Alien movies ranked worst to best according to fans

Ridley Scott completely changed the game for fans of sci-fi and horror with 1979's Alien and its haunted house in space concept. Since then, we've seen the Alien movies spin off in a variety of directions, from James Cameron's all-out action sequel to franchise crossovers and philosophical prequels.

The 45-year history of this series has plenty of highs, but its fair share of lows too. There have been amazing movies throughout the franchise, but also some massive missteps. It remains to be seen whether Fede Álvarez's gory reinvention Alien: Romulus will be in the first or second category, but the early signs are very encouraging indeed.

Read more: Alien: Romulus director shares 'brutally honest' Ridley Scott advice that helped film (Yahoo Entertainment)

So, with Romulus now upon us, it's the perfect time to look back through the Alien movies and highlight the best and the worst entries in the franchise — based on what fans on IMDb think about them.

Alien movies ranked worst to best, according to fans

8 | Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)

With Alien vs. Predator — the first union between the Alien and Predator franchises — they pretty much got away with it. The novelty factor, combined with Paul W. S. Anderson's action blockbuster nous, carried the movie to decent reviews. Unfortunately, rather than quit while they were ahead, 20th Century Studios pushed ahead with a sequel.

The movie picks up immediately after its predecessor, with the Predators sending one of their top hunters down to a small town on Earth to take out the hybrid "Predalien" created at the conclusion of the previous film. New directors the Strause Brothers just couldn't match Anderson's style and the result was softer box office, savage reviews, and very little audience desire for more from this spin-off series.

IMDb rating: 4.6

Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem is streaming on Disney+.

7 | Alien vs. Predator (2004)

The first Alien vs. Predator movie was arguably better than it ever should've been. It imagined the Predators and xenomorphs as rivals going back thousands of years, using Earth as the battleground for their epic conflicts. Paul W. S. Anderson brought his Resident Evil-honed gift for supernatural carnage to this franchise with aplomb.

Read more: The Alien film we never got to see because of Alien vs. Predator (Yahoo Entertainment UK)

Of course, fans still didn't love this as much as the original Alien films and it's tough to find too many people who will honestly go to bat for this as a memorable movie in its own right. However, it served its purpose for a studio hoping to keep two valuable franchises alive.

IMDb rating: 5.7

Alien vs. Predator is streaming on Disney+.

6 | Alien Resurrection (1997)

With Ripley gone as of the end of Alien 3, the studio needed to do something special in order to keep the franchise going. They hired Joss Whedon — then a Hollywood rising star — to pen a script and, against all odds, he managed to find a reason for Ripley's return that would make narrative sense and convince Sigourney Weaver to sign on for another film.

The result, directed by French sci-fi specialist Jean-Pierre Jeunet, was a bit of a mixed bag. Weaver did great work as a cloned version of Ripley who has some xenomorph DNA inside her, but the over-arching plot — set 200 years after the third film — left a lot to be desired.

Renowned critic Roger Ebert called it one of the worst films of 1997 and, based on the IMDb rating, there's not a whole lot of love for it among audiences either.

IMDb rating: 6.2

Alien Resurrection is streaming on Disney+.

4= | Alien: Covenant (2017)

Scott's return to making Alien movies was envisaged as a sweeping, thoughtful bit of connective tissue that would explore the beginnings of the xenomorphs, as well as asking fundamental questions about humanity. But when Prometheus became something of a figure of fun, Scott partially reversed course and embraced sci-fi violence and chaos again in Alien: Covenant.

Read more: Ridley Scott Regrets Directing Alien: Covenant Over Blade Runner Sequel (Variety)

Unfortunately, that change didn't help as much as those involved would've hoped. The philosophical elements sat awkwardly against the broad action and violence, while the new characters failed to make much of an impact. It says a lot that the standout moment is a pair of Michael Fassbenders talking to each other with straight faces about fingering an instrument.

IMDb rating: 6.4

Alien: Covenant is streaming on Disney+.

4= | Alien 3 (1992)

David Fincher would probably be quite surprised to see his debut film so high up this ranking. He has frequently explained that he hates it more than anybody else possibly could. The movie takes Ripley and a xenomorph as the two survivors of Aliens and dumps them in the middle of a violent prison colony.

Read more: David Fincher helped develop original Blade movie (Cover Media)

The film's something of a mess, bearing fingerprints of studio interference all over it. It's no surprise that Fincher, given the director he went on to become, would have hated that more than most. Crucially, there wasn't even a finished script when shooting started. Yikes!

IMDb rating: 6.4

Alien 3 is streaming on Disney+.

3 | Prometheus (2012)

After the Alien vs. Predator experiment, Scott opted to return for an ambitious prequel project, starting with Prometheus and planned to eventually join up with the start of Alien. This first film follows the usual band of scientists, but this time they're on the search for the beginnings of mankind. As a result, this isn't the Alien movie that a lot of people were expecting, so the reaction was decidedly mixed when it landed in cinemas to an impressive haul north of $400m (£313m).

Over time, the reaction to Prometheus has thawed somewhat. If it's viewed as something entirely different to Alien, it's much easier to admire. And given how much good stuff there is in the film, it's definitely worth a revisit.

IMDb rating: 7.0

Prometheus is streaming on Disney+.

2 | Aliens (1986)

Famously, James Cameron pitched his sequel to Alien by simply drawing an 's' after the title on the back of his script and turning it into a dollar sign. That very much sums up the ethos Cameron took with his story, which makes everything bigger, louder, and more spectacular.

Read more: James Cameron confirms urban myth about unique Aliens pitch (BANG Showbiz)

Ripley emerges from stasis at the beginning of the movie to find that, in her 50-plus years of cryosleep, the xenomorph moon LV-426 has become the sight of a human colony, terraforming the landscape. She agrees to return there with a group of marines in order to make sure the colony is okay. Spoiler: it isn't.

Cameron's movie is a towering achievement in sci-fi blockbuster spectacle and it's fitting that there's only a tiny difference between its IMDb rating and the original's score. There's only a cigarette paper between them and, for many, Cameron's film is the better of the two.

IMDb rating: 8.4

Aliens is streaming on Disney+.

1 | Alien (1979)

The original and the best. Scott changed the genres of both sci-fi and horror forever with Alien, which introduced us to a strange group of blue-collar space explorers and let us fall in both love and hate with them. Then, it exploded one of their chests and hacked most of the rest of them to pieces at the hands — or claws — of a terrifying alien creature. The result was quite simply one of the best genre movies ever made.

Sigourney Weaver became an icon almost overnight with her performance as perennial survivor Ellen Ripley, while John Hurt's pyrotechnic sternum is cemented firmly as one of the most harrowing movie moments ever committed to celluloid.

The sequels might be bigger and often bloodier, but there hasn't been anything to match the fear factor of that lone xenomorph stalking the hallways of the Nostromo. Scott knew that in space no one can hear you scream, but they can definitely hear you in the cinema.

IMDb rating: 8.5

Alien is streaming on Disney+.