UPDATED: PREDATOR: The Entire Film Series (From Worst to Best)
To celebrate the success of "Predator: Badlands", it's time to look back on the iconic sci-fi franchise...
By: Josh McCormack
Well, there's a new “Predator” movie lighting up the box office
“Predator: Badlands” might feel like a new beginning for the iconic creature known as the Yautja, but it’s actually the ninth entry in a franchise that’s existed for 38 years.
During that time, the titular intergalactic hunter has had run-ins with Gary Busey, Xenomorphs and Thomas Jane doing a very offensive depiction of a man with Tourette's syndrome.
Let’s look back on all the films of the “Predator” series, from worst to best...
“Predator: Badlands” might feel like a new beginning for the iconic creature known as the Yautja, but it’s actually the ninth entry in a franchise that’s existed for 38 years.
During that time, the titular intergalactic hunter has had run-ins with Gary Busey, Xenomorphs and Thomas Jane doing a very offensive depiction of a man with Tourette's syndrome.
Let’s look back on all the films of the “Predator” series, from worst to best...
9. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (Dirs. Colin and Greg Strause; 2007)
Alright, let’s just get this one out of the way.
Most “Predator" movies have something to enjoy (hell, even Shane Black’s “The Predator” features a gloriously unhinged Sterling K. Brown and some solid kills), but “AVP: Requiem” is the exception. A slog of a creature feature not even fit for syndication on the Syfy channel, “AVP:R” is far worse than any other film on this list. The plot is that of a bad CW show, complete with god-awful teen actors, and the gore that is there is so gratuitous and cheap that it offers no real enjoyment.
I might have been able to praise the designs of both the titular creatures and their fight scenes, but the lighting is so terrible that you often can’t even see what’s going on throughout the majority of their bouts.
Utter trash.
Most “Predator" movies have something to enjoy (hell, even Shane Black’s “The Predator” features a gloriously unhinged Sterling K. Brown and some solid kills), but “AVP: Requiem” is the exception. A slog of a creature feature not even fit for syndication on the Syfy channel, “AVP:R” is far worse than any other film on this list. The plot is that of a bad CW show, complete with god-awful teen actors, and the gore that is there is so gratuitous and cheap that it offers no real enjoyment.
I might have been able to praise the designs of both the titular creatures and their fight scenes, but the lighting is so terrible that you often can’t even see what’s going on throughout the majority of their bouts.
Utter trash.
8. The Predator (Dir. Shane Black; 2018)
What the hell happened here?
When I first heard the news that Shane Black—hot off of his underrated masterpiece, The Nice Guys—was not only directing, but co-writing a new “Predator” film with former collaborator Fred Dekker (“The Monster Squad”, “Night of the Creeps”), I thought I was in for something really special. However, the resulting film is a tonal mess that feels less like a “Predator” movie and more like a lesser entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, only with lots of uninspired vulgarity.
While it’s clear that the studio really cut what could have been a much more coherent film, the more I revisit “The Predator”, the more I realize it’s fundamentally broken. With a cast this full of great character actors and so much talent behind the camera as well, you’d expect so much more. Yet, Shane Black’s directorial foray into the “Predator” universe is a tonally inconsistent—and often obnoxious—entry that offers very little and proves to be the cinematic stain on Black’s formerly spotless filmmaking career.
When I first heard the news that Shane Black—hot off of his underrated masterpiece, The Nice Guys—was not only directing, but co-writing a new “Predator” film with former collaborator Fred Dekker (“The Monster Squad”, “Night of the Creeps”), I thought I was in for something really special. However, the resulting film is a tonal mess that feels less like a “Predator” movie and more like a lesser entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, only with lots of uninspired vulgarity.
While it’s clear that the studio really cut what could have been a much more coherent film, the more I revisit “The Predator”, the more I realize it’s fundamentally broken. With a cast this full of great character actors and so much talent behind the camera as well, you’d expect so much more. Yet, Shane Black’s directorial foray into the “Predator” universe is a tonally inconsistent—and often obnoxious—entry that offers very little and proves to be the cinematic stain on Black’s formerly spotless filmmaking career.
7. AVP: Alien vs. Predator (Dir. Paul W.S. Anderson; 2004)
Yes. I just put a film by the director of the “Resident Evil” movies above a Shane Black joint. I really wish that it hadn’t come to this.
