Every Alien Movie Ranked
For over 45 years there has been one perfectly designed creature making appearances in film…and now television. The Xenomorph is one of the greatest creations in film history. H.R. Giger truly broke the mold with his alien design. Nine movies and a television show later…it simply can’t be improved upon. In fact, seeing the creature in advertising is the main thing that keeps the franchise rolling along at this point. More than just the final form…there’s a genius to the entire life cycle of the Xenomorph. It’s so good…stories can’t find a way not to repeat it. From cocoon to face hugger to chest burster to alien…the stages of the Xenomorph make up the beats of most Alien films nearly 50 years later. That’s how cool that invention was.
It also leads to the biggest issue that faces the Alien franchise. Spoiler alert for the top of this ranking…they perfected it the first time out. That doesn’t mean you can’t make a great Alien movie…James Cameron turned it into an action piece and delivered a perfect sequel. The series has struggled with identity a bit since then, however. If it sticks too close to the formula…it’s too predictable. If it tries something completely different…people get annoyed that it isn’t the same. With two landmark films to kick off the franchise…it’s been difficult for anything to measure up. So, we already know what the top two will be…but let’s take a look at what came closest to matching the magic and wonder of the Scott and Cameron classics.
We won’t be ranking Alien Earth because that is a TV show, and this is a ranking of Alien movies. It’s certainly top half of this list worthy, however. Fans of the franchise may recognize that as not saying a lot…but it’s better than nothing. We will rank the Alien vs. Predator movies. You’ll find them at or near the bottom of this list where they belong.
And now…the Scare Value ranking of the Alien franchise. Ranked from worst to first as always.
9. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
Can’t Even Fan Service Right
There was a fifteen year period where the only Alien content we got were crossovers with the Predator franchise. It was a fanboy dream on paper…but this second kick at the can was a disaster on paper. The only people I can imagine liking anything about Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem are Alien: Resurrection apologists thrilled to no longer see it as the consensus worst chapter of the franchise. While other films in the series may struggle to achieve a high quality…they’ve generally been well-made films. Not so for Requiem.
Requiem is a dumb movie…but it’s hardly the first Alien movie to wear that around its neck. It tries to cover itself with gore and visual effects…but it can’t pull anything fun out of the mess. Featuring franchise worst characters and ugly to look at…the only thing there really is to Requiem is its kill scenes. They’re fine. If you’re a young teen excited to watch an R rated sci-fi/horror slop fest…you’ll probably have it higher. You shouldn’t.
8. Alien vs. Predator
They Could (and would) Do Worse
The first Alien/Predator crossover isn’t much better. It’s a better made film…but it somehow misses out on any of the fun involved with pitting two movie monsters against each other. As is the case with nearly every similar concept…the human characters stand out as a problem. This PG-13 misfire failed to deliver everything fans had dreamed of…but it does make some good moves combining the overall franchises.
There’s some fun action here…but it’s action that often feels weightless and unimportant. That’s a running theme through the works of writer/director Paul W. S. Anderson. Like most of his filmography…Alien vs. Predator can make for a fun one-time watch as long as you don’t think about it too hard. Faintest of praise…but enough to stay out of last place. Congratulations?
7. Alien: Resurrection
An Unfortunate End to an Era
Sigourney Weaver returned one last time to the franchise that made her a household name with the centuries in the future set Alien: Resurrection. This is a clone of the famous Ellen Ripley who et her demise at the end of Alien 3. It’s hard to explain to anyone who wasn’t there in 1997 just how disappointing Resurrection was. Alien 3 may have been divisive…but Alien: Resurrection was garbage. A generation of filmgoers who grew up with Ridley Scott’s masterpiece and James Cameron’s brilliant sequel flocked to theaters to see their hero return…and were treated to a loud, dumb sequel that didn’t understand what made the franchise work.
Weaver is still great…it’s everything around her that drags the movie towards the bottom. The once fearsome Xenomorphs are rendered almost inert here. They’ve never felt less dangerous or exciting than they do in Resurrection. The series had run out of ideas…and didn’t know how to comment on itself. In an era where genre films were pushing forward with clever turns…Alien: Resurrection jumped into the future while completely stuck in the past. Winona Ryder is here too. For some reason.
6. Alien: Covenant
Do Over
Full disclosure: I like Alien: Covenant more than Prometheus. A lot more if I’m being honest. But even I can’t deny that Covenant is a poor response to criticisms of Ridley Scott’s first prequel. Where Prometheus tries (and often fails) to do interesting things…Covenant just ends up remaking Alien. Covenant too often feels like Scott overcorrecting. You didn’t like Prometheus because it was too different? Fine. Here’s something that goes exactly the same as the one you did like. There’s still fun to be had with that.
Lack of innovation isn’t the only thing that keeps Alien: Covenant behind Prometheus on this list. It’s impossible to ignore that the best part of Covenant comes from Prometheus. That is, of course, Michael Fassbender’s David. Without his story…we’d just have a bland remake of Alien hitting all the familiar beats. Which, sadly, would still be enough to rank ahead of Resurrection and the Predator movies. So, what was really accomplished here anyway?
5. Prometheus
You Came Back to Do What, Exactly?
