Alien Ranked
Year: 1979-Present
Entries: 6
The Alien franchise is a juggernaut of sci-fi cinema and has a legacy lasting longer than almost any other film series. Despite this there are very few entries to the mainline series. Thankfully that makes for easy ranking! So without further ado, bring on the Xenomorphs!
#6 Alien: Resurrection (1997, Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
#6 Alien: Resurrection (1997, Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
Lets just get this over and done with shall we. Fox for some reason in the 90's thought Alien was going to be its breadwinning franchise and so pushed out two extremely underwhelming films. The worst offender of the two though is Alien Resurrection. After Alien 3 killed off Ellen Ripley at the end, effectively ending the series, Resurrection does what it says on the tin and brings her back from the dead, literally. It had no reason to exist before being made, and never justifies its existence as a finished product. Awful acting, awful plot, over reliance on awful CGI. The one redeeming feature is the underwater Xenomorph chase scene, but even that's just ok and nothing to get too excited over.
#5 Alien 3 (1992, Directed by David Fincher)
#5 Alien 3 (1992, Directed by David Fincher)
If you think you hate Alien 3, believe me, nobody hates it as much as David Fincher does. This was the now acclaimed director's first foray into Hollywood filmmaking after making it big as a music video director. He had big visions, big dreams of what he wanted to do, and his experience with Fox and Alien 3 almost made him leave the industry for good. That being said, I like it more than most people do. When Ripley awakes in a prison colony after her escape pod lands on the planet surface following the event of Aliens, she realises that she has brought with her a facehugger. This starts off a whole new Xenomorph attack that she must stop. Alien 3 is definitely one of Finchers worst films, and one of the series worst, but it's not as awful as some might have you believe.
#4 Alien: Covenant (2017, Directed by Ridley Scott)
#4 Alien: Covenant (2017, Directed by Ridley Scott)
Prometheus got a very mixed reception upon its release, with many claiming it did not live up to the expectations Ridley Scott set after he announced it was an Alien prequel. As such he made sure to set the record straight with the follow up, Alien Covenant. Unfortunately what audiences get is neither an overly satisfying Alien prequel, nor a satisfying Prometheus sequel. It's an enjoyable film sure, but it inhabits this weird no mans land where its a disappointing sequel and still not an adequate prequel. Gorgeous cinematography and an excelent performance from Michael Fassbender though!
#3 Prometheus (2012, Directed by Ridley Scott)
#3 Prometheus (2012, Directed by Ridley Scott)
The Alien series had been dormant for so long that for many Prometheus being a prequel simply slipped under their radar. Even I didn't realise it was an Alien prequel until around the midway point in the film when I want to see it in cinemas! That's where Ridley Scott shot himself in the foot though, by claiming this to be a prequel, rather than just a story set within the Alien universe. It does nicely set up the abandoned alien ship on LV-426 for the Nostromo crew to find in Alien, but other than that it feels like a completely separate entity to Alien. The crew of the Prometheus set out to find the creators of the human race only to uncover the seeds of our destruction in the process, and what transpires is a thrilling and visually stunning series of events. A very enjoyable film so long as you don't focus on its connections to the rest of the series too much.
#2 Aliens (1986, Directed by James Cameron)
#2 Aliens (1986, Directed by James Cameron)
The original Alien was a successful film but work on a sequel proved difficult as nobody could decide what to do with the property to retain the quality set by the original film. James Cameron stepped up to the plate and suggested something utterly unthinkable, turn a claustrophobic horror masterpiece, into an explosion filled action extravaganza. Thankfully, it not only worked, but depending on who you ask it's better than the original! Personally I love Aliens, but it doesn't quite top the original. But seeing Ellen Ripley return for revenge on the creatures that made her life a living hell is a hell of a direction for a sequel!
#1 Alien (1979, Directed by Ridley Scott)
#1 Alien (1979, Directed by Ridley Scott)
There is an eternally raging debate between film and sci-fi nerds everywhere and that is whether Alien or Aliens is the better film. Well I can concretely say that it's the 1979 original Ridley Scott horror classic, Alien, of course! Awoken from hypersleep well before they are due to arrive at their destination, the crew of the mining vessel Nostromo are informed that they must first stop off on a planet where a distress signal is emitting from. They land and find an alien spacecraft filled with eggs, when one of them hatches and the creature inside attacks a crew member they evacuate back to the ship. Little do they realise that they are bringing on board the ultimate killing organism that will hunt them down one by one.
Some may call Alien boring because not a lot happens for the first half of the film, but I say that this time is spent well by exploring the characters and motivations for being onboard the Nostromo. Once the film kicks into high gear though its like a rollercoaster that goes over that first big dip, the tension is always being wound up tighter and tighter before the Alien appears and snatches away another one of the crew members.
It's sci-fi at its most basic and best, whilst it's sequel certainly ups the ante I feel it also loses some of what made the original so special.
Some may call Alien boring because not a lot happens for the first half of the film, but I say that this time is spent well by exploring the characters and motivations for being onboard the Nostromo. Once the film kicks into high gear though its like a rollercoaster that goes over that first big dip, the tension is always being wound up tighter and tighter before the Alien appears and snatches away another one of the crew members.
It's sci-fi at its most basic and best, whilst it's sequel certainly ups the ante I feel it also loses some of what made the original so special.