Every Alien/Predator Film Ranked

Worst to Best (Welcome to My Obsession)

14. The Predator

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Released: 2018

Director: Shane Black

What? Worse than Alien: Resurrection? Worse than AVP: Requiem?

Yes. This movie is bad and it should feel bad.

I was very excited for this movie in the months leading up to its release. Then about 15 seconds into the film I immediately thought, “This is going to suck.”

And it did.

From the plot about harvesting autism to the Predator dog that gets shot in the head and starts vomiting plot devices to the absolute WTF way the main antagonist dies, this movie deserves to be buried below the bottom of the heap.

Rating: F-, F-

13. Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Released: 2007

Director: Greg Strause, Colin Strause

Better than The Predator but not by much. Never have Aliens and Predators looked so much like dudes in suits smacking into each other.

Other than a few satisfying action sequences, there’s not much on display here other than a studio deeply asleep at the wheel. Ridiculous horror cliches for characters and a pretty uninspiring setting. Bad dialogue. Bad plot. And some pretty distasteful stuff involving children and pregnant women.

No thank you.

Rating: F

12: Alien Vs. Predator

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Released: 2004

Director: Paul W. S. Anderson

Alright, we are now crossing the line from bad movies that I don’t like to bad movies that I do like.

Honestly, there’s a decent amount of fun to be had here if you’re willing to turn your brain off and not think about all of the other movies preceding it. Cool environments and a few inspired action sequences.

The problem is that the whole thing has a strong whiff of Syfy Channel movie. To me, this is the Jurassic Park 3 of the franchise: occasionally fun but a big step-down.

Also, your eyes do not deceive you. They definitely went from the singular Alien in the Alien Vs. Predator title to the plural Aliens in Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem, even though there are multiple aliens in both. Baffling.

Rating: D

11. Alien: Resurrection

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Released: 1997

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Truly, this movie is about as good as bad gets. Some really, really campy performances. Brad Dourif and Ron Perlman are at about 110% here. A wacky script by a young Joss Whedon with some very visible seeds being planted for Firefly.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet (best known for Amelie) is a strange choice for director. He brings a weirdly sensual vibe to all of the obscenely wet aliens that come squelching across the screen.

Pretty fun when you don’t consider the near-irreparable damage it does to the Alien brand.

Rating: D+

10. Alien: Covenant

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Released: 2017

Director: Ridley Scott

People who stand within a 10-foot radius of me for long enough will eventually hear me say that Alien: Covenant is a better Blade Runner movie than an Alien movie.

Lots of interesting stuff going on with androids in this film. Lots of pretty complex issues of creation and sub-creation. And lots of prime Michael Fassbender.

Unfortunately, the premise and execution of the movie are bordering on ludicrous. It’s pretentious while being incomprehensibly stupid and does almost everything in its power to undermine the power and mystery of the original film.

Essentially, this is The Last Jedi of the Alien franchise. Good looking, fun at times with some standout performances, and ultimately a hideous blight on the series.

Rating: D+

9: Alien 3

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Released: 1992

Director: David Fincher

A lot of people love this movie. I love this movie. This was the second Alien film I ever watched (Alien: Resurrection being the first) and it was a big part of what made me fall in love with the series.

The advantage I had, however, was that I saw it before Alien or Aliens. In retrospect, I do have to ask myself, “Alright…what are we doing here?”

The choice to kill a whole slew of fan-favorite characters off-screen at the beginning of the movie is a wild and unpopular choice and one that I don’t think will ever be fully accepted by audiences. The smaller scale of the movie compared to Aliens seems like a bit of a step back. And there are some pretty massive pacing issues throughout.

All that being said, there are certainly some iconic moments from the franchise packed in here. And despite how bleak and grim the film is, I think it does work as a bittersweet finale to the trilogy.

I still love this movie despite its flaws and will probably continue to watch it on a semi-regular basis.

Rating: C

8: Prey

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Released: 2022

Director: Dan Trachtenberg

Maybe a controversial pick seeing how low this is on the list and how big of a splash it made when it came out, so I want to say that I think this is the first good movie on this here.

After the disaster that was The Predator, Prey was definitely a breath of fresh air. Rocking a pretty back-to-basics plot, there are some tense moments and brutal set pieces. I really dug the slow-burn set-up and Amber Midthunder was pretty decent in the lead role.

The reason this isn’t higher for me is that it feels a little cheap. The costumes kind of look like they were put together yesterday and the dialogue feels too modern. The mostly-indigenous cast is pretty solid but would have benefited from some more seasoned actors like Zahn McClarnon or Graham Greene. My guess is that Disney just didn’t want to spend the money.

And finally, I don’t think the ending is stupid like a lot of folks have said but I do think that it’s shaky.

Ultimately, this film would probably be higher on the list if the studio had had more confidence in it and given it a larger budget and a theatrical release.

Rating B-

7: Predators

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Released: 2010

Director: Nimrod Antal

Okay, I love this movie. I think the creature effects are top-notch, the action set pieces are loads of fun, and the premise is really really fantastic.

A bunch of cold-blooded killers get abducted and dropped on another planet to be hunted by Predators? Bravo. Phenomenal. Best idea ever.

There are a few problems with the execution though.

