In celebration of the recent streaming series, Alien: Earth (whether you enjoyed it or not), I have created a new list of films that most certainly exist in the Weyland-Yutani universe, and if not certainly, then enjoy an unbelievably tenuous link to it.

This will be an ordered list of sixteen films, four a week, in reverse order, and is guaranteed to enrage you. The Alien and Predator films, and all those in between, are beloved by some, held sacred by a few, and the subjects of intense debate. My opinions will most certainly not align with yours, but I hope to keep you guessing as to my top four!

#4 – Predator 2 (1990)

Strong link, or tenuous as all hell? Fairly bloody strong.

What’s the link? This is the one that threw the chum into the sea of nerds.

What’s it all about? Stephen Hopkins, British music video auteur, fresh off his bonkers stint on the Nightmare on Elm Street series, with the fabulously daft Dream Child, was handed this and must have thought to himself, ‘I’m gonna make the most 1990s film ever 1990-ed in the year of our Lord 1990’. And lo, he made it, and it was good.

Now, when I say good, don’t get me wrong. It’s no Citizen Kane, Persona, or White Chicks, but if you’re jonesing to watch a Predator rip through a bajillion nefarious stereotypes, all while lit up by more explosions than a Michael Bay wet dream, then have I got the flick for you.

Danny Glover, still ‘too old for this shit,” is the poor shmoe who has to go toe-to-toe with the be-dreadlocked trophy hunter against the backdrop of a super-heated LA. He is ably supported by a likeable group of cops, not least being Bill Paxton still riding his Hudson high, and is reunited with his Lethal adversary, Gary ‘Mad Dog’ Busey, here in a role that was originally written for Arnie (who couldn’t/wouldn’t do it).

The action is loud and bloody, the gore is top notch, and the tone is way funnier than it has any right to be. Of course, then there’s THAT skull, sitting proudly in the Predator trophy cabinet, that ties the Predator universe to the Alien universe, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Violent, stylish, funny — a perfect follow up to the first film.

9/10

#3 – Predator (1987)

Strong link, or tenuous as all hell? Tenuous upon release, growing stronger over time.

What’s the link? It precedes Predator 2, which established the connection to the Weyland-Yutani universe (even though W-Y technically didn’t exist yet — yes, I am bending my own rules again).

What’s it all about? Oh lord, where to start? From the legendary cast to the frame-filling biceps, from the botanical chain-gun abuse to the sit-com freeze frame end credits, everything about this film is golden.

Arnie as Dutch was very close to the summit of his utter box-office domination, launched by Commando a year earlier. Yes, he had already been Conan and the T-800, but I feel Commando and Predator are the true springboards for his leading man dominance. Dutch’s crew is made up of the manliest goddamn sexual tyrannosaurs ever committed to celluloid, and it would take an even beefier, if uglier, warrior to take them all down a peg.

Much has already been said about the disastrous initial Predator design from Richard Edlund (worn by Jean Claude Van Damme), but Stan Winston’s hastily designed and built substitute Yaujta has not only stood the test of time, but I would say is the greatest creature suit in motion pictures, alongside our old pal the xenomorph. Iconic, believable, and eternally pissed-off, the glow-stick-blooded hunter dips into its exotic arsenal with wild abandon to thin the ranks of the grizzled gang, all the while clicking grotesquely and leering at dead scorpions with its infra-red vision.

I saw this in my local fleapit in a John McTiernan double-bill with Die Hard in 1988, that was a heck of a night. Man, what a run McTiernan had — such a shame it all fell apart.

Much like the vegetation in Predator.

9.5/10

#2 – Aliens (1986)

Strong link, or tenuous as all hell? A link as sturdy as a power loader’s ankles.

What’s the link? Weyland-Yutani is all over it, personified by Paul Rieser’s Carter Burke with his futuristic suit lapels.

What’s it all about? It’s like Alien, but there’s more than one. Oh, and James Cameron unleashes some more gun-porn on us.

Of the three (yes, three) films remaining on this nonsensical list, Aliens is the one that I watch for pure fun. It’s easily my favorite action flick of any genre; relentless in its driving set pieces, eternally quotable, perfectly performed, and featuring old-school effects comfier than your gran’s slippers.

The production is legendary, and the multitude of techniques used, including rear-screen projection, stop-motion, rubber suits, and forced perspective makes it a joy to watch over and over again, especially for effects nerds like yours truly. It was this film that really cemented the shocking concept of a tough and capable female lead, set Bill Paxton on the wisecracking path that would dominate his tragically short career, and taught other franchises that all you really needed to do was put an ‘s’ on the end of the title, not that everyone listened. To think we could have had Jawses.

As with many of the films on this list, Aliens is bolstered by a healthy dollop of nostalgia, whether it is terrified memories of the live-action Alien War experience in London’s Trocadero, feeding an abnormal amount of 10p pieces into the arcade machine to beat the damn game, or my favourite story. I went to art college in a place called Grays in the UK, and during this time an old 1930s cinema, The State, was renovated and fired up again, complete with a wurlitzer organ that rose from the depths and brass trim everywhere. You can see this cinema in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, when Eddie and Roger go to watch the Goofy short. Anyhoo, it was the one-year anniversary of The State’s reopening, and Aliens had just been released.

