RANKED

Every Alien Movie, Ranked (and in Order)

By Matt Oakes · October 25, 2026

Nearly five decades after Ridley Scott first warned audiences that in space no one can hear you scream, the Alien franchise spans seven films from five directors: Scott (who made three of them), James Cameron, David Fincher, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and Fede Álvarez. It breaks down into three eras: the original four films following Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley (Alien, Aliens, Alien³, and Alien Resurrection), Scott’s prequels Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, and Álvarez’s Alien: Romulus, a standalone story set between the first two films. The two Alien vs. Predator crossovers and FX’s Alien: Earth series aren’t included here. Along the way, the series has won multiple Oscars, earned Sigourney Weaver a Best Actress nomination for Aliens and, with 2024’s $350 million hit Alien: Romulus, proved there’s still plenty of life left in the xenomorph.

Watching in story order? The timeline runs Prometheus (2093), Alien: Covenant (2104), Alien (2122), Alien: Romulus (2142), Aliens and Alien³ (both 2179), and Alien Resurrection (2381). First-timers, though, should start with the 1979 original and go in release order.

Quick list:

Alien (1979)
Aliens (1986)
Alien: Romulus (2024)
Prometheus (2012)
Alien³ (1992)
Alien: Covenant (2017)
Alien Resurrection (1997)

Critics and Audience scores from Rotten Tomatoes; ratings from IMDb. Scores as of October 2026.

7. ALIEN RESURRECTION (1997)

55%Critics 39%Audience 6.2IMDb

Alien Resurrection (1997) still
Two hundred years after Ripley’s death, scientists clone her (with a little xenomorph DNA mixed in) and naturally things go sideways. Jean-Pierre Jeunet brings a grimy, rubbery, deeply French weirdness to Joss Whedon’s quippy script, and there’s a terrific underwater chase in the middle. But Winona Ryder is miscast, the tone careens between camp and grotesque, and the infamous Newborn is one of the franchise’s ugliest ideas. The bottom of the barrel, though at least it’s a strange barrel.

▶ Streaming on fuboTV and YouTube TV

6. ALIEN: COVENANT (2017)

65%Critics 55%Audience 6.4IMDb

One thing’s for certain, Alien: Covenant is a Prometheus sequel. Ridley Scott doubles down on the 2012 prequel’s cerebral but ultimately sloppy storytelling, reveling in yet another cast of characters who make stupid decision after stupid decision in a misguided attempt to hoist ideology above character.

Alien: Covenant is a nasty slice of sci-fi complicated by high highs and low lows; Michael Fassbender is outstanding doing double duty as ideological opposites; the lame stable of human characters, not so much. Seat-shaking blasts of horror evolve to predictable, intelligence-insulting twists; Ridley Scott hedges interesting, high-brow contemplative material in with humdrum action fare with low-grade effects work. Ultimately, ‘Covenant’ is a by-the-numbers alien slasher with aspirations to be so much more.▶ Watch on HBO Max · Read the full review

5. ALIEN³ (1992)

43%Critics 46%Audience 6.4IMDb

David Fincher’s feature debut was gutted by studio meddling, and it shows. Ripley crash-lands on Fiorina 161, a lice-infested prison colony of shaved-head inmates, and the film kills off Newt and Hicks before the opening credits finish, a bleak swing that still stings today. There’s a nihilistic, doom-laden mood here that’s fascinating in its own right, and the 2003 Assembly Cut restores much of the intended coherence. A messy, grim, compelling misfire.

