Hi all!
Today I am going to rank the entire Predator franchise! It will inevitably overlap with my Alien ranking post, which you can check out here. If you didn’t know, this adventure/sci-fi/horror series focuses on extraterrestrial beings that use high-tech equipment to hunt and track their prey. They are extremely intelligent and extraordinarily deadly. Speaking of Prey, I am going to be touching on the prequel that was released this month on Disney +. There is a lot to cover, so let’s get into it! Spoiler’s ahead!
1.) Predator (1987)
In first place, we have the one that started it all: Predator. Starring the iconic Arnold Schwarzenegger, the story follows Dutch, a soldier of fortune who is hired by the U.S. government to secretly rescue a group of politicians trapped in Guatemala. However, once his team land in Central America, something feels gravely wrong. After finding a string of dead bodies, the crew discovers they are being hunted by a brutal creature with superhuman strength and the ability to disappear into its surroundings. For its time, this horror film was shocking and bloody. The skinned corpses and brutal deaths will ruin your appetite. Arnie absolutely steals the show with his iconic lines: “get to the choppa,” “you’re one ugly motherf@#ker”, and “if it bleeds, we can kill it.” Yes, it’s corny as hell but it carries an infectious energy you can’t help but absorb. I loved how resourceful Dutch was in his quest to defeat the monster. For some it may be dated but it was successful enough to produce six more movies in the franchise.
2.) Prey (2002)
WOW Prey swooped in this month as a prequel to the original film and shook fans worldwide. The amount of positive reviews on my feed had me so excited to watch it. Needless to say, it didn’t disappoint. It follows a skilled Comanche warrior named Naru, who protects her tribe from a highly-evolved alien predator that hunts humans for sport. Against all odds, she fights against the wilderness, dangerous colonisers and the mysterious creature to keep her people safe. I want everybody reading this post to know that this was the first ever movie shot in both English and Comanche. Both versions are available on Disney +. It featured a diverse cast of Indigenous actors, including Amber Midthunder, who played Naru. The cultures and its peoples were thoroughly, historically researched and respectfully adapted to screen. My husband and I were blown away. It was beautifully filmed and so well-paced. There was plenty of action, heartfelt moments and epic battles. Not to mention, we love a strong female lead that is underestimated by the boys. Even the Predator was impressed! You don’t need to be a lover of the franchise to watch Prey. Go check it out!
3.) Predators (2010)
Coming in third, we have Predators, starring Adrien Brody and Laurence Fishburne. The story follows a group of notorious mercenaries and murderers, who find themselves kidnapped and transported to an alien game, set on a preserved jungle planet. There, they must learn to work together in order to fight off a band of Super Predators and other creatures stalking them. If you liked The Hunger Games, you’ll enjoy this installment in the franchise. It’s exciting, fresh and full of action. As is expected, the characters are picked off one by one until we are left with an epic showdown of man vs. beast. I don’t have much more to say, it’s just a whole lot of fun and worth a top spot on my list.
4.) Alien Vs. Predator (2004)
I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed Alien Vs. Predator. I will say, it helped having watched both the Predator and Alien movies beforehand. In fact, I would recommend everybody else do the same. It will give you a deeper understanding of the story. In 2004, a satellite detects a mysterious heat bloom beneath an island off the coast of Antarctica. Wealthy industrialist, Charles Bishop Weyland, discovers through thermal imaging, a pyramid buried 2,000 ft beneath the ice. He attempts to claim it for his multinational communications company (Weyland Industries) and assembles a team of experts to investigate. As a Predator ship reaches Earth’s orbit, it fires an energy beam aimed at the pyramid site. When the team arrives at the abandoned whaling station, above the heat source, they find a tunnel running directly beneath the ice towards the pyramid. The exploration team soon find evidence of a prehistoric civilization and what appears to be a sacrificial chamber filled with human skeletons. Meanwhile, three Predators – Scar, Celtic and Chopper – arrive and kill the remaining team members on the surface. They make their way down to the pyramid and arrive just as the team unwittingly activates the structure and are trapped within it. The Alien Queen awakes from cryogenic stasis and begins to produce eggs. When the eggs hatch, several facehuggers attach themselves to humans trapped in the sacrificial chamber. Chestbursters emerge from the humans and quickly grow into adult Xenomorphs. Conflict erupts between the Predators, Xenomorphs, and humans, resulting in several deaths. The movie ends with an epic battle between the Xenomorph Queen and Scar. A Predator ship arrives to retrieve the fallen body of their comrade and as they fly away, a chestburster with Predator and Alien traits breaks out of Scar’s chest, which leads into the events of Alien Vs. Predator Requiem. The pyramid setting was really cool. I loved the moving rooms and traps. It had some serious Tomb Raider/Indiana Jones vibes. Plus, it was cool seeing two fearsome creatures fight one another.
5.) The Predator (2018)
In fifth place, we have The Predator. Following the crash of a Predator spaceship on Earth, U.S. Army Ranger, Quinn McKenna and a team of PTSD-afflicted soldiers band together to take down a pair of Predators, including a new, genetically enhanced Predator to prevent an invasion of the planet. I honestly could have done without this one. It was not overly memorable and felt like a cash grab. There were some decent action scenes but I didn’t care for any of the characters. I wouldn’t re-watch it.
6.) Predator 2 (1990)
In second last place, I am putting Predator 2. In my opinion, the sequel really bombed. In the record-hot summer of 1997, a different Predator arrives in Los Angeles and hunts violent gang members, drawing the attention of the local police force, specifically Lieutenant Harrigan (played by Danny Glover). He pursues the creature as it rampages throughout the city but little does he know, the creature is also being hunted by the secretive government task-force OWLF, led by CIA agent Peter Keyes, who wishes to capture it for study. The best part of this movie was the ending. The rest was terrible. It was all over the place, cheesy and underwhelming. It’s a shame because the original was so successful.
7.) Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)
In last place, we have Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem. Ugh, what a fail. This movie was terrible! It’s such a shame because I really enjoyed the first Alien Vs. Predator film. It received an abysmal 12% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Following the events of the previous installment, a Predator ship leaves Earth, carrying facehuggers and the dead body of Scar (who helped Lex defeat the Xenomorph Queen in Alien Vs. Predator). A chestburster, with traits of both species, erupts from Scar’s body, resulting in an adult Predalien. The only good thing about this movie was the hybrid Predator/Alien creation. It lands on Earth and begins murdering every human it comes across. We meet various characters that wind up working together, to defeat this extraterrestrial creature. The film ends with Wolf’s plasma-blaster being handed over to Ms. Yutani. The Yutani Corporation are a Japanese cybernetics company, which is eventually bought by Weyland Industries, forming the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. They are an evil agency, dedicated to capturing Xenomorphs and creating weapons out of their biology to ensure humanity remains the elite species in the universe. Firstly, this movie is really dark. No, I don’t mean morbid. I mean devoid of light. I could barely see what was happening on screen most of the time! Secondly, it tries to do too much. It introduces different stories that go nowhere and attempts character development without any success. So many questions are left unanswered, the plot was all over the place and by the end, I was bored to tears. Big fat nope!
Thank you so much for reading! Do you agree with my list? How would you rank the franchise?
Peace & Love xoxo