Ranking the Predator Movies
I just watched the 2025 film ‘Predator: Badlands’ and with that have decided to put out the official Showtime with Shane ranking of the Predator franchise! We will countdown the movies from #7 to #1 with my thoughts on each. Please note that I will not be including the two ‘Alien vs Predator’ films because I have yet to watch those (I haven’t seen all the ‘Alien’ films yet).
#7 - The Predator (2018) directed by Shane Black
This 2018 film is not just here because it’s the least good of the ‘Predator’ films. It’s here because it’s straight up a bad movie. Boyd Holbrook is one of the few redeeming part of the films, but his protagonist doesn’t leave much of an impression after the initial film. It includes the strangely prominent trope of 2010s media including a child with autism but being the key to the puzzle. I’m all for being inclusive of people that are differently abled, but that requires a tact this movie doesn’t really have. Then the Predators themselves become kind of convoluted with one of them wanting to save humans (I think?) and the other wanting to harvest their DNA before we go extinct from climate change (I think?). It’s a mess.
#6 - Predator 2 (1990) directed by Stephen Hopkins
I can only imagine seeing this in 1990 after the hit that was ‘Predator’ three years earlier and just being so massively let down. I was massively let down when watching the movies back to back in 2025. Again, there are some really solid performances from Danny Glover & Gary Busey, but they aren’t redeemable enough. The film is mixed in with an LA urban setting, which should be really cool in theory, but just kind of results in a mess of police chases, gang wars, & bureacratic redtape. I like the ending having some additional Predators pop up, but think it’s utterly insane they just randomly hand Danny Glover a pistol that isn’t explained until over 30 years later in ‘Prey.’
#5 - Predators (2010) directed by Nimród Antal
Please note that 1-4 are all pretty close in a tight race, then there’s a gap between 4-5, and then there’s a big ole gap between 5-6. The film has a really cool thought process that I feel like is replicated more effectively in some of the later films, with the premise of gathering an array of different fighters to team up on the Predator. Unlike the previous two entries I actually feel like the performances are a weaker point (but Adrien Brody is fine in the movie), but the cool setting, various Predators, & intriguing mystery premise all work in its favor.
#4 - Predator (1987) directed by John McTiernan
Having the original this low is probably a hot take. I think the fact I watched all the films within the same timeframe result in me not having the nostalgia for this film that others likely do. Dutch is a really cool protagonist and I love the way the film operates as just your run of the mill military action film and then BOOM! these dudes are getting killed by an alien. We a very intimidating looking bunch between Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse Ventura, Bill Duke, Richard Chaves, Sonny Landham, and future ‘Predator’ director, Shane Black. I feel as though this film not only started one of the most underrated franchises in film history, but it also had both the future Governors of California & Minnesota in it’s cast. Weird.
#3 - Predator: Badlands (2025) directed by Dan Trachtenberg
Though we’ve seen Predators that weren’t antagonistic, sometimes ending up on the same side of the fight as the human leads, this film is the only one so far that has a Predator as the protagonist. We meet a young Yautja (the Predator species) named Dek who is considered a weak link of his tribe and goes on his first hunt to prove himself, targeting the most deadly prey possible. The film features a reference to the ‘Alien’ franchise through the humanoid synthetic android character Thia (Elle Fanning), who was made the Weyland-Yutani corporation. This film immerses us into the Yautja culture like we’ve only gotten tidbits of before, making them easier to be seen as characters and not just unnamed creatures.
#2 - Prey (2022) directed by Dan Trachtenberg
Set in Northern Great Plains in the early 1700s, this film features a female protagonist, Naru (Amber Midthunder) who is probably the coolest lead to come out of the franchise, though Dek & Dutch are closely behind her. Naru wants to be a warrior in her tribe, but is doubted, eventually proving herself by taking on a Predator. The film also features some antagonistic fur trappers and is incredibly interesting after watching Badlands because of the similarity in the cultures of the Yautja & Comanche tribes.
#1 - Predator: Killer of Killers (2025) directed by Dan Trachtenberg
The trajectory Dan Trachtenberg has had on this franchise is utterly insane. The only animated film in the series, this anthology film follows three different warriors during three different time periods; a viking in 841, a samurai in 1609, and a fighter pilot in 1942. The film sets up some interesting tie inds to the other films in a way that I will not spoil, but I think each segment is so strong they could have been their own films. We also get to see some cool Yautja lore & designs, with some character designs and action that wouldn’t be possible in live action.
