One of the greatest franchises of all time, Alien has found its way to immortality through its unique ability to evolve. Few franchises can bounce around genres quite like Alien. Additionally, each director brings their own flavor to the conversation. Fede Álvarez joins a club that features Ridley Scott, James Cameron, and David Fincher as he hopes to reignite love in the iconic series. Today, FandomWire is ranking the films in the franchise, including Alien: Romulus, which releases this week.
9) Alien vs Predator: Requiem (2007)
Perhaps one of the most mean-spirited movies of recent memory was doomed for disaster. It doesn’t work from the word go. The color grading disaster makes it nearly unwatchable features the Pred-Alien. It’s an exciting combo, even if the rest of the movie does not work. The actual sin is just how unlikeable all the characters are. There’s no point in which we even want to root for the humans, unlike every other entry in the series. Alien vs Predator: Requiem feels like a cursed project and represents the low point for both franchises.
8. Alien vs Predator (2004)
The struggles in Requiem are more extreme than AVP, but there’s still plenty wrong here. It’s shocking just how boring Alien vs Predator gets at times for long stretches. Once Predators and Xenomorphs come face to face, few moments feel exciting. However, the backstory and lore remain questionable and were all but erased by Ridley’s return to the franchise with Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Even Fede stays clear in Alien: Romulus, which features nods to almost every movie in the franchise. Sanaa Lathan is blameless, but everyone else is here for the payday. Some swear by the Unrated or R-rated cuts, but unfortunately, they are far from the dominant version available.
7. Alien Resurrection (1997)
Undermining the ending of Alien3 was just the first of many mistakes in Resurrection. However, it provides us with more Sigourney versus the Xenomorphs, and that’s usually a good thing. Resurrection also features an excellent ensemble. Winona Ryder plays a weirdly interesting, unique character in the series, and Ron Perlman is the horniest, funniest scumbum. The action is electric as well. The Xenomorphs get to be Raptors. However, something is missing, and it’s a huge step down from the rest of the series.
6. Alien3 (The Assembly Cut)
David Fincher’s feature debut was the most tumultuous experience of his career. While I watched both versions, The Assembly Cut feels more consistent in tone and violence than others in the series. However, the advantages of “The Assembly Cut” are undermined because of basic story beats, namely the cruelty in how they kill Newt and Hicks. Regardless, Alien3 is closer to what we imagine is Fincher’s vision, but it’s not an official director’s cut either. Additionally, I do not believe it rises to the highs that Scott, Fede, or Cameron achieve in their movies. Dutton is phenomenal, Dance is pretty compelling, and while Weaver is good, it’s probably the weakest of her four performances.
5. Alien: Covenant
What will likely be Ridley Scott’s last Alien feature triples down on his God-complex fascination. For everything that humans bring to the franchise when they strive for survival, Scott cannot let us ignore how horrible we are as a species. Determined to ensure that corporations, greed, and power are all constructs to critique, Scott leans heavily into David (Michael Fassbender) as the series’ prominent voice. That becomes the more significant issue for Covenant, as all the other characters (including Fassbender’s Walter) are canon fodder for David’s story.
Katherine Watterson gives one of the best performances of her career, and Billy Crudup is shockingly great as the character whose faith drives him to make poor decisions. Covenant is easily Scott’s bloodiest movie, and surprises with many scares (the spine burster is incredible). However, clunky exposition and poor CGI Xenomorphs knock this down from upper-tier Alien to mid-tier Alien entries. It’s the one I want to love the most, but cannot fully get over its narrative problems – including the most disrespectful death since Newt.
4. Alien: Romulus
It’s easily the scariest movie since the original, and the shockingly tactile set design already moved this above Covenant for me. It’s shallower in its tale, following a handful of young adults looking to escape the capitalist hellscape the Weyland-Yutani corporation created for them. Infusing clever nods to the non-AVP movies, while also hitting too many direct references to fan-serice, Fede Alvarez steps in and delivers a wickedly violent experience. It’s not a cruel movie, but it features some brutal kills (even if it never approaches the gore of his Evil Dead).
There are plenty of setpieces that feel wholly original in a nine-film franchise, something that feels impossible until you see it. David Jonnson’s performance instantly ranks among the best in the series, but Cailee Spaney’s movie star showcase is something to behold. Some middling to poor effects really hurt the moments of spectacular visual triumph. Romulus nearly reaches the S-tier of Alien movies but comes up short.
3. Prometheus
Perhaps the most ambitious Alien film to date is also its most polarizing. We love Prometheus for all the god-complexes, hatred of your father, and kill-all-human nuances. David (Fassbender) becomes arguably the greatest performer in the franchise other than Weaver, and he makes a wonderful foil to both Charlize Theron and Naomi Rapacce at the same time. The visuals of Prometheus remain the best since the original Alien, and the philosophies it toys with are astounding. The med-bay sequence is arguably the scariest scene of the franchise period.
Completing Prometheus‘ brilliance is the very deep bench they assembled. When Kim Dickie is maybe the tenth most recognizable person in your cast, you’ve hit a home run. The murderer’s row of character actors, including Idris Elba, Benedict Wong, Guy Pierce, Sean Harris, and Rafe Spall, is a home run that helps keep Prometheus incredibly rewatchable.
2. Aliens (The Special Edition)
Admittedly, there was a time I considered putting Prometheus above Aliens. However, another rewatch reaffirmed what I’ve always known: James Cameron’s sequel to Dan O’Bannon, Walter Hill, and Ridley Scott’s opus showed incredible depth to the world-building. The smartest move of all is the shift to action, and it’s hard to count Aliens as anything less than a masterpiece in that regard. Cameron populates the world with enduring character actors and makes us care about the group through witty dialogue. There are so many small moments, from Hicks sleeping on the drop to Hudson’s “Game Over,” that endure in the culture to this day.
It’s Sigourney’s best performance in the series, leading to a well-deserved Oscar nomination. She’s not only a badass, but her approach to the material is a masterclass in expanding a performance off the page. She’s doing things that are not in the text and making Ripley a more well-rounded character. Additionally, the Special Edition provides more backstory to Newt and Ripley. The combo makes this version more emotionally rewarding to complement the visual showcase. Its ranking at 2 comes down to personal preference. I find horror and grittiness appealing slightly more to me than Cameron’s action showcase.
1. Alien (1979)
The flagship entry of the series remains a technical marvel to this day. H.R. Giger’s designs elevate the already brilliantly shot sets. It’s bloody, violent, and the subtext endures to this day. Equal parts sexual violence and body horror blend together to create an enduring piece of iconography. Also, it’s scary as hell.
A huge benefit to Alien comes in its incredible cast. The misdirects toward Dallas (Tom Skerrit) as the hero help Sigourney play bigger until the movie makes her the centerpiece of the narrative. Ash (Ian Holm) terrifies, and might be the greatest villain in the series. John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright, Yaphet Kotto, and Harry Dean Stanton add to the incredible ensemble. It’s one of the deepest casts you’ll ever see in a movie, and every death leaves a mark.
In many ways, Alien is the ultimate slasher, the pinnacle of space horror, and a shocking haunted house movie in a single package. It’s why the franchise endures and why we will always return to theaters to watch Xenomorphs kill space crews.
Watch Alien: Romulus in theaters August 16, 2024. 20th Century Studios distributes.
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