The upcoming Prometheus is a prequel to Alien, the first of four films and two crossovers. With a new story and direction in the series, let's take a look at what this universe contains so far.
SPOILERS OF THE ALIEN AND PREDATOR MOVIES AHEAD.
Predator
A lone alien with advanced technology visits Earth and hunts a U.S. Strike team in the Guatemalan jungle. While brutal, the Predator displays an honor system that involves not killing unarmed people, single combat against an opponent, and a powerful self-destruct when defeat is imminent. Only the strike team leader and a local civilian survive to report the encounter.
Rating: A
This is a pretty brutal action flick of pure testosterone vs. advanced alien tech. The jungle setting gives good credibility to the concept and the buildup is well executed. It remains one of the stronger films of franchise.
Predator 2
A new Predator hunts in Los Angeles. A special forces team, informed about the last encounter, tries to capture it, but fails. It is eventually killed by a local detective. The fight is observed by the Predator's crew aboard their ship. They reward the detective with an antique pistol and depart.
Rating: B
This film didn't work nearly as well as the first. For starters, the battle for survival in the wilderness is replaced by an alien mystery story that would later define The X-Files. The background of the Predators also isn't explored much further, though the first hint of Alien vs. Predator is dropped. Danny Glover, sadly, wasn't up for the task of such an intense action role without Mel Gibson to back him up.
Alien vs. Predator
Business tycoon Charles Weyland discovers a pyramid buried under Antarctica. He takes a team to investigate, but inside they find a sacrificial chamber that fills with alien pods. They hatch and several face-hugging creatures impregnate their crew with vicious creatures that burst out and attack. A pack of three Predators enter the pyramid and hunt both humans and creature. Writings on the wall reveal that the Predators bred (but didn't necessarily create) the other alien creatures to be the perfect prey for hunting. The last surviving Predator is impregnated before dying and when his ship rescues him, a new Preda-Alien bursts out.
Rating: C
Chronologically, this is the first appearance of the Aliens, and it's disappointing on just about every count. The pacing is extremely rushed (all but two humans and one Predator die within a ten minute period). While it does advance the back story of the Predators more than any other film, the lack of suspense and lesser gore makes the film a little boring to watch.
Aliens vs. Predator Requiem
The Preda-Alien attacks the Predator crew and the ship crashes back to Earth near a small American town. A lone Predator is sent to exterminate Preda-Alien, but it procreates a huge swarm that overruns the town. The U.S. military nukes the town and destroys all alien presence but not before collecting data on the creatures and recovering a Predator energy weapon. The weapon is given to a mysterious woman named Miss Yutani.
Rating: C+
This film literally has the exact opposite problems of its predecessor. There is a higher level of action, violence, and gore. The pacing is good with some nice buildup, suspense, and a twist at the end. Unfortunately, the story is pretty shallow, the characters are boring, and there is only a minor contribution to the larger story tacked onto the end. The two AvP films are like yin and yang of sci-fi horror. If the two approaches had been combined, it would have made for a pretty engaging film. Alas, on their own, they failed to garner much interest from either fan base.
Predators
Several humans are kidnapped and dropped on an alien planet to be hunted by a trio of Predators bigger than those encountered before. They run through the alien jungle, combating the Predators, and trying to survive. They discover one lone Predator, similar to those encountered previously, who has been exiled from the rest and tries to help them. In the end, there are two human survivors and they watch a new batch of human prey arrive.
Rating: A-
This film is a fantastic progression on the original. It doesn't assume the audience has seen the other films, though it does make reference to the first. The characters, literally plucked from around the world, are much more diverse than the muscle squad of the 80s, although Adrian Brody's character tends to hog the spotlight. There is also a greater amount of infighting, both between the Predators and the humans, which enhances the drama.
[insert Prometheus here]
Alien
In the future, the starship Nostromo of the Weyland-Yutani company discovers a crashed alien ship of unknown origin filled with Alien eggs. One of the crew is impregnated and brought on board. After the ship takes off, the Alien is released and starts attacking the crew. The 2nd officer, Ellen Ripley, discovers that the company wants the alien for bio-weapons research and that the ship's android knew the real mission the whole time. She tries to lead to crew in an evacuation, but only she makes it to the shuttle after destroying the Nostromo and the Alien.
Rating: A
This film continues to this day to be a household name in sci-fi horror. The direction and design are well done to create suspense and fear. Some of the special effects look a little dated, but the shots with them are very few.
Aliens
Ripley is rescued after a 57 year hyper-sleep. During that time, Weyland-Yutani established a colony on the planet where the alien ship was discovered and Aliens soon overtake the populace. Ripley is sent with a squad of marines to investigate. After suffering several casualties, they destroy the colony and the Alien ship, though an Alien Queen follows them aboard and has to be ejected into space.
Rating: A
As an example of a perfect sequel, this film builds upon the story set up by the original and raises the stakes (i.e. number of Aliens). It doesn't dwell too much on re-introducing the Aliens, it just brings them in off-screen to await the characters. The added action keeps the story moving and further pushes the fear factor for the audience by showing armed marines running scared.
Alien 3
An Alien facehugger gets loose on Ripley's ship and causes it to crash on a prison planet, killing all passengers but her. Another facehugger escapes and impregnates a dog, releasing a new Alien. Ripley marshals the prisoners into hunting the Alien, and discovers she is impregnated as well. After the Alien is defeated, Weyland-Yutani employees arrive and try to capture her for the embryo inside her. She throws herself into molten lead to keep the Alien from them.
Rating: B-
By itself, this movie is decently okay, but compared to its predecessors, it's a little abysmal. The concept of a lone Alien hunting an unsuspecting group of people is recycled from the first film and as a result, there are pitifully few surprises. The story's strongest points are around Ripley's impregnation and the climax of her suicide. Otherwise, it's just another B monster movie.
Alien Resurrection
Ripley is cloned for the Alien Queen inside her which is used to breed Aliens aboard an United Systems Military ship. The Aliens quickly escape and run loose on the station, killing most of the crew. The Queen then births (instead of hatches) an alien human hybrid. The Ripley clone and several survivors escape, destroy the ship, and kill all remaining aliens, including the hybrid.
Rating: D
It's really difficult to say where this film went wrong exactly. So many things about it were just creepy. Ripley, now a part alien clone, had a sadistically playful side. The alien hybrid was supposed to have some sort of human side but it looked too scary and was rather graphically killed. In addition, the story felt predictable and recycled to the point of parody. Since this restart of the series didn't really go anywhere and it's an even worse finale than its predecessor, this film is best skipped.
So, what will Prometheus bring into this universe? It's been heavily implied that it won't be an Alien movie per se, and that the space jockey and alien ship from Alien will be explained. So does that mean a new alien race will be introduced? One that trumps the Aliens and the Predators? Having Alien director Ridley Scott at the helm bodes well for the film's quality. It's unlikely there will be any references to the Predator franchise, but hopefully this film will lead to a productive new direction for all races concerned.
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