What are your rankings in the Alien series?

I am with Phallic on this one.  If you guys think Alien Covenant comes at number two; then either, 1) You have a different bar than we do and 2) Can I assume, you did not see Alien to Alien3 in the movie theater?  What I am trying to convey is that different generations usually have different tastes based on their experiences/exposure.  Makes sense?

@colonialsoldier. It might ironically be that those rating Alien a little lower than your expectations have seen the countless B movies before Alien that have carbon copied plots to Alien. Alien was done the best out of these previous copy and paste plots - no doubt - but for me, the majesty of Alien - lies more the extreme shocks (truly scary film) and the highly imaginative Giger designs. Alien Covenant has no peer. I can't remember an abundance of previous films depicting a broken human-built synthetic wiping out an alien civilisation with their own weapons and breeding the ultimate killing machine as a side project just afterwards - a beast that would haunt humans across the galaxy.. at the same time as trying to have sex with his human creators and writing music.. Just for its Madness - Alien Covenant stands out and Scott should be rightly proud. 

Just because it has no peer; does not mean the movie is on a greater level.  I think Lindlelof and Logan's screenplay diversions  of what the Alien universe is; breaks a logical rationale to the Alien origin.  I never viewed the Alien as the "ultimate killing machine".  It is just a viscous species (like the movie Species and the Blob) that can't reason and has no regard for anything else except its own.  As a soldier myself, if you can kill something will a pistol or flamethrower; I will not label it ultimate in my book lol. 

For me it has no peer and is good for the reasons I carefully detailed. Alien Resurrection is fairly unique too - don't remember many films with its exact plot? Do you? But that doesn't stop it being at the bottom of the list. 

Secondly as regards to your hierarchy of the ultimate killing machines - disease is actually still at the top. As a non soldier but someone who had to do basic military training - I can venture the Xenomorph idea is more marketable and this franchise is about money - not trying to deconstruct someone's view on the watchability of a film on whether Ash and the others were wrong about the xenomorph being the ultimate killing machine. 

1 Alien:Covenant

2 Alien

3 Aliens

4 Prometheus

5 Alien 3

6 Alien Resurrection

Aaaargh please will people stop with the ranking of  Covenant as number one!!!

ALIEN

PROMETHEUS

COVENANT

A3

ALIENS

I refuse to watch Resurrection or those silly AvP flicks.

lol @phallic "Aaaargh please will people stop with the ranking of  Covenant as number one!!!"

Man, that means Alien and Aliens must of truly sucked lol.

ALIEN

ALIENS

ALIEN: COVENANT

PROMETHEUS

ALIEN 3

ALIEN: RESURRECTION

Aliens

Alien

Alien 3

Alien Covenant

AVP

Prometheus

Alien Resurrection

AVPR

Alien (Directors cut)

Aliens (Directors cut)

Prometheus

Alien3 (Directors cut) / Alien Covenant

I really really really do not like Resurrection or the AVP films at all so I'm not rating them in any way

very hard to put the movies in order as they are all so very different style movies but here goes.

1- Alien.  

2- Alien3, i liked the fact that they where brave enough to remove hicks and newt and do away with a happy ending. not what this franchise is about.

3 Aliens, fantastic movies but it did degrade the xeno into being nothing but a tough ass bug. Still was a great movie.

4 Alien Covenant - not perfect but a great alien movie

5 prometeus. Its only real issue for me was the fact it didn't seem to fit in tech and style into the alien universe

6 AVP- ok by now we are losing it but was a fun and somewhat logical movie. 

7 alien resurrection, signory weaver is the only reason this film should be watched. visuals where good but hated the xenos in this film.

8 i should say AVP requiem but i won't dignify it with a listing.

Alien Anthology in chronological order- director/assembly cuts

Prometheus

AVP- good movie but I don't count as canon or part of the series

AVPR- worst movie ever in any category.

1. Alien

2. Aliens

3. Alien Covenant

4. Prometheus

35. Alien 3

12,987,567,456,789,210. AVP

12,987,567,456,789,210 X3. AVP Requim

998,768,497,164,867,553,861,008,839,912 X10 (Cubed) Alien Resurrection....who am i kidding, id rather pretend that it was never made than rank it

MY LIST

1. Alien (Theatrical or Directors)

2. Aliens (Directors)

3. Alien 3 (Assembly)

4. Prometheus and Covenant together

Like some others on here I have an unbearably low opinion of Resurrection. Saw it once and that was opening night. I came out of the theatre in a rage, like one of the infected from 28 Days Later. STEAMING PILE OF FAILURE.

The director, Jenuet and screenwriter Whedon? Both very good! Amelie and A Very Long Engagement? Brother can make a great film. Whedon can write a solid script. What happened? I don't know. Maybe the two together are like a speedball. Some of you aren't old enough but thats mixing cocaine and heroin together. Sounds like fun, but actually wasn't when the rubber met the road.

The AVP movies insult my intelligence. People want to talk about poor/ lazy writing and such. Two great examples. The irony is that idea could actually work with very little effort. Another reason the AVP films suck is Cameron walked away from the series as a result. There would probably be few threads on 'imagine what could be' if his talent stuck around for another installment.

Lastly, my #4 pics are not because I dislike these films. I actually enjoyed both films, but they have there own part of the story going in the same universe as the first three films. So I think they get there own classification.

BZ

1. Alien 

2. Alien's

All other films so far after that i view as not part of it all :( . I might watch them if I'm really ill in bed but that's about it. I do love the ' idea ' of Prometheus with engineers elders demi gods multiple levels of evolution origins of life and the xenos and black goo etc.. but the execution was so bad i can't bring myself to watch it a second time and I've tried. I still need to see AC.  Anyway I'm still hoping for demi god mind control the idiots avenue or similar to save the day! The demi god was making them all idiots and wants them to get infected! :p

Hall of Fame:

1. Alien 

2. Aliens

3. Alien Resurrection 

4. Alien 3

5. Alien: Covenant (not bad at all just no nostalgia factor yet. A good Alien film) 

Hall of Shame:

Prometheus 

AvP 

AvP 2: Requiem 

Here is MY list:

Alien- 5/5

Aliens- 5/5

Alien 3- 5/5

Prometheus- 5/5

Alien: Resurrection- 4/5

Alien: Covenant- 3/5

The reason I gave Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, And Prometheus a 5/5 is because each one gave us a unique and interesting lore to the Alien universe.

The reason I gave Alien: Resurrection a 4/5 is because they were given a chance to expand on the Alien universe, but they went the route of a clone instead thus ruining a very good chance. :/

The reason I gave Covenant a 3/5 is because they had a chance to expand the universe they created with Prometheus, but instead they went the route of the crazy android thus ruining an even better opportunity. :/

That is my rank.

@colonialsoldier: I'm extremely picky about movies, music and art, but Alien Covenant easily passes all my filters despite flaws. 

I think it's fair to say that most people just didn't understand Alien Covenant at all. People nowadays just want to be spoonfed and have their hands held all the way through. 

Imagine if the original Alien was held to the same standard as Alien Covenant:
"Why is there a weird elephant bone creature? It's not even explained! Ridley Scott is a senile hack!"

Aliens is a good movie, but it basically ruined the feel of the first film by basically being bugs vs marines. 

Ridley Scott fixed that with Alien Covenant by making the Aliens tough again.