Jump to content
Bellazon

Rank the Alien Films and why!


Cult Icon

Recommended Posts

@Cult Icon

 

It's no secret that the franchise is a really mixed bag, but I would say that only James Cameron’s follow-up in '86 is worthy of being placed in the same category of excellence as the original, which might be the most influential movie ever in the genre. If I had to rank them all from best to worst, this is how I'd do it. :hehe:

 

Alien

Aliens

Prometheus

Alien Resurrection

Alien 3

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Michael* said:

@Cult Icon

 

It's no secret that the franchise is a really mixed bag, but I would say that only James Cameron’s follow-up in '86 is worthy of being placed in the same category of excellence as the original, which might be the most influential movie ever in the genre. If I had to rank them all from best to worst, this is how I'd do it. :hehe:

 

Alien

Aliens

Prometheus

Alien Resurrection

Alien 3

 

critics and fans generally consider the original Alien to be the best one but for me, it felt over-long.  Like it's a great 1 hr movie that's drawn out into 2 hours.    I like how the Alien is a cosmic horror here.  I can't give it a rating because it's a pop culture phenomenon, and just knowing its secrets lessens the impact.  It would at #1 because it established everything.

 

My personal favorite is Aliens, a 9 out of 10.  I like nearly everything about it and the film is very re-watchable.  It has massive impact in all sorts of entertainment media.

 

I would rate Prometheus a 8 out of 10.  

 

Alien Covenant and Alien Resurrection: 7 out of 10

 

Alien 3: I've had problems watching it- it just wasn't very good.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For two connected stories, Alien and Aliens are very different and I think that really works in their favour. Aliens is the superior sci-fi/action movie, while Alien is the superior horror/suspense movie. I'd consider Ridley Scott’s visuals more skilful than James Cameron’s, although Cameron does manage to expand on many of the first film’s strengths, and never in a way that feels excessive or forced. The original is still my absolute favourite though, it's an uncomplicated film in a lot of ways, but just such a masterpiece of slow burning tension.

 

If we're discounting the Alien vs Predator movies, both of which are beyond even 'so bad it's good' territory, Alien 3 would be at the bottom of the pile for me as well. Its main aim was to try and 'put the cat back in the bag' by using an individual xenomorph to scare the audience again, but that would only have had a chance of working if the characters were worth caring about. Ripley aside, they're all just too thinly sketched to be engaging.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In watching A;C, I got the impression that some of the backlash about Prometheus' being excessively mysterious and the lack of the xenomorph seems to have effected the film.  

 

The film is more literal and less exploratory than its predecessor .

 

A:R is not well liked but I personally felt a French comic vibe from it.  It's the black humor piece of the alien franchise, and I see similar humor in french films like the Fifth Element.  It drew a lot of inspiration from the Alien comics.  

 

Yeah the new born Alien was kind of lame

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/20/2017 at 8:33 AM, Michael* said:

For two connected stories, Alien and Aliens are very different and I think that really works in their favour. Aliens is the superior sci-fi/action movie, while Alien is the superior horror/suspense movie. I'd consider Ridley Scott’s visuals more skilful than James Cameron’s, although Cameron does manage to expand on many of the first film’s strengths, and never in a way that feels excessive or forced. The original is still my absolute favourite though, it's an uncomplicated film in a lot of ways, but just such a masterpiece of slow burning tension.

 

I guess so.  It's hard for me to rate Alien as it's very much a 'first experience' type of movie. I saw it when I was small and had bad nightmares from it.  I found it very chilling.  

 

The second one had the flaw of reducing the tension of each individual alien.  The Marines simply fire a burst from their pulse rifles and one alien is toast.  The aliens' threat was in their great numbers and the fact that they became inter-galatic ants took away from their original cred as a 'perfect organism'.   Starship Trooper's aliens however, were more durable.  Starcraft's Zerg also follows the hive concept.

 

A:C, from my watch, showed that the Xenomorph has lost a lot of its bite due to its familiarity, monkey like intelligence, and its vulnerability to armed humans.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎20‎/‎05‎/‎2017 at 2:30 PM, Enrico_sw said:

4 - Alien Resurrection / A failure (The newborn hybrid alien? He looks like Mickey Mouse after a rave party.

 

:rofl:

 

Resurrection had a fantastic, out-of-the-box premise (that its version of Ripley is too alien to be human and too human to be alien, but still has to pick a side), although the absurdist vibe and almost slapstick violence make it a curious watch. Overall, the execution wasn't brilliant and it hasn't really aged that well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've always liked the idea of an "aliens invade earth" movie (like Starcraft's Zerg).  IIRC the sequel to Aliens was meant to be something of that nature; marines vs an army of aliens.

 

This arcade game from the 1990s (childhood favorite) is etched in my mind:

 

It was supposed to tie with with the new Aliens vs Predator movie, but the script was scrapped

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...