The characters don’t spark off of each other as well as they should considering the talent on display. The introduction of an even larger, meaner Predator is a trend that I deeply despise. And finally, there’s way too much exposition in the dialogue and not enough chewing the scenery.

This is still a fun movie though. I love the ending, which isn’t something I can say about even half of these movies. Definitely worth a watch.

Rating: B

6: Prometheus

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Released: 2012

Director: Ridley Scott

I might get some flak for this one. I’ll admit that I am a Prometheus apologist. Every plot hole you might be able to bring up (there are lots), I have a convoluted, mental gymnastics answer for.

I love the themes of the film. Love the cinematography. Love the performances. This is about a million times better than its successor, Alien: Covenant, and I will gladly watch it any time.

All that being said, I’ve had to enact a rule when watching Prometheus or Covenant. When I watch these movies, I watch them within the context of Alien. But when I watch Alien, I pretend these movies don’t exist.

My reasoning is that, while I do think the idea of the Alien’s creation here is fascinating (and to a lesser extent, the stuff about the Engineers) I prefer to maintain the mystery when going into Alien. I don’t want to think about space gods and Frankenstein androids when I watch that film, so I just ignore them.

Rating: B

5: Alien: Romulus

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Released: 2024

Director: Fede Alvarez

Seeing as I’m writing this on Alien: Romulus’s release date, I don’t want to get too much into it.

I’ll say this: It’s pretty good for the most part.

Really good creature effects. (Probably the best they’ve been since Aliens, actually.) A pretty solid plot. Really, really, fantastic set-ups and payoffs throughout the film. And a few solid performances.

Other than some heavy-handed dialogue in the beginning and a few obnoxious characters, my real problem with the movie is the ending. I’m not going to get into it here but it really didn’t work for me.

All that being said, go out and see it. It’s undeniably the third-best Alien film. Bring your friends. It’s a wild ride.

Rating: B

4: Predator 2

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Released: 1990

Director: Stephen Hopkins

Everything that people hate about this movie, I love. I love the fact that the musclebound action figures from the first movie are replaced by schlubby cops sweating through their business casual wear. I love the hammy performances and over-the-top action scenes. I love that gang member who does enough cocaine to kill a normal human man. And I love that 1997 Los Angeles is reimagined as 2024 Los Angeles.

Danny Glover is in full form here, and never has he ever been more too old for this shit. Gary Busey plays himself. Bill Paxton plays himself. And the Predator in the film definitely does heaps of Predator-ing.

Predator 2 is one of those 80s cop movies made in the 90s and I will never stop loving it. Plus, the little easter egg at the end spawned one of my favorite book, comic book, and video game franchises.

Rating: A-

3: Aliens

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Released: 1986

Director: James Cameron

While I’m not one of those people who think that Aliens is better than the original, I do think that it’s at least more influential. You can’t watch a sci-fi action film or play a video game these days without escaping its impact. It’s simply too great.

The decision to go from a stripped-down slow-burn survival horror movie to a balls-to-the-wall action flick was a truly inspired choice. And possibly one (much like the Terminator sequel that would come out 5 years later) that would effectively nuke the franchise, leaving future writers utterly confused about where they should take the series next.

It’s great though. Undeniably so.

Note: if you ever want to imagine what a sequel revolving around Newt and Hicks might look like, I’d recommend checking out the original Aliens comic book series from 1988 and its respective novel, Aliens: Earth Hive. They ended up having to change the names from Newt and Hicks to Billie and Wilks to prevent conflicts with Alien 3 after its release but it’s pretty obvious what they were going for.

Rating: A

2: Predator

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Released: 1987

Director: John McTiernan

It was really difficult to choose between this and Aliens for the second spot. Both movies are iconic, extremely influential, and endlessly quotable. The only reason this takes the cake for me is that I think the concept is more novel.

The idea to make an 80s action movie that suddenly turns into a slasher where the gun-toting beefcakes are the victims is S-tier stuff. Not only that, but the execution is flawless. I can’t think of a single thing wrong with this movie. It’s so tight and effective that—as far as sci-fi action movies go—it simply can’t be topped.

All we need now is for Arnold Schwarzenegger to continue to not to cameos as Dutch in future movies and we’ll be golden.

Rating: A

1: Alien

Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox

Released: 1979

Director: Ridley Scott

You knew it was coming.

Ridley Scott’s Alien is unrivaled. The score, the pacing, the acting, the dialogue, and the concept are all perfect. I can sit down and start watching this movie from any point and immediately get sucked in.

I had the privilege of watching this in theaters recently for its brief re-release on Alien Day (4/26) and I can say without a doubt that it hasn’t lost any of its luster.

One thing that I’d like to highlight that no other Alien film has been able to capture since is the way that the characters subtly reveal everything you need to know about them through casual dialogue. Almost nothing feels expository. Furthermore, I also feel like I know all of them. Like I’ve worked with all of them. The blue-collar vibe is so strong that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it done better in a sci-fi film.

I also absolutely soak up every moment they’re onboard the space jockey’s ship (I will not call them engineers here). The moment I see that huge elephantine creature sitting dead in its massive chair with its ribs blown out, I instantly forget Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. That’s how powerful that image is.

While the Alien franchise has been rocky at best over the years, the original is unparalleled. It ages like a fine wine and will continue to be regarded as one of the greatest sci-fi films of all time.

Rating: A+