The place was packed, and not only that, but the audience had been given birthday cake, so a jolly mood was in the air. The film played, we reacted as one, gasping and cheering, the sort of experience you can only dream about these days. Then, just as Bishop was piloting the dropship out of the exploding refinery, the film broke, in a spectacular fiery, melty, mess.

We all sat, stunned, and had to go home exhilarated yet deeply unsatisfied. As soon as it was up and running again the following week we all went back to watch it again, and finish it off this time, albeit with nary a slice of cake between us. It’s a memory that is permanently etched on my brain, and a moment of elation that accompanies any of the many viewings I have enjoyed since. I can still taste that cake.

10/10

TIE — #1 – Blade Runner (1982)

Strong link, or tenuous as all hell? Flimsy beyond all belief.

What’s the link? According to a scene in Aliens, Capt. Dallas used to work for the Tyrell Corp.

What’s it all about? Something about electric sheep.

See that sneaky ‘tie’ there, in front of the #1? That’s because I simply couldn’t decide between Blade Runner and (spoiler alert) Alien for the top spot — they both mean so much to me.

Ironic really, considering the Scott bashing that has previously plagued this list.

I was 15 when Blade Runner came out, and heavily invested in anything Harrison Ford was in, even the less thrilling stuff (looking at you, Hanover Street), and any snippets shown on the telly, or stills in Starlog or the papers, just added fuel to my Ford fire. When I finally watched it, I was immediately drawn into the neon-drenched nihilism of 2019, and I lived and breathed Blade Runner for a while. I had a replica of the Robbie Knott designed gun, and a couple of die-cast spinners. Also, the afore-mentioned Trocadero centre in Piccadilly, London, had a basement food court which sold mainly noodles under neon signs. I ate there quite a bit.

The more astute among you may be spluttering over your lattes as it suddenly dawns on you that there seems to be no place for Blade Runner 2049 (2017) on this list. Here’s the thing. Through a series of obstructive events, I never managed to see Villeneuve’s sequel on the big screen, and through sheer bloody-mindedness took my time to finally see it on Blu-Ray. I’ve only seen it the one time, and I think I liked it a lot, but I really need to watch it again to form a strong opinion. A bit weird, I know.

As to which of the seven versions is my favorite, I honestly have no idea. I have a soft spot for Ford’s apathetic narration and the tacked on Shining footage at the end of the first cut, and I’ve relished each additional breadcrumb thrown my way in subsequent cuts (although the unicorns should have stayed in Legend), and I thoroughly enjoy trawling through YouTube to find the other versions, such as the Dragon cut, which splices in all of the footage that ended up on the cutting room floor (definitely worth a look).

Oh hey — there’s a hidden Millennium Falcon in the city skyline too, so now I’m wondering if I should add the Star Wars franchise to the Weyland-Yutaniverse…
Kidding!

10/10

TIE — #1 – Alien (1979)

Strong link, or tenuous as all hell? Stronger than a rampaging synth with a girly magazine.

What’s the link? Everything you see in the film, including the crew, belongs to the Weyland-Yutani Corporation.

What’s it all about? So despite me pooh-poohing Sir Ridder’s prequel efforts, here he is, soaking up the top two spots with a pair of films that I just can’t separate in terms of favourite.

I was 12 when the film was released, so I didn’t get to see it on the big screen until many years later (when I saw it during a five-film marathon at the Brixton Ritzy in London). However, my English teacher at the time was aware of how interested I was in it, and decided to kick-start my love for writing by lending me the Alan Dean Foster novelization. Today she would probably get fired for doing this, but bless you, Ms. Fidler, for teaching me that a man’s bursting chest could be compared to an ‘over-ripe watermelon.’ I then found the photo-novel, and shortly afterwards, The Making of Alien, which had the added benefit of introducing me to the worlds of Cobb, Moebius, and Chris Foss.

Everything about Alien is perfection. The production design, lighting, sound design, Jerry Goldsmith’s hauntingly beautiful score, the stellar cast, Scott’s direction, taking the glitz of a space movie and shoving it in a coal mine, and the creature itself, a bio-mechanical force of destruction, albeit a bit of a knobhead.

It continues to delight me that this franchise, along with Predator and Blade Runner, shows no signs of slowing down, and I’m here for all of it, good or bad.
Now give me an Office style Weyland-Yutani spin-off.

10/10

Previous Murky Movie surveys from Neil Baker include:

The Weyland-Yutaniverse, Part I
The Weyland-Yutaniverse, Part II
The Weyland-Yutaniverse, Part III
Foreign Bodies
Mummy Issues
Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Monster Mayhem
It’s All Rather Hit-or-Mythos
You Can’t Handle the Tooth
Tubi Dive
What Possessed You?
Fan of the Cave Bear
There, Wolves
What a Croc
Prehistrionics
Jumping the Shark

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See all of Neil Baker’s Black Gate film reviews here. Neil spends his days watching dodgy movies, most of them terrible, in the hope that you might be inspired to watch them too. He is often asked why he doesn’t watch ‘proper’ films, and he honestly doesn’t have a good answer. He is an author, illustrator, teacher, and sculptor of turtle exhibits. (AprilMoonBooks.com).