Alien films ranked: Which is the best entry in the iconic sci-fi franchise?

With that in mind, we've taken this opportunity to rank all seven big-screen instalments that have been released so far. We've not slotted Alien: Earth in here just yet, in part because an eight-part series is obviously a very different proposition to a feature film, but early reviews do indicate that the show is one of the better instalments in the franchise.

Still, ranking the films does throw up all sorts of interesting quandaries: which of Ridley Scott's prequels is the better of the two? How highly does the newest entry Romulus rank? And of course, does the claustrophobic tension of the first film beat the high-octane action of the second?

Read on for our full rankings.

7. Alien Resurrection (1997)

The franchise's nadir, Resurrection saw French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet take over the reigns – with Sigourney Weaver returning to the franchise despite her character having been killed off in Alien 3. Set 200 years after the events of that movie, Weaver played a super-powered Ripley clone, while Winona Ryder starred in the role of synthetic human Annalee Call.

Although it has its champions, the convoluted and chaotic film has none of the tension, charm or thrills of the rest of the franchise – and pales in comparison to the superior entries.

6. Alien 3 (1992)

Director David Fincher has long since-disowned this third entry in the franchise, blaming studio interference for diluting his original vision for the film. And he wasn't the only one upset: many long-term fans were especially displeased with the unceremonious manner in which beloved characters from Aliens were killed off in the very opening scenes.

Whichever way you look at it, the film is certainly a major step down from the first two entries – failing to bring either the claustrophobic tension of Alien or the thrilling action of Aliens and containing a muddled, sometimes lacklustre script.

Still, it's not entirely without merit. There's plenty of visual splendour, some interesting additions to franchise lore and a couple of standout scenes. Meanwhile, the nihilistic, incredibly bleak approach does give the film it's own distinct identity, even if it isn't to everyone's taste.

5. Prometheus (2012)

Prometheus was the first entry in the franchise for a decade and a half – and also saw Ridley Scott return to the director's chair for the first time since he helmed the original 35 years before.

A prequel to the original films, it takes place roughly 30 years before the events of Alien and saw Scott adopt a rather more philosophical approach to the franchise, with the main characters a pair of archaeologists who reckon they've found a message from ancient beings they believe to be humanity's predecessors.

Of course, when they're subsequently funded by the Weyland Corporation to lead an expedition to a distant planet, they find themselves up against some familiar-but-different deadly threats – although the film sometimes struggles to find the right balance between tense action sequences and the undercooked philosophical musing.

The result is an uneven film that nonetheless contains some thrilling moments.

4. Alien: Romulus (2024)

This most recent big-screen addition to the franchise is set between the first two entries and swapped the philosophical musing of Scott's prequels for a more back-to-basics approach – which sometimes makes it feel like a loving tribute act to the series.

Focusing on a group of young space colonists who awaken a batch of fearsome xenomorphs at an abandoned space station, it includes throwbacks to iconic deaths and famous one-liners from earlier movies, while it adopts a retro-futurist aesthetic that's clearly indebted to the first two films.

Although the ghoulish re-animation of a character from the original film is an iffy creative choice, this is still an engaging, well-directed and appropriately gnarly film complete with some well-executed action sequences, a nightmarish final act twist and great performances by Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson. Director Fede Alvarez is reportedly working on a sequel.

3. Alien: Covenant (2017)

The second of Scott's two prequels – which was initially intended as the middle part of a trilogy – has plenty of detractors, exemplified by it's rather lukewarm rating of 65 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. But it's arguably the most enjoyable, and for that matter most interesting, entry since the one-two punch of Alien and Aliens.

The film follows the crew of the titular ship – including Christopher Oram (Billy Crudup) and Daniels (Katherine Waterston) – who are woken from cryosleep by a crash and subsequently stumble on a mysterious planet. While it initially seems to be uninhabited, they soon come across David (Michael Fassbender) from Prometheus – whose crazed experiments throw up all sorts of issues.

Throughout, the film delves deeper into philosophy and mythology while never holding back when it comes to the gore, including some of the bloodiest moments in the franchise's history.

Fassbender has arguably never been better than his memorable dual role – playing synthetic humans David and Walter with incredible gusto – and there's a brilliant twist that only makes if more regrettable that Scott hasn't been given the chance to finish his trilogy.

2. Aliens (1986)

In truth, on another day James Cameron's terrific sequel could have topped the list – there's really very little separating the first two entries in the franchise, both of which are near faultless masterpieces.

Set 57 years after the events of the first movie and following Ripley after she wakes up from cryosleep, it swaps the tense atmosphere of the original for more high-octane blockbuster thrills as Ripley and a squad of marines do battle with numerous Xenomorphs.

As an action spectacle it's tough to beat – with several superbly orchestrated set pieces – and there's also some excellent character work, with the relationship between Ripley and young girl Newt (Carrie Henn) especially well played.

Lance Henriksen, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser and Bill Paxton are among the other stars to bring memorable characters to life in what remains one of the finest action movies ever made – and arguably the most rewatchable Alien film, even if its narrowly pipped to the overall top spot.

1. Alien (1979)

Ridley Scott's landmark 1979 sci-fi horror has never been bettered. The film introduced Ellen Ripley as one of seven human crew-members (not to forget Jones the cat) on board the Nostromo spacecraft, whose return home is delayed when they intercept a distress signal. Of course, it doesn't take long before they must face unspeakable horrors.

From the iconic chest-bursting scene – still one of the most disturbing moments in any film – to Ripley's final showdown with the Xenomorph, the film is filled with claustrophobic tension, directed with masterful precision by Scott.

That's not even mentioning the superb creature design by H R Giger or the supporting cast filled with several of the finest character actors of all time, including Ian Holm, John Hurt, Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton.

It's about as close as you can get to cinematic perfection.

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