The first half of “AVP” is a bore. None of these characters are at all engaging (with the exception of the always-great Alien franchise veteran, Lance Henriksen) and the backstory as to why the Aliens and Predators are ancient rivals is pretty ludicrous and doesn’t even make much sense if you consider the lore established in either creature’s significant franchises.
However, the second the Yautjas come in contact with the Xenomorphs, the film turns into a pretty schlocky romp.
The fight scenes aren’t incredible, but on this rewatch, I was surprised with how much fun I was having whenever the two creatures were duking it out on screen. While it’s mostly junk, I was fascinated to find out that I didn’t hate “AVP" as much as I once had.
The first half of “AVP” is a bore. None of these characters are at all engaging (with the exception of the always-great Alien franchise veteran, Lance Henriksen) and the backstory as to why the Aliens and Predators are ancient rivals is pretty ludicrous and doesn’t even make much sense if you consider the lore established in either creature’s significant franchises.
However, the second the Yautjas come in contact with the Xenomorphs, the film turns into a pretty schlocky romp.
The fight scenes aren’t incredible, but on this rewatch, I was surprised with how much fun I was having whenever the two creatures were duking it out on screen. While it’s mostly junk, I was fascinated to find out that I didn’t hate “AVP" as much as I once had.
6. Predators (Dir. Nimród Antal; 2010)
Now we’re getting to the pretty good stuff.
“Predators” is a really solid entry in the series that—with a bit more polish—could have been one of the absolute best. The concept is wonderful, with a group of the most dangerous people on Earth being chosen by the Predator for a game of the hunt on the creature’s never-before-seen home planet. The ragtag group is made up of a wonderful cast (led by Adrien Brody and featuring the likes of Danny Trejo and Walton Goggins), and the first half of the film does a great job building the group dynamic and throwing them into increasingly dangerous set pieces.
However, the seemingly simple narrative takes a few unnecessary detours as it reaches its conclusion.
At one point, for example, we’re introduced to Laurence Fishburne’s character, who seems to be set up as a big player in the story, but he’s unceremoniously killed off five minutes into his screen time once he gives our leads some clunky exposition. And stuff like that is a shame, because beneath some of the script’s faults lies a very entertaining action thriller.
“Predators” is a really solid entry in the series that—with a bit more polish—could have been one of the absolute best. The concept is wonderful, with a group of the most dangerous people on Earth being chosen by the Predator for a game of the hunt on the creature’s never-before-seen home planet. The ragtag group is made up of a wonderful cast (led by Adrien Brody and featuring the likes of Danny Trejo and Walton Goggins), and the first half of the film does a great job building the group dynamic and throwing them into increasingly dangerous set pieces.
However, the seemingly simple narrative takes a few unnecessary detours as it reaches its conclusion.
At one point, for example, we’re introduced to Laurence Fishburne’s character, who seems to be set up as a big player in the story, but he’s unceremoniously killed off five minutes into his screen time once he gives our leads some clunky exposition. And stuff like that is a shame, because beneath some of the script’s faults lies a very entertaining action thriller.
5. Predator 2 (Dir. Stephen Hopkins; 1990)
What a sweaty, nasty sequel. I kinda love it.
“Predator 2” is big, dumb fun and a vulgar little sci-fi thriller. This time, the action is set in a crime-ridden futuristic Los Angeles, so sleazy and drug-fueled that it would make Frank Miller blush. No longer hunting in the jungles of South America, a new Predator is hunting for sport in this big city, and the only man who can stop him is a very sweaty and frazzled Danny Glover.
I love the setting change of “Predator 2” and I really dig how we get to see more of the Predator tech, all rendered with mostly convincing, pre-CGI techniques. The script is certainly quite stupid, full of clichés and characters making proud declarations of things on screen to make sure the audience isn’t confused, and Stephen Hopkins’ direction isn’t as powerful as McTiernan’s before him and Antal’s afterward. However, the resulting film is both a wonderfully entertaining product of its time.
This critically reviled sequel definitely deserves a second look.
While this is the first animated film in the “Predator” saga, it shouldn’t be mistaken for kiddie fare.
