Best Alien movies

Alien leads the Alien ranking with 1378 ELO points over 53 duels, ahead of Aliens and Alien 3.

The franchise splits sharply after the top two films. Aliens trails the original by 62 ELO points, but a far wider gap of 144 points separates it from Alien 3 at rank 3. That chasm underscores the drop in favor between James Cameron's sequel and David Fincher's divisive follow-up. Prometheus lands at rank 4 with 1124 ELO points after 70 duels, while Alien Resurrection follows closely at rank 5 with 1117 points. The bottom position goes to Alien: Covenant with 1094 ELO, a film that wins just 34% of its duels. The ranking confirms that the first two entries remain untouchable in the eyes of fans, even as later installments struggle to match their impact. The prequel films occupy the lower half, suggesting the community values the original storyline over Ridley Scott's return to the universe.

This ranking draws on 449 duels submitted by 47 players who weighed all 6 contenders in head-to-head matchups. The data was last updated on 12 October 2026. If you have a favorite in the franchise or want to see how a different pairing shakes out, cast your own votes on the platform and help refine the order.

Updated on October 12, 2026

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.

How our rankings are made →