All 8 Alien movies ranked from worst to best

2. Aliens

We’re jumping back to the original Alien movie series here with the second-best movie in the franchise, Aliens! James Cameron signed on to direct this one, with Sigourney Weaver reprising her role as Ellen Ripley. Other cast members include Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, and Lance Henriksen. Aliens came out in 1986 and takes place over 50 years after the events of the first movie.

After emerging as the sole survivor of the Nostromo, Ripley is found adrift in space and awakened from hypersleep all these years later. She reluctantly joins a team of marines and returns to the planet LV-426, the same one where the Xenomorph incident from the first movie takes place. Not surprisingly, when they arrive they discover the planet has been taken over by the alien creatures, and the group battles for survival against them.

There are so many standout moments in Aliens that really cement it as an iconic movie. For starters, the opening sequence is awesome, Weaver gives another great performance, and the battles against the Xenomorphs are done really well. The final showdown between Ripley and the alien queen is also very memorable.

Aliens isn’t as suspenseful as the first movie, relying more on action sequences than horror elements. For me, that’s a weak point, but it’s not that big of a deal. Another critique to be made about the movie is that excluding Ripley, the characters aren’t very well-developed.

Overall, though, Aliens is a favorite for many horror and sci-fi fans, and it’s definitely a worthy sequel.