned a little closer to the original film in tone and spirit than his previous film in the series,Prometheus.
You get more Xenomorph chaos in this one, which you’d think would’ve madeAlien: Covenanta crowdpleaser, but no, the crowd was not easily pleased here. Still, a lot of the grisly carnage on offer here is fun in a sick sort of way, and undeniably visceral, whileMichael Fassbendersteals the show(perhaps even from the actual alien and the striking visuals) indual roles, even getting to act with himself. If it’spossible to point one’s fingerat something great in the film, it’s Fassbender.
Alien: Covenant
4’Alien: Romulus' (2024)
Director: Fede Álvarez
If you like yourAlienmovies bloody and horror-focused, then you’re in luck, becauseAlien: Romulusdelivers such things quite reliably. TheFede Álvarez-directed movie isn’t quite as horrifically gory ashisEvil Deadfilm from 2013, but the itch it scratches isn’t dissimilar. There are human characters, they encounter alien life, and a good deal of mayhem and carnage ensues.
There’s a little more toAlien: Romulusthan it being a mere replica of what came before, but those things are best left to be discovered.Perhaps it’s more comparable to a greatest hits album. There might not be a ton of things that’ll surprise people who are well-versedin theAlienseries, but everything you could want out ofa good (albeit not quite great)Alienmovieis here, and maybe that’ll be enough for most.
Alien: Romulus
In Alien: Romulus, a crew of space explorers lands on a distant, uncharted planet, only to uncover a horrifying secret lurking beneath the surface. As they delve deeper into the alien environment, they encounter deadly creatures and ancient ruins that hint at a terrifying history. The team’s survival becomes a desperate battle against the relentless xenomorphs, forcing them to rely on their wits and technology to escape the nightmarish world.
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3’Prometheus' (2012)
Prometheusis flat-out underrated, and oftentimes unfairly nitpicked without enough of a focus on the things it does right as a film. Sure, there’s something of a formula here narratively, and some questionable decisions made by certain characters, but these things don’t entirely ruin the film. WhatPrometheusoffers is a sense of awe and a rather ambitious step away from the “Alien” part, strictly speaking, of theAlienseries.
Instead of just being about people fighting against a Xenomorph or Xenomorphs,Prometheusbranches out and becomes something else; it’sabout a group of explorers traveling across the universe in search of the origins of human life. There’s a particularlystrong sense of mystery and adventure toPrometheuswhich sets it apart from the otherAlienfilms, and it’s breathtaking visually, too. For those wanting horror, there are sequences here that are visceral and terrifying, particularly in the film’s second half. It’s a winner of a film, and holds up surprisingly well more than a decade on from its release.
Prometheus
Following clues to the origin of mankind, a team finds a structure on a distant moon, but they soon realize they are not alone.
2’Alien' (1979)
This is the big one, but is it the best one? Maybe. It depends on what you’re looking for. Undeniably, the two bestAlienmovies are the first two. And, if impact is being talked about, it’s hard to go past the first movie, which isan all-time great combination of science fiction and horror, as well as something thathelped launch Ridley Scott’s directorial careerandmade Sigourney Weaver a star.
Aliensounds so simple, and might well come across as too straightforward when watched nowadays.The classic science fiction film, after all, mostly takes place on board a spaceship with a small crew, and the narrative sees an alien life form picking off those crew members one by one. It’s not the story here so much, but rather the execution that matters.Alientakes something that sounds small and blows it up into something great, all the while never advancing outside the realm of sci-fi horror. Such advancements for the series wouldn’t take place until about seven years later…
In deep space, the crew of the commercial starship Nostromo is awakened from their cryo-sleep capsules halfway through their journey home to investigate a distress call from an alien vessel. The terror begins when the crew encounters a nest of eggs inside the alien ship. An organism from inside an egg leaps out and attaches itself to one of the crew, causing him to fall into a coma.
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1’Aliens' (1986)
Director: James Cameron
Few behind-the-scenes stories are aslegendary asJames CameronpitchingAliensby writing the word “Alien” and then adding a dollar sign to the end of it, butthe quality of the film ended up equalingthe confidence of its director.Alien$is potentially the greatest of all theAlienmovies, even if the original probably had more of an impact on pop culture at large (and, after all,Alienneeded to exist beforeAlienscould).
ButAliensis just such a phenomenal blend of horror, sci-fi, and action, sacrificing little of the tension found in the first movie while also making things much bigger, more explosive, and exciting in a real in-your-face sort of way. Ripley went from great toan all-time great movie hero in this film, the set pieces proved unforgettable, andAliensinstantlybecame an all-time great movie sequel. If you find yourself only able to watch oneAlienmovie for whatever reason… well, try to find a loophole that allows you to watch the first two. But if your attempts at finding a loophole prove futile, watchAliens.
Decades after surviving the Nostromo incident, Ellen Ripley is sent out to re-establish contact with a terraforming colony but finds herself battling the Alien Queen and her offspring.
