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If “I ain’t got time to bleed” is part of your daily vernacular, you’re probably a “Predator” fan. (Or maybe just really into Jesse “The Body” Ventura.)
Since Arnold Schwarzenegger threw down with an intergalactic alien super-hunter in the jungle back in 1987, the franchise has churned out a sci-fi action flick every so often to keep the Predators alive and kicking in pop culture. Those guys even crossed over with the “Alien” universe in the 2000s.
But we’re in a bit of an exciting time for all things “Predator.” Director Dan Trachtenberg’s 2022 prequel “Prey” was a popular streaming hit, and two new franchise projects arrived this year. The animated “Predator: Killer of Killers” movie, which released over the summer, is an anthology movie showing three periods in Earth history where the Predator took on the fiercest of human warriors. And the new “Predator: Badlands,” which won the box office in its first weekend (and scored the strongest opening in franchise history), features a young Predator partnering with an android to seek out a shared adversary on a remote planet.
A predator goes hunting human warriors of the past in “Predator: Killer of Killers.”
So to borrow from Arnie, let’s get to “da choppa” and rank all the “Predator” movies so far. (“Badlands” is in theaters now, and the past “Predator” films are streaming on Hulu.)
9. ‘Alien vs. Predator’ (2004)
Miller (Ewen Bremner, far left), Sebastian (Raoul Bova) and Lex (Sanaa Lathan) investigate a mysterious pyramid in Antarctica in “Alien vs. Predator.”
The Predators have always been about hunting the biggest game, and in the first “AvP” outing, that’s not Earthlings – it’s those pesky Xenomorphs. The silly B-movie features a science team exploring a pyramid underneath Antarctica and finding a mess of Facehuggers and a Xenomorph queen, but it doesn’t get interesting until a Predator and Xenomorph have an epic stare-down.
8. ‘Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem’ (2007)
The “AvP” sequel is only nominally better, taking the extraterrestrial rumble to Colorado. A ship crashes, unleashing Xenomorphs on an unsuspecting town and bringing a craft of Predators to Earth to kill them. Humans and their dramas – from shady government shenanigans to teen love – just slow down the sci-fi brawls we all want to witness. That said, extra points for having the guts to show a Chestburster gruesomely pop out of a young boy.
7. ‘The Predator’ (2018)
A deadly alien warrior escapes from a secret government compound in “The Predator.”
Shane Black, who actually played one of Arnie’s commandos in the original “Predator,” directs this goofy and gory reboot that dares to have Jacob Tremblay wear a Predator battle helmet out trick-or-treating. (Is nothing sacred?!) This kid is mailed alien tech by his mercenary dad (Boyd Holbrook), he turns it on, and the situation gets bonkers as a beefy Super Predator and some Predator dogs cause a bunch of suburban chaos.
6. ‘Predators’ (2010)
Laurence Fishburne stars as Noland, a veteran of the human-Predator wars in “Predators.”
This post-“AvP” revisit has a lot going for it, including an impressive cast (Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne and Walton Goggins) and a pretty nifty premise. The worst killers on Earth are captured and taken to an alien planet/game preserve where they’re hunted by two warring Predator factions. The character development is atrocious but the action is pretty cool as it tries to capture the first movie’s jungle-tastic kill-or-be-killed vibe.
5. ‘Predator 2’ (1990)
How do you make a sweltering summer and a brewing gang war in LA worse? You got it, throw in a Predator! Our heavily armored alien menace starts taking out drug cartel goons and making a mess, and a couple of cops (Danny Glover and Bill Paxton) plus an unhinged DEA agent (Gary Busey) are on the case to investigate. Outside of the first “Lethal Weapon,” it’s one of Glover’s top action flicks.
4. ‘Predator: Killer of Killers’ (2025)
Viking raider Ursa (voiced by Lindsay LaVanchy) protects her son from an intergalactic hunter in the animated “Predator: Killer of Killers.”
A deeper “Predator” mythology comes to life in stylistically violent fashion with the animated movie, which features three tales – of a Viking raider queen, a ninja in feudal Japan and a hotshot American World War II pilot – who all have a run-in with a Predator. But what’s really cool is how the movie brings those story lines together in a narrative filled with intriguing twists, gnarly kills, heroic sacrifices and a slew of nifty new Predator designs.
3. ‘Predator: Badlands’ (2025)
Synthetic android Thia (Elle Fanning, left) and Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) help each other on their quests in “Predator: Badlands.”
An underdog “Predator” tale? Totally works. Young alien warrior Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi), the runt of his clan, wants to prove himself worthy and travels to a deadly world to seek out an unkillable beast. Along the way, Dek befriends the android Thia (Elle Fanning) and a weird little creature named Bud in a movie that offers a few little “Alien” teases, a scintillating cliffhanger and a crowd-pleasing narrative.
2. ‘Prey’ (2022)
Amber Midthunder stars as a Comanche woman who takes on an alien invader in the “Predator” prequel “Prey.”
The prequel that finally brought needed respect to the franchise was an 18th-century period piece that finds a Predator meeting his match in a young Comanche woman hungry for battle. Amber Midthunder had a breakout role as Naru, who yearns for the “big hunt” to prove herself to the men of her tribe, and she gets a great character arc that involves insanely bloody kills and cool Predator gadgets.
1. ‘Predator’ (1987)
Carl Weathers (left) and Arnold Schwarzenegger flex and take on an alien invader in “Predator.”
The ’80s were the height of macho cinema, and the OG “Predator” was definitely one of the highlights. Schwarzenegger’s team of soldiers goes into a Central American jungle for a rescue and ends up needing help themselves when hunted down one by one by a Predator. From the tobacco spitting to the bicep popping – what action-movie fan hasn’t used that handshake GIF with Arnie and the inimitable Carl Weathers? – the bonkers adventure is so full of testosterone that you can’t dispute its hallowed place in the annals of dude movies.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Predator’ movies ranked (including ‘Badlands’)
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