The Alien saga is essential for every self-respecting movie fan. Of course, it combines masterpieces with a lot of mediocre films and others, directly, forgettable. Therefore, we bring you a complete guide to the Alien saga, with its history, the films that make it up and in what order you should see them. Grab the flamethrower we started.
If there is a series of films that has caused real terror, as well as pain and laughter , it is Alien . It would have been the perfect story if they had stopped after the first two movies, but no.
However, let’s forget a moment in the sad history of the evolution of the franchise and go to the beginning.
The fascinating story of the Alien saga
Like many things in life, we owe the movie Alien to a curious coincidence and something you do not expect. In 1977, Ridley Scott was in Los Angeles to present his first film, The Duelists .
By then, Scott was already thinking about his next film , Tristan and Isolde . However, a friend of his and producer, David Putnam, invited him to the premiere of a new movie. Scott went to the appointment, saw the movie and was so impressed that he was depressed for 3 months and dropped the project at hand.
That movie was Star Wars .
Yes really. We have Alien because Ridley Scott, by pure chance, went to see Star Wars , as he himself related to The Hollywood Reporter . Basically, he was so fascinated that he wondered why he was thinking of movies like Tristan’s when there were others doing something like Star Wars.
The Duelists won the Best First Film award at Cannes, but failed to get initial theatrical distribution.
And then, also out of nowhere, Ridley Scott fell into the script of another movie, Alien. Someone in Cannes saw The Duelists and, who knows why, thought it would be the right fit to direct a science fiction movie, with which Fox wanted to repeat the success of Star Wars .
The rest is history and these are its pieces.
All the films and their synopses
We could say that there are 8 official films within the Alien saga, but in reality there should be only 2. However, as my wishes are never fulfilled, these are all the films of the franchise.
Alien the Eighth Passenger (1979)
The mother of the lamb, the first and best of all . They wanted to make a “Shark in Space” and they came up with a movie for the story, a masterpiece of science fiction and horror at the same time .
The Nostromo spacecraft captures a signal of life on an unknown planet that is supposed to be uninhabited. When they try to find out what it is, they will have to face a terrible alien life form and a secret hidden in the belly of the MOTHER computer.
The incredible designs of HR Giger would create nightmares for multiple generations, Sigourney Weaver would be enshrined and Alien would be one of the most honored (copied) films in history.
Aliens: The Return (1986)
James Cameron directs the continuation and achieves something unheard of. The film goes from pure horror to fast-paced action and it doesn’t matter, another masterpiece is marked . Two out of two and the fans are still debating whether the first or the second part is better.
In this case, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), accompanies an unforgettable group of Marines who come to investigate the loss of communications with a colony.
Things, of course, are not going to turn out well.
Alien 3 (1992)
I’m a big fan of David Fincher ( Fight club , Seven …), but his directorial debut in Alien 3 is not good, although it’s not his fault either, because several directors and scriptwriters went through there on a set full of problems.
The movie isn’t that bad, but it pales in the face of two masterpieces and heralds for what’s to come . There will be no more good movies in the series.
Ripley accidentally ends up in a kind of prison planet and does not go alone, because a facehugger had slipped into the ship when she escaped from the planet of Aliens .
Yet another return to the old argument of being locked in with a monster, but with mediocre execution.
Alien: Resurrection (1997)
The French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet ( Amelie ), tries a change of third, but it does not come out. Sigourney repeats the role, but this time 200 years after the action of the previous films and in the form of a clone.
Wynona Rider gives you the replica and the Jeunet aesthetic saves nothing. Delusional and forgettable .
Alien vs Predator (2004)
Exhausted the premise, nothing better than trying to make money mixing with another successful alien, Predator . Those things never go well.
Pyramids buried in Antarctica without much sense and, above all, with enough boredom. What could have been an epic showdown is left in a mediocre attempt to get the money , breaking the myth of both monsters.
Alien vs Predator 2 – Requiem (2007)
More of the same, but this time with less means and imagination.
There’s a kind of mixed-up Alien and Predator spawn , but instead of scary, it causes yawning .
Prometheus (2012)
Ridley Scott returns to the legendary saga with a prequel that tries to explain the origins of Alien and its mythology.
The beginning is promising, Scott proves he’s the best at creating alien-looking worlds (sorry, Nolan), but the film goes flat and ends in disappointment.
It is not as bad as the films I have just named, but it is not good either.
Alien: Covenant (2017)
Scott tries to repeat himself and forgets the cliffhanger that Prometheus left on (or rather, he solves it in a bad way) to go the other way and focus on the adventures of the most useless scientists in history . They just have to make stupid decisions so the movie can keep running.
To top it off, it destroys the Alien mythology with absurd and confusing explanations that take away its aura of mystery and threat.
I left the cinema pissed off, it did not succeed and it was a stop in the plans to continue with the franchise.
The future of the saga
Ridley Scott insists that Alien still has a lot of sane left in the movies, but no. There don’t seem to be any more movies in the works, at least not yet. Scott’s ideas also insist on plot lines that, precisely, were the worst received in the prequels.
In the same way, the Alien 5 of Neill Blomkamp was canceled , so for now, we will have to settle for future television series.
Its director, Noah Hawley, says that one of the basic themes will be something that resonates now: “Eating the rich.”
In any case, it has not even started filming , something that will happen in the spring of 2022 if everything continues to plan.
In what order to watch the Alien movies?
Honestly, the order doesn’t matter that much.
The ideal is to see Alien and Aliens, the return , and stop there. However, there are those who want to see the saga in chronological order according to the events in the movies.
I’m not going to be the one to criticize the fetishes of others, but if you haven’t seen anything, doing it in that order doesn’t make sense and you’re going to get fed up before you get to the good movies.
But, just in case, this would be the correct temporal arrangement:
- Alien vs Predator.
- Aliens vs Predator – Requiem.
- Prometheus (located chronologically 90 years after Requiem).
- Alien: Covenant.
- Alien
- Aliens, the return.
- Alien 3.
- Alien: Resurrection.
As you can see, the Alien saga has more history than it seems and, if you are a fan or want to get into the saga, now you know everything you need.