It’s official – Alien: Romulus is a box office hit.
The ninth film in the Alien universe, the Fede Alvarez movie has already met expectations at the global box office and is a hit with long-time fans.
It’s also been a hit with critics, and is one of the best-rated Alien films of the 21st century – but where does it rank alongside every other film in the franchise?
Sci-fi horror Alien kicked things off in 1979 when Ridley Scott and Sigourney Weaver teamed up to produce a classic that endures as one of the greatest films of all time, and crystalised the Xenomorph as the scariest creature ever seen.
It took seven years for a sequel to be made but when it did, James Cameron’s Aliens made a huge splash at the box office in 1986 and became one of the highest grossing and best rated films of the decade.
Since then, the Alien movie franchise has shown no signs of stopping, with nine films now out in the universe. Which is best and which is worst according to Rotten Tomatoes?
9. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)
The 2007 film Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem came into the world as a sequel to the much maligned crossover film Alien vs. Predator – and somehow came out worse off.
Starring Steven Pasquale and John Ortiz, AVPR (as it was stylised) picks up as a Predalien (a Xenomorph-Predator hybrid) causes carnage in the US, with a Predator dispatched to take care of it.
It performed well at the box office, more than earning its money back, but critics slammed it. On Rotten Tomatoes, it currently has a critic rating of just 12%, an average rating of 3.2 out of 10, and an audience score of 30%.
The site’s critical consensus was: ‘The increased gore and violence over the first Alien vs. Predator can’t excuse Requiem’s disorientating editing, excessively murky lighting, and lack of new ideas.
8. Alien vs. Predator (2004)
It just didn’t seem to work for the Alien vs. Predator crossover films – at least not where critics were concerned. Audiences lapped it up, however, with the film performing well against box office expectations.
Starring Sanaa Lathan and Raoul Bova starred in the film that saw the two franchises collide for the first time on the big screen – the movie followed scientists caught up in an ancient war between the two species.
While it might have had a pretty successful runout at the box office, critics weren’t convinced, with the Rotten Tomatoes consensus being: ‘Gore without scares and cardboard cut-out characters make this clash of the monsters a dull sit.’
It currently has a critic rating of only 22%, an average rating of 3.9 out of 10, and an audience score of 39%. An improvement on AVPR, but not much of one.
7. Alien3 (1992)
Let the record show that the Rotten Tomatoes score for Alien3 is a disgrace. Directed by David Fincher, the film was initially panned but has gained a serious cult following in the 30 years since its release.
Featuring Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, the film follows her journey as the sole survivor after crash-landing on a prison planet, where she meets the inmates of a maximum security facility before battling more Xenomorphs.
The film was a success in cinemas but critics of the early 1990s weren’t convinced, despite praising its ‘admirable risks with franchise mythology’.
Critics slammed it for having ‘far too few pay offs’ and called it a ‘thinly scripted sequel whose stylish visuals aren’t enough to enliven a lack of genuine thrills’.
Its current rating on Rotten Tomatoes stands at 44%, with an average rating of 6.3 out of 10, while only 46% of film fans said they would give it a positive rating. The truth is that everyone is wrong and that Alien3 is great.
6. Alien Resurrection (1997)
Set 200 years after the events of Alien3, bringing back a clone of Ellen Ripley – still played by Sigourney Weaver – didn’t go over that well with critics or audiences.
However, people were still interested in the Alien franchise, and it proved to be another box office success – it also featured a young Joss Whedon as a writer, featuring on just his third film.
But critics still weren’t keen, admittedly going softer on it than they did on Alien3. They said: ‘A resurrected Ripley restores some fun to the Alien franchise, [but] the acid blood running through this fourth entry’s veins corrodes whatever emotional investment audiences had left.’
Its current critic rating stands at 55%, while its average rating is lower than that of Alien3 (6.0 out of 10). Audiences have even less time for it than Alien vs. Predator, with its fan score just 39% in 2024.
5. Alien: Covenant (2017)
Prequel film Prometheus proved to be a mixed bag in 2012, but it still spawned a sequel five years later. Alien: Covenant starred Michael Fassbender and Katherine Waterston.
And, thankfully, critics were willing to meet Covenant halfway, admitting that it didn’t do much new for an Alien film but still said it delivered a ‘satisfying dose of deep space terror’.
Its critic rating stands at 65% in 2024, with an average rating of 6.6 out of 10 across more than 400 film reviews. Fans were less convinced by it, however, hitting it with an average score of 55% – still the highest so far, though.
A sequel to Covenant was planned, with Michael Fassbender’s character David moving into the centre of the story, but plans were scrapped. We’ll never know what might have been.
4. Prometheus (2012)
One of the most divisive films of 2012, Prometheus is a distant prequel to Alien and was intended to set up a trilogy of prequels which continued with Alien: Covenant before being shelved.
Prometheus was highly anticipated – it marked Ridley Scott’s return to the franchise, had an absolutely wicked trailer, and starred the likes of Michael Fassbender and Idris Elba.
And people were largely won over by it, albeit with some big caveats. Its score on the Tomatometer currently stands at 73% with an average score of 7.0 out of 10, but it was criticised for setting up questions it didn’t know how to answer.
‘It may not answer all of its big questions, but it’s redeemed by its haunting visual grandeur and compelling performances – particularly Michael Fassbender as a fastidious android.’
Fans were less convinced, but its audience score is still standing at a positive 68%, as of 2024, despite its mixed response from long-time Alien fans at the time.
3. Alien: Romulus
The most recent entry to the Alien franchise, Alien: Romulus, has proven to be a hit with critics, fans, and at the box office – it’s currently the best-rated Alien film for almost 40 years.
Taking place between Alien and Aliens, it follows a group of young space travelers searching for a new home with better living conditions who encounter facehuggers and Xenomorphs on their journey.
Critics have praised it, saying: ‘Honoring its nightmarish predecessors while chestbursting at the seams with new frights of its own, Romulus injects some fresh acid blood into one of cinema’s great horror franchises.’
Its critic rating currently stands at 82%, with an average rating of 6.6 out of 10, while 86% of fans who’ve seen the film would award it a 7 out of 10 or higher.
2. Alien
The original, but, according to critics, not quite the best. Alien kicked the whole franchise off in stunning style in 1979, with the sci-fi horror from Ridley Scott going on to become one of the greatest and most influential horror films of all time.
It was a huge hit at the box office, making $187million back then ($800million in today’s money) across the globe – that’s about £616million as of 2024.
Starring Sigourney Weaver, the crew of a spaceship respond to a signal being transmitted from a nearby moon. Upon arrival, they’re subsequently attacked and faced with the prospect of battling a Xenomorph while trapped on their stranded ship.
Critics still hold it in high regard to this day, with its Rotten Tomatoes score a whopping 93% and its average rating a huge 9 out of 10 – fans agree, with its audience score at 94%.
1. Aliens
The best of all the Alien films, according to Rotten Tomatoes, is James Cameron’s 1986 action-packed horror sequel Aliens, and sees Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley battle more Xenomorphs than ever before.
It’s now widely considered to be one of the best films of the 1980s and has influenced action and sci-fi films for a generation since then, even being referenced in sitcoms and other genres throughout pop culture.
It boasts an impressive critic rating of 94%, with an average score of 7.9 out of 10, while audiences also love it – it has a fan score of 95%, with that score being backed up by a 4.5 out of 5 score.
The critical consensus reads: ‘While Alien was a marvel of slow-building, atmospheric tension, Aliens packs a much more visceral punch, and features a typically strong performance from Sigourney Weaver.’
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