‘Alien’ Movies, Ranked from Worst to Best

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We’re learning more and more about the upcoming Hulu TV series “Alien: Earth – not to mention news of a follow-up to “Alien: Romulus” in development. We thought it was about time to go back and offer up our opinions of how to rank the “Alien” films.

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Not counting the “Alien Vs. Predator” entries since they’re non-canonical to either franchise, here’s our choices for the “Alien” movies from worst to best.

7. ‘Alien Resurrection’ (1997)

It’s as if someone at the studio challenged the filmmakers to somehow make an “Alien” movie that felt more goofy than scary, and everyone rose to the challenge. There are some fun parts of “Alien Resurrection”, but nothing saves it; particularly not the grotesque alien/human hybrid that Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley clone treats like a lost puppy.

6. ‘Alien: Covenant’ (2017)

Ridley Scott’s “Alien” prequel trilogy never got finished, and when you see “Alien: Covenant”, the second part of the unfinished trilogy, not only do you realize why, but you don’t feel any kind of regret for the absence. As a standalone “Alien” film, “Covenant” is exceptionally okay. But it didn’t bring enough new sauce to the recipe to justify another go-around.

5. ‘Prometheus’ (2012)

What do you do when you want to launch a research expedition to another part of the galaxy that will take an enormous amount of time and resources? Well, apparently, you find the absolute dumbest group of scientists in the history of mankind and pay them a ton of money to make the kinds of mistakes you would expect them to avoid, even if they were drunk enough to pass out any minute.

4. ‘Alien 3’ (1992)

There’s a lot to like about “Alien 3” in spite of its flaws. After the action-heavy “Aliens”, it managed to recapture the creeping horror of “Alien”. But many fans will never forgive the sin of killing off Hudson and Newt during the opening credits, and they shouldn’t.

3. ‘Alien: Romulus’ (2024)

Fede Alvarez struck gold with this bloody standalone. It made a huge misstep in its digital “resurrection” of Ian Holm, but otherwise manages to deliver the best entry in the series we’ve seen in the 21st century.

2. ‘Aliens’ (1986)

“Aliens” is, in many ways, the perfect example of how to make a sequel. It takes the look, the feel, and the mythology established in the first film and builds solidly upon it without forgetting anything. It isn’t quite as scary as its predecessor, but it makes up for the toned-down horror with a fun layer of action.

1. ‘Alien’ (1979)

“Alien” remains the gold standard in the franchise. With practical special effects that still stand up today, “Alien” is still the most terrifying film in the franchise. We wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s worthless to keep making movies, but it’s doubtful anyone will make one as scary as Ridley Scott’s modern classic.

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