All 7 Predator movies, ranked from worst to best
By Daniel Roman
With the release of Prey, it’s the perfect time to look back on one of Hollywood’s most iconic sci-fi horror franchises. There have been great Predator movies, there have been bad Predator movies, and there have been plenty of Predator movies somewhere in between. We’re going to go through all of them and rank ’em!
And before you ask: yes, we are including the Alien vs. Predator films in these rankings. More movies makes for more fun, and we have thoughts. That said, you can probably guess which film is going to land in the number seven spot…
7. Alien vs. Predator (2004)
The idea of mashing together two of science fiction’s most recognizable alien terrors dates back to an easter egg in Predator 2, when Lt. Harrigan catches a glimpse of a xenomorph skull trophy aboard a Predator’s ship. Fans latched onto this, and over the years it’s fueled numerous comics, toys, video games, and other tie-in merch.
In the early 2000’s, 20th Century Fox got it into its head to take the Alien and Predator franchises, both of which had been dormant for a number of years, and mash them together in hopes of capitalizing on that fan interest while simultaneously revitalizing both series. It didn’t go well. Alien vs. Predator is the only movie in either franchise to receive a PG-13 rating, and it shows. It’s a schlocky action movie with the barest hint of horror, helmed by Resident Evil director Paul W.S. Anderson, and the choice to set it on Earth totally undermined the entire point of the Alien series, which was all about keeping the xenomorphs from ever reaching our planet.
For lack of a better word, AVP was just silly. It’s kind of like the film sought to combine Alien and Predator without truly understanding the tonal choices that made either of them special. It did, however, try pretty hard with its plot of an ancient Predator pyramid being discovered under the ice on Antarctica, and featured longtime Alien star Lance Henriksen. So there’s that, I guess.
Many fans of Predator would prefer to forget this movie ever happened, so let’s quickly move on: