Ranking All the Alien and Predator Movies

One of the longest running rivalies in cinema history has been the often teased and occassionally visited Alien vs Predator conflict. In this list we will rank all of the movies from both franchises combined as we examine which is best. Alien vs Predator!

Alien vs Predator: Requiem

It’s dark and confusing to watch. It’s a bit of a mess really. The movie wasn’t well received and swiftly put an end to any hopes of more Alien vs Predator movies that had been teased ever since Predator 2.

The Predator

With Shane Black involved for the first time since the original Predator movie, this felt sure to be a return to glory for the franchise. Unfortunately it ended up a bit of a silly affair. Even the hope of having Arnold Schwarzenegger back as Dutch was rumours for a long time, but failed to materialise.

The Predator suffers from being too ambitious with it’s story and not knowing if it wants to be a horror, an action movie or a comedy.

Alien 3

A production nightmare, this film massively lacks the energy of Aliens or the atmosphere of the original Alien. Whilst watchable enough, it’s a bit of a slog to get through, although it does have it’s fans…but that doesn’t include it’s director David Fincher.

For many fans, this film lost all good will when they made the decision to kill off Hicks and Newt at the start of the movie. This wasn’t the right way to start the picture.

Alien Resurrection

Better than Alien 3, but still doesn’t hold a candle to the first two films. The alien if bringing Ripley back after the end of Alien 3, but having her as a reincarnated hybrid with alien DNA…was interesting if poorly executed. This wasn’t the Ripley we knew form the past films anymore and having her there like this was perhaps worse than not having her there at all.

Alien Covenant

Certainly there was intrigue into the mythology of the Alien franchise after Prometheus. Whilst that only gave us a few Xenomorph hints for the most part and then finally embracing the famous alien towards the end of the movie, the follow up just skipped over telling us too much more about the Engineers or Noomi Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw. It was like there was a missing chapter that was skipped just so they could get back to aliens. And the fate of Shaw when told gives a unfortunate feeling of DeJa’Vu of Hick’s and Newts treatment in Alien 3.

Alien vs Predator

Could have been so good, but ended up as so so. Released with a lower age rating than any previous Alien or Predator film, the first Alien vs Predator film was something people had wanted ever since they played the Atari Jaguar video game of the same name. And although this wasn’t an adaptation of the game, it very much did go with the theme of it actually being a three way battle with humans being so unlikely to win they were left off the title.

It has some good moments, but it was begging for the horror and violent edge of the films that lead to it.

Predators

Predators is a nice idea that was just not executed quite as well as it could have been. The casting is probably it’s biggest error with Adrian Brody not quite being convincing as the tough and somewhat unlikeable lead. His gruff voice was a bad choice. And they also failed to learn from Spider-Man 3 that Topher Grace wasn’t the best option for a villain.

Despite this, the concept of a bunch of humans being dropped onto an alien world to be hunted by Predators is a good one. And whilst we had seen other Predators before, this is the one where they started to use different types of Predators and have them team up with humans for a common goal.

Predator 2

Better than most people remember. It’s a bit grim and relentlessly mean spirited at times, but it’s a good entry in the series. Danny Glover does a fine job as the lead, although the lack of Arnie in the sequel to the original definitely hurt it’s standing in the minds of fans.

This movie expanded upon what we knew about how the Predators operated and putting the hunter into the concrete jungle was a great idea after the leafy jungle of the first film.

Prometheus

Lots of people hate on this film, but I would argue that once you know what you’re getting with it, it is very watchable. This is definitely a film that left a lot more questions open by the end than there were at the start, but it is fun for the ride. It also was brave to explore the other aliens from Alien which every other movie had ignored the existence of. I have to say though, that making the Engineers humanoids and not have the elephant like faces that the original Alien movie indicated was a big let-down.

Prey

Easily the best Predator movie since the original. It’s amazing when you find out that one moment in Predator 2 inspired the time period and setting of this entire film, and this felt like a really great connection to the series overall.

Focussing on Naru, a young warrior from the native American Comanche tribe, the idea that Predators have been visiting Earth for centuries to test themselves in combat is a brilliant concept for the film. It perhaps doesn’t have as much action as others in the series and does take a little time to build, but it’s great in that if you were to watch the film without knowing it’s a Predator movie, it would take you by surprise when you finally get the reveal.

Predator

One of the best action films of it’s era, it was unlike anything that had come before it. An invisible alien hijacks the movie after half an idea of special ops and guerrilla warfare. The film oozes testosterone with the handshake that could cause volcanos to erupt and a cast that includes Jesse Ventura proclaiming that he ‘ain’t got time to bleed’ when he is in fact bleeding.

The battles and gore effects in the film are thrilling and who cannot forget the rest of it’s many memorable lines. Get to the chopper!

Aliens

An example of a sequel that knew exactly how to expand and grow it’s franchise. The movie does go bigger than the original and the concept is so simple. The first film was Alien…what if this was Aliens?! Where as the original film’s crew of the Nostromo were taken unprepared for the xenomorph, the army dudes in the sequel were more than ready to take on whatever was thrown at them. Unfortunately the aliens were generally tougher and the blood bath doesn’t take long to get going.

Alien

The original and best. Whilst all the films that have followed have gone the route of bigger means better, this isn’t always the case. The story of a group of astronauts coming across a single alien threat which terrorises them and picks them off one at a time perhaps has never been done better.

People watching the film wouldn’t have guessed that John Hurt, who was the biggest star in it at the time would be the first to die in the shocking chest burster scene. Then it would be Sigourney Weaver who would emerge the true lead in her star making performance as Ellen Ripley to fight the alien.

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