The recent release of “Alien: Romulus” has breathed new life into the “Alien” films, which the franchise has been in desperate need of. “Alien” is a somewhat anamolous horror franchise, it had an incredibly strong start but began to slowly lose itself over time before becoming just about unrecognizable from its own origins. Thankfully, it appears that the franchise has begun to finally get its starship back on course. So let’s take a look at where it started, and how it got to where it is now.

“Alien” (1979)

“Alien” chest-burst onto the scene in 1979, and was an immediate sensation. The film follows the crew of the Nostromo, as they must fight for their lives after a crew member accidentally brings a hostile life form on board. Alien is considered by many to be one of the best horror films of all time, Ridley Scott’s direction creates nail-biting tension as neither the audience or characters know when the creature may pop out of the shadows next. Coupled with H.R. Giger’s design of the alien, (also known as a xenomorph) the movie quickly carved itself into the minds of audiences everywhere. 

“Aliens” (1986)

As the title suggests, “Aliens” is the first movie and so much more. “Aliens” sees the sole survivor of the Nostromo, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) return to the planet on which her crew first made contact with the alien after a colony goes radio silent. Accompanying her are the colonial marines, who provide both a more action focused angle and a cast of likable and memorable characters who exist to die horribly. “Aliens” builds upon the original in simple yet effective ways, mainly by just adding more, well, aliens. It’s quite hard to explain, but Aliens is a sequel that proves that sometimes bigger does mean better. James Cameron’s directing style adds greatly to the film since despite being more action heavy the movie still has a solid amount of tension and horror. The practical effects are also a major highlight as the aliens are now able to actually be seen outside of dark close-ups, and can run around and emerge from water in cool shots and set pieces. For these reasons, many consider “Aliens” to be both a great film and sequel.

“Alien 3” (1992)

After the masterpiece that was “Aliens” one would think that “Alien 3” would be a slam dunk…Alien 3 is the biggest fumble since Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. “Alien 3” isn’t terrible, but it’s a huge step down in quality compared to the previous installments. “Alien 3” is a direct follow-up to “Aliens” as after escaping at the end of the last film Ripley crash lands onto a prison colony and must investigate the possibility that one of aliens may have followed her by stowing away on her ship. The movie unfortunately lacks most of the personality that the previous films had, it feels incredibly bland and much like a retread of “Alien” but in a different setting. Mix in some poorly aged early 90’s CGI and you end up with the first “Alien” movie that just feels downright unnecessary.

“Alien Resurrection”(1997)

After the lukewarm reception of “Alien 3”, it seemed that the filmmakers tried to right the ship with the fourth installment. Unfortunately, they corrected their course a little too much and rammed head first into an iceberg. There are many words to describe “Alien Resurrection”, and bland isn’t one of them, but neither is good. This movie follows a clone of Ripley, (who died at the end of “Alien 3”) as she must escape from the research station in which she and several xenomorphs are being held. This movie is a complete mess, filled to the brim with ideas that are never really explored in interesting ways and atrocious 90’s music video editing. It’s rumored that watching “Alien: Resurrection” used to be a form of punishment in prisons, but the practice was stopped due to being deemed “cruel and unusual”.

“Alien vs Predator” (2004-2007)

For over a decade the “Alien” franchise lay dormant, waiting for its moment… In the meantime to stay afloat the xenomorphs did some wrestling matches with the predators to make a few extra bucks. These cinematic, interstellar, UFC matches came in the form of “Alien vs. Predator” (2004) and “Alien vs. Predator: Requiem” (2007). There will be no comments about the allegations that the xenomorphs took bribes to throw the matches, because sports commentary is not today’s focus. For the most part these movies are pretty even in quality, they’re not great, but there are worse movies. If one is looking for a simple and explosive time, maybe these might be the movies they’re looking for, that is if you can tolerate some stiff and wooden characters in between all of the fun stuff.

“Prometheus” (2012)

After a fifteen year hiatus, the “Alien” franchise finally made its return with none other than Ridley Scott back at the helm. “Prometheus” follows the crew of the titular ship as they venture into a distant star system to uncover the secrets of mankind’s creation. Needless to say, wacky and gross hijinks ensue not long after. “Prometheus” is very different from its predecessors, there’s much more philosophical and existential musings about life and theology. Had this film been billed as something other than the prequel to “Alien”, it likely would’ve been received much better upon release. Not to say there aren’t highlights–Michael Fassbender in the role of David, an android with a dangerous god complex is undoubtedly one of the best parts of the film. “Prometheus” serves as a cautionary tale of what can happen when a franchise strays too far from its roots and becomes a bit overly convoluted.

“Alien: Covenant” (2017)

“Alien: Covenant” is yet another course correction after a disappointing installment. The movie moves back towards the traditional horror aspect of the franchise, but still tries to retain elements of “Prometheus” to varying degrees of success. The movie ultimately feels torn between being a horror movie, and being an existentialist sci-fi film. As a result, the movie just all around feels half-baked, and unmemorable. At least Michael Fassbender is still trying his hardest to carry this film.

“Alien” has been a tumultuous franchise, with some great highs and some horrible lows. It seems that for every great Alien film there’s three mediocre or bad ones, but the franchise may have finally found its way back to the right path. “Alien: Romulus” isn’t perfect, but it’s the only movie to come close to the standard set by the first two. So if you don’t have an issue with some grotesque and disturbing body horror maybe it and the odd franchise it’s a part of may be what you’re looking for.