▶ Streaming on fuboTV and YouTube TV

4. PROMETHEUS (2012)

73%Critics 68%Audience 7.0IMDb

A long-awaited return to the Alien universe, Prometheus is a film of great proportion. The visual palette is among Scott’s best, even if the story gets away from scribes Damon Lindelof and Jon Spaihts. Nevertheless, there’s enough intrigue within the walls of Scott’s quasi-prequel/sequel/sideways-quel to overshadow the bulk of wrong turns taken in the story, i.e. a biologist who inexplicably decides to try and touch an alien snake species. Obviously that isn’t going to end well. Scott establishes early on that Prometheus is going to be a film that takes on something as massive and heady as the creation of our species but by the second act, it was little more than a by-the-books sci-fi horror bout. A sturdy cast – Michael Fassbender has a blast as an untrustworthy AI – and impeccably realized alien landscapes makes the film arresting and immersive even if it never quite lived up to its promise of going to infinity and beyond.▶ Streaming on fuboTV and HBO Max · From my Ridley Scott ranking

3. ALIEN: ROMULUS (2024)

80%Critics 85%Audience 7.1IMDb

20th Century Studios made a clear statement by hiring Evil Dead and Don’t Breathe director Fede Alvarez to helm the seventh (or ninth, if you count the dreadful Alien vs. Predator movies) installment of the Alien franchise: we’re going back to basics. Alvarez, known for his low-budget, high-gore horror films, seemed like the perfect fit.

A legacy sequel that thrives when it taps into what made the original Alien such a tense outer space outing, Alien: Romulus proves there’s still plenty of life in the Xenomorphs, and that life is best served with a hefty dose of death. Cailee Spaeny emerges as a strong final girl in Fede Alvarez’s nail-biting space horror venture, delivering a Ripley worthy performance that anchors the film’s tension and terror.▶ Watch on Hulu · Read the full review

2. ALIENS (1986)

93%Critics 94%Audience 8.4IMDb

James Cameron took Ridley Scott’s haunted house in space and turned it into the greatest action sequel ever made. Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley wakes from 57 years of hypersleep to find the colony on LV-426 gone silent, and joins a squad of cocky Colonial Marines who are about to learn exactly how outmatched they are. It’s relentless, endlessly quotable (“Game over, man”), and anchored by Ripley’s ferocious bond with young Newt, building to a power loader showdown with the Queen that still makes audiences cheer. Few sequels match their originals. This one comes awfully close and there’s many who would put it on the very top of the pile.

▶ Streaming on Netflix and fuboTV

1. ALIEN (1979)

93%Critics 94%Audience 8.4IMDb

Ruthlessly blending imaginative sci-fi scenery, supernatural thrills, and horror, Alien truly is a space-bound achievement like none other. Ridley Scott’s direction is impeccable and cryptic, unveiling the film’s mysteries at an absorbing pace, and his world, flush with complexly expansive sets, still holds up nearly five decades on. More of a waiting game than the onslaught that James Cameron would later turn it into, Alien is focused on telling a story of semi-believable horror. Scott strategically combs our collective unconscious for its most heinous corners, and nothing (save for maybe an alien abortion) is flat-out yuckier than a chest-bursting weiner with metal teeth or a milky severed AI head.▶ Streaming on Netflix and fuboTV · From my Ridley Scott ranking

How to Watch Them in Order

Release order:

Alien (1979)
Aliens (1986)
Alien³ (1992)
Alien Resurrection (1997)
Prometheus (2012)
Alien: Covenant (2017)
Alien: Romulus (2024)

Chronological (story) order:

Prometheus (set in 2093)
Alien: Covenant (2104)
Alien (2122)
Alien: Romulus (2142)
Aliens (2179)
Alien³ (2179)
Alien Resurrection (2381)

FAQ

What is the best Alien movie?

By my ranking, the original Alien (1979) is the best, with Aliens (1986) a close second.

What is the worst Alien movie?

Alien Resurrection (1997) sits at the bottom of my ranking.

What order should I watch the Alien movies in?

For first-timers, release order works best: Alien, Aliens, Alien³, Alien Resurrection, Prometheus, Alien: Covenant and Alien: Romulus. Chronologically, the story runs Prometheus, Alien: Covenant, Alien, Alien: Romulus, Aliens, Alien³, and Alien Resurrection.