“Killer of Killers” is an anthology film that spans centuries, showing various Yautja hunters battling three distinct historical warriors: Vikings, samurai, and WWII fighter pilots. Initially presented as three separate stories, they eventually culminate in a climactic epilogue that isn’t only exciting but sets up what might very well be a new sub-franchise for “Predator” in the world of animation.
“Killer of Killers”’ structure does suffer a little bit from feeling more like four extended action sequences stitched together to make a feature film. As a result, it’s harder for audiences to emotionally engage with the lead characters. However, what it lacks in character development, it makes up for in sheer Predator mayhem.
The animation is absolutely gorgeous, and each set piece is a marvel of action staging. My favorite sequence is the WWII dogfight between the U.S. pilots and a Yautja-manned warship. Never before have we seen the Predators engage in air battle, and the results are thrilling and fittingly gnarly.
4. Predator: Killer of Killers (Dir. Dan Trachtenberg; 2025)
While this is the first animated film in the “Predator” saga, it shouldn’t be mistaken for kiddie fare.
“Killer of Killers” is an anthology film that spans centuries, showing various Yautja hunters battling three distinct historical warriors: Vikings, samurai, and WWII fighter pilots. Initially presented as three separate stories, they eventually culminate in a climactic epilogue that isn’t only exciting but sets up what might very well be a new sub-franchise for “Predator” in the world of animation.
“Killer of Killers”’ structure does suffer a little bit from feeling more like four extended action sequences stitched together to make a feature film. As a result, it’s harder for audiences to emotionally engage with the lead characters. However, what it lacks in character development, it makes up for in sheer Predator mayhem.
The animation is absolutely gorgeous, and each set piece is a marvel of action staging. My favorite sequence is the WWII dogfight between the U.S. pilots and a Yautja-manned warship. Never before have we seen the Predators engage in air battle, and the results are thrilling and fittingly gnarly.
3. Predator: Badlands (Dir. Dan Trachtenberg; 2025)
With his third and most recent foray into the revived world of “Predator”, director Dan Trachtenberg takes the biggest creative risk in this franchise’s nearly 40-year history: turning the titular Predator into our lead character.
Focusing on a young Yautja named Dek, the film is an action/sci-fi/fantasy hybrid (a family-friendly one, too) about how an outcast creature fights to prove his worth to an abusive father and, along the way, creates a found family with a disregarded Weyland-Yutani synth (played wonderfully by Elle Fanning, whose character slyly bridges the gap between the Alien universe and the Predator universe) and a crazy little creature named “Bud.”
Now, that description on its own could possibly turn hardcore “Predator" fans away, and even I was skeptical about this film when it was first announced. While there are a couple of times where “Badlands” gets just a bit too cute for its own good, it mostly works because it never betrays the brutality at the center of the Yautja. In fact, so much of its drama works in how it interrogates the customs of these creatures that have been established in previous films.
It also helps that Dek (played with equal parts ferocity and vulnerability by the film’s unsung hero, Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) makes for a great underdog, mirroring Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character of Dutch in the original film, primarily by how the film forces him to do without his fancy weaponry and rely more on the resources of the land.
Trachtenberg also shows off his skills as an action director, crafting sequences that feel straight out of graphic novels or video games thanks to their dynamic camera work and mostly convincing CGI.
“Badlands” is a big creative swing, but it’s safe to say that Trachtenberg and co. knocked it out of the park.
2. Prey (Dir. Dan Trachtenberg; 2022)
Utilizing an assortment of the elements that worked in the previous films and integrating them with a unique point of view (that of a Native American main character named Naru) and a refreshingly new setting (the early 18th century), “Prey” manages to bring the series back to basics in a way that values good old-fashioned storytelling and strong filmmaking over lore-building and sequel teases.
While there have been some great characters in all of these films, I don’t know if I’ve ever been able to root for any of them the way I did for Naru. Played wonderfully by newcomer Amber Midthunder, it’s really Naru’s movie as she proves to her tribe that she has what it takes to be a hunter. Along this journey of self-discovery, she finds herself face-to-face with the first Predator to come to Earth, and the remaining hour is a nail-biting action spectacle.
The homages are there, with some Easter eggs and even a certain character recalling a classic “Predator” quote (one of the only moments that didn’t quite work for me), but Prey is good enough to stand on its own two feet. It’s a wonderful action movie in its own right with beautiful cinematography and a great score from composer Sarah Schachner (an artist whose majority of work is with video game scores) that opts not to rely on the Silvestri score—as all of the other sequels have—but instead has its own distinct mood that works perfectly with Prey’s singular atmosphere. All buoyed by the terrific direction of Dan Trachtenberg (“10 Cloverfield Lane”), the film is deliberately paced but incredibly satisfying.
It took 35 years, but the “Predator” franchise finally released a film that is worthy of the original classic and introduced fans to an exciting new chapter in this series’ history.
While there have been some great characters in all of these films, I don’t know if I’ve ever been able to root for any of them the way I did for Naru. Played wonderfully by newcomer Amber Midthunder, it’s really Naru’s movie as she proves to her tribe that she has what it takes to be a hunter. Along this journey of self-discovery, she finds herself face-to-face with the first Predator to come to Earth, and the remaining hour is a nail-biting action spectacle.
The homages are there, with some Easter eggs and even a certain character recalling a classic “Predator” quote (one of the only moments that didn’t quite work for me), but Prey is good enough to stand on its own two feet. It’s a wonderful action movie in its own right with beautiful cinematography and a great score from composer Sarah Schachner (an artist whose majority of work is with video game scores) that opts not to rely on the Silvestri score—as all of the other sequels have—but instead has its own distinct mood that works perfectly with Prey’s singular atmosphere. All buoyed by the terrific direction of Dan Trachtenberg (“10 Cloverfield Lane”), the film is deliberately paced but incredibly satisfying.
It took 35 years, but the “Predator” franchise finally released a film that is worthy of the original classic and introduced fans to an exciting new chapter in this series’ history.
1. Predator (Dir. John McTiernan; 1987)
The one that started it all.
Now, let me first say that I don’t think any “Predator" movie is perfect—and yeah, that even goes for the first one. While “Predator” still holds up incredibly well, its second act can tend to drag at times, mostly because the design of the Predator has entered pop culture at such a large scale that we already know what’s hunting our main characters and therefore some of that tension is lost. On top of that, I feel that Alan Silvestri’s score—reused in just about every “Predator” sequel until Trachtenberg took the reins—is not well utilized at times and frankly sounds more fitting for the Back to the Future films he worked on, as opposed to an intense action picture.
But come on…this movie just works.
Starting off with the most overblown versions of the ’80s action heroes that dominated Hollywood filmmaking at this time, McTiernan deconstructs the genre by putting these usually unstoppable badasses in the warpath of an intergalactic terror. What starts as an action film soon becomes a slasher movie as the titular creature picks off our heroes one by one. While it doesn’t necessarily develop these seemingly stock character archetypes, it allows the audience to see them as vulnerable.
Led by Arnold Schwarzenegger at his prime and culminating in an incredible mano y Yautja battle where we are introduced to the coolest creature design in film history, “Predator” has more than earned its legendary status—and a top spot on this list–even with its imperfections.
Now, let me first say that I don’t think any “Predator" movie is perfect—and yeah, that even goes for the first one. While “Predator” still holds up incredibly well, its second act can tend to drag at times, mostly because the design of the Predator has entered pop culture at such a large scale that we already know what’s hunting our main characters and therefore some of that tension is lost. On top of that, I feel that Alan Silvestri’s score—reused in just about every “Predator” sequel until Trachtenberg took the reins—is not well utilized at times and frankly sounds more fitting for the Back to the Future films he worked on, as opposed to an intense action picture.
But come on…this movie just works.
Starting off with the most overblown versions of the ’80s action heroes that dominated Hollywood filmmaking at this time, McTiernan deconstructs the genre by putting these usually unstoppable badasses in the warpath of an intergalactic terror. What starts as an action film soon becomes a slasher movie as the titular creature picks off our heroes one by one. While it doesn’t necessarily develop these seemingly stock character archetypes, it allows the audience to see them as vulnerable.
Led by Arnold Schwarzenegger at his prime and culminating in an incredible mano y Yautja battle where we are introduced to the coolest creature design in film history, “Predator” has more than earned its legendary status—and a top spot on this list–even with its imperfections.
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