And, to be clear, audience didn’t just lose when they went to see the hilariously titled “Aliens vs. Predator” was famously: “Whoever wins, we lose.” But it wasn’t until this war crime of a sequel that the franchise really made good on the threat.

Here are all eight installments of the “Alien” series, ranked from worst to best. READ MORE: “Alien: Covenant” Review: Michael Fassbender Is A Creepy Delight In A Horror Show You’ve Mostly Seen Before …Well, at least three of them have something to offer. Well, most of them have something to offer. Some mutations of the “Alien” franchise have been more successful than others, but they all have something to offer. First, it riffed on “Star Wars.” Then “Rambo.” Now, in its current iteration, it reflects our current fascination with mythology, as well as our collective uncertainty about the future of the human race. On the contrary, the saga is defined by its flair for change, by its willingness to evolve in order to reflect the tastes of the day. Apart from strong women, two-mouthed nightmares, and the dark promise of outer space, there isn’t much that runs through this series and ties it together as a stylistically coherent whole. So, when people complain that “ Alien: Covenant” isn’t an “Alien” movie, it’s hard to know what they mean. From the ominously sparse thriller that first introduced the world to the Xenomorphs, to the steroidal orgy of muscles and machine guns and alien mucus that James Cameron fashioned out of its sequel, to the fascinatingly garbled industrial sludge of “Alien 3,” and so on… this series has proven to be as endlessly adaptable as the extraterrestrial monster that inspired its title.

The genius of the “ Alien” franchise - and the temptation to continue it ad infinitum - is that each of its installments has been so markedly different.

Alien movies from 2017