The idea of Ridley Scott returning to the Alien franchise over three decades after his masterpiece was an exciting one. When you consider that it was following the 15 years where Alien vs. Predator movies were all people were getting…it was a downright godsend. Then came Prometheus. Look, clearly you have to respect that Scott came back with a mission. He delivered something totally unexpected. Some people will swear by it being a secret masterwork that others just don’t get. It isn’t. It’s a beautiful movie to look at…and an obvious passion project for its director. But it isn’t anything more than that.
Fassbender steals the show once again…along with impressive the film’s impressive visuals. The story is…how do I say this without angering the Prometheus stans out there…the kind of pseudo-intellectual gobbledygook that dumb people mistake for smart. I don’t think I stuck the landing on that one. People will tell you that Prometheus is full of big ideas. That’s not exactly true though…is it? It’s full of big questions. And very short on compelling answers. Like hearing someone ask something that sounds profound before you think about it for a minute. Still…it was something new in a franchise that hadn’t had a universally loved installment in a quarter of a century. Which is enough to land in the middle of this ranking. Even if I’m going to watch Alien: Covenant long before circling back to Prometheus.
4. Alien 3
Better Than the Rep
Has any movie had it tougher than Alien 3? Imagine following two instant classics and arriving after everyone in the world had worn out their VHS copies of them. Like Prometheus, director David Fincher tried to do something different within the world of Alien. It wasn’t well received. But it’s better than its reputation. Filled with excellent performances and unique style, Alien 3 is destined to be the ugly stepchild of the franchise…but that doesn’t mean you can’t love it. Especially with the superior workprint version easily accessible to people now.
Alien 3 was in trouble right out of the gate. An early ad campaign teased something it didn’t deliver. Alien 2 favorites Newt and Hicks are killed off before the movie even starts. This is a very different movie from the loud, spectacular Aliens…and people have never let the movie forget it. But time is a funny thing. A movie that used to be seen as a disappointment sat back and watched a sequel, two prequels and two crossovers fail to meet its seemingly low standard. It’s better than most of what came after. And it came out over thirty years ago. An indictment on the franchise? Perhaps. But it’s also an acknowledgement that Alien 3 was always better than it got credit for. Just do yourself a favor and watch the workprint version.
3. Alien: Romulus
New Blood. Old Formula.
The latest attempt to revive the franchise takes place between Alien and Aliens. Director Fede Alvarez delivers a crowd pleasing summer movie with a good group of characters and a questionable CGI choice. Romulus gives us the most lived-in feeling since the heyday of the franchise. The Xenomorphs look great, and the movie makes fun use of their abilities. It does fall into the repeating the beats of the original trap…but at some point it becomes unavoidable. You want your face hugger and chest burster…and airlock to flush a creature out of. What is an Alien movie without them?
The pattern limits innovation but Romulus makes up for it by designing an easy to follow mission, filling it with interesting characters, and letting Xenomorphs run loose. It’s not a hard formula. Alien: Romulus understands it as well as any movie on this list. What it lacks in innovation it makes up for in commitment to what it knows works. The fan service sometimes goes a step or two too far…but you’ll have a good enough time to allow a quick eyeroll and move on. Hey…it’s enough for third. But third is a long way from second in this case.
Read our non-spoiler review
2. Aliens
A Model Sequel
Now we’re talking. The Alien franchise has some bad movies and some pretty good movies. It also has two absolute classics. James Cameron’s 1986 follow-up to Alien is, literally, everything you could ever want in a sequel. It’s bigger in every way. Ripley returns as the only person to understand the full effects of what the evil corporation who put her in harms way is dealing with. Even she doesn’t understand how many of them they’re dealing with. Even the title of the film…simply pluralizing the title…is a perfect choice.
Ripley leads a group of marines to a colony overrun by Xenomorphs. She sets out to save an orphaned girl (to match a subplot oddly cut from the theatrical version of the film…watch the director’s cut) from certain death. The Alien Queen stands in her way. So many moments in Aliens are iconic. From Ripley in her power-loader suit to endlessly quotable lines. There aren’t many sequels in film history that match the quality and success of Aliens. Funnily, Cameron would helm another one when he made a sequel to his own Terminator. This Cameron guy is pretty good at action-oriented sequels. And this might just be the best one.
1. Alien
A Perfect Design
Plenty of people like Aliens more than Alien. That’s a perfectly acceptable viewpoint. It’s designed to be more likable…and more fun. Alien is designed to be the scariest haunted house movie ever made. And it is. Aliens may be the perfect sequel…but Alien is the perfect movie. Or, at least, as close as a movie can get to that distinction. Consider the design of the thing. The one that movies are forced to keep repeating because there’s no way to top it. A face hugger…a chest burster…an alien…an airlock. Now imagine if you’ve never seen any variation of it and were experiencing Ridley Scott’s masterpiece for the first time. Yeah. It’s that good.
Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley emerges as an all-time great final girl out of a cast of great characters. And cast. The cast of Alien is incredible. The Nostromo remains the best setting for an Alien movie, and it isn’t particularly close. Dated technology only makes the aesthetics of the film cooler as time goes on. It’s also one of the scariest movies ever made. And one of the best movies ever made.